An Unthinkable Alliance

Chapter 3

Nal Hutta

The time had came for Shaak Ti to do the nasty part in her mission. She knew that if she didn't, she would fail and then the Republic will be crushed. In the Main Hall, Tabarous was alone with An'hara and she. Both were in dancing suits, much more revealing than the Jedi Master would have wanted.
'You can start!
The dancer made the first move, and started twhirlingg around, moving her hands around her body. Shaak Ti followed her lead and they started to dance as one. The Hutt leader seemed impressed. He was preparing to give another order when a bounty hunter came barging into the room. Tabarous was obviously very furious. He called the gamorreans from a backdoor.
'What is the meaning of this!
'My lord! Commander Bakuntu has failed! Our supply centre was destroyed by General Grievous!
'Aaarghhhh! I thought I said to kill that droid! What is he after?
'Master... he is enrouting us...
'What?!
'He almost triangulated our planet. Soon, he will have us under siege.
'Idiot! How can you allow an outsider to strike at the heart of the Hutt space! My ancestors rules from here for millenias, before even the Republic was formed!
Tabarous glared at the bounty hunter. His eyes then sudennly lighted darkly.
'Come closer, captain.
'Of course, master.
The bounty hunter obeyed and approached the huge Hutt.
'Now, my new slavegirl will witness what happens to incompetent fools!
Shaak Ti watched in horror as Tabarous activated a switch and the carpet under the captain revealed a trap. The poor man fell in a pit.
'Release my pets!
Under them, Shaak Ti watched helpless as the man screamed in pain when 6 manka cats ripped him apart.
'Now, continue dancing!
On the cruel melody of the dying sounds made by the captain, Shaak Ti started to dance...

The Invisible Hand

The bridge of the General's flagship was dead silent. With their leader deep in thoughts, the droids were working without producing a sound or movement. It almost seemed like a scene made of statues. The Confederate Fleet was heading to Hosko, the food supplier of Nal Hutta. With both the army and food facilities down and the Kol Dooine space station destroyed, Nal Hutta was pretty much left alone in a sea of dead planets. The only supplier left was Nar Shadda but it's small size made it unsufficient in the battle to come. Grievous was thinking why didn't the Republic came. He knew that the idiot that was ruling the Senate, Palpatine was harsh in his actions and always wanted war. Grievous was actually wanting a fight with clones, rather than untrained pirates. He haven's seen a Jedi in weeks and he craved a new lightsaber. He hopes that after the ordeal with the slimy Hutt, Dooku would send him on a more glorious mission. Grievous heard the report of a droid and growled, annoyed by the fact that he had been disturbed.
'Sir, we are reaching the Hosko orbit.
'Send all droids to battle stations! Is there any large force awaiting us?
'We are detecting considerable large ships.
'What did you say? What large ships?
Before the droids could answer, the Confederate Fleet left the Hyperspace.
Grievous glared through the windows at a medium-sized pirate fleet. However, the enemy force was led by two dreadnoughts, almost as big as the Invisible Hand. What caught Grievous attention was their side cannons. They had a familiar shape.
'Sir, they don't attack us.
The two flagships started to change their position, trying to point their strange cannons. Then, the truth hit the cyborg in the head.
'How in the damned galaxy did these useless pirates got Ion Cannons on their ships?!Captain, lead the battle in my absence. Place all shields at 200% power in the front!
'Yes, Gene...
But Grievous already fled to the Hangar Door. He contacted his magnaguards all around the ship.
'Get into your starfighters and follow me!
The cyborg jumped into his Soulless One and got away in space. He had to destroy those ships before they could shoot. If they did, his fleet will be left in shambles. In his back, 20 magnaguard fighters were following him. Evading a few hits, Grievous sped to the first dreadnought. To his surprise, it didn't have the flaw the Malevolence had. That made his mission harder, but not impossible. He barked at the comlink:
"I want 15 of you to board the other dreadnought and disable it's powercore in record time! The rest of you, follow me in the hangar!
The suqadron divided and Grievous went into the first ship's bay. A few dozens pilots were waiting with their blasters ready...

Nal Hutta

The night on the swampy planet was always dark and cold. Shaak Ti was hating this planet, every inch of it. She got tired of dancing around half-naked for the Hutt. Even if Yoda said to wait for the right moment, Shaak Ti decided to speed uo things. She was sneaking in the corridors to the restricted area. No one was there. She sighed relieved."The Force is with me"she said.
The Jedi Master reached the entrance to the Ion Cannon computer. She observed the door was locked by a combination of code. A code she didn't knew. She frowned at the obstacle. Now she had to return quickly.
Sudennly, she heard a footstep. Then another. And another. Coming. She had nowhere to hide and no excuse to say. Then from the dark appeared the familiar figure of An'hara.
'What are you doing here?she whispered confused.
'I could ask the same question.
'Yesterday I had left something in that room. It was very important to me.
She pointed in the back of Shaak Ti.
'Maybe I can help you look out for it.
'You could. But still, why are you here?
'I woke up needing to go to bathroom and lost myself.
'A gamorrean would be very suspicious. Lucky I found you. Let's get this over quickly.
An'hara typed the code and entered along Shaak Ti.
'I think I left it on that table. I was speaking with an enginner when I lost it.
Shaak Ti took profit of the blackness of the room and went to the computer. Being togruta, she was able to see better in darkness than other species, say An'hara's human one. The computer was locked but it was connected by a cable. Shaak Ti wanted to use her lightsaber but that would give away her position. A blaster. She looked at An'hara.
'Have you found it.
'No. You have to go to sleep. I will find her.
An'hara felt the need to repeat it and even believe the words Shaak Ti said.
'I have to go to sleep. You'll find the letter I was looking for. 'Night!
With that, An'hara left the room. Shaak Ti looked at the table and saw a gun, some files, a half-eaten sandwich and the letter An'hara was looking for. She picked the blaster and letter. After shooting the cable until it was destroyed, Shaak Ti closed the door and went back to her room.

Hosko's orbit

A terrible victory. Before Grievous destroyed the Reactor Core, the dreadnought managed to fire at least once. Heavy casualties have been inflicted and his a quarter of his fleet was destroyed and another one damaged.
'Sir, should we bombard the surface? Wouldn't it be wiser to collect the resources, given their value?
'No, captain! I want all those pirates to be consumed by flames! Secure me a call to Count Dooku!
'Yes General!
Grievous went to his quarters and opened the holo-projector. The old man appeared instantly.
'Yes, General? I trust you have completed your task?
'Almost. Nal Hutta is nearly in my grasp!
'Well, what is then the purpose of thus call? Surely you don't want a chat...
'The pirates I have faced on Hosko had ships with Ion Cannons!
Dooku frowned.
'Interesting. So the Hutt Empire has this kind of technology in their arsenal.
'Even better. No flaw in their cannons. Upgraded schematics. How is this possible? I have recognized the Malevolence design in them.
Dooku frowned.
'That is... unknown to me. I will investigate further.
'I find it hard to believe Nal Hutta will be easy to capture with this kind of weapons at their disposal.
'Is that why you called me? You want more ships?
'You are mistaken. I merely informed you.
Grievous closed the holo before the Count could say more. He still had around 75 capital ships, but he was reluctant to believe he will crush the Hutt. Merely defeat him...