When You Give a Man Power
Chapter 29

The bridge of the ship was in a frenzy as it had been for everyone since this conflict had ignited. Standing in the center of this frenzied chaos was an older man wearing the robes of the Jedi. His dark hair and beard were beginning to turn gray and white.

Master Dooku, despite the haggard looks of the crew on the bridge of the ship, was a calm rock amidst the hurricane around him. The crew stressed trying their best to give orders across the galaxy to the forces fighting against the Hutts.

Something Dooku has wanted to happen for some time. Many things in the galaxy had irked him for some time. How the Jedi simply sit back following whatever orders the Republic Senate gives them despite how corrupt it is and how they don't properly investigate when they should.

At the latter Dooku could think of numerous incidents he had to hear about or worse the misfortune to be a part of. The worst of them for him was learning that the Mandalorians they had been tasked with apprehending were innocent once Dooku had done a private investigation himself.

He could only hang his head in shame upon his realization. He already had his doubts but never voiced them when that mission was assigned to him to lead that group of Jedi. And calling those people Jedi was an insult to both himself and the rest of the order.

Many of them go for the kill on the Mandalorians instead of simply disarming them. Then one of them had the audacity to use an outlawed lightsaber move bisecting one of them. To this day Dooku had never seen what he saw that day again after that fool had done what he had.

The current thorn in his and the Republic's force's side has proven to Dooku time and time again since that day that Jango is a true warrior. Never had Dooku seen a non-force sensitive kill multiple Jedi with his bare hands.

Dooku when it came down to it didn’t intervene until after the fact once Jango had killed some of the Jedi involved and unfortunately not all of them. Despite how that is not what a Jedi should do neither should one slaughter people who could have been disarmed or were like the ones he dealt with. 

So in Dooku's mind back then he had come to the decision to let Jango exact his justice upon them for they wouldn’t face any retribution should they return to the temple or their posts where they were all stationed in the outer rim. Much like then as he is facing things now, they were assigned to the task not because they were qualified but because they were conveniently near where they needed to be.

By the time the Mandalorians started to fight back Dooku couldn’t coral the Jedi around him to his shame and by the time he could have acted to stop the needless killing it was too late.

Never in all his life had he been so tempted to kill another force user. They were not Jedi as far as Dooku was concerned, everything they did was a slap in their orders face and a disgrace to how they are supposed to hold themselves to a higher standard and not butcher people like they did.

It’s why Dooku did not intervene when Jango went berserk, killing them. Dooku's only regret was that he hadn’t had the energy left to finish the others. Even if it meant Dooku dying then, he would welcome it if it meant that corruption would be removed from the Jedi Order. The Republic was one thing, but the Jedi should be free of such things and not spread it even if unknowingly.

But Jango hasn’t lost his edge since that day with the Hutts appointing him as the head of their special operations as he and those under his command leave a bloody swath in each battle they participated in, even killing numerous Jedi. Some who deserved it not comprehending what it means to be a Jedi.

Unfortunately, others did not deserve their deaths like true Jedi alongside the Republic forces. A cold feeling begins to enter Dooku before it stops in its tracks and pushes it back out when he centers himself in the Force. Dooku glances over at a dataslate handed to him as he quickly reads through it getting the gist of it.

“Have the Trade Federations droids swarm around the facilities and lay siege. They can outlast them with the Hutt's forces being spread thin enough as is. Try and have them punch through their defenses creating holes. With those holes, the Jedi will lead from the front with the droids acting as shields and backup. If they can’t quickly take the targets then wait them out until they surrender.”

Dooku didn’t relish the idea of trying to starve them out or they ran out of anything to drink. Especially when he knows they will merely deprive the slaves under their control of more and more sustenance until they die. Many of them will die because of the selfishness of their captors but it’s either that or losing numerous Jedi and Judicial forces storming into a heavily fortified position even with the droids taking the brunt of their attacks.

Another thing Dooku is becoming increasingly worried about is the Jedi in this conflict not being properly prepared for the temptation of the dark side. Several had already fallen to its sway and most had been killed while a few were taken alive to be brought to the Jedi council to decide on what will be their fates.

Besides the examples splayed out for all to see that the Jedi are ill-equipped for a conflict of this scale, the Hutts were quick to counter the droids of the Trade Federation. Many of their facilities were quickly overrun by the droid's absurd numbers. 

The droids may be incredibly stupid and a single one was no threat to a competent sentient that can shoot a blaster but they are cheap and can be deployed in vast numbers. Numbers the Hutts have made useless by forcing them into bottlenecks making their numbers not as much of an advantage.

And what areas can’t use the environment or force them into such disadvantages the Hutt's new never before seen droids had proven to be a menace as they easily dismantled hordes of both the droids and the Republics forces as the few that can handle them are Jedi and they can’t do anything when they have numerous criminal scum protecting them.

Thankfully the Hutts only had so many of them so they couldn’t be everywhere but Dooku could see that changing and fast with the recent battles showing just how effective they were against them.

“Yes sir!” The young man who couldn’t be older than twenty salutes him before quickly leaving to relay his orders. Dooku had a smidge of respect for the young man. Most in the Judicial Forces and especially some Planetary Defense Forces tend to be rather lazy and never having found themselves in a proper conflict. Particularly among the inner and middle rims of the galaxy. 

Most of them joined thinking it to be an easy job with them having to do nothing but sit around. Dooku could only shake his head at those people and how corrupt and lazy they were. Yet it’s what he was put in charge of. The Jedi council had chosen to place him in charge of this since he had some of the most experience among the order with leading large groups in missions for the Jedi and the Republic. 

He was eternally grateful at least having several well-equipped outer rim Defense Forces aiding them. So far compared to the others they are proving a wise choice to have them sent to aid them in this mission. Several have even gone out of their way to give proper training and instructions to the lazy fools and whip them into shape.

Between that and dealing with the criminal elements in the outer rim. Takes him back to his younger years when he was teaching Qui-gon… sighing he stops that train of thought hoping that he is doing fine with his new Padawan. Maybe one day once this is over he can meet this Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

He knew Quigon far better than most and knew that after what happened with his second apprentice Xanatos he would not want to take on another apprentice ever again. So this Obi-Wan must have been quite the young man.

It would be good to catch up with Quigon. Especially to discuss things with someone who understands how he feels about things. But Dooku finds himself aggravated by the ever-present feeling of his negative emotions drawing the dark side.

As always Dooku ignores it, never giving in and letting its empty promises never get to him. He finds the fact the Republic is now taking the Hutts seriously after several millennia only because of a surprising reaction from them in attacking the Trade Federation. Not only that but to do so with no proper military to speak of to make it less bloody and far easier to depose the crime lords.

Dooku when he was appointed to the position was left speechless by what he had to work with. To his chagrin, the ones that would need to do the heavy lifting were the Trade Federation. Dooku had his suspicions that they were the guilty party in this horrid affair so it was also deserving as far as he was concerned that they pay the heaviest price amongst their side in this conflict. 

Even if he is growing more and more dumbfounded by their bottomless greed. A good example is the several Lucrehulks that were lost due to them being cheap with the ship's shield generators that were so flaunted and bragged about yet when a precise volley of turbolasers hit them they can breach the shield.

It is still possible to do this with other ships of large scale and size but with a proper shield generator that would be nearly impossible requiring absurd levels of precision and timing that even force sensitives like himself would find a tall order to accomplish. It’s why once he learned of the losses he had ordered the Trade Federation to get those ships proper shield generators.

Dooku would admit he was surprised when Nute Gunray instead of balking at the idea of having a proper shield generator for his ships instead immediately agreed with him and had his ships go to get them replaced in shifts. He expected him to argue or try to bargain with him. Nothing.

What miracles he will take by this point be thankful for the fact Nute Gunray appears to be deathly serious about this conflict and ensuring the Hutts do not secure victory over them. 

Despite all that has been brought to bear against the Hutts they are severely lacking. The major reason for them having fared as well as they had was thanks to Dooku's foresight to place Jedi in key positions in the improvised military structure he had the officers that had some military background help him in creating to counteract sabotage and other acts whilst flushing out the Hutts forces.

Between that and ensuring the Jedi on the frontlines had proper support and backup. Compared to the first battle they have fared far better now. 

His tactic to place the Jedi in such positions to sense or deter sabotage proved a rather effective means of stopping what otherwise would have been crippling blows that would have stalled out reinforcements or supplies along with numerous other things that would have seen the Hutts having numerous victories over them. Discussing several options for orders on numerous fronts with the crew on the bridge Dooku's presence helps calm the men as he is as calm and decisive as they need him to be.

Unfortunately no news on the whereabouts of both the rogue Jedi that had helped ignite the Hutts' rage and helped turn it onto the Republic before they had even properly stepped into this conflict. Initially, they had wished to settle this peacefully to no surprise from Dooku. But once word spread of a force user attacking and slaughtering their men they refused any attempts to end this peacefully unless their demands were met.

But he and the council also desired to find the one who had attacked the Jedi who were protecting a newly discovered deposit of kyber crystals that some criminals had found before scaring them off. Whoever had created that wound— no. Not wound. A horrid act that words could not ever begin to describe that echoed out into the force the council had decided it was a high priority to find the one responsible.

Yet they have found nothing. Only that alien presence in the force that lies somewhere in Hutt space. For obvious reasons, this conflict has made it much more difficult than it should be to find the one they sought. Dooku himself was unsure of where they were hiding. It could be a random backwater world, or it could be one of the major worlds for the Hutts such as Nal Hutta or Nar Shaddaa.

With so much pain and suffering going on makes it difficult to properly pinpoint where they are at but it didn’t cover it up entirely. That alien feeling from it was so similar yet completely different from the dark side he and the rest of the Jedi order were all too familiar with.

It would be like trying to hide a rock so dark it is darker than the darkness surrounding it. Sure it would prove difficult to find but far from impossible, courtesy of just how much darker it is. Now over time, it has become more obscure but they have the general area of space it is at.

Not that that helps them all too much since even a narrowed-down portion of Hutt space is a massive area to investigate and explore. It would be a tall order to send as many as they could to find them while dealing with the Hutts.

“Master Dooku, the fleet is ready sir.” One of the crew says to him as he looks down at him on his terminal he glances out to see the arranged ships ready and waiting for the Hutt fleet to come and meet them above Ryloth.

Ryloth is one of the major worlds of the Hutts. Besides being one of the major planets the Hutts get their slaves from it but it also is a large part of their spice mining and illicit drug trafficking since most smugglers use the hyperspace lanes through Ryloth. It is key to the spice routes they use.

By controlling this and depriving them of it while harassing their businesses they would force the Hutts to fight them on their terms taking out many of their fleet as they would be forced to deal with this. Dooku and the others appointed leadership positions had all agreed that in the long run, they are at a disadvantage.

The Hutts can outlast them. It would be costly no doubt in that, but they would win all the same. They simply have far more resources and wealth at their disposal in comparison to what they have to work with. So they can’t fight them on their terms.

It’s why Dooku had proposed the idea to harass their businesses and through some dealings below the table through some contacts the others had learned of several lesser-known operations and businesses they had going and attacked them, dismantling them or simply applying enough pressure to disrupt business.

By forcing their fleets to meet them Dooku could take away from their forces and if not destroy them at least force them to leave key areas behind that they were supposed to defend. 

“Good. Are the others ready for the signal?”

“Yes sir.” 

Just as the man confirmed it, numerous ships dropped out of hyperspace as the fleet of Hutt ships without hesitation opened fire on them as they returned fire. The Hutts had not sat idle when it came to upgrading and bringing out better ships to deal with them, Dooku noticed.

Unlike before the ships now are not for looks but utility and capability for fighting. Cannons fired between the ships and despite the Hutt fleet heavily outnumbering them they were putting up a far better fight.

Despite the ships being vastly superior to what they were using before the crews are not that good. They are in the end simply pirates and criminals. Yes, they have numbers and are more capable than a single B1 battle droid but against hardened outer rim Defense Forces they are nothing more than fodder.

As some of their bigger ship's shields fall they are shielded by the other smaller more numerous ships that soak up the turbo lasers and missile batteries and rotate back after the frontline ship's shields have recovered enough to come back to the front. They have only lost a handful of ships so far.

The Hutt's forces in comparison have suffered far greater losses as nearly a third of their fleet has been destroyed as their shields fall under the interior, the barrage being fired back at them never having ceased even when a ship is rotating out of the line of fire.

Fire and explosions erupt amidst the ships as their crew and whatever is stored on their ships is sucked out into space above Ryloth. “Sir the Trade Federation is waiting on your signal, sir?”

One of the men says to him as he keeps his eyes focused on the battle unfolding before them. Dooku will not lie to himself about not being bothered by the many men and women he has just sent to their deaths as the few ships they had been destroyed.

A Jedi should not have attachments and know that these people are not truly gone but simply becoming one with the Force. But as far as Dooku was concerned this was a tragedy. Something that should not be happening the way that it currently is. Every lost life weighs on Dooku heavily.

But he refused to let their sacrifices be in vain. He is losing hope in ever-changing the Republic and its corrupt ways, but he will not abandon those under his care and throw their efforts and sacrifices away. 

A particularly large Hutt dreadnought had its bridge destroyed courtesy of the group of fighters that had opened fire on it with a trio of Delta 6’s with several more fighters accompanying them. 

Pointing a finger at several ships Dooku issues his orders, “Pull the fighters back and fire at those ships.” 

The fleet complies as turbolaser batteries light them up as the darkness of space above Ryloth as fires and debris float around looking like something out of a nightmare. Before long enemy reinforcements appeared with far more and better ships than before. The Hutts have been adopting a tactic of sending waves of their men against them in these ship battles, softening them up with the weaker ships and then sending in the better ships to deal the finishing blow.

The part that Dooku found abhorrent was that the initial waves they would send against them more often than not were composed of slaves. As unfortunate as it was and despite the amount it weighed on Dooku he pushed on knowing that if they don’t fight back now then even more lives will be lost. 

A few slaves that will kill some of the Republic forces that are here to rescue the rest of the slaves and end the conflict or try and save them and hope the Hutts do not have a means to keep them compliant so they don’t betray their masters. The choice is an obvious one even if Dooku greatly dislikes it.

The newly arrived ships were now putting up a far greater fight than the ones before them but they continued the same tactic delaying them as long as possible. “Send the signal.” Dooku finally said as the crew on the bridge were growing worried and apprehensive when the shields had almost fully fallen the first couple of times.

As soon as Dooku spoke the words that brought relief to the crew they sucked in a sharp breath when even more Hutt ships had come in now outnumbering them five to one. But to everyone’s collective relief, the cavalry had arrived in the form of three massive Lucrehulks dropping out of hyperspace from a nearby system so they could remain hidden as well as something that big could remain hidden.

The Hutt forces now pincered between their ships and the Lucrehulks as the droid starfighters swarm out of the ships like an angry swarm of insects as the Hutt ships are overwhelmed. Before long they surrender after having come rather close to dying since the Trade Federation forces almost went too far.

Something Dooku will have to fix lest they make this conflict far worse than it already is. The Trade Federation has made it abundantly clear they are holding a grudge against the Hutts and so far no foul play that he knew of has occurred but Dooku himself and several others are keeping their eyes on things to make sure it stays that way.

Glancing down to the data slate in his hand seeing how their current plan is going and seeing that it may just have a chance to work. One of the crewmen informed him of the prisoners taken and having them moved to Coruscant to face judgment for their crimes before another interrupted them letting him know of a major ground battle that their forces were winning until a surprise attack from none other than Jango himself had turned the entire battle in the Hutts favor.

Dooku realized that any survivors would need to be rescued off the planet if they were not taken prisoner. “Send several ships that would not look out of place for a smuggler and have them sent to try and retrieve what survivors they can find. Use an encoded message on our network for them to know they are coming.”

Dooku quickly gives several orders to them before walking away the battle in space has come to an end with the newly refitted Lucrehulks remaining behind to give supplies and relief efforts to the people of Ryloth after they had managed to push the Hutts' presence off-world. 

Not entirely but enough so that any who are loyal will not be capable of any acts of rebellion lest they wish for the people of Ryloth around them to show them their displeasure. When they had arrived their worlds Senator had made it clear that the Republic was here to help and when their ships and supplies had arrived the people were ecstatic.

One man in particular, a Cham Syndulla, one of the few decent nobles on Ryloth had made it abundantly clear he was opposed to the Republic aiding them. Dooku himself had come down personally to try and convince the man to accept their aid and even help them in aiding his people.

After some time he managed to convince him to at least give it a chance despite his obvious disdain for Orn Free Taa. Something that Dooku himself would privately agree with. Moving further into the ship Dooku contemplated how to combat Jango and his men. 

So far Dooku had managed to slow down the attacks coming from them by having Jedi stationed in positions that could warn the others of an impending attack with the force aiding them. So far it has foiled any attempts to cripple their forces.

But Dooku fully expects Jango to do something to counter this. That is how highly Dooku viewed Jango as a warrior. If it ever comes down to Jango facing his final moments Dooku hoped that the force would at least let it be him that faced him.

If he were to die to anyone it should be to someone who respects him enough to not try and overwhelm him with numbers or simply gun him down from all sides. 

No. 

It should be one on one. As far as Dooku was concerned, someone like Jango deserves no less. Something that will be spoken of as if a great epic of old the likes of which the galaxy has not seen since the days when the Sith were still alive.

Thoughts turn to different worlds and the conflicts raging on them as Dooku moves deeper within the ship.