Garlok Tal adjusted the collar of his expensive furs, watching the chaos through the reinforced transparisteel of the central compound's observation deck. Below, the "aristocracy" he so despised, the soft, pampered elite of the High Republic, were finally showing a bit of spirit. It was a pity it was the spirit of a dying bantha.
"Technicians," he droned, his voice smooth and devoid of empathy,
"the aesthetics of the mountain are far too...soft. Let us sharpen the scenery."
At his command, the industrial snow machines hummed, their internal processors overridden. The soft dusting of powder ceased, replaced by the rhythmic
thrum-thrum-thrum of high-velocity ice production. Instead of flakes, the machines began to launch jagged, crystalline spikes—solid ice honed to a lethal point.
Tal watched a young diplomat scramble behind a decorative ice sculpture just as a shard shattered the frozen bench beside him.
"Look at them," Tal whispered to his reflection.
"Infiltrating their circles was always going to be a chore. Eliminating them? That is where the real artistry lies."
He sipped a chilled vintage, unmoved as the slopes turned from a winter wonderland into a firing range. The High Republic wanted to play in the snow; he was simply ensuring they felt the bite of the cold.
Emlo let out a wet, gurgling chuckle that vibrated deep within her massive chest. On the monitors before her, the "privileged" clientele were beginning to realize that the price of luxury had just increased.
Substantially.
"Ladders up," she barked in Huttese, waving a stubby arm.
Across the resort, the access points to the mud pools retracted with a mechanical whine, leaving bathers stranded in the thick, clinging muck.
In the saunas, the heavy doors hissed shut, the magnetic locks engaging with a finality that silenced the laughter of the guests inside.
"Activate the ray shields," she commanded. Shimmering walls of blue energy flickered into existence around the spa perimeters, caging the wealthy like rare birds.
"My father said I would never amount to anything. He said I lacked the 'business mind' of a true Hutt. But look at them now, trapped in my web."
She leaned forward, her vast shadow falling over the controls.
"If they want to breathe the fresh air of Gydine again, they will pay. They will pay double, triple, whatever it takes to fill my coffers. The Black Sun may be failing me, but I will not fail myself."
She watched a senator pound fruitlessly against a ray-shielded archway.
"Welcome to the Trixkellion," she whispered.
"Check-out is going to be...expensive."
Dr. Cortex adjusted his goggles, his hands trembling, not with fear, but with the manic energy of a man about to change the galaxy.
"Fools," he muttered, glancing at the sun-drenched beach through his binoculars.
"They come here for the tide and the sun, oblivious to the biological marvels drifting beneath their very feet."
He checked the frequency on his handheld transmitter. The resonance was perfect. Far out in the pristine blue waters, the indigenous jellyfis, his "Acrobatic Assassins", began to twitch. They didn't just drift. They launched themselves from the waves with unnatural, muscular force.
"Go," Cortex hissed,
"find your hosts."
A swimmer let out a confused yelp as a translucent, stinging mass latched onto his back, its filaments threading instantly into his spinal column. The man's eyes glazed over, his movements becoming jerky, puppet-like. He turned toward his screaming companion, hands reaching out not for help, but with a parasitic hunger.
"Look at that synchronization!" Cortex cackled, scribbling notes on a datapad.
"The Black Sun wanted weapons. I am giving them an army that recruits itself. Why build droids when the middle-class themselves can be the infantry?" He watched as more and more jellyfish breached the surface, raining down on the terrified crowd.
The experiment was a resounding success. Nahkisa was no longer a resort. It was his laboratory.