Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!

Touching down near the vault’s location, while we waited for Liam and his group to arrive, we began scouring the area for the entrance. Checking the caves and ravines around us, Bo-Katan stumbled upon it cut into the slope of a larger ravine precariously positioned above a lake of bubbling sulfuric acid. Reaching it via a narrow, rocky path, the Mandalorian cautioned my men and me against using it as much of the underside had been eaten away by the highly acidic air. Having those of us weighing under five hundred pounds use the path, I used magic to transport the rest of us down.

Constructed of high-quality durasteel and coated with half an inch of platinum, Jabba had spared no expense in the door’s construction. Measuring twenty by twenty feet in size, it was a safe assumption that this was merely a man door and that cargo had been brought in a different entrance.

“I can appreciate the desire to flaunt their wealth, but why the hell would they put it in the middle of buttfuck nowhere!?”, Liam berated the deceased Hutt as he arrived with his team, ‘Clearly whoever commissioned this place’s construction had no idea how to properly exercise their authority and power. I build all manner of things around my territory to remind my subjects just how wealthy I am, and the best part is, I use their own hard-earned money to do it! HAHA!!’

(AN: As many of you have asked, in Liam’s eyes, improving the functionality and looks of his territorial space is a cruel way of utilizing their tax money. He believes it torments his people by making their properties look inferior, but the public sees it as him acting like a kind, sensible ruler who has their best interests at heart.)

“Are you serious right now?! You are suggesting that if this was built in a highly populated area, this would be perfectly fine!?”, Ahsoka snapped, disgusted by his words, “Jabba ruined countless lives to amass his fortune; this was paid for with blood money!”

“Not to be rude, but all he did was offer people goods and services that they were willing to pay for. Why are you more mad at him than everyone who partook of his offerings? If it was not him, someone else was going to do it because there is a demand for it.”, Liam remarked, confused why she was so upset with him. “Do not mistake my words as approval for his actions; I agree that his forced enslavement of others and piracy was reprehensible. I just think you are focusing too much on the supplier and not enough on those who purchased from him.”

Opening her mouth to continue yelling at him, Ahsoka realized she could not refute his words. Jabba, while an unscrupulous individual, was merely a merchant catering to the whims of the influential and wealthy. All his business decisions were made with the intention of making him unfathomably wealthy. If there were no demand for gambling, prostitution, or slavery, he would have never dabbled in it to begin with and would have pursued other lucrative options. Realizing this for the first time, Ahsoka turned to me with a dumbfounded expression.

‘Have I been approaching my goals from the wrong angle this entire time? I strongly believe in the vision the Jedi have for a better future, but the Order has become too intertwined with the government to function properly. Many of the people we are allied with are the same ones funding our enemies’ operations. We will never be able to bring about peace if we maintain the status quo.’, Ahsoka thought, staring intently at me. ‘Staying with Victor means I can continue to carry out my desire to help others and have the support of someone who is unafraid of any political or social ramifications. Hmm… I should meditate on this and see what path I should take.’

“Hehe, finally realizing that you cannot live without him?”, Samus snickered, teasing the distracted Padawan.

“Yea… wait, what!? Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts for a moment!”, Ahsoka said, breaking eye contact with me, “My apologies, Duke Banfield, I honestly had not thought about that aspect too much. You are right; if there is a demand, scumbags will always be there to cater to it.”

“Do not worry too much about it; this sometimes happens when I speak with people outside my usual social circle.”, Liam chuckled, drawing his blade. “Now then, let’s get in there and loot this place!”

Bashing him over the head, Liam crumpled to the ground and began rubbing the spot profusely.

“The fuck was that for, Victor?!”, Liam snapped, wincing in pain, ‘Do not tell me, is he going to double-cross me for the treasure!? Haha, I should have anticipated this!’

“Learn to read your surroundings a bit better, idiot! The vault was not positioned this close to a lake of acid for dramatic effect. Brute forcing our way inside will likely result in all the loot being dropped into the acid below.”, I remarked with a frustrated sigh. “The deceased owner was the sort of person who would readily destroy his treasures to prevent others from getting ahold of them. He raked in trillions of credits every hour, so the contents of this place were expendable in his eyes.”

“My apologies, I had not considered the possibility that this place was booby-trapped. Next time I do something reckless, though, please say something instead of bashing my head in. It felt like you almost took my head off.”, Liam stated, rising to his feet. “If brute force is not an option, how do you suggest we get inside?”

“Watch and learn.”, I chuckled, approaching the door.

Cutting an access panel into the doorframe, I manipulated the nanites in my armor to create several wire taps and connected them up to the wires inside. Hacking into the security system by brute-forcing the installer password, Jarvis disabled all security measures and activated the emergency override to open the entrance. Feeling the ground begin to tremble slightly, a series of loud clunks echoed from within the door before it began sliding open. Disconnecting the wire taps, I took a few steps back as the lights began to flicker on inside.

Splurging on the interior as much as he did the vault door, everyone was left speechless when we saw the vast amounts of Calacatta Gold marble lining the ceiling and walls. Considered to be one of the finest decorative materials on the market, a single ten-by-ten slab cost just under a million credits. When I initiated the reconstruction of the Endless Horizons, I had considered using the material in my ensuite to spoil my family a bit, but there was no supply available at the time. Assuming all his vaults were lined with the stuff, I seriously considered resurrecting Jabba just to throw him into the pool of acid below.

“Just so we are clear, we are going to strip this place clean before we leave, right?”, Liam questioned, rubbing his hands together energetically.

“Spoken like a true Loot Goblin.”, I chuckled, with a firm nod. “Of course we are, not like the previous owner is going to complain about it.”

Exchanging a fist bump, the two of us stepped inside to survey the contents of the vault warehouse. Disinterested in the foreign racing crafts just inside the entrance, as we glanced around the space, Liam’s eyes fell upon thousands of large pallets toward the back left of the warehouse. Loaded to capacity with gold and other precious metals, his body went into autopilot as he bolted over to stake his claim.

“Mine, it is all mine!!”, Liam proclaimed, in a Smeagle voice, “HAHA!!!”

“Lord Liam, please control yourself. Your bad habit is showing again.”, Amagi scolded him as she and his men ran over to him, “Your gentleman’s agreement with Lord Stark was an even 50/50 split. Please remember that you are a nobleman before a treasure hunter; your words carry a great deal of weight.”

“Ahem… My apologies, Victor.”, Liam said, coming back to reality. “I know we agreed to an even 50/50 split, but is there any way you can be convinced to let me have all the precious metals? I am willing to concede other items for it.”

“Haha, if you agree to let me have any data or documentation we find here, I will concede it to you.”, I offered, noticing the piles of domestic and foreign shipping containers on the right side of the room. “Is that agreeable to you?”

Accepting my offer almost before I finished speaking, Liam began searching for the controls that operated the retractable ceiling. Unable to take his bounty out the door we came in, it was the only way he could feasibly move everything in a timely manner. Leaving him to it, my group headed over to the heavy-duty shipping containers to see what else we had earned. Verifying that the domestic containers were filled to the brim with food and medical supplies, I set them aside to make sifting through everything else easier.

“Oh shit, there are some Dahl Corporation containers over here!!”, Bo-Katan shouted, rushing over to have a better look. “They may not be that well known in our part of the universe yet, but in other regions, Dahl is ranked among the top ten best weapons manufacturers. I know you will want to keep some for yourself, Victor, but could we send the rest of our portion back to the Mandalore System? Pre Vizsla and the other practicing Mandalorians will be overjoyed to upgrade their arsenal!”

“I am not familiar with the rules and regulations of bounty hunters, but wouldn’t that be stealing?”, Ahsoka inquired, concerned about the legality of Bo-Katan’s request. “The Galactic Senate only relinquished claims to their property, not third-party groups or individuals. Unmarked items aside, are you not legally required to return stolen property?”

“According to association guidelines, unless clearly indicated on their bounties, we are not legally obligated to return anything we collect from bandits, pirates, or vagabonds. That said, we are required to declare our haul to the association as the original owners have the right to request negotiations with us to repurchase their goods.”, Samus informed her, walking over to where Bo-Katan was. “That said, hardly anyone ever requests negotiations with us. It is far more cost-effective to write it off as a loss and take a tax deduction from it. Most galactic nations have tax breaks for those that lose cargo to criminal activity.”

“That explains why so many bounty hunters are unfathomably wealthy…”, Ahsoka remarked, following her over.

Leaving them to it, I continued inventorying the other containers until Luxion alerted me to several erroneous life signs nearby. Fluctuating between life and death every few seconds, he assumed a group of captives was being kept here. Figuring Jabba had tucked a few attractive humanoids here in case he ever went on the lam, I stopped what I was doing and asked him to lead the way. Taking me to an unmarked shipping container, he indicated that the erroneous readings were coming from inside.

Ripping the doors off the container, several carbonite freezing units fell toward me unexpectedly. Catching them before they hit the ground, I gingerly leaned them against the side of the container before starting to remove the others inside. Hauling out nearly five thousand freezing units, Luxion began the process of scanning everyone’s face while I focused on the first few individuals I found. Assuming they were the missing Citadel delegation, the Asari before me looked like they were in a great deal of pain. Hitting the defrost button on their control panels, the units began sparking uncontrollably as they powered down.

Thawing out in seconds, the Asari stumbled forward and collapsed to the ground. Wriggling around erratically, they clutched at their throats, unable to breathe correctly. Assuming the freezing units had not encapsulated them properly, I used healing magic on them to mend any internal injuries they had. Momentarily relieving their suffering, a few seconds later they were right back where they started again.

<Sir, I am detecting high levels of histamine in their bodies. I recommend an immediate injection of epinephrine before they suffocate.> (Jarvis)

“On it.”, I acknowledged, retrieving a bottle from my inventory. “Sorry about this in advance, ladies!”

Crafting a needle from my nanites, I collected the minimal amount needed and injected them with it. Recovering quickly after that, the five women lay on their backs, gulping down mouthfuls of air. Giving me a grateful smile, they thanked me profusely once their breathing had stabilized.

“It would appear your species may be highly allergic to carbonite.”, I commented with a smile. “My name is Victor von Stark; I am a Primarch of the Imperium of Man. Are you perhaps the missing Citadel group?”

“Yes… that is correct.”, one of the women answered as I offered her a helping hand. “I am Ambassador Jaliramea Caliza. We were on a critical mission to meet with the Algrand Empire when our transport was attacked by a group of vicious pirates. They annihilated our escort ships, overpowered my security detail, and captured us in less than thirty minutes. Have you seen any other Asari or races wearing this symbol?”

Pointing to the emblem affixed to her outfit, I slowly shook my head and broke the news to her.

“Your convoy was ambushed by pirates with connections to the Orion and Hutt Syndicates. Outside of you five, I am afraid the rest of your people were sold into slavery several weeks ago.”, I informed her.

“That… that cannot be! The Galactic Republic outlawed slavery long ago!”, Jaliramea refuted, “Please do not joke about the safety of my people.”

“While this is technically Republic territory, the Republic itself has not held control of this region for several hundred years now. Nearly a quarter to a third of its territorial space is under the control of criminal organizations like the Orion and Hutt Syndicates. If you had managed to send out a distress call, no one was likely going to show up to rescue you.”, I told her.

Retracting my helmet so she could see I was not lying, her face contorted into a mixture of rage and sadness. Clenching her fist in anger, the ambassador steadied her breathing and took a moment to collect herself.

“Is there still a chance that my crew can be rescued?”, Jaliramea questioned.

“Yes, but it will not be easy. You would need to scour every black market for them, as there is no way of ascertaining where they were sent. During a brief stop on Tatooine, I did see several Asari in the slave market there. I do not know if they are members of your crew, but it is a place to start.”, I said.

“Does the Imperium of Man dabble in slavery…?”, Jaliramea asked, narrowing her eyes.

“No, we do not.”, I assured her. “I was on Tatooine looking for members of a missing Rogue Trader fleet. They were captured en route to the Algrand Empire like you were.”

Nodding her head in acknowledgment, Jaliramea began to talk things over with her subordinates. Wanting their input on what they should do from this point forward, she felt it was only right that they have a say in their shared fate. Wanting to listen to their debate, my attention was drawn elsewhere by a loud crashing sound. Unsure what it was, I peered around the corner of the shipping container and looked down the row of containers at Ahsoka, Bo-Katan, and Samus.

Watching Samus viciously tear apart a Dahl container, Ahsoka and Bo-Katan were watching her do so from a safe distance. Politely excusing myself, I headed over to figure out what had her so riled up.