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Chapter 100 - Down with the Slavers

A few days passed, and finally the day had arrived. The atmosphere on the Luminary was not tense at all as everybody onboard was a veteran who had served a minimum of 50 years. Most had been in battles and were highly decorated, and with the Emperor onboard, the thought of defeat was not even on their minds.

Daimon departed from the Luminary and headed to the Grand Hutt Palace where the gathering was happening. With him was Elara, Sera, Lord Maxim, and a few Empyrean Guards. Supporting them they had orbital drop pods filled with even more Empyrean Guards, ready to drop in and support Daimon when everything kicked off.

Upon their arrival, Khasto was the one sent to greet them. "Honored guests, we have prepared a reception for you. The Grand Hutt Council is eager to see you."

Daimon said a few words before they followed Khasto into the palace. Along the way, he could feel the increase in the number of guards around the palace with a few locations having entire groups of guards.

Inside, the palace felt less like an actual seat of governance and more like a casino crossed with a gladiatorial arena. On the ceiling, a tank of fortune fish flickered luminescent blues as they passed overhead. Musicians played strange chords on strange instruments; the guests wore some fine silk clothing, some wearing some strange armor, which Daimon guessed to be unique to their culture.

After a few minutes, they eventually made it to the gathering hall and were quickly surrounded by powerful Hutt clan leaders who were simply curious about Daimon and his race. Most didn't know what was going to happen later on in the night as the Grand Hutt Council kept it secret.

These interactions showed Daimon that not all Hutts were greedy power hungry bastards. It was just most of them that were that way.

Ever since they entered, Sera and Elara have been getting stares from around the room. Some even tried to talk with them but were either brushed off or intimidated by Daimon.

From a distance, one Hutt clan leader saw this and approached the group with his entourage. "You must be this Daimon, I've heard so much about."

Daimon turned and looked down at the Hutt. "Yes, what can I do for you Hutt." he replied, provoking the Hutt to see what he would do.

"Clearly you have not been taught the manners to use when addressing those above you. Though that can all be forgotten if you lend me your woman." said the Hutt seductively.

In that moment, timed seemed to have slowed down as one moment Daimon was standing still, but in the next moment, his hand was inside of the Hutts chest. Daimon had reached in and grabbed his heart, squeezing it hard, causing it to burst.

The Hutt fell to the ground and the people around him backed up in fear, while the other leaders called for their hired mercenaries. In seconds, dozens of mercenaries burst through the doors and started to surround Daimon and his entourage.

Lord Maxim and the Empyrean Guards had already put their helmets on and placed their hands on their vibro swords.

"Now, as I have witnessed within the streets of Nal Hutta, the Hutts are not fit to rule and thus I will create a new society. All of those who wish to survive will lay down their arms now, those who don't, can continue to resist, but they will not live long." Daimon wanted offer some of them a chance to change sides now at the bare minimum.

But nobody budged a muscle and the Hutts started to laugh. "You are an alien on our world; you hold no power here." Said one of the Hutts.

Gardulla also came forward and raised his hand. "Anybody who kills that man and subdue that purple bastard will receive wealth beyond their imagination."

This was all the mercenaries needed to hear as they opened fire. Kinetic shots flew through the air, all bouncing off the shields of the Empyrean Guards and the Force Shields around Daimon, Elara, and Sera.

Sera grabbed her lightsaber and charged into the mercenaries, mercilessly killing them without any remorse. After witnessing the society these people fought for, she believed that they deserved to die to rid the galaxy of their presence.

The Empyrean Guard also advanced forward with their vibro swords in their hands, cutting down any mercenary in their way. The Hutts had already made a break for it, using the mercenaries as meat shields to run away.

"Initiate the operation," Daimon said giving orders over his comlink.

In Orbit, the Luminary and its escorts started to move forward, launching hundreds of fighters and its complement of frigates. They were going to break through the orbital defenses and then send ground troops to invade the planet.

As they got close, fighters escorted the bombers who one shotted the defense platforms which were significantly weaker than the weapons the Imperium had.

This allowed the orbital drop pods to be launched without being intercepted. These pods were filled with Empyrean Guards whose entire existence was to execute Daimon's will. Anybody who got in the way was considered an enemy and would be treated as such.

Back on the ground, the mercenaries had been cleared out, and a few prisoners were taken from a few people who surrendered, which were mostly slaves and other servants. Sera and 3 Empyrean Guards were sent to search for the Grand Hutt Council and kill them.

Daimon walked through the halls as mercenaries ran away for their lives or tried to fight and died. He continued to climb the stairs, going towards the Grand Chamber of the Hutt council where he could feel their presence.

Near the top, a bunch of bodyguards tried to rally, setting up a firing line. But Daimon simply raised his hand and blocked the incoming shots as he advanced. In the next moment he disappeared from their sights and reappeared behind them, killing 5 in an instant with his bare hands.

He didn't even need to use his lightsaber for this fight as he could cut them in half by reinforcing his hand with the Force and then making a knife hand to cut piercing their bodies. It was a brutal method that decreased the morale of the others who saw their buddies behind cut down.

A few deaths later and he had reached the council's chamber and found the surviving members of the Grand Council huddled together in the center, their faces full of terror. Sera was already there, surrounded by dead guards with her lightsaber aimed at their throats.

Gardulla tried to bargain once more, hoping not to lose his life. "We…. we can make a deal now please! I will give you anything you want."

"You had your chance," Daimon replied. "The only thing left now is to face the consequences of your actions." Sera raised her lightsaber and delivered the finishing blow to the remaining members of the Hutt Council.

With their leadership pretty much gone, Hutt control would be thoroughly diminished and potentially create smaller factions from within.

Within half an hour, the palace was secured, and Imperial troops were already landing and disembarking from their transports. The Grand Palace was going to be transformed into a central command center for the ground troops.

Across the planets, Imperial troops were landing in the major cities of Nal Hutta fighting off the enforcers and mercenaries who supported the Hutts. Nobody knew that the Hutt Council was dead and currently they were fighting for nothing but to honor their contracts.

Bilbousa, the capital city, was the first to be hit. The skies were completely dominated by the Imperial starfighters, targeting enforcer compounds and bunkered mercenary crews. Their orders were to strike critical defensive locations to limit Imperial troops from being overwhelmed.

Slave populations had even begun to rebel against their masters. A few hours later, news started to spread through black market channels across Nar Shaddaa and the lesser moons, that the Hutt Council was dead.

In addition to this, Daimon had sent a message across the Hutt controlled space calling for all mercenaries to join him and they would be spared and given a chance to live and see the future.

In response, tens of thousands had joined him on Nal Hutta, but there was silence from the other worlds. There were even reports that some of the gangs who were being suppressed by the Hutts decided to seize power for themselves.

This complicated the situation significantly. What should have been a straightforward military occupation was rapidly devolving into a multi-faction power struggle. Daimon stood in the converted command center of the Grand Palace, studying holographic displays showing the chaos spreading across Hutt space.

"Reports coming in from Nar Shaddaa," Captain Ryven announced. "Three major criminal syndicates are fighting for control of the moon's major districts. Several big syndicates and a coalition of smaller gangs have all declared themselves the new authority."

"Casualties?" Daimon asked.

"Civilian casualties are mounting. These gangs are more interested in controlling territory than protecting the population. Entire districts will be burning as the days pass."

Commodore Kelthar approached, his expression grim. "My Lord, we have the military capacity to intervene, but spreading our forces across multiple contested worlds will strain our logistics considerably. We could deploy the War droids, that way we won't strain ourselves too much."

Daimon turned away from the displays and thought about it for a minute. Before long he was done and had come up with his answer. "Deploy them, we need to secure Nal Hutta fast so that we can start training up a local army to deal with these problems." In addition to the soldiers, they also brought 2 million War Droids with them.

Kelthar nodded and relayed his orders. Daimon was already prepared to remain here for some years. After that he would appoint someone to oversee this region so that he can move on.

Already the gangs were trying to take advantage of the chaos. With the central authority of the Grand Hutt Council gone, others would try to fill that void themselves, seeking wealth and power.

People were going to die but things would need to get worse before they got better. That's one of the hardships of life, especially one where you were born into slavery and lived most of your life as slave to a master you didn't chose. Luckily Daimon was here to provide them with a better path in life, one where they could choose what they wanted to do and free from the oppression of slavery.

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