Chapter 52

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Word spread all over the Galaxy about the 4 battles. As much as the Hutts and Black Sun wanted to keep it under wraps, they simply couldn't. There were far too many witnesses who had seen 3 of the battles with only the battle of Nod Kartha having remained under the rug. 

Even then, the results were something that no one had expected. On 3 different fronts, the Hutts had been beaten back by the Yautja. No one was sure why or when the Hutts had joined in on the war but they knew that they had not won their first public engagement. They had lost one-sidedly. 

And that was just the beginning. The Zygerrians and Exchange also made some large moves. 

The Exchange sent a large fleet toward Nar Kaaga which contained one of the prominent Hutt groups, the Shell Hutts. These Hutts were covered in durasteel armor and protected the border of Hutt Space which was next to Bothan Space, preventing the species of spies from entering and taking advantage of the Hutts. 

The Exchange's massive fleet did not land on the planet but instead, after they destroyed the fleet protecting it, they performed an orbital bombardment on the planet. The swamps that covered most of the planet were completely destroyed along with almost every Shell Hutt in the Galaxy. Only those who were not on the planet were spared. 

But this was not the only attack that the Hutts had to endure. The Zygerrians also attacked a planet in Hutt Space but from the opposite direction. They launched their attack on Klatooine. 

Klatooine was a desert planet that not only had the Hutts' favorite food, the Klatooine Paddy Frogs but also their favorite slaves, Klatooians. This species was physically very powerful and one that the Zygerrians had been eyeing for over 2 thousand years. Now that they had an opportunity to act, they went ahead and did so. 

The Zygerrians sent in their armies of slaves and battle droids supplies by the Yautja to battle against the Hutts and Klatooians of the planet. The battle was bloody and violent, with both sides fighting with little care for their lives. It took them a month but the Zygerrians were able to take the planet and secure themselves a new type of slave. 

These attacks did not just throw the Hutts into panic but the Republic as well. Factions that they had considered tamed were now rising up all over. The Zygerrians, the Exchange, the Mandalorians. Almost every faction that had been a threat in the past was beginning to show off its power. 

An emergency meeting in the Senate was called with the current Grand Master of the Jedi called to give their opinion. The purpose of the meeting: whether or not the Republic would get involved in the war. 

"We cannot let these groups continue to act this way! The Zygerrians had enslaved my people before! If we let them grow, their old empire will come back!" the Mon Calamari Senator yelled

"You think the Zygerrians are the biggest threat? The Exchange was so powerful that the Sith Empire had to step in to put them down! That was an Empire with countless individuals on the same level as Jedi. We must ensure that they do not rise to their former glory!" another senator complained

"Is everyone forgetting the Mandalorians? They have those damn droids back!"

"Those Mandalorians as a whole are still peaceful!" the senator of Mandalore protested when she heard them. "This is just a small group of Mandalorians that have no tie to Mandalore. Will we blame the main planet or group when a small splinter of them acts out?"

"But others shall rally to them. They are trying to bring back the old Mandalorians!" the Ryloth senator was truly afraid of the Mandalorians returning to their old ways. "It was your people that had ravaged the Galaxy the most out of any group!"

"And it is your people that have helped the Hutts grow to their current level of power, constantly supply them with slaves and spice!" the Mandalorian senator did not back down. Instead, she shifted the focus to the Hutts

"Indeed. You have sold your people and planet for millenniums to the Hutts!"

"We should have long stopped the Hutts instead of letting them just openly enslave races!"

The entire meeting dissolved into the senators and representatives arguing over which faction was the most dangerous at the moment and who was at fault for letting them grow to their current levels. But one thing was obvious to Master Kirk. The Galaxy was consumed in fear. 

Master Kirk left the senate meeting but he left behind two Jedi Masters to report to him if anything occurred. Though he knew that nothing would come of it, only more arguing about who was at fault and which group used to be the biggest threat.

'The catalyst behind this all are the Yautja. Although it can't be said to be their fault exactly, they are truly at the center of this,' Master Kirk felt complicated about the matter

The Yautja were truly not at fault in the Grand Master's eyes. It was the Black Sun who attacked them first and they were the ones who continued to attack them. The Yautja were just strong enough to resist them, unlike other forces. And because the Yautja were strong enough to resist, the Hutts got themselves involved. If the Black Sun or Hutts knew when to stop, he was sure that Jial would have let the matter go. He trusted the words of Master Yoda and Master Fay. 

The issue was simply that the Yautja were too powerful. They were too powerful to be suppressed by the Black Sun, the Hutts, or by the Jedi. The only one that had a chance of suppressing them was the Republic itself. But if the Republic got involved, they needed a legitimate reason which they didn't have. Would they take the side of the criminal Syndicates of the Hutts and Black Sun? Would they take the side of the Yautja who were already winning? And if the Republic did get involved, then they would try to get the Jedi involved which Master Kirk was very much against.

Master Kirk made his way back to the Jedi Temple while trying to think about how he could end the matter peacefully and without further bloodshed. But deep down, James T. Kirk knew that this war was impossible to stop.

He just hoped that the Republic would not put him in a positon that he did not want to be in.