"Great! So just give him those, I'll get a controller intelligence and slice something together so it can expand to run everything and then we can just copy that when it comes up with the other Hutts."

"Okay!" Polluted moon, here is a ridiculous amount of stuff including three solid gold yachts. Fëanáro is not judging you at all.

Nagoota the Hutt would not care if Fëanáro judged him. The Hutt wants what the Hutt wants.

In two days, there are three more Hutts who want in on this deal. Their list of demands are similarly extravagant.

Hutts would probably like Hell. He makes them their ridiculously tacky stuff.

More and more of the Cartel start jumping on the demonic bandwagon. There's a waiting list, Cipher Nine arranges it by priority. The galactic underworld is in complete chaos. Groups like Black Sun and the Exchange start trying to grow to fill the gaps the Hutt Cartel is leaving behind them. Cipher quietly arranges for the Cartel to discourage such activities, and when that proves insufficient, she contracts a dozen or so precisely targeted assassinations and drops a couple ominously anonymous messages into the gangs' private computer systems.

Some of the Republic's poorer systems want to ask Epic a question: If they seceded and formed an independent confederacy that is not involved in the war, would they then be eligible to receive his aid? And if so, would he also help to protect them from Imperial and/or Republic reprisals?

He should probably ask Cipher Nine about that but he feels like they should say yes, can they say yes.

It would be really great if they could say yes!

But if they do, then they need to be prepared to follow through, whether by providing the confederacy with arms and armaments or having a private fleet of their own or just Epic personally intervening if necessary.

"I'd rather personally intervene but I don't know - will I have enough warning -"

"I can probably get advance notice to you. And I could dig up some sentry beacons for you to copy."

"And I can conjure for it, if I remember to do that regularly enough - how long would there be between a fleet entering the start system and attacking -"

"Depends on the commander's strategy, usually not more than an hour."

"Conjuring every half hour would get tedious. You're very sure we'd have a way of checking in advance?"

"I'll have my system set up a flag on likely military communications. If they don't use the Holonet to relay orders I'll miss it, but that is vanishingly unlikely."

"Okay. Then let's tell them yes."

"All right."

The message is relayed. The systems secede. There is much political wailing and gnashing of teeth. The confederacy would like the following things, please and thank you. Conversion of the Hutt Cartel is nearly completed.

The Jedi want to talk to Epic.

"I can talk with them. After the confederacy has all its stuff, I like them."

"I'm sure they'll wait patiently for you."

He listens to perception-acceleration music and makes stuff by the warehouseful or the empty field or the traincar, fast as he can, for all of the planets in his new confederacy. They will have all of the nice things they ask for and some from Warp as well.

And then he can go meet the Jedi.

Does he want to meet them in person or by holocall? (They would prefer in person.)

In person sounds good!

Is he okay with coming to the Temple? It's a lovely Temple, plenty of room and guaranteed free of eavesdroppers. Or he could suggest a place.

Temple works! (He conjures for an image to jump to.) When do they want him?

Is now convenient? The South Garden is unoccupied.

Pop.

There is an older woman sitting on the bench. She wears a serene expression, and seems very calm and peaceful.

"Hello there."