[AN: At the time of posting this chapter, a new chapter just went up on my Patreon (pat reon.com/dryskies_btb). Come join us :]
— Atom —
"What I do, I do for the sake of everyone. Everyone but you, *——*…"
The name was garbled and unintelligible. I knew it to be mine. Mine that I could no longer remember. I was removed. Watching from afar. Yet… I knew I was part of the scene as well. Knew that it took place in the past that was lost to me. Knew that it was a pivotal moment of that lost life, one that had shaped me for years after. And now, it was just another faceless memory…
A [BLANK]-faced man was standing over me, even as I watched from over my own shoulder at the same time. Included and excluded from my past. I was disembodied. The events I watched were… distant. The emotions were all too real. Anger. Pain. Loss. Betrayal. Spite… So, so much familiar spite…
My betrayer was tall and skinny. Lanky. His face was an incomprehensible mess of static. The closer I looked, the more I tried to remember, the worse it got. We weren't brothers. But we could've been. He'd been… close to me. Close enough that the shock had rocked me to my core and even now, resonated through the scene I watched.
The scene was familiar. Relevant. I couldn't place why. Faceless memories, faceless betrayal — they were the only concepts on my mind. Present momentarily submerged by a meaningless past. I was… dreaming. I had to be. Yet knowing that didn't make the dream lucid. A past I only barely remembered couldn't be changed.
My past betrayer raised a gun, aimed at me, "You've gone too far. Your ambition is gonna get all of us killed! You think yourself some kind of-… of kingpin! Do you even care that the cops got (*****), *——*?! I'm not sticking around to be next. Shit's fucked. You're fucked, *——*. If anything, I'm putting you out of your ambitious, fucked up misery…"
The trigger pull happened almost in slow motion. A snapping gunshot. Muzzle flash and smoke. A stabbing pain in my chest. Wrong fucking side, [##] you treacherous cunt…
I lived through that betrayal. More and more faceless memories poured through before my dreaming eyes. Surviving on spite. Recovery. Vengeance. The context behind it all was lost to me. My get-back wasn't.
Slowly, I pulled back from a lost past. Forgotten moments turned into faceless memories. Faceless memories turned into… familiar molecules… I found myself arranging them as if second nature. Connecting structure after structure from the past few days. In my dream, I made Living Beskar, forging the impossible into existence with Force and will.
Inch by inch, I rebuilt my body. All my efforts at self-improvement were laid out before me as I did. My lively and ever-useful tail. My surprisingly versatile pheromones like comforting, relaxing, natural incense. Data-dense echoes in my ears and the mental capability to make sense of them. An Upgrade that pulsed through my veins with my heartbeat, fueling my whole body and its every function harder, faster, stronger.
Through it all, Humanity [Maxed] held everything together, enhancing ever better than before. Limits to be pushed. Diverse improvements to be settled alongside each other. Adjustments to a singular, constant whole. An unshakable theme of merging, melding, making that ensured Humanity remained, even as it rose to heights only dreamed of.
If Humanity [Maxed] suffused my whole being, Inspired Inventor+ was a spark at the center of it. It was a glowing ember of potential, fueling everything else and burning ever brighter with each point I earned. Everything sprung forth from Inspired Inventor+, perhaps even… me myself, in a way.
Once my body was rebuilt, I turned my back on the past I couldn't remember anyway. There was no going back. I didn't even know if I wanted to go back. Dwelling on faceless memories was meaningless. Beyond futile. Fucking stupid and forced as fuck. FUCK whatever dredged it up and shoved it in front of me, I wasn't playing that game. So, fuck it! I pushed myself fucking forward.
An insulated bubble broke as I did. I forged myself a path through the dreaming realm with sheer spite. The Force twitched but didn't fight me. The Dark grumbled, slightly disappointed that I hadn't given into the passion of past betrayal but FASCINATED/OBSESSED/ENTHRALLED by my path forward all the same. The Light apologized with sweet, meaningless nothings, illuminating all around, waiting with open arms, but not — NEVER — trying to coax me into anything.
The Force was simultaneously divided and united as I broke out into its open waters. The Dark — ever-greedy — wanted me for itself. The Light — ever-benevolent — would always welcome me. Together, they simply cast everything in revealing light and defining shadows. I chose both. I chose neither. I chose a way of my own.
An endless sea of stars and souls splayed out around me. A galaxy seen from afar and yet so close. The Force was a study of similar contrasts. Balanced opposites. Swirling blacks and whites, both containing every color in between. It… was my first time seeing the whole galaxy and Force in motion… And it was the first time they began seeing me in return…
I should've been invisible. A single star-soul in an infinite canvas of lights. I wasn't. That much immediately became clear to me. There were other star-souls in that infinite canvas who could notice me…
Breaking the fuck out of my own Forcing flashback through sheer spite had caused ripples, it seemed. Small ripples, but my deeds for the Force — being on the front line against the kyber-spice menace — gave my presence noticeable weight. And even before my personal upheaval, the proverbial waters around Nar Shaddaa were choppy with Force drug-fueled deviance. Which, of course, I'd found myself at the center of.
It wasn't a perfect storm. But it was a noticeable one. Across half of the galaxy, I felt disparate eyes turn my way. Some from the core, in their temple towers. Others came from closer — spread farther afield throughout the rest of the galaxy. Others still were hidden in shadows, only just barely noticeable because I knew to look for them. Even then, I didn't truly see those shadowy eyes as they turned my way. I just knew they'd be there…
The overall vibe in the Force that bounced back to me like echoes was… curiosity. They weren't threatened. Why should they be? At most, there was a hint of concern mixed with intrigued confusion. The eyes from the core held most of my attention. I wouldn't escape the Order's attention, not when the Force around Nar Shaddaa was set in motion and turmoil by the kyber-spice menace.
I ignored them where I could, playing at ignorance and challenging those intrigued eyes with spite. Let the Order think me just a powerful, self-trained Force Sensitive who'd slipped through their net. Let them see what they would think they missed out on and know they couldn't do anything about it. Not with their current traditions and protocols.
The Force splayed out before me in all directions, and I knew how they'd noticed me. I knew it because I noticed them in return. In the endless sea of stars and souls, some points of light were… heavier. The actions those heavier points took in the 'real' world played out as ripples in the Force, emotions and fate resonating in ways that were impossible to miss.
It took conscious effort to conceal one's self in the Force, so I didn't bother. I wouldn't hide, but I wouldn't go out of my way for their attention, either. I wouldn't have to. The Force and actions I would've taken anyway would do that for me…
A certain presence — tiny and somehow green but as dense as a neutron star — began to poke around at me. He was curious, full of both mischief and wisdom. And he was just the most prominent presence now poking around the odd turmoil at the center of Hutt Space.
What he glimpsed, I could never know, but I felt his reactions as if he let me feel them, "Hmmm~… Hoh~! Hmrah~! Hurrumph~…"
For a moment, his odd, mischievously wise aura set me at ease. Then, he poked a touch too far, practically knocking at the door to my mind. I recoiled, and my spite came back with a vengeance. I lashed at the proverbial poking finger. He treated me much like a snapping puppy. I could almost literally see the metaphysical newspaper he rapped me on the nose with…
Still, he didn't poke me again, instead just feeling around with more featherlight touches. He must've felt the taint of kyber-spice. It was conspicuous in the Force around Nar Shaddaa. And I wouldn't put it past the Force to almost personally confide in him, knowing who the presence was.
Attention from the wider galaxy was inevitable. I knew that. I'd hoped it wasn't the case. But I knew it would come one way or another. 'Seeing' the taint from above, below, within, and without, something was unmistakably 'up' in my corner of the galaxy. And the Force itself was… gossipy… For something like kyber-spice, both Light and Dark called for aid with visceral shuddering shivers.
Curiosity, concern, and confusion were converging on the rotten, eaten-through, spice-and-stupidity-caused pestilence around Nar Shaddaa from every corner of the galaxy. Thanks to my trip into the greater Force, I sensed the interest for myself. Harsh, blinding stage lights shined my way. Hidden, unnaturally pitch-black tendrils crept closer and closer. More natural grays peeked in as well.
Sensing the convergence for myself wasn't much. But it was a warning. A reason for the Force to have coaxed me into its open waters. I would be at the center of that convergence, I already knew. And since kyber-spice wasn't nearly dead — some remnant of Zorba's idiocy had slipped away, it seemed… — the chance and fore-warned time to prepare were… appreciated.
Satisfied with the opportunity it'd handed me, the Force began to drag me back into the waking realm. The situation there filtered back into my awareness. 'Fucking… Pilar…!' I scowled. 'Fucking cunts and Hutts teaming up for betrayal…'
Slow, gentle tugs at my dreaming soul gave me plenty of time to react. I didn't fight the sensation. As I neared the 'real' world, one last scene flashed through my mind's eye. Another scene of the past, but… one I didn't know. One that I couldn't have known without the Force at play.
I saw… myself waking up for the first time. Time ran backward as I watched. My… arrival in a Galaxy Far, Far Away. It didn't play out as I had assumed. I didn't simply pop into being here. I was… slotted into place. By Inspired Inventor+, by the Force, by both and neither, it didn't matter. My body had already existed in some soulless form. Now, I saw how it had ended up in that urban hellscape I'd known for my first feral weeks.
I — for I still considered it my body as I saw its origins — was dumped there by a disposal team of some kind. Rewinding further, I watched clinical testing fail in reverse. Corpo logos played at the corners of my mind. Ara-… In a cloning tube, my body un-grew. Then, I saw the source… Meat: grown from someone who utterly despised the stuff. Familiar, balefully glaring red eyes set in a completely chrome face. The last thing I saw before my consciousness returned to my body was… Adam Smasher, Arasaka's Chrome Rancor…
I woke. And didn't move a single muscle. I flooded my modified ears and auditory processing centers with the Force. Passive echolocation formed a living map of the immediate environment in my head. Becca to one side, restrained and fuming. Pilar was across the room from her, laughing as if nothing was wrong. Ave stayed near Pilar. I could hear his two Hutt-damned hearts beating out of control.
There were other figures standing guard. Armed and hired help, no doubt. But they weren't making any noise — not even heartbeats — so I couldn't get a clear picture of them in my mind. We were in a vaguely small room. The constant hum of repulsor lifts beneath everything, and the movement of fluid in my inner ear told me we were moving. In transit. I still had plenty of time to get to work.
I pushed the last, revealing vision from the Force to the back of my mind. It explained… quite a bit, to be fair. But it didn't fucking matter. Not now, and I was determined to not make a big deal of it afterward, too. My body was a failed Arasaka clone of Smasher. So. Fucking. What…? It just meant I had bloody greatness flowing through my veins. It just meant I had to prove myself different and better than the original…
Playing dead still, I aimed to gather as much information as I could. If I didn't get the details of this betrayal now, I'd never get them. I was not at all in the mood to deal with Pilar and Ave slowly and methodically. I was fucking furious and eager to channel that into something violently productive. An interrogation was off the table. If I wanted to know about their motivations, plans, and potential backers, it was now or never.
Becca snarled at her brother, "What-! The-! Fraggin' fuck, Pilar?! You cunt-blocking, cock! I'm gonna shove my fist so far up your ass that you'll say your last words as a KARKIN' PUPPET!"
With echolocation, I could quite literally hear Pilar's irreverent grin, "Eh, be chilled, sis. You'll be fine. The only reason we took you was 'cause you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ave and the other Hutts just want our boy A-cunt here."
I schooled a scowl. Ave was being backed by other Hutts. That wasn't unexpected. I knew they'd be forced to take action eventually. Having me take over Zorba's cartel was a direct challenge to their species' mandate to rule as they did. No matter what, they couldn't let my reign continue unopposed. I'd just hoped we would have more time to get our proverbial safeties off. I guess not every Hutt was incompetent, though…
"That doesn't make it better, gonk-bro!" Becca shouted. "You're betraying the crew! Treacherous, double-crossing SHITHEAD!"
"Wha-…?" Pilar sounded genuinely confused by that accusation. "No, I'm not. I'm betraying Atom. The rest of the crew is still cool. Nothing really changes, does it? He's just a newbie."
"Just a new-…?" Becca repeated, audibly baffled. "You can't honestly-… Why, bro? Clout? Scratch? Dorph? I swear to kriff, if you're doing this for death sticks…!"
"They certainly help~," I heard Pilar grin. "And that good shit Atom destroyed for no reason, too! I mean, c'mon! You can't seriously be backin' Atom, right, sis? Fucker destroyed good spice, and he's just allowed to crown himself king?! Bantha-kriff! Why does he deserve that kind of victory?!"
"Envy, then…" Becca muttered before snapping. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because it was his plan?! Maybe 'cause he killed Zorba himself?! Maybe 'cause he actually takes that ruling shit seriously instead of running a whole cartel's fortune into the fucking ground like you would?! Maybe 'cause he's strong, preem as hell, and actually fucking loyal to his chooms?!"
Pilar clicked his tongue, "Tsk… Whatever, sis. You'll see. The other Hutts will come through, and Ave will owe me once he's sittin' his ass on the throne. And I won't have to listen to some jumped-up newbie all the time! The fortune of death sticks and kyber-spice I'm getting is just a bonus."
Becca's next words were dangerously quiet, "… Atom and I are going to flatline you today, bro. Be sure of that. But even if we somehow don't… you'll smoke yourself to death in a month. You're so gonk-brained and shit-fucked it's not even funny anymore!"
"Ehh?" Pilar made a noise of genuine confusion. "But it was funny at some point?"
"Yes! Fucking- Yes! When I could smack you around for saying something stupid or giggle at your slapstick or-! Or-…!" Becca shot back. I could hear tears welling up in her eyes. "… Or when you were just my gonk-bro, not this-… this snake instead, betraying the crew for envy, eddies, death sticks, and bug drugs…"
"But I'm not," Pilar insisted earnestly — and wasn't that just the worst part…? "I'm not betraying the crew! Just Atom! It's not the same! He'll just drag the rest of us down with him. Best to throw him under the speeder now and be rid of him."
I heard those tears in Becca's eyes fall, heard her realizing a lost cause in real time, "Oh, you stupid fucking gonk, bro… It's exactly the same. Atom's gang. He's crew. He's loyal. He's one of us… It's exactly the same…"
"Nah, he's just a newbie. Took me months to earn my stripes with the crew. Same with you," Pilar waved dismissively, taking refuge in obliviousness.
"…" Becca didn't even bother replying again.
For a girl like her, that was telling enough. Pilar — still — didn't seem to pick up on the cues. He still didn't think he was doing anything major or fucked up. He'd seen a chance for clout, credits, spice, and — as Becca accurately pegged — a chance to act on his envy. Every other concern was excused away in his mind.
He honestly couldn't see the violation Becca was feeling, the betrayal, the treachery. In his mind, they were still good as siblings, and he was still loyal to the crew. Only… it was the crew he remembered, not the crew with me, Lucy, David, and Gloria in it. Not the crew that'd annihilated two gangs, hit Arasaka, and overthrown a Hutt… Stuck in the past, Pilar truly was a lost cause.
He couldn't see it in himself. He couldn't see Becca's pain or how the rest of the crew would inevitably, undoubtedly, react the same way. And even as he openly betrayed me without a single excuse in mind, he couldn't see how utterly fucked he was.
Becca backed me — she was loyal — but she was still far from my strongest supporter in the crew. I'd like to see Pilar try that same justification with Sasha… She would — quite literally — rip him to fucking shreds. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she manifested Force powers just to Force Crush his nuts into my namesake.
That would've been a sight to see… The amusement was enough to cool my fury so that I didn't jump the gun on Pilar right then — for Becca's sake and mine. There was still another side of this betrayal to hear from. Pilar wouldn't even have had the chance to double-cross us if it wasn't for Ave the Fucking Cunt.
"I-I assure you, Lady Becca," Ave simpered, stuttered, and 'assured'. "You will be released unharmed. This is all just- just a terribly unfortunate series of events that caught you in the middle of it all. Necessary, of course. Y-You understand. Anyone would. I mean, t-truly? A non-Hutt? At the head of a kajidic? J-J-Just unconsciencable. But I digress — your involvement, Lady Becca, is unfortunate all the same."
Of course, Becca kept her silence. I could hear her rolling her eyes in the tiniest of scoffs that she made. Such a small noise, practically unnoticeable to anyone else, yet it packed so much derision, scorn, and a reaffirming of her loyalty to me. 'Cause if her own brother couldn't get her on their side, why would a giant fucking slug be any better? Becca was ride and fucking die.
Ave kept right on going, gaining courage from nothing as he did, "S-Such a shame…! It never should've come to this. Never, I say! Zorba's throne is my birthright, of course, my mandate as a venerable Hutt. This… Human… should've stepped aside as soon as he finished my dirty work. Truly, he brought this on himself. Not to worry, we'll set everything right with a Hutt back on top. As it should always be-…"
The lack of any verbal response or retort only seemed to encourage Ave. He would've gone on forever if he wasn't interrupted. Thankfully, his commlink rang and grabbed his attention. He 'politely' (at the very least, I could say good things about the slug's manners…) excused himself to answer it. He didn't go far enough that I was unable to eavesdrop, though. And hit paydata as a result…
"Ah, Cousin! I-I didn't expect to hear from you so soon! … No! Of course, not! It is always a pleasure to hear from the Great Jabba!"
I stilled at that name. Even more still than playing dead as I was. A subtle tension settled beneath my fury and desire for vengeance. It… made sense, as much as I hated the development. Zorba was Jabba's father. Expecting no reprisal from the Tatooine-based Hutt Lord would be rather stupid on my part. And as the call continued, it seemed that Jabba the Fucking Hutt was only one major piece of the puzzle.
"… Yes, yes, my side of the things are proceeding to plan. I have taken the usurper. The Lords Grotto and Tyeb and Lady Vela shall be receiving us shortly. Nothing can go wrong now!"
He paused, Jabba obviously speaking on the other end of the call, "… Hmm? No, no, he hasn't even woken up yet. Shall I-…?"
"… Pardon me, Cousin, you mean for me to…? Ah… Of course, it can be done! I-Is it wise, though…?"
Ave sighed after trailing off again, "… You know me, Cousin. I would never question your wisdom or the support you have arranged for me. I simply wonder… No. No, you are correct. As always, of course. An example must be made and seen by all. Our divine mandates cannot be questioned again. There's just…"
"… B-Broadcast-?!" He practically squeaked. "The opening act? I-I see… And is your continued support to install me as the head of the Desilijic Clan's leading kajidic… conditional on this opening act…? A-Ah… Very well, I shall see what I can do."
"… I would never turn aim to disappoint on the Clans! Believe me, Cousin, I am well aware that I'm in the right place at the right time. T-That does not change the fact that I am the only reasonable option! You are simply too far, and this issue is simply too urgent! My new kajidic would defer to yours, of course, that has not changed. Regardless of your continued support for me, you are Clan Desilijic's rightful head. I am simply another segment of your wide-reaching tail, Great Jabba."
Ave paused once more, "… You know as well as I that our noble allies would install one of their own if you weren't here to keep them in line. The Ruling Council only cares about putting another noble Hutt in place, as is proper. We may have unanimous support in that endeavor, but the other Clans would gladly cull Clan Desilijic's strength if they could. The usurper has put us in the most precarious situation our Clan has ever experienced. We must tread carefully…"
Politics, politics, and more politics, I gathered. Slug politics… I'd shaken the Hutts up something major, I knew. Hutts didn't fall. Not to outsiders. There was plenty of internal strife and struggle within their species, but it was just that: internal. By doing what I'd done — and planned to continue doing — I'd given them an outside enemy to focus on. I was a threat to their very society. They would stop at nothing to replace my reign with another Hutt.
Pure fucking spite flared within me. Let them come. Let. Them. Fucking. Come… I'd done something unprecedented, something legendary, something that undeniably changed so many individual futures for the better. I wasn't about to allow the slugs and their status quo to ruin that. Fuck the slugs, their sins, their stupid incompetence, and their slavery. I wouldn't be silenced, and I certainly wouldn't be replaced.
I took solace in the fact that even united against me and what I represented, the Hutts still squabbled and struggled between themselves. There were gaps to exploit there. I hardly needed them. Not when I was determined to ruin every aspect of Hutt society, just like I had against Zorba.
If there was a better declaration of war, I couldn't think of one. And the damned slugs were about to hand me the perfect medium to make my counter declaration on a platter.
Jabba wanted Ave to broadcast something. My torture, almost definitely. And it would only begin here. If the Hutts had their way, I'd be broken and re-broken 24/7 for the rest of my natural life, live for everyone to see. Jabba wanted — the Hutts needed — to make me into an example that Hutt Space wouldn't soon forget. I was honestly the most surprised that Ave had been able to see the opportunity they were potentially handing me if things went wrong… Which, of course, they very much would…
As Ave finished his call with Jabba, I heard our craft's repulsorlifts cut out. I tensed slightly, prepared to act on any moment that presented itself. Then, the almost imperceptible hum of sublight space engines kicked in. I barely stopped myself from snorting. What a way to visit space for the first time…
Still, that gave me a bit more time. I tested the Force, finding nothing wrong. If anything, it had been waiting eagerly for me to begin calling upon it. Eager for revenge on one side and eager for freedom on the other… My senses extended outward, carried by currents of the Force. They augmented and enhanced the mental map echolocation had built for me.
Echolocation was better for the immediate area, but the Force allowed me to 'see' beyond its limits. We were in the cargo hold of an unnamed ship. More of a small yacht than any kind of freighter… It'd just broken through Nar Shaddaa's atmosphere on the other side of the moon from my tower.
I could tell that much because of Sasha's emotions — obsessive, desperate, furious, and frenzied into a flurry of activity — like a familiar beacon in the Force that I was attuned to. She was a landmark I could use to locate myself, and I took a moment to hope that she would somehow feel the reassurance I pulsed her way.
Within the cargo hold, Ave, Pilar, and Becca were right where I'd heard them. The first: nervously driven by ambition, the second: pleased as punch with himself and disconnected with reality, and the third… Becca was betrayed, heartbroken, and vengeful beyond measure.
Both of us were bound by tough durasteel shackles, but she'd been given clothes, at least. I… was still naked, swinging free and chained from wrist to ankle (and even my tail) at the same time. As I expected, we were being guarded by droids — those figures without heartbeats. They didn't look like they'd pose much of a threat. Decent quality. But still droid fodder. The internal security turret that was mounted on the ceiling and aimed directly at me, however… Overkill. And still not nearly enough.
Ave went about setting up something to record and broadcast his 'opening act' as directed by Jabba. I readied myself as well, settling deeper into the Force for a single, explosive, shocking moment. Visibly, I didn't move a muscle, still playing dead in chains.
"I-Is this thing on…?" Ave muttered to himself before nodding. "Good. Very good! Let it be known! Usurpers get everything they deserve! The Hutt Clans are not kind to those who overstep their natural place in the galaxy! Pilar, my friend, please wake the insolent usurper!"
"Ah, yeah, yeah~!" Pilar cackled. "A-cunt here has gone too far. He thinks himself some kind of kingpin! He was gonna get us all killed, and I wasn't trying to get dragged down with him. Wake up, gonk! You're fucked, Atom…"
The unknowing callback to my past betrayal, to the flashback I'd broken the fuck out of, set a fire in my veins. A roaring inferno, with betrayal — past and present — as the fuel. Pilar kicked out at me, aiming for my cock. Just to add injury to insult, I suppose. His whole leg froze mid-motion.
My eyes snapped open to glare at him. So fiercely that Pilar flinched and recoiled. His Force-frozen leg held him in place. With a monumental FLEX, my bindings broke. Dissolved to dust as I rent the durasteel's very molecular bonds to pieces. Slowly, I rose to my feet, tail lashing furiously, dick swinging freely, eyes glaring intensely, and aura burning with sheer. Fucking. VENGEANCE.
"Pilar…" I growled.
The betraying gonk paled, "Ah, shii~iiit~…"
In a flash, he reached for the blaster on his hip. His arm froze just like his leg. He lunged at me with his other hand, lanky chrome fingers curling like claws. That arm froze in space as well. Leaning on invisible leverage, he desperately kicked his supporting foot out at me. Aiming for my dick again. Fucking… Pilar…
I met his last lashing-out limb with a lightning-fast fist to his kneecap. It audibly shattered. Shards of bone exploded out the backside of his knee. The whole leg was ruined, and Pilar screamed.
"D-Droids! Turret! Shoot him!" Ave ordered, panicking.
The four guard droids followed their commands. I shoved outward at all of them at once. Concentrated spears of Force slammed them into the cargo hold's walls so hard that they shattered into scrap parts on contact. Quite literally, shatterpoints…
The turret was quicker, already firing upon me. I simply tanked the heavy blaster bolts on beskar skin to make a point. The first barrage proved utterly ineffective. There wasn't a second as I bent the turret's barrels back onto itself. It exploded in a shower of sparks and shrapnel that sent Ave diving for non-existent cover.
In the open cargo hold, there was nowhere for a fully grown Hutt to hide. And I quickly made escape difficult, piling up the scrapped, shattered remains of four full-sized guard droids in front of the door leading to the rest of the ship. Then, I stepped back and did away with Becca's restraints like mine, dissolving them with a touch of Force Alchemy.
I held Pilar still — limbs frozen and screaming/snarling/sobbing in mid-air — as I did, waving Becca forward, "He's all yours. I've got a slug to deal with and a war dec' to send…"
Becca's replying grin spoke volumes. If it did, Pilar's honest to Force whimper spoke a whole damn library. I left the snake at his sister's tender mercies and didn't look back. Not even when the screams and pleas started up in visceral, horrifying earnestness. Even I had limits…
And it seemed that however badly Becca would carve up her betraying brother was almost one of them. Almost… I did still have something else to do. The Hutts wouldn't dec' on themselves. Well… They would. They did. But I wasn't going to give their brand of suicidal stupidity the whole spotlight right now. After what they'd put me through, I think I deserved to shine, too.
Ave was staring past me as I stalked up to him. Pilar's screams, transitioning into wretched sobs, showed why. And was that a… chainsaw…? Where had Becca gotten…? I quickly decided that Becca was exactly the type to have chrome, mantis-blade chainsaws and that I didn't want to know anymore. I picked up the broadcasting camera with telekinesis, making sure it was focused on us as I came to a crouch before Ave's petrified form — poised like a predator and still naked as the day I was born.
"Slug," I said, my tone deceptively calm. "I can't say I'm surprised or at all disappointed. Just… very. Very. Fucking. Angry. You Hutts just don't know when to call it quits. Your Ruling Council tried to install you as a patsy in my place. That means, of course… you, Ave, tried to take what's mine…"
Panicking, Ave searched for his spine and seemed to find something, "I-I-It's not yours! The kajidic's lordship is mine! By birth and divine mandate! Y-You-! You're nothing more than a lowly usurper!"
"Ask the slaves I freed," I retorted, low and dangerous. "Ask the vassals who've already started to profit under me. Ask the mercs, soldiers, and spacers who follow me. Hell, ask the very fucking concept of violence as power! I'll bet all of those parties give you a different answer…"
"I-It's not right!" Ave stuttered out.
"Neither is tyrannical Hutt rule," I snapped. "So here we are. We both make a claim. Only, I've actually proved myself — through violence, allies, and more competent rule in a week than Zorba showed over a thousand years. You talk about a 'divine mandate'… I talk about a mandate I've already begun to earn. So you can take what I've earned for myself over my cold, dead corpse. Except… you had one shot at that. And you missed."
"T-There will be others! The Hutt Clans will never let you live! Your very existence is an insult, Atom!" He raged.
I flicked him on his fat forehead with the Force, making the motion with my hand for show. He recoiled rather satisfyingly, "Not quite… My existence is a threat, not an insult. I know it. The Ruling Council knows it. And now, thanks to this broadcast, the downtrodden, the hopeless, the chained will know it, too. So I have a message to be sent with your death… To the people watching, I offer something better. Hope and change… A future without Hutts. I offer Broken… Fucking… Chains…
"And to the slugs… I'll give only war. Death. Destruction. Write it down, cunts, I am your doom. I will not suffer a slug to live, not when they only bring their brand of bondage, pain, and perversion onto the galaxy. You and your Ruling Clans have fucked around for much, much too long. Now… well, I'm sure you know how the saying goes…"
I stood with a long, languid stretch. Ave cowered where he lay. But he seemed to see some kind of chance. He lunged for my leg. I lunged faster. I blurred and snatched his tail out from under him. Then, I began dragging half a ton of Hutt behind me like he was nothing.
The camera followed us as Ave struggled futilely. I gave Becca and Pilar a wide berth, absently noting the many pieces of chrome and flesh that'd been sawed straight off and scattered around already. Pilar had stopped screaming… That wasn't as good a sign as it sounded. But just desserts were deserved and all of that. I dragged Ave past them and toward the back end of the cargo hold.
Ave's struggles increased as he saw the airlock in his very near future and realized what his fate was going to be. My dragging grip never wavered. Before throwing him into the airlock, I lifted him up in front of me, transferring the hand holding him to a grip of the Force.
Ave stuttered out one final moment of defiance, "Y-You'll never get away with this! T-They'll come for you! No one escapes the Hutts!"
"I know. Let them. Next time, they'd better come correct…" Leaning in, I practically whispered in his ear. "You know, I should almost be thanking you. I couldn't have asked for a better excuse. It seems letting you live a little while longer did pay off, in a way."
Pulling back, I left him with one last 'piece of advice', "Now, do try to burn up in atmo during your re-entry. I would hate to ruin some poor person's day with raining Hutt…"
I chucked him into the airlock without another chance to respond. The door hissed closed, sealing behind him. Through the window, I saw him pound and scratch to no avail. Pressing a button began the depressurizing process. Air rushed steadily out of the chamber, and Ave began to choke on nothing with great, beady, bulging eyes. One more button press and I sent him off to his fate.
My face was impassive as I watched space itself suck the slug into its icy, blood-boiling depths. Below my unmoving expression, I felt only satisfaction. Ave's execution was quicker and cleaner than he deserved. But I was conscious of the broadcast capturing everything. I figured the 'off-screen' death would help keep me relatively palatable in others' eyes.
"Two Hutts down," I said, turning to face the camera. "Many, many more to come. To the rest… Try me. Fuck around. Find out how honest I'm being when I say I'll give only war."
To those watching, the broadcast cut out suddenly. Dramatically. It'd served its purpose. And I was positive that Sasha would've already located the signal's source. The crew would be on their way. Another flaw in Jabba's plan, but he couldn't have been expecting Night City netrunners… Now, all Becca and I had to do was wait for a pick-up.
I walked straight past Becca and Pilar — now just a nugget… — on my way back through the cargo hold. I left Becca to the rest of her revenge, though, instead sweeping aside the droid debris blocking the way into the rest of the ship. Then, I was striding, stalking, toward the cockpit.
The droid pilot waiting there was simply… turned off by me. Deactivated instead of destroyed. I didn't bother trying to fly the ship. That was a hole in my skills I'd have to rectify at some point. But I couldn't be bothered right now. I pushed the deactivated droid out of the pilot's seat, kicked up my feet, and settled in to wait for friendlier transport.
Perhaps I should've been more conflicted about what I'd just done — declaring war on the Hutt Clans and all. But… no, it was inevitable. I didn't regret a thing. I was already turning my mind to the future. We'd be vulnerable, but I doubted that we would stand alone. Even in the heart of Hutt Space, the Clans had enemies. And they were far from a united front.
Plans, preparations, and contingencies came to mind. Some were dismissed as not nearly drastic enough. I'd have a whole new set of orders for Sstala to help put into place when I returned. We were in for a fight, that much was certain. At the very least, it'd get me off that damned throne…
A few minutes later, Becca joined me in the cockpit. I barely looked up from my plotting, asking, "Done? Satisfied? Better?"
"Better," Becca confirmed with a weary sigh. "But not good, choom. It was a long time coming. But that didn't make it easy."
I turned to look at her… and immediately paused when I saw that she was naked once more, "I… see."
Becca's usual mood returned with a smug grin, "Oh, yeah, choom~… You ain't getting away that easily. The way I see it… we've got some action to finish~."
"Is Pilar even cold?" I raised an eyebrow, blood already rushing south to contradict my question.
Becca snorted, "Fuck Pilar to fraggin' space Hell where he belongs. His cunt-blocking was just as bad as him turnin' snake. I'm getting what I was promised, choom. You're gonna give it to me good~!"
Slowly, I took my feet off the ship's dashboard, "You know… I could use the opportunity to turn my brain off for a round or two…"
"Bring. It. On. Cho~om~Da~ad~dy~…" Becca said, enunciating each syllable to the point she was practically purring.
She mounted me, wiggling herself down into my lap. Every movement was a challenge in itself. Her smug, goading stare, eyes never leaving mine, was the cherry on top. Taunting, tempting fingers ran across my skin. Her ass settled over my growing cock. It was a nice ass. A very nice ass… I couldn't — didn't want to — stop myself from palming it, groping and squeezing to my growling heart's content.
Becca chuckled and teased, "Just gonna touch, big guy~? C'mon~… You know you wanna fuck me into a little barely-legal puddle~…"
Her teasing words shot my cock up the rest of the way so it slid snugly against Becca's already dripping pussy. If there was ever enough foreplay for a girl like her, this whole abduction ordeal would be it. Hell, other than the betrayal and initial cock-blocking, it must've been her dream date. That's what her cunny drooling down the length of my shaft said, at least.
"The second one," I rumbled lowly. "Definitely, the second one."
With my hands on her ass, I manhandled her upward. She was perfect for it. Tiny and pliable. Crazy enough to enjoy it. And oh-so-eager to be used as a mesugaki fuckdoll.
Her grin flashed as she arched her back, helping me line myself up without any hands on either of our parts. My cockhead poked her lower lips apart, spread her cunny petals beautifully around me, and practically challenged her inner depths to resist me when I drove my cock balls deep…
A moment later, I did just that. I pulled her down. Forced her onto my cock and forced her to take every inch. I wasn't soft or gentle. Those qualities would be wasted on Becca. I plunged into her, bottomed out, and ground her there, impaled on my beskar cock.
Becca threw her head back and screamed her pleasure to the heavens, "Yeeeeeesssss~ssshhhhh~! Fuck-! Frag-! Yes~sh~!"
I wasted no time pistoning in and out of her. Already, her lips were falling open in an 'O'. Already, her eyes were fluttering. Already, her cunny was clenching around me. I bodily lifted and dropped her over and over again at speed.
"Fu~ck!" I grunted.
She was tight. Oh-so-fucking-tight… As snug as she was smug. It took considerable strength to fuck her little cunny up and down my cock, that's how tight she was. My muscles flexed, and I just fucked her even harder.
Her tiny, milking pussy clung to me, from her spread lips to her stretched inner walls. Pleasurable static tingled away at my nerves. It started as a jolt, a shock. As I fucked Becca, the sensation became beyond words. A pounding to match my own.
Becca reveled in being used. She practically tucked herself into a little ball for ease of fucking. That wasn't to say she was passive. Far from it. Every time I pounded myself to the hilt inside her, she contracted the velvety muscles of her inner walls like ripples up the length of my cock. And every time I pulled out, she practically sucked me back in.
PLAP~!
PLAP~~!
PLAP~~~!
PLAP~!
"More, more, Choom~Daddy~!" She cried. "That all you've got~? You gonna let some Mr. Stud dildo show you up~? Fraggin' wreck me like you mean it~! Walking is for pussies who haven't been fucked into submission~! You gonna make me into a pussy, Atom~?!"
"No-! Yes-! Shut up!" I growled. "Shut up and get fucked, brat! Shut up and get corrected!"
PLAP~!
PLAP~!
PLAP~!
I thrust myself into her as I thrust myself to my feet. Standing, I practically threw her over the cockpit's dashboard, barely getting down a platform of Force so our vigorous fucking wouldn't fuck up the controls. Flat on her back, I continued looming over her until I was both standing and on top of her. One of my hands grabbed her by her ankles, holding her legs together and bending her in half on her back.
Becca just grinned up at me through it all, still challenging me, "Well, it's a start~…"
"Slutty loli brat! You just came!" I snarled, punctuating my words with a thrust to her core.
Becca's smug expression said the opposite of her quivering, clenching, squirting body, "Heh, prove it."
PLAP~PLAP~PLAP~PLAP~PLAP~!
I pounded down into her. Her proportionally perfect ass rippled with every slam of my hips against her pillowy behind. The muscles in her thighs tensed, and her toes curled. Still, Becca smugged. She smirked, even as she hugged her legs to her chest and turned herself upward for me to fuck to my heart's content.
She teased and taunted, only stuttering slightly, "Y-Yawn… This barely-legal little puss-puss too much for you, Atom~? I know it's preem. I'm preem. But damn, from Sasha's rantings and ravings, I was expecting… more~…"
A growl rumbled in my chest, and I took it out on her clenching cunny. Fine, if she wanted to play like that, I'd play as well. Anything was fair game. Guided by instinct and supernatural knowledge, my hips and thrusts angled slightly… right into her poor pussy's shatterpoint.
My next pistoning thrust hit the perfect spot in her pussy with the perfect amount of force. And then the next repeated the impossible feat. And the next, and the next…
Over and over, I took my frustration at her teasing out on her most sensitive pleasure point — the singular, transcending point that would make her shatter into a million blissful pieces.
Becca couldn't do anything but shatter. Her expression shifted, the shock and ecstasy obliterating her 'smug' in an instant. She sucked in a sharp gasp. No sound came out the other side of that breath. Her mouth fell open — her eyes rolled — in a silent scream, even as her pussy just about exploded in a squirting, dashboard-ruining mess on my cock.
It was too much for me. I didn't want to hold back anyway. I drove myself up against her shatterpoint one last time and held myself there. A roaring orgasm came — the first rope exploding into Becca like she'd exploded onto me — and went as rolling waves. Bending over Becca with her legs on my shoulder, I spent myself deep, deep inside her.
The creampie set Becca's cunny off again. Fluttering, squeezing, clamping like nothing else in the galaxy mattered. Finally, a choked squeal escaped from Becca's 'O'-shaped lips.
"HhhNNNNN~GYA~gnnugl~gnnugl~…"
"The first sensible thing you've said in 10 minutes," I growled.
"N-N-N-Nuh u-UHHHHHHH~!" Becca cut off her bratty denial as I flexed my cock against her shatterpoint again.
"Yes-huh," I shot back. Sitting inside of her, filling her completely, it was my turn to be smug. I'd be a fool not to take the chance.
After a few more moments of blissed-out afterglow, Becca twitched — inside and out, "Karkin' KRIFF, choom~! I ain't ever been fucked like that! My Mr. Stud dildos can't compare to the real thing at all…"
"Real thing…?" I almost cocked my head at that. "Becca? Were you a virgin?"
"W-Wha-?!" Becca sputtered. "Hells, no! I've got my Mr. Studs! I've even got a fucking machine with a big-ass Wookie cock! Not that I've ever managed to take more than the tip of that… But, still! I popped my cherry way before you!"
"But…?" I asked leadingly.
"… But… you might've been my first, ya know… real cock…" Becca admitted with a small voice, glancing away with a rare blush on her cheeks.
I couldn't help but chuckle, "Damned cocky mesugaki's…"
"Shut up… 'Course~!" Becca almost instantly sprung back to her usual self, smirking challengingly. "Now that I've gotten a taste~…"
"Of course," I grinned right back in the face of her challenge.
I pulled my cock back out of her, aiming it menacingly at her shatterpoint spot once more. Before I could take that restarting plunge, though, we were interrupted. It seemed the rest of the crew had caught up to us already…
Maine's voice echoed through the whole ship, coming from right outside the cockpit, "Atom! You good, choom? We saw Pilar. Or what's left of him. Looks like Becca's work. Probably deserved but still a damn shame… Anyway, we've got your extract, a-AANNNNDDDD NOPE!"
The big man came through the cockpit's door, saw me poised to fuck Becca into submission again, and turned right back around, "Sash', girl, that's all for you!"
She didn't have nearly the same hesitation at the scene they'd walked in on. Sasha rushed immediately to my side, hugging me tightly, "Oh, thank the Stars… I mean, we knew you were good when we caught that broadcast, but I still worried, ya know~? Thank fuck everything's preem and nova and normal, and you're just giving Becks the dicking she deserves!"
Outside the cockpit, I could hear Maine practically playing bouncer at the door, "Dorio-baby, Gloria, you two ain't going in there until our chooms are dressed. That shit's almost enough to make a grown man jealous… David, kid, you might wanna wait a sec', too. Lucy… Shit, go get a glimpse of what you're missing, girl."
"Fuck you, Maine," Lucy snarked back. "… I just might."
Chuckling — it was good to be back, even after such a short detour — I held my position to give Lucy the best 'glimpse' of what she was missing. Hell, I even turned us slightly so she'd see everything — Becca bent in half and my cock in prime position to fuck her stupid again, and Sasha clinging to my side. I'd corrected the bratty mesugaki. And it seemed that thawing the cyber-kuudere's mask would be next on the menu…
Even with a purging, liberating war against all of the Hutt Clans on the immediate horizon, I knew I could count on my girls, my crew, to keep me sane… Mostly sane, at least.