When You Give a Man Power 
Chapter 45

Leaving Anakin and Shmi with the shop, fully trusting them with the customers, and having gone over the shop's security with the Assaultrons and what to do if customers got a little too aggressive. 

Just because most people in their line of work were usually safe didn’t stop people who were either too stupid or angry from trying to pull a stunt.

On my way out to my speeder, I paused. It felt like someone was watching me. Looking around I spotted a man glance away from me. It was subtle. It appeared almost like a coincidence. But the man I recognized. 

A long mane of wild Black hair. Sun-kissed skin. Brown eyes with stubble growing along his jawline. But what drew my attention was the yellow horizontal stripe going across his cheekbones and ridge of his nose just below his eyes.

Quinlan Vos. I remembered seeing his character for the first time in The Clone Wars show. Now he was here on Tatooine enjoying a drink in the shade of a tarp outside of a cantina. I stared at him for a long moment. 

One that he eventually returned once he noticed I was not looking away. A small nod towards him with him slowly returning it.

I contemplated tipping Jabba off that a Jedi was here likely spying but I decided not to go through with it. My speeder bike hummed to life before taking off.

My thoughts raced like the wind whipping past me. It couldn’t be a coincidence that he was outside my shop. Or it could be. I think he appeared briefly in the Phantom Menace movie. 

There was some backstory about why he didn’t help Qui-Gon despite being there and recognizing him and had wanted to back him up but couldn’t because he was deep under cover. 

I know the Jedi are aware of me since my droids have made an infamous name for both themselves and me. Weaving past dunes of sand like a surfer would ride tsunamis, the thoughts came unbidden.

Gathering information. Getting an idea of who I am and what I am capable of. The idea of just killing him sounded nice at first.

But I wouldn’t do it. He wasn’t in the wrong for what he was doing. The Jedi were being smart in this particular instance. Keeping an eye on a growing threat. Quinlan from what little I remembered of him wasn’t a bad guy and if I recall correctly he almost fell to the dark side once Order sixty-six came down.

But unlike others who had fallen to the dark side, he turned away from it. All the added context is lost on me because I half-remembered it from a video talking about him. 

I could try to tell Jabba but that comes with its own fair share of issues. Like how I knew he was a Jedi. Lots of questions would be asked none of which I would be capable of giving proper answers that would survive under scrutiny.

So for the time being I would say nothing while keeping him under watch. Killing him would only bring trouble and I’d rather not kill someone who is one of the good guys in the galaxy. I am a wretch but I have some standards.

Swiftly making my way back inside Jabba's palace. It wasn’t long until I found myself in a large spacious room further in the palace.

Jabba relaxed on a repulsorlift podium that held his immense weight with a few exotic beauties attending to him like scrubbing him with sponges. They hide their disgust behind fake smiles.

I especially feel for the one having to feed him the wiggling slimy creatures out of a jar that looked fresh from a backwater swamp. A shiver ran down my spine when one of the things wiggled extra hard sending some slime onto her face.

Jabba's voice boomed across the room when he took notice of my arrival. “The mighty Jabba welcomes you, Corvo. Have you enjoyed your time off while building your business?” 

“Yes. It was enjoyable and much needed. One can only do so much work before they suffer from burnout.” 

Jabba nodded, chuckling with the women around him going along with it even if they didn’t find it funny. Much like the dancers they have an attraction towards me if the subtle looks of desire were anything to judge.

Nice as it is to feel wanted by them I don’t think I want sloppy seconds from a Hutt. Even seeing the young blue-skinned Twi’lek girl carrying drinks around to various patrons gave me pause.

Her head turned my way, leku swaying from the motion. She looked at me curiously while I looked at the surrounding people staring at her. They looked at her like a tiger would a prime rib.

The green-skinned Twi’lek now wearing a veil over her face completely obscuring it from everyone else came over to the girl. The girl who couldn't have been more than fourteen was pulled behind the older woman who despite her face being covered had her body exposed.

It was similar to a negligee. Black with wispy designs embroidered into it looking similar to vines and plants. She looked familiar…

“You are not wrong and have a wise way of thinking. There is never such a thing as too much of a good thing.” He said through his droid before one of the women grimaced when she had to feed a wriggling morsel to him. He swallowed it down with a slimy gulp. 

“It is time for you to rejoin the conflict against the Republic.” He stated more than he said.

He wasn’t wrong. With the state of things, the Republic had surprised us all by managing to pull off a stalemate. In the long run, they couldn’t outlast the Hutts. 

A hologram formed showing the galaxy before everyone in the room. Numerous markers and colors indicated who held what portions of the galaxy. Even showed areas where both sides clashed.

“First off the Hutt council wished to buy many more droids from you. Most notably the Sentry droids you had loaned to Jango. He spoke quite highly of them and recommended they be used for frontline combat.” Jabba said while holding a creature in his massive hands savoring the smell of it like a fine wine before his tongue took hold of it.

I ignored the trail of slime connecting his mouth and hand. The smell made it even worse. I truly felt bad for those girls having to be stuck near him like that. Let it never be said that enhanced senses like smell didn’t come with downsides.

“It will be done. Already have several factories getting set up as we speak to begin production of the droids.” 

Jabba looked pleased. “Good. We will break through the sectors of the galaxy where the Republic has stationed several of their ships. Our forces have been sabotaging their supply network making logistics a nightmare for them.”

Several dots appeared with the hologram zooming in on several planets near the core. Most notably Coruscant and some other planets are helping ship out supplies for the Republic. 

Even had several of them attacked with a few in particular involving the Trade Federation.

“The Trade Federation in particular has proven to be a thorn in our sides. You will be sent to aid Jango Fett on a mission of the utmost importance. They are managing to find gaps in our stationed forces and acquiring supplies to bring to the core worlds.”

Several fleets were shown going past the dots representing Hutt forces. They took some damage but it was minimal. 

“We cannot allow them to continue to do so. You will meet with Jango and remind the Trade Federation why no one ever crosses Jabba the Hutt.”

He gave me a few details but was mostly tight-lipped about what to expect. It would seem he is aware enough to be careful not to let anything out that he didn’t want others to know about.

Especially if he suspected spies inside his palace. A glance towards Bib Fortuna told me he didn’t fail to notice the implication. A small smile from me had Bib's nervous smile become brittle with an edge to it. 

“Consider it done Jabba,” I told him immediately going over the list in my head of things I am going to need.

It wasn’t long before I got back to the shop. Far more customers had been coming in with a few people discussing something with Anakin. But what had my attention was that the Assaultrons were active while they appeared to be dormant.

“Corvo! Thank goodness you came back. These guys have some questions for you.” He said looking tense then relieved I showed up.

“Alright, you guys got to make it quick since I've got important business,” I said while walking around the shop checking things over.

A zabrak stormed up to me looking less than pleased.

“So you're the one who is undercutting our businesses.” He said about to jab a finger into my chest.

Faster than he could react, my hand wrapped around his. With some pressure applied to it that was almost enough to break it, he winced before stepping back in a hurry.

He cradled his hand while glaring at me with the other business owners looking wary of me now.

“If you don’t stop looking at me like that I will wipe that look off for you.” Despite sounding kind, he picked up on the thinly veiled threat. 

It took a few seconds but he forced his expression into a neutral one. 

“Here’s how this is gonna work. I set my prices however I want. You get no say in what I do with my business. You mess with it, or my employees, I hunt you and all those responsible down and make examples out of all of you.” I gestured to each of them. 

They all looked at one another at the audacity of it all. “They don’t speak for me.” One Rhodian spoke up trying to distance himself from the others.

I tilted my head at him like he was an especially stupid puppy. “I don’t care. One of you screws up, all of you pay the price. Together. Consider it an incentive if you all want to continue living.”

They fell silent at the proclamation. Anakin looked at me wide-eyed with his jaw hanging open.

The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Every word I said I intended to follow through on. I conveyed exactly this to the idiots slowing down business with many customers watching unsure if they should stay or leave.

Most stayed wanting their equipment repaired with only a few stepping out of the shop. None of the businessmen were happy. But each now knew better than to mess with me.

“So now that you are all aware of the ground rules unless you have some parts that need fixed get the hell out of my shop.”

They stayed for a moment before my words caught up with them. Each of them scrambled to get out of the shop pushing past many customers. After they left and most of the more difficult requests were handled I got busy preparing.

I found myself eternally grateful that Jabba granted me some time to prepare myself for this mission which I used besides getting equipment ready but also for another important purpose. One where I found myself in a comfortable seat with someone sitting right across from me.

“What’s your work experience?” I asked, sitting at a desk further back in the shop.

“I have worked for Gluun Droids refurbishing for ten years. I managed to work my way up to chief repairman of the business.” A male Togruta said.

One thing that probably didn’t make the businesses around Mos Espa happy with me was that many of their employees who weren’t slaves responded to my advertisement of hiring extra workers.

Anakin on his own couldn’t hope to match the demand Metallica was creating with our cheaper prices. Undercutting the others who took advantage of the customers and hiring their workers with better pay and work environments as incentives didn’t earn me any friends amongst my competitors.

Not like I cared since unlike their shops mine will fix parts properly. Despite having the customer pay less it wasn’t such a price cut that it would hurt my business. It just wouldn’t be an absurd amount like they would charge for the simplest thing.

“Alright, expect to be called within the week if you get the job,” I told him with a smile before shaking the man's hand that he enthusiastically returned.

After the man left I quickly went over the number of parts that we had taken from the customers along with deactivated droids. A lot. Well over several dozen. The records showed we were backlogged for a good bit.

“Anakin,” I called the boy who stopped what he was doing to look at me with his mother organizing some of the parts struggling with a particularly heavy astromech that was a far older model that I think wasn’t even manufactured anymore.

“While I am gone I have a list of potential employees who will be hired on as extra help in the shop. Hang on Shmi just leave it there,” I cut myself off and went to help Shmi who was struggling and more than a little sweaty from trying to lift the droid. 

Squatting down and getting a good strong grip on the cumbersome thing I lifted it like it weighed nothing before plopping it down gently on a nearby metal table.

“You alright?” I asked her with genuine concern. She looked at me like she had just found an undiscovered species of animal.

“If you need to take a break Shmi go take it,” I said, wiping my hands of the dirt and dust that came from the droid.

“I will be fine Corvo,” She calmly replied, walking over to help organize several lighter parts, “And thank you.” 

“If you're sure. Now Anakin and you both will be sending out calls to the employees I have on the list and I have decided who will be your coworkers. If that’s alright with you two?” 

They both looked at me then each other before looking back at me again. Shmi gave a slow nod.

“We can do that, Corvo. We are just confused why you are having us do this and not yourself?”

“I just got an important job from my boss that I can’t ignore and will be away from Tatooine for who knows how long. So I can’t be here to handle it all despite how I very much want to be here for that.”

I rattled off to them getting a few pieces here and there I would need for the job. 

“What do we do if you don’t make it back?” Shmi said, sounding concerned and worried.

Smart woman. Looking towards her and Anakin's futures should anything happen to me.

“You will then own Metallica,” I said calmly with a smile directed at the two.

Shmi was about to say something but stopped as she processed what had just been told.

“We would own Metallica?” She asked, utterly stupefied. 

Anakin looked happy for a moment then he realized the implication of what that meant if they got the business. He ran up to me slamming into my side.

I lifted him with him hugging me to my surprise.

“Please don’t go, Corvo.” He said, sounding sad and worried about me. 

Shmi looked surprised and horrified at Anakin's actions. She looked towards me having expected anything but what I was currently doing.

“It’s ok Anakin, I'll be back. You don’t need to worry.” 

He looked like he was about ready to cry. “Oh, it’s okay buddy.” I smiled gently pulling him into a hug that he reciprocated. Didn’t expect the little guy to get this attached to me so quickly.

Then again I did free him and his mom along with being all around decent and kind to them. So it shouldn’t be that surprising to me that he got so attached to me. 

Mentally shrugging with the kid managing to hold back the waterworks. Shmi placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked at his mother who was giving him a small smile.

“Anakin he has to leave.” 

“But mom, what if Corvo doesn’t come back?” He asked her desperation plain as day in his voice.

“Anakin, I promise I will come back. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.” I told the boy, feeling bad for upsetting him. 

Like I am going to let some trash battle droids of the Trade Federation be what ends my legacy and career. If I am going to die it’s going to be me going out like a badass taking someone like Sidious with me in one massive climactic clash that would be spoken of for thousands of years.

“You promise?” 

“I cross my heart,” my finger made an x over my heart, “And hope to die if I break it. I will come back Anakin, this will be a simple job and I’ll return like it was nothing.”

I lowered Anakin back to the ground when he wasn’t hanging onto me like I was a lifeline. He came back to quickly hug my legs. 

“Tell you what,” I say while patting his back, “When I get back I will take you for a ride in my headhunter. Does that sound fun?”

“Yeah!” Anakin still looked sad but he quickly perked up, appearing more hopeful and happy now.

“Good. But you got to let go of me, Anakin.” He grudgingly did as he was told.

Saying my farewells to the two of them with Anakin using far too much energy waved goodbye to me before I took off in my headhunter.

Space was calm while I whittled away at the time training and practicing with my magic. What time I had was used to help me get stronger. To one day be strong enough that I could fight Yoda or Sidious who would be incapable of doing a thing to me. 

I did on the way there temporarily drop out of hyperspace when one of my freighters met me about a third of the way to my destination. The installation of a hyperdrive on my headhunter was a good investment but it wasn’t exactly the greatest around.

The freighters I owned were far more efficient with their hyperdrives compared to the headhunter. It was more of a means to get away from something I couldn’t hope to defeat than it was a method to traverse the galaxy.

Not that I couldn’t use it for that but the freighter along with what was stored on it would be far better suited for the mission. A prime example is the power armor suit standing near a wall in the cargo bay alongside three massive figures under tarps tightly wrapped around them.

Numerous weapons from blasters to slugthrowers, grenades of various types, even a few vibro blades from swords to daggers hung on walls and counters. The ship was loaded with enough weapons and equipment that it could outfit a small army.

A bead of sweat was wiped off my face before it could reach my eye with numerous crates held in the air for two seconds before they slammed back onto the floor. The clang was loud and abrasive to my ears but it went ignored.

Breathing in and out while the time was noted. When the telekinesis training had begun I could only manage to hold that many crates for about half a second. Now I could keep it for almost one second.

I had improved a great deal yet it still wasn’t enough. Not for what it needed to be capable of. I wanted it to lift entire mountain ranges. Maybe I was aiming too high but I’d rather aim high than just go low and accept it as the standard.

Accepting anything less would be the death of me. If my training on Eshan had been less than what was achieved then I wouldn’t be here now. The belief that magic would be what won the battles to come still held strong.

But that didn’t mean I hadn’t learned a lesson on Eshan. If I trained myself physically enough and got to an acceptable enough level then I could hold my own for a time until I could use my magic to handle any threat that managed to slip by my growing forces, manipulations, and plans.

I still think it’s beneath me to have to fight like that now but sometimes you have to clean something up personally. Even a king must step down from his throne to take out the trash.

Downing another potion that restored my magicka allowed me to practice for hours with my time slowly increasing with how long the crates could be held. Unfortunately, it came to an end far too quickly for my liking.

“Looks like the enchantments are paying off already,” I muttered aloud to myself with the droid pilot sending me a signal that we were almost there far faster than anticipated.

The freighter was a test using some enchantments to see how and what they affected. For example, if the clothes I wore were enchanted to fortify carry weight would that increase my physical strength and stamina? Or would it somehow reduce the overall load and weight of whatever I carried?

In this case, it was a test to see how quickly the freighter would go through hyperspace. Far faster than I had estimated it to be. Even noticed how the freighter flies far faster than a ship of its type and model should be capable of. 

With my ship exiting hyperspace I was greeted with the sight of a fleet of Hutt ships of various types. Even a few battleships if you could call them that. The ships were armed to the teeth and were big but nothing I would call a proper battleship. 

What comes to mind when I think of a battleship were things like the Imperial Star Destroyers. But the ships before me with the fleet floating about would be enough to get the job done.

Stepping over to the cockpit and taking control of the ship from a modified assassin droid with the com link beeping.

“This is Corvo Attano, Adjudicator of Jabba the Hutt. Code is Great Destroyer Krate Dragon four three eight.” 

A pause on the other end before a man’s raspy voice greeted me. “You have permission to come aboard Corvo. Jango Fett and the others are waiting for you.”

Quickly docking with the ship making my way through the corridors. Several pirates and mercenaries stepped out of my way quickly recognizing me with word having spread about what I had accomplished and who I now worked for.

Massive durasteel blast doors opened for me revealing the command bridge of the ship.

Numerous figures of notoriety and fame stood before me. Jango Fett was looking down at the hologram of the galaxy showing the Trade Federation ships slipping by the blockades that had been set up for them.

Cad Bane turned to me giving a small nod. One that I returned.

“So did you guys miss me?” I asked strutting over to the display table.

“Missed you about as much as I miss having a Felucian dart fly buzzing my head.” Bane bit out but the small smile told me he was just messing with me.

“Well, I guess I am losing my touch if that’s all you think of me. Guess I need to make the next Uno game even more annoying for you.”

Bane just shook his head looking like he bit into a lemon before I turned to see Bosk and his father standing not too far off from us.

“So what are we up against Jango?” I asked the man getting down to business.

He finally looked up from the table, his helmet sat beside him on the table. “At least two Trade Federation Lucrehulks with a fleet of Republic ships accompanying them. With an unknown number of Jedi.” He said before he calmly said the last part. Despite how he sounded, looking at him told a far different story. He was far from calm. 

A simmering hatred that was volatile like a bull seeing red prepared to skewer the poor fool who earned his ire. He was tense like a cord pulled taut fraying at the edges and ready to snap at any given moment. 

It was almost like standing next to a rattlesnake making it abundantly clear it was ready and willing to bite me. Yet I didn’t flinch nor waver just casually standing near him the holotable showing the current state of things.

“Alright. Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us. What’s the plan?”

“You will be one of many ships that will be sent to target the control core for one of the two Lucrehulks. Both Bane and I will be accompanying you. Bossk and Cradossk are here because the one we believe to be responsible for breaking past the blockades was the one they were hired to handle.”

My posture once loose and calm was now rigid and robotic. I slowly crane my head to look at the two of them with neither flinching at the cold look I had. Jango even paused when he looked at me.

“If that bastard is here I am gunning right for him.” It was a statement. Not a question. More like a fact than anything else.

Bossk merely smiled and chuckled. “By all meansss Corvo.”

Cradossk remained silent for a moment before he spoke. “Good hunting to you young blood. My son will not be easy prey.” 

“As I was saying Corvo you will be with me and Bane. We are going to skirt past most of the droids that would be used to engage our ships.” Jango gestured to the holotable that now displayed images of our ships and the Trade Federations.

“While they are fighting we move past the bulk of their forces using the asteroid field here,” He gestured to what had to be billions of asteroids floating at the edge of the battle, “We will then attack the control cores on the Lucrehulks taking out the droids which will then leave the rest of the fleet vulnerable.”

Compared to the beginning of this conflict this was far more organized. Jango leveled me with a look like he was unsure now if he wanted me here for this.

“Corvo I know you and Trossk have some history,” Jango pointedly ignored the sharp look I sent his way, “But I need you to focus on the mission. If I can’t trust you to back me and Bane up when your vendetta could jeopardize the mission then you will get us killed. Can we trust you, Corvo?”

I looked at Jango like he was an idiot. Something Jango didn’t take kindly to if the creaking of his suit's armored knuckles was anything to go by. 

“Jango, I can set aside my feelings towards the bastard and keep you and Bane alive. I’m not an amateur and understand the importance of this job and especially value my colleagues’ lives over a grudge.” I said calmly yet sincerely, making Jango's posture relax.

“Glad to hear it, Corvo. Now let’s see if you can back that up.” Bane said across from the holotable.