The Only Good Hutt...

[Dravis Rosilla]

Dex the Hutt looked to the Human for the first time, a hint of... respect?... in those deep yellow eyes. It was difficult to tell, as respect was something Hutts rarely gave. But yet, the Hutt blinked its affirmation, the situation dying quickly as the intimidating negotiation turned into something the crime boss understood to a better degree.

"Fine. You Jedi are scum. But..." The Hutt whispered, hesitating. "You're less of scum than those Sith."

"It is not as if I wanted to take the deal, little Jedi. I was strong-armed into it. Did I complain? No. Complaining will kill you on this planet. But I did get some insurance. A few of my best slicers grabbed up something. I do not suppose you would like to hear it?"

"If it wouldn't be an inconvenience." Tyyni regrew his smug smile, giving off an arrogant air more like his species.

"All they got was a name. Casta-something-or-other. I forget." The Hutt scratched his chin. A young man with a cybernetic eye ran up to the Hutt, and whispered something in his ear. "Yeah. Castamere. That's all I know. I swear. Now, leave me in peace."

Tyyni cocked a head. He had never heard of this 'Castamere'. Was it a person? A place? An artifact? He wasn't sure. In all of his studies at the Voss library, he was drawing a blank. "Ah... Hmm..." Tyyni spoke into his earpiece, carefully hiding his words in public. "What should we do with him?"

- [member="Sorel Crieff"] -

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel relaxed slightly. The Hutt had shared enough information to be useful. Was he holding anything back? Most likely, but to press further would not necessarily yield anything positive and given the Hutts were immune to things like Mind Tricks, there were only so many avenues that could be explored to get him to comply further.

The present situation could be considered a win-win, which was never a bad thing.

And she pondered Tyyni’s question for a second or so before responding softly into the comm-link, “Nature abhors a vacuum they say. And crime syndicates hate it even more. If we take him out of the equation, who knows who might fill his place. We have a measure of this one and he knows it. I say it’s better to have him in residence than a devil we don’t know. Is that OK with you?”

[member="Tyyni Oluja"]

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

Tyyni thought about the idea of letting the Hutt go. Sorel's statement made sense; a power vacuum would surely destroy much of what resembled law on this planet. As much as Tyyni didn't like letting the Hutt go free after trying to kill him, he realized it was the most strategically sound plan.

Letting bad men go didn't make one a bad man. He supposed.

Tyyni gave Dex a disapproving stare, green eyes flaring. Tyyni turned on his body quickly, assisted by the force. "I hope you achieve what material goods you lust." Tyyni smiled, letting his lips part grossly. He decided not to wish them luck. Luck was the last thing these gangsters needed.

He began to slowly crawl out, his confidence immediately dropping as he faced away from his fellow Hutt. He looked to his fellow Jedi for comfort. Padawan Oluja had been acting like a Hutt for too long. He was even starting to feel dirty.

- [member="Sorel Crieff"] -

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel bowed to the crime lord and spoke loudly enough for him to hear but not enough for his henchmen to overhear.

“We shall let you continue…for now. Your activities are barely legal but we have encountered worse. So we shall monitor you. And that is not a threat to close you down but rather to let slip to the wider community that you are in our pocket. I’m sure the Sith would not take kindly to such a thought. So make money – it’s hardly a crime, even if it is immoral – but remain at least close to the right side of the law. Slave trafficking going forward will not be tolerated. There should be enough to keep you wealthy from the other vices you feed here.”

With that she turned and fell into step with Tyyni. “You did well back there. Our goal is always the greater good and I believe we achieved that. Plus, the information we gleaned from him will prove useful to someone down the line. Unless it’s something you wanted to progress yourself?”

[member="Tyyni Oluja"]

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

The two found themselves walking along a busy street in Bilbousa, bright signs and raunchy stenches surrounding them. Tyyni looked up to his fellow padawan, a hint of concern in his eye.

"Do you think so? It felt strange, being... what I was supposed to be, if I weren't a Jedi, that is. Also, it felt..." Tyyni struggled to find the right word, debating over a few choices. "Empowering, I guess. I wasn't afraid of what they thought of me, because to them, I was an all-powerful Hutt. No high-standards, no expectations... Just adoration. And fear." The Huttlet frowned.

"I am glad I ended up where I am. I could never imagine having to keep that up every day, for thousands of years." Tyyni chuckled. "I have to give the Hutts credit for that, I suppose."

Tyyni passed a vendor selling frogs over a spit, and considered buying one, before realizing the importance of the information they carried. "I do not know if I want to pursue this further. Slave rings and Sith... I am not experienced enough to take that on. We should probably fill out a report for the Council, and if you wish to pursue this further, be my guest." Tyyni kept his smile, giggling a little. "I have had it with criminals and darkness. When we get to the ship, I have a meditation mat with my name on it."

- [member="Sorel Crieff"] -

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel listened and held her tongue. There was no benefit in jumping in with opinions right away, she would let Tyyni speak until he had said his piece before she even considered responding.

Finally he stopped and she gave a few moments of silence space until she was sure he had finished. “We achieved our mission. No innocents lost their lives. We gained valuable intelligence and neutralised some key henchmen in his organisation. And he is beholden to us, which gives us future leverage. That should be your focus.”

“And going undercover is fraught with dangers, especially for a Jedi. Allowing emotions to surface when we would typically look to move away from negative ones – like pride or hatred. But you achieved what you achieved, never lose sight of that.”

“And for what it’s worth, I concur with you. The information gets passed upstairs and the Council can decide what to do with it and who to assign. And the prospect of a long meditation sounds enticing. I can see myself plotting a long hyperspace journey and using the time to relax, clear my mind and simply connect with the Force.”

“But before I go, I wish to thank you. For allowing me to assist you in this mission and for your conduct throughout. Exemplary. Nothing more and nothing less.”

She bowed to her fellow Jedi and then headed towards her own ship.

[member="Tyyni Oluja"]