V.2-C.81│Casus Belli VI│

"My kajidics! They are coming!" Someone called out, as this got everyone on alert with even the Hutts deciding that they needed to get into a better position.

"To positions!" Someone called out and they all started to move even quicker.

The place was starting to become locked down and there was minimal lighting to hide from their perpetrators, not that, THAT would do much against those whom were coming.

[]

Lights out.

The smell was absolutely horribly, despite the establishment being something that was much better than anywhere else. It may not have been the actual high rollers casino, but it was at least cleaned as frequently as they could.

The reason for this was because the Hutts usually liked to gamble here.

The casino had gone completely quiet as they awaited their enemies to make their entrance.

Movement throughout would sometimes startle those that were either further away from each other or close by. Very small sounds would nearly have everyone start shooting in those directions, which would give away they were holed up here.

Everyone here assumed that they were only coming here to check the place out and were banking on the fact that they would leave before things had to get dirty.

Heavy breaths created a resonance with everyone.

Their heart beats or otherwise in line with the pace of what could happen.

Adrenaline pumping through them as they were in an enhanced state of perception, an instinctual thing knowing that whatever or whoever was coming could kill them.

What seemed like hours or even days to their addled senses was actually just a few minutes and as time continued to move, they would slowly start to get tired at the wait.

Their enemies that was said to be coming, seemed to not be coming and they were slowly letting their guard down.

That was until they started to hear some form of explosions happening from the outside.

"What was that!?" Someone hissed out and exclaimed both within a quiet voice, but because of the silence it was heard by everyone.

Someone hissed back "Be quiet!"

Most of those within didn't have much to go back to. Only their riches and the Hutts within had many things of their own to go back to, but they most definitely wouldn't be let off easily.

The same would apply to the bounty hunters or criminals from the criminal organizations that originated from here or came here. Even though the criminals knew that there was no chance of survival if they were found, they came up with another plan.

A plan that would have them abandoning the Hutts and giving themselves up.

What is the point of having all of the riches they have access to when they would be dying? No one was going to take their wealth into whatever afterlife there is for them.

After a while the sounds they heard from outside had subsided and they were once again awakened to their new reality.

They were once again on full alert, even with having their adrenaline like states come down, it had been reactivated due to the situation and this was tiring them out.

Slowly but surely they would be mentally addled, within states that would slowly weaken their senses and make them tired.

If this continued, they would be unable to properly fight back to their fullest extent.

They were silly to believe that their enemy would just immediately go after them without taking their own time. They obviously couldn't escape but they were still willing to make some sort of effort to make sure they lived.

"Where are they!?" Someone hissed out, and this got some annoyed grunts from multiple people, but it had been almost an entire hour since they were set up.

Most people here before they were even alerted of an attack were already drunk and, or tired in combination desperate as well. They were in a casino after all and the Hutts had come here because it probably had the best defensive capabilities with some escape routes as well.

Escape routes that had been disabled to them.

"Would everyone just shut the fuck up!" A voice said again, but it was angry and most importantly wasn't quiet anymore. This person impulsiveness however would cause a chain reaction where their plan to do an ambush or hide it out was going to be exposed.

Arguments were starting up and the hushed whispers that started because of this mans impulsiveness lead to everyone starting to get irritated.

As everyone was upset, frustrated, tired, and even high off of some dangerous substances, the Hutts were the worst for wear in this situation. They had thought that these well trained men would be of some help, but they were obviously useless.

Their minds addled by drugs, being inebriated or even simply being personalities or characters that were impulsive lead to this situation. How can someone put their trust in a bunch of thugs that did the worst of the worst of crimes for money.

As they were arguing, the Hutts could only further try and exclude themselves from the rowdy bunch. The much more smart of those bounty hunters and mercenaries within backed up away from the ruckus that had transferred itself to the middle of the casino.

They were obviously tired and they would be unable to be of any help, so those that were smart, plus the Hutts had decided to just use them as canon fodder.

They could prove to be a worthy distraction, if only long enough to allow everyone else to kill their soon to be intruders.

Even then, no one came through those doors, and as everyone waited, with those that were impulsive had also come down from their high, they were starting to become confused.

'Maybe I was mistaken?' One person thought that was the messenger to tell them of the approaching people.

By now everyone was starting to relax, and even the lights were starting to come back on because people couldn't be bothered anymore. Even those that were most cautious of what was going to come were coming out of their hiding places.

The Hutts were the most confused, given that they knew that the enemy knew that they were here and should have at least checked the casino.

What was even more confusing was that there were noises from outside the casino, explosions of various kinds indicating that people were either dying or things were being destroyed.

This would usually be a good signal to people that something terrible was coming their way, unfortunately nothing had happened.

People didn't know how to feel and their guards that had been on an all time high was starting to recede. Even more so that some people were starting to become clear-headed at their situation once the drugs or the booze wore off.

However, no one would be actually capable of proper combat if anyone was to come now. They had run out of that adrenaline rush that would help them in times of stress, plus becoming both mentally tired and physically even when they were not doing anything.

"Is that it?" The Hutts were reconvening and alot of them were tired. They were living creatures as well, with proper working brains.

Meaning that they needed sleep to function as well, and when it came to a war of attrition the Hutts would usually win, but when it came to the mind... Lets just say their minds were as powerful as those within the Empyrean.

Their bodies may outlast alot of people, but their minds were just as energy-consuming as the brains of other species.

"It cant be. That slave Emperor wanted to capture us. Wanted the Hutts to surrender to that puny Emperor."

"We would never surrender." They started to laugh, feeling as if they had been let off the hook. It was as if their ancestors were looking down and smiling upon them, when it was actually not anything like that.

Instead, it would be more accurate to conclude that their ancestors were no where to be seen. They would most definitely not want to get involved with Anakin, as he would most certainly search through their memories and if they did wrong, kill them.

"Anyway. Where do you think they have gone now?"

"I dont know?"

They were puzzled, as they had no clue and no communications to enable them to know of the situation. For all they knew, their reinforcements had arrived by now, but they hadn't.

Even if the Hutts reinforcements came, the combined Force powers of the synths would be able to take control of a few of the control ships and droids. Which would lead to the Hutt fleets having some in-fighting amongst each other.

"I guess we should celebrate then?"

"Maybe you shouldn't do that by eating more humans. They are disgusting creatures... Maybe you should try out eating some other species..."

"What do you mean? Humans are the most delicious. Nothing else compares to them..."

Laughing and generally enjoying their time, the Hutts were doing good, or at least they seemed to be doing good.

In the mean while those within the casino were also having celebrations of their own by re-indulging themselves within booze or drugs. This only went to further make the people incapable of doing anything if an intruder really did come.

They were fools to assume that they were completely safe just because no one had come.

That didn't mean the more intelligent of those within didn't decide to leave themselves. They were most certainly going to sink with a bunch of foolish drug addicts, desperate bounty hunters and criminals, along with the Slug Lords of the Outer Rim.

So they left.

What those leaving didn't notice was that as people left, they would slowly filter out and disappear and there were very, very muffled noises coming from outside. However, the sound from within the casino completely muffled these sounds.

So any and all of those that still had some capacity to fight were completely taken in by those that were waiting outside.

"By the way, shouldn't we send someone out to check the outside?" One of the Hutt kajidics asked.

"What? Didn't we send someone out a while ago? Why haven't they returned yet?"

"Beats me." In a gesture reminiscent of a shoulder shrug, one Hutt replied.

"Well, I guess we could-" They were interrupted however, as it was time for some action.

The lights were flickering on and off, while the entire building was starting to shake back and forth with a massive amount of pressure crushing down on them. It was crumbling from the outside in, and there was no way to help the support beams within to stop the ceiling and floors eventually meeting.

Their bodies juggled around the casino as they collided with some unfortunate souls, being crushed by the weight of their very weighty bodies.

The Hutts weren't having a fun time themselves, and were in fact having to suffer the full force themselves as they also collided with each other as well. Multiple people weren't dying because the building was being crushed, but instead the Hutts were killing everyone else.

People were too tired to react to the situation, and in their really fucked up states, they believed that this was some sort of bad trip. A bad trip on drugs that was having everyone killed, whether that be their colleagues or close personal friends.

Not everyone was dying however, as some key figures seemed to be kept alive for later purposes, while the Hutts themselves even thought taking alot of damage wouldn't die simply because they became roly polys.

After a while, the building came to a stop and everything had been turned upside down.

They felt themselves slowly being moved downwards and it was similar to what an elevator would feel like. Slow and didn't actually feel like they were moving at all, even when they could tell they were going downwards.

"W-What-" Taking a deep breath, the Hutt continues. "-hap-pe-" The Hutt coughed up blood as they all tried to rebalance themselves from this situation.

The doors of the casino finally opened and they could all see the two people-wait, one person and one droid come in.

"Hello there." Grievous said to everyone within this building and assessed that quite alot of damage had been done. "My Emperor, it would seem you did quite the damage."

"Its ok." Anakin knew that people died in here, but all of those that Anakin could see being redeemed had been spared. Those that he couldn't be bothered to help were those that would die, just as he would always do.

Usually he doesn't mind murderers as well, as they could be reformed, instead he mostly just let those that he deemed worthy of death die. He would do much more, but it was better to just allow them to go through a fate that could be considered quite embarrassing.

Dying due to the weight of a Hutt wasn't a good way to go, that was for sure.

"Lets see here." Grievous started to send out some droids to take care of and handle the downed people within. Specifically the criminals while any workers that were somewhat innocent and girls or boys enslaved just as they would both always do.

"Hutts. Slugs. A whole lot of them." Grievous scanned all of the Hutts here and alot of internal damage was done. "Right, lets round them up."

"Shag bukee, choo! (Slave boy, die!)" A Hutt exclaimed, but was unable to do anything in return to Anakin's droid body. Anakin supposes that his voice must be recognizable enough for the Hutts to recognize fully enough, even when he was using the body of a droid.

Droid Anakin replied in their native tongue. "Schutta poodoo! (Shut it!)" Anakin also said some words that weren't as nice, but that would ruin his calm image, so it was done to the Hutts within their minds.

He transmitted images of their deaths and the deaths of those that they had killed. Using their own atrocities against them.

It was a favorite ability of his, but he didn't want to mentally break them within that short amount of time. He was here for more than his own sense of justice, and instead was here to help the enslaved people, the common folk but most importantly, to establish the Hutt space, and the Hutt Cartel as something under him.

As a tributary state.