— Ani —
A day of breaking chains. Finally. Ani was ready.
She lurked, the endless shadows of Free Nar Shaddaa's dark undercity hiding her movements as she crept forward. Her eyes never left the target.
Ahead of her, a familiar and unmistakably terrible scene played out. The binding of chains. There was a Human woman, a Duros man, and a squad of high-quality security droids. They stood over a closely-packed group of undercity locals, the threat of violence ensuring the chains they imposed would lock shut.
This wasn't the first party of opportunistic slavers that Ani had come across. The 'gig' she'd joined — alongside V and Smasher, Aayla and Quinlan — was a thing of action off and on. Mostly because they had to find their 'acceptable targets'. Easy enough with Jedi along for the 'gig', but the nature of their Force senses often meant catching the slavers in the act.
These remnants were sneaky. They did their damn best to keep their resurging attempts at chains under the radar. They preyed upon the undercity, away from most eyes. They aimed for the weak, the unaccounted for, and the ones who couldn't get word out about their actions.
But… something about that 'remnant' assumption was off. If Ani had to put it into words, their targets weren't nearly as familiar with the Smuggler's Moon as they should've been. Something subtle in the Force told Ani that these were outsiders, especially to Free Nar Shaddaa.
They were also… probing as much as they were slaving in earnest. Testing to see what they could get away with on Free Nar Shaddaa. So the word 'remnant' probably wasn't completely correct. These were newcomers, either simply opportunistic or… here for a more sinister and organized purpose. Regardless of their origins, though, it was Ani's job to cast down the chains they brought back to her siblings on the moon.
Slavers weren't welcome here, not anymore. The reason for that unwelcome was in the new name of the moon — Free — and baked into its history, its people, its change, and new hope for the future. Now that the Smuggler's Moon and all of her siblings that called it home had tasted freedom, rejoined Mighty Leia's sky… they'd never go back to chains again.
Her lightsaber lit with a snap, a hiss of contained plasma vaporizing the air it replaced, and a telltale glow of noble blue light. Ani sensed the shock, the fear, the realization that a Jedi was bearing down on them. But not nearly enough panic. The resurgence of slavers she now hunted had all been worryingly competent — 'almost professional,' Ani worried.
They reached for their weapons without hesitation. A blaster carbine for the Duros man and a pair of blaster pistols from the Human woman. The droids didn't even need to reach; their blasters were practically glued to their manipulators and already raised to fire.
These weren't the piddly B1-battle droids that the Trade Federation used for their massed metal muscle. They were of the IG-series. IG-86 Sentinels, if Ani didn't miss her mark — more expensive than B1s by a wide margin, but equally more dangerous. Ani counted 150,000 credits' worth of investment in these 10 droids alone, if they'd been bought factory-fresh. Whoever these 'remnant' slavers were, they were willing to splurge (or they had backers that were…).
They'd be… tough. A proper challenge. Ani almost grinned. Then, her eyes came back to the undercity neighborhood they'd rounded up to be chained without discrimination. Whole families that could very well be forcefully inducted into her siblings' ranks. Her grin vanished into serious determination.
All of Mighty Leia's siblings were treasured. But they weren't wanted. If that cruel, twisted induction into their nigh-divine kinhood of shared tragedy could be avoided, it should be. It would be.
The Force flooded Ani's body, invited in with familiar, instinctive ease. Even as the IG-droids opened fire, Ani was moving. The hail of blaster bolts fell upon and around her. Her blade hissed through the air. Noble blue light flashed.
Some, she dodged with Force Speed. Others, she deflected with calculated flicks of her wrist and 'saber. The path of each bolt was clear in her mind. A dozen were batted back as quickly as they were fired. Every bolt she touched found its reflected mark.
Droids were already falling as Ani rushed forth. Metal limbs were burned off at the joints. Armor slagged. So many sparks flew. The vertical cylinder head of one IG-86 was blasted in half by Ani's reflected retort. Sparking wires and scorched circuits were exposed with fatal finality; a show of inorganic gore.
Then, Ani was amongst them, her last step impacting with a wave of Force. The dangerous droids were pushed in all directions away from her. Those that stumbled, those that fell… never got up again.
Ani's off-hand curled into a fist. The Force crushed armor and structure like flimsy paper. Her lightsaber slashed through the air, imbued with weight by the Force. A skeletal droid frame was cleaved in twain, and both halves flew back from her strike. Ani stepped — flowed with power more than grace — her first swing into a second stroke.
Her 'saber fell with power. Her senses tracked every variable. Her mind was steady, focused on the fight at hand. Her whole being moved with the Force. Against her, the droids never stood a chance. The organic slavers directing them never did, either. Finally fighting against chains as she'd always dreamed, Ani could've taken on a whole world.
In the end, only one of the 'remnant' slavers had the good sense to surrender against overwhelming Jedi odds. And it was one of the droids. The two organic leaders were more willing to die by lightsaber than surrender themselves to the justice they deserved.
That was… a worrying trend Ani had noticed. The leaders of each slaving party that Ani had come up against all fought to the last. One had even offed himself when Ani tried to take him alive. They were unusually fanatical (to put it lightly), if not in their mission there, then in their unwillingness to be taken alive.
Ani didn't understand it, really. She was clearly a Jedi. It wasn't like she was planning on torturing or executing prisoners outright. But it seemed that even the prospect of being taken for Force-assisted questioning had the leaders automatically reaching for their own deaths. Their emotions in the Force for those last moments were even relieved to take death over failure, and the one she'd almost captured had been struck by such terror that Ani had flinched enough for him to off himself.
Ani had to seriously worry who their backers were to inspire such terrified 'loyalty' that they'd take certain death over Jedi justice. What would they have revealed under questioning? What dark power pushed lowly slavers to automatic suicide…? Who was really pulling the strings of this probing of Free Nar Shaddaa…?
Those dark questions lingered in the back of Ani's mind as she wrapped up that slaving party — shutting down the droid who surrendered and tagging him for later pickup, while reassuring her siblings-not-to-be that they were still free. The comm unit that V had lent her rang, though, telling Ani that the gig was far from done.
"Yo, Skywalker. We've got a good one here. You might want in," V said.
"TELL THE LITTLE FORCE-CUNT TO MOVE HER ASS DOUBLE-TIME OR SHE WON'T GET ANY OF THE ACTION," Smasher's voice also came through the comm's earpiece from V's side.
Ani scowled. That Mek-shaped monster was… frustrating. But worse, Ani found that she couldn't resist rising to his taunts and insults.
"Send me the location!" Ani snapped. "I'll be there before you can even start, Smasher!"
But even as Ani practically punched the comm to hang up on her frustrating comrades (well, V was fine. Kinda wizard, even, with the way she said Ani's name), a long-overdue satisfaction remained in her heart. Finally, she was fighting for Mighty Leia's freedom.
It was a good day to break chains.
IIIII
— Atom —
A day of very official, very trying, very much not my strong suit diplomatic talks. Fuck. I wasn't ready.
I was stuck, though, committed. I'd said I'd do all of this, and I wasn't about to make myself a liar. My Gonks needed someone to hold us together and direct things through all the official junk. So I had a responsibility and duty to represent us, all formal and diplomatic-like.
Honestly, compared to this, we'd had things easy so far. We were straight out of Night City, Nar Shaddaa. That made us used to the fighting and the violence, the unexpected and unprecedented, even the war in every way it'd developed. It'd never been done like this, but everyone who called Night City home was used to a certain way of things. And that 'way of things' didn't tend to include formal diplomacy and attention from outside Hutt Space.
The event that was the Republic delegation's mission here really started with talks of the simplest sort. Getting to know each other, getting the feel for things, getting an easy dialogue going. It was groundwork being laid, unassumingly. And it had me wary that we didn't jump straight down to business.
"Tell me, Atom, what has the Gonk Cartel been doing since you won your day?" Bail asked.
The question came from what I was doing as the Republic's delegation met me for the day. Nothing strenuous that would make me unavailable, by necessity. My schedule had to be kept open of the actual fun stuff. Instead, they were sitting in as I worked on… paperwork and bureaucracy.
Thankfully, I had [Coordination II] and now [Delegation II] for the terrible necessities that came with running a victoriousand expanding organization. I'd had to put a whole Inspired Inventor+ point into [Delegation I -> II]to ensure I could keep up with the cartel's expanding operations.
Of course, I still held out hope of getting back to the good gomi, investing two more points into [Mechu Deru II -> III] as a sort of… promise to myself that I wouldn't become a paperpusher. Especially not when I could be operating steel. And the last point I had stockpiled (two from the usual progress of time, one from the declaration of Free Nar Shaddaa, and another from now hosting the Republic delegation) went into [Diplomacy I]. It seemed… relevant.
Inspired Inventor+
Humanity [Maxed]
Scavenging I
Scrapyard Mechanics I
Emergency/Improvised Medical Care II
Cyberware II
Brawling (Weapons Varied) I
Force Healing II
Genetic Engineering (Evolutionary) I
Force Alchemy III
Gun-Fu II
Espionage II
Force Sensitivity IV
Coordination II
Art of the Small II
Shatterpoint III
Delegation I [+1] -> II
Material Sciences I
Warfare II
Mechu-Deru II [+2] -> III
PanzerFaust II
Force Pyrokinesis I
Tech Integration I
Cyberpunk 2180 Mekton III
[+1] -> Diplomacy I
I was only one Gonk, though, and would much rather be doing things I was more suited for. So, most importantly to the effective running of things, I had Sstala, and to a lesser extent, our internal 'department heads' — Suunri, De'vi, Linth, Maine, Sasha, Gloria, and a newcomer assigned by Arasaka as a more working liaison than V: Kiafus Kayne, 'Hero of the Corporation'.
I had executive control, as well as being the definitive 'head and face' of the Gonk Krayt-Dragon. Sstala had overall operational control. Suunri had Internal Affairs. De'vi handled the Freed. Linth was our manager for the Gonk Fleet, with David getting the freedom to handle its actual running and development. Maine used his Edgerunning connections to keep our disparate Night City 'vassals' in line. Sasha ran our Gonk-a-ganda and netrunning divisions. Gloria was a new addition to the C-offices, in charge of our diplomatic operations now that they were necessary. And Kiafus Kayne…
He wasn't what I'd been expecting. But not in a way I wanted to complain about. He'd made his name in the Siege of Arasaka Tower and Invasion of Night City, even featuring in Sasha's Gonk-a-ganda holo-vid after the fact. With the way he'd stood up then and rallied the tower's defense, I thought he'd be a glory seeker. But he seemed constantly relieved to have been given a more bureaucratic position on the 'backlines'. And he was honestly good at it, as good as he'd shown himself to be at fighting and inspiring troopers.
"This," I grunted to answer Bail's question. "A whole lot of this."
My grunt was accompanied by a signature that just about scratched the surface of a datapad. Sstala just took that one without comment and handed me another to sign. She'd been working hard to put a whole organizational system in place, and as much as I hated the paperwork, it was showing its worth several times over now that we were getting into the real nitty-gritty of countless smaller gigs, keeping track of our Gonks, logistical challenges, relief and rehabilitation efforts, and all the other ongoing operations that went into consolidating control.
"We're not just looking out for ourselves anymore. And that means a whole bunch of data and necessary busywork that needs to be filed and processed," I continued, indicating two separate datapads that were being expertly rotated in front of me by Sstala.
"Here: a widescale requisition request from the Ganks. Seems they've gotten a taste of Night City chrome and won't go back. And here: about 20 new corp licenses that I've gotta sign off on, all wanting in under the Gonk banner as we consolidate our hold over the moon. Back here: oh, look, that's four different interview invitations that I don't have time for. And. It. Just. Keeps. Going…"
Padme giggled at my expense, "Honestly, it's a relief to sit in on such a familiar scene."
I scowled back at her, "Relief? That's one word for it."
She rolled her eyes, "Oh, I don't mean any disrespect, Atom. Much of my days are spent in the same way. There's always something more to sign, or a whole packet of data to read through, or another meeting to attend. It's a 'relief' to see that the cartel is taking things seriously and running itself with control, instead of the freeform collective chaos that some might expect from a criminal organization."
"You say 'criminal'," Suunri chuckled. "But we live in lawless space. That makes all we do, in our own domain at least, no different from any Republic corporation or government."
"The supporting structure of bureaucracy is much the same everywhere you might go, Senator," Sstala added. "We work hard to make everything else possible."
"Glorious, glorious bureaucracy!" Kiafus forced a laugh. "It's a thankless job, but we save more lives than we would… leading from the front."
… Poor bastard, I thought. He missed it. Real action. I could tell that much from the strained smile on his face. I'd have to do him a solid and get him out from behind a desk one of these days.
"It's not for everyone, though," Obi-Wan noted. The Jedi must've seen the same wasted purpose in Kiafus that I saw. "And I wouldn't have thought that a strict system like this would fit the… personality of Night City as I'm coming to know it."
"The Boardroom is just as much a part of Night City as the Limits and Edge are, Knight Kenobi," Gloria gently chided. "And at our level of scale, 'criminal' organizations become more like corps than gangs."
"Don't go calling Gonks straight corpos, though!" Sasha warned with a cackle. "Our streetkids would gut you for that! Our nomads would gut you, too, and then spit in the wound for good measure! Err, no offense, Kiafus."
"None taken," Kiafus chuckled in good humor. "I find that the steady and generous paycheck does wonders to soothe the wounds of all the 'corpo' insults. I simply dry my tears with credsticks. Painfully inefficient, but it's the thought that counts, no?"
"What a… colorful culture you have here…" Obi-Wan sighed. "I dearly hope my impressionable young Padawan doesn't pick up any of the local mannerisms on this mission."
I almost but didn't quite snort. Good luck with that. V had already commed me to say that Ani was running with her and Smasher for the day. Flatlining slavers, no less. I didn't tell her Master or the senators, though. Far be it from me to ruin a girl's 'justified violence' fun.
Lucky, lucky Chosen One, getting in on the violence while I was stuck here talkin' and signin'… It would've been a good day to slammit on with acceptable targets, break some chains…
IIIII
— Ani —
'Nova… Definitely a day to remember,' Ani thought. She wasn't just ready. She was doing it. Doing, living, being the change she'd always dreamed of.
She threw herself up entire levels of the undercity in Force-powered leaps and bounds. The freedom of movement here, freedom to truly cut loose was… something else. She couldn't wait to try it back on Coruscant when Obi-Wan wasn't watching.
The location V had sent her was marked in her mind. The Force guided her better than any nav-system. Another group of acceptable targets would await her there, Ani knew. Another party of 'remnant' slavers. And all the chains they tried to impose, Ani would break. All of their attempted depradations on a population only now coming to know freedom, Ani would ruin.
Above miles of freefall, skylanes that went as deep as any ocean trench, Ani came to rest on an open balcony. She perched on the railing, caught her breath, and judged her next leap. From the corner of her eye, she saw an adorably tiny Twi'lek boy staring out the balcony's glass door at her. His eyes were as wide as they could physically go, and his little mouth was stretched in an awed 'O'.
Ani grinned and waved as she leaped away. His wonder in the Force was a warmth of simple Light-sided goodness that bolstered Ani's heart. Something as simple as seeing a Jedi had made that kid's whole life. Ani couldn't put words to the relief she felt, knowing that on Free Nar Shaddaa, that boy and so many younglings like him would never know chains.
Once she reached the same level as her Force nav-point, Ani began running. She had a clock to beat, after all, and something to prove. That asshole Smasher wouldn't get all of the action if Ani had anything to say about it.
He thought she couldn't 'hang'? She'd show him. She could hang. Hell, she could do more than that. Ani was strong, and she had something worth fighting for. What did the metal bastard have? A love of murder that would've had Ani going after him in any other situation? Fighting for freedom in Mighty Leia's name trumped that every time.
As Ani ran, her Force nav-point updated itself, now moving. It was coming straight at her. Ani trusted the Force, and prepared herself for contact. The sounds of action reached her ears from a few blocks out. The actual sight of that action wasn't far behind.
A whole light freighter — a YT-1930 — was barreling its way through the skylanes of Free Nar Shaddaa, with little — if any — thought given to collateral damage. The skylanes could accommodate an actual starship of its size… but they really, really shouldn't. In particularly narrow spots, the edges of the ship's hull were scraping against glass and steel, and everywhere else, the ship was plowing straight through speeders unlucky enough to get in its way.
It blitzed its way through the skylane with desperate determination, utterly unwilling to go quietly. A small luxury speeder and its pilot went up in a ball of flames and debris. A gaping gouge was carved from a building on the side of the skylane as the freighter swerved. It dipped slightly, barely avoiding another speeder, and its quad-laser turret began to fire. Ani soon saw just what hunter it was shooting at.
The ship was leading a chase. Behind it came a figure of metal, a bit less than a third its size. Matte-black and terrifying, Smasher came like an angel of death. The YT-1930 fled in its devastating flight, but Smasher was right on its heels. Ani saw a tiny figure clinging onto Smasher's shoulders — V, unafraid of the metal rancor she was riding.
Quad-laser bolts tracked the monster on the freighter's tail. Half came to splash in bursts of fiery plasma against a deflector shield as the turret got a bead on Smasher. He didn't seem to care at all. Not even about the half of the bolts that missed him, flying freely into their surroundings to terrible effect. Unmoved, Smasher kept coming.
Ani cared, though. The comm earpiece she wore connected to V's comm unit, and Ani made her feelings known.
"Watch it! Kill that turret! Quick!"
Unfortunately for Ani's blood pressure, Smasher was also included in the comm call, "YOU'RE LATE, SKYWALKER. WE STARTED WITHOUT YOU."
"Yeah, and fucked everything up, I see!" Ani shouted back.
She leaped to join the chase and put a stop to the wanton collateral damage. Up, off a populated platform that was quickly clearing out, she Force Bounced her way off walls and windows. To her, then, gravity was merely a suggestion that would get in the way of stopping this action before any more innocents could die.
Her legs pumped and churned. The Force boosted her movement. And a frustratingly callous voice growled in her ear.
"I'M OUTFITTED FOR SQUISHIES. THESE CUNTS WERE QUICK TO RUN TO THEIR LITTLE SHELL. AS IF IT WOULD SAVE 'EM."
"Are there slaves inside?" Ani asked, deadly insistent.
"Yeah, Skywalker. Unfortunately," V answered. "Don't worry, I'm keeping the big rancor's iron in check for now."
"PAIN IN MY BRUTAL METAL ASS," Smasher grumbled. "COULD'VE SHOT THIS FUCKER OUTTA THE SKY IF I HAD MY GAUSS."
"And the slaves?!" Ani snapped.
"NOT MY PROBLEM. I LEAVE THE CLEAN-UP TO ALL YOU LITTLE CUNTS."
V sighed, "It's true. His messes are my gig. Sucks, ya know? But it's what I get paid good scratch for."
"Not this time," Ani scowled. "If you harm a single one of my siblings in this, I will hunt you down, Smasher."
The metal bastard just chuckled, "SOUNDS LIKE AN INVITATION TO A GOOD TIME, FORCE-MEAT."
"We'll see if you're still saying that when I carve your soul from that metal frame!" Ani shouted back.
Her shout was accompanied by one last Force Leap. Ani flew. She was untethered. Free, and not falling, even a little bit. Then, Smasher's frustratingly amused chuckles filled her ear, ruining the moment.
"YOU'VE GOT FIRE IN YOU, SKYWALKER. I'LL GIVE YOU THAT. STILL A DOZEN YEARS TOO EARLY TO CHALLENGE ME, BUT EVERYONE NEEDS A DREAM TO AIM FOR, YEAH? KEEP THAT FIRE BURNING, AND WE MIGHT JUST MEET IN THE ONLY WAY THAT REALLY FRAGGIN' MATTERS…"
Ani landed atop the speeding freighter with her lightsaber already lit. The Force stuck her there, unwilling to be shaken off. That quad-laser turret was the first target she went for. It tried to swivel her way. Ani popped it straight off the hull with a mighty Force Push.
Then, she was on the wound she'd made in the hull, burrowing deeper with her 'saber. The turret's former mount gave way to a flurry of 'saber strikes, slashes that broke through quicker than the usual slow and steady hole she would've cut. Another Force Push barged her way inside.
Ani didn't waste a moment. She knew all of the YT-series' internal plans like second nature — what pilot worth their salt didn't? The cockpit was her destination, and only a few droids — future scrap piles — blocked her way.
In bare seconds, Ani carved her way through the freighter's internal security. One of the organic leaders for this fleeing slaver party was waiting for her at the door into the cockpit. He — a Trandoshan — had a scattergun, cocked and ready.
The massive lizard-sentient never got the chance to pull the trigger. Ani's 'saber flashed through the aimed barrel and the fleshy fingers holding it. Another slash sent the Trandoshan's arm flying from the shoulder. And for good measure, Ani slammed him with the Force, pushing his head straight into the door frame with a tremendous crash.
While Trandoshan healing was legendary, Ani put… a lot of Force into that push. His skull cracked right open to the gray matter, and he slumped over limp. Then, Ani was past him, right as the ship's pilot tried to send the freighter into a suicide dive. That one — a Falleen man — pushed straight forward on the ship's stick. Ani removing his head didn't help matters, as his decapitated body just about lodged the stick in an unrecoverable position.
Well, unrecoverable to anyone else. Ani was simply built different. The body was shoved out of the way, and Ani took up the stick in a flash. The ship's dive was headed straight for a gap that would've let only the cockpit through. With a jerk, Ani sent the whole ship sideways so it slid through.
Easy as picking herself up after a stumble, Ani recovered stable flight for the freighter. V's voice came through her comm earpiece a moment after the ship would've disappeared from her and Smasher's sight.
"Still with us, Skywalker?"
"I didn't hear any explosion, did you?" Ani replied, the smirk likely audible in her tone.
V laughed, "Nah, 'guess I didn't. Good flying, girl."
"ANY MEAT LEFT FOR ME TO SLAUGHTER?" Smasher asked.
Ani checked behind her, seeing the Trandoshan's open head wound already scaling over with his species' healing factor, "… Yeah, actually. I got a prisoner."
"For real?" V whistled. "Good shit. We haven't had any luck with that so far."
"WE WOULDN'T," Smasher growled. "I DON'T TAKE PRISONERS."
"You know what I mean," Ani could hear V's eyeroll. "These fuckers have been determined to flatline fightin'. Maybe now we can get some actual detes on this sitch."
"Kill me…! Kill me now…!" A croaky voice came out of the Trandoshan as he recovered enough to speak but not move. "Send me to the Scorekeeper so I may collect before the Dark One ruins my record!"
"… Dark One?" Ani asked, glancing back and forth between her prisoner and the viewscreen in front of her.
"The Dark One! The Blackest Sun!" The Trandoshan repeated and elaborated, unseemly terror seeping into his voice. "I feel him watching! Even now! No…! No, I will not ruin my score!"
A warning rang out for Ani in the Force, but stuck flying the ship, she couldn't respond to it in time. In what must've been a terrific show of suicidal will, the half-brain-dead Trandoshan forced its remaining arm to move. It snatched a vibroblade from its belt and shoved the pointy end right into its own head wound. Strings were cut in an instant. The lizard-sentient died without a gurgle, determined to head straight for its god rather than this 'Dark One's' clutches.
"Fuck…!" Ani swore. "… Scratch that prisoner. He just… zeroed himself. Like all the others I've come across."
"Heard that," V said, her voice much too calm. "Still, we got something from it. 'Dark One'? 'Blackest Sun'? Atom needs to hear this one."
"THAT WHAT YOU HEARD?" Smasher asked with a scoff. "I JUST HEARD MORE FUN COMIN' OUR WAY."
"Fun…" Ani muttered. "That's one way to put it."
"THE ONLY WAY. LEARN THAT WELL, SKYWALKER."
"… Around here, I just might."
With nothing else to do about the slavers, Ani reached out through the rest of the ship with the Force. In the cargo hold, she sensed half a dozen freshly chained stars, terrified but still whole. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Worrying as all this evidence of encroaching darkness was, it was still a good day to break chains…
IIIII
— Atom —
'Could've made this a day to remember,' I internally grumbled. 'Crushing fuck-ass slavers who think they can test me alongside Smasher, V, and Miss Chosen One… But nah, I'm stuck here. Talking…'
"Right," Finally, I found the space in front of me clear of anything more to sign, coordinate, or delegate. "If we're gonna get to talking, let's get to talking. Still pushing for peace that can't happen? Or has… something changed?"
It was the latter. I knew that before even asking. Padme had a good heart. Too good for Hutt Space. She wouldn't have been able to hear the stories of the Freed and maintain her course in ignorance. My impression was confirmed by the way she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"… Indeed, something has changed," Padme nodded. "I… was wrong about the situation here on Free Nar Shaddaa."
I blinked at that. Outright admitting it…? Wasn't that, like, Politics 101? Never take the blame, even if you're changing course? Deflect, deflect, deflect, instead? My estimation of Padme rose, and honestly, it was already pretty high. It was hard to hate someone who truly believed and acted on what they preached.
"Damn…" Gloria seemed stunned, too, but she recovered quickly. "Then, should we just start over from scratch? No judgment, no assumptions, just reality?"
"We think that would be for the best," Bail smiled his charming smile. Very politician, but it didn't come across falsely from him. "Confronted with new facts, we've had to reassess and reconsider our mission here. Now, we won't insult the stories we heard by pushing for a ceasefire."
"Old Jon and Pavel and Lita and so many more, they deserve better," Padme firmly stated. "Stubbornly sticking to our original plan would be spitting in their faces. Even suggesting to open a dialogue that the Hutts would take in bad faith would be a wound I'm not willing to inflict."
"We're still here for peace, make no mistake," Bail continued. "But we know now that negotiating with the other side isn't an option, either moral or practical."
"We could've just told you that. Hell, I'm pretty sure I did, Padme-girl," Sasha snorted. "In between the-…"
"Ah-ah-ah! Shush!" Padme hurriedly cut her off. "That is hardly relevant right now!"
"They needed to see it for themselves," De'vi softly reminded, bringing us back on track. "I'll speak for all of my siblings when I say we don't blame you for your ignorance, Senators. Not when you haven't languished in it, as it chains your minds."
"We'll do better," Padme said, her back straight and her voice resolute. "Be better. And it begins here."
… Dammit all, I believed her. "… Good to see you've realized the truth in the Gonk motto."
"Motto?" Padme asked with a fetching tilt of her pretty head ('Focus,' I pushed that thought from my mind.)
Serious as can be, I said, "Fuck a Hutt."
The Gonk Motto startled a laugh out of Bail, and a begrudgingly amused grimace from Padme, "… Crass, but after yesterday, I can't say it's undeserved."
"What now, then?" Gloria asked. "How will you put action to this new perspective?"
Openly, earnestly, Padme answered, "By working with you all, and saying — much less crassly and more formally — 'Fuck a Hutt'."
"Hah!" Linth barked a laugh. "She ain't half bad for a high and mighty, peace-pushin' politician!"
"None of that," I shook my head. "She recognized and even admitted that she was wrong. And she's trying. She might not be our usual kind of people, but we will give her the respect she deserves for that."
Padme stared at me with a complicated expression as I defended her, "… Thank you, Atom."
Off to my side, Sasha was enthusiastically wiggling her eyebrows Padme's way. If she had cat ears, they would've been wiggling, too. Padme and I glanced at her, then at each other. By some unspoken agreement, we ignored the mischievous cyberkitty completely.
"How exactly are you planning on working with us?" Gloria asked, staying on topic and proving I was right to make her our diplomatic head. "It's the detes that matter here. A statement of support would be all well and good, but it's still just words. Those don't matter much out here, certainly not like they matter in the Core."
"We have a few ideas," Bail shared. "An official statement on the situation on Free Nar Shaddaa from Padme and I — Naboo and Alderaan — is one of them, yes. But we'll also be looking for… cooperation. And we have another proposal. A suggestion, really, for the newly founded state we're granting legitimacy. We dearly hope you will heed it."
"Cooperation first," I decided. "What's the gig?"
With just a glance, Padme yielded the speaking stick to Bail, and he hummed, "Hmm, how much do you know about Alderaan's reputation? More specifically, our rarely advertised covert capabilities?"
I wasn't, and my blank look must've told him that. Some of the others around the table, though, sat us straight at the question.
"The peace spooks?" Linth asked.
Maine let out a low whistle, "That's big league shit right there."
"I truly thought they were just a rumor," Kiafus mused to himself.
"I assure you, they are not, though I never get tired of that reveal," Bail chuckled. "The Alderaan Espionage Corps are very real, very good at what they do, and also… very impressed with the work your people have already begun. We would like to work with the Gonk Cartel on a not-so-little project we've codenamed HUTT FILES: a holistic investigation into all of the Hutt Cartels and all they've done throughout the galaxy for the last millennium."
"Sounds professional," I commented noncommittally.
"That's an understatement, kid," Maine informed me. "Alderaan's got spooks with galactic reach, and barely anyone realizes they're anything more than rumor. If you know, you don't, 'cause gonks start disappearin' all quiet-like. Trust me, you wanna take this offer."
"Forgive my initiative, but the orders have already been sent," Bail said. "Quite a few resources are being pivoted onto this new project. Quite a few, indeed… We'll be investigating the Hutt Cartels with or without your cooperation, but we'd much rather it be with. Even by our standards, your slicers are in a tier of their own."
"Netrunners," Sasha corrected. "But… yeah, I could swing this. We've got paydata for days and keep getting more of it. It's just hard to get it organized and out there for people to see. Professional help would… well, help."
"Get it done, then," I nodded. "Expose the slugs for the whole galaxy to see their slimy cracks."
Padme's face screwed up in disgust (and still managed to look beautiful like that, somehow…), "An awful but accurate mental picture. Thank you for that, Atom."
"It'll be good to prove we're able to work with outsiders," Gloria nodded in approval of my decision. "And the second part? The proposal?"
"That…" Padme began slowly. "We're prepared to recognize Free Nar Shaddaa as a sovereign state, independent of any other sovereignty. We just suggest that… a new state has new laws in writing to go with its official inception and recognition."
"Laws, tch," Linth clicked his tongue. "Tricky, tricky subject out here in, ya know, lawless space…"
"We're not suggesting our laws," Padme quickly reassured. "Free Nar Shaddaa isn't part of the Republic, and we don't expect it to become a copy. Instead, we suggest setting your newly won freedom in ink and flimsy, in an official decree. We're suggesting — and the credit goes to Ani for the name —… Mighty Leia's Laws."
I was struck with a sort of weighty stillness as that name rang through the Force. Just like the earlier ringing that morning, but now I knew what it'd been for.
Mighty Leia's Laws. Fuck… it was a great name. Fuck… it was a great idea. It represented everything we'd fought for and won here on Free Nar Shaddaa. And more than that, it had legs. Legs that could walk it and our movement across the whole damn galaxy, everywhere there were chains.
Fuck… Already, I was so in. I knew, as soon as I heard the name, that after signing it into existence with ink and blood spilled… every day would be a good day to break some fraggin' chains.
IIIII
[AN: I couldn't fit everything I wanted to in this chapter, but that's fine. It'll roll over well into the next. Which, I'm pretty sure, is going to be the last of this little diplomacy mini-arc. I'm planning for public appearance fun, making history with the signing of Mighty Leia's Laws, and then a detour for Ani to pick up Shmi on their way back to Coruscant. After that, Atom and co. will be back on the warpath, along with an 'Official Reports' interlude on Coruscant, and the opening notes of a very different 'Episode II: Attack of the Clones', what with both Dooku and Palpatine having to really play for keeps and all the other butterflies…
Oh, and this is far from Ani and Padme's last appearance in the story. They should return rather quickly, actually… Or maybe that should be that Atom and the crew will be coming to them… About time the Gonks got more involved in canon, neh?
Anyway, I'll leave you all for now with some Becca booty. I regret that she hasn't really had much chance to shine in the story recently, but that's just how it is for now. She'll get more 'screen time' once the action starts back up.]