The Scenario:
Ok for the sake of the scenario let’s say that concurrently with the Clone Wars for Republic PR Palpatine got tough on the Cartel. Let’s say he makes a task force that fights the Cartel by nationalizing their front organizations, storming their spice dens, and disrupting their smuggling operations throughout all Republic territory. This would be sufficient enough incentive for the Hutts to want Palpatine dead, but logically they don’t want the Republic to kick their teeth in within Hutt Space so they’d have to be cunning about it. Know the Hutts don’t know that Palpatine is a Sith but would be well aware that he is afforded Jedi protection.
The Plot:
Ok so the Hutts want Palpatine dead. If they succeed they want plausible deniability so that they don’t enter an outright war with the Republic, if they fail they don’t want the Jedi (and unbeknownst to them Palpatine) to trace it back to them and also bring the war to them.
What would be their most preferred outcome? Ideally I would assume the Hutts would like to kill Palpatine in a way that they can pit the blame on a separate party, the Separatists, and to do so in a way that the Jedi cannot possibly uncover the truth. Ideally I’ll say that they would, ironically, recreate Palpatine’s assassination of former Chancellor Valorum and contrive a situation in which Palpatine is absolutely obliterated in a faux C.I.S. terrorist attack.
This would want this for a plethora of reasons. The Jedi couldn’t trace it back to them, the Republic would let up on their crime crusade and redouble their efforts against the Separatists, and the Cartel could (if ambitious enough) install a Hutt corrupted Chancellor in office. The problem is could they pull it off? Additionally if they do pull it off could they get away with it.
Obstacles to overcome:
1: The Jedi Order
For obvious reasons this would be an issue. Because of their nature with the Force and relation to the Chancellory the Jedi could potentially sense something is amiss and provide additional protection to Palpatine. Even if the Cartel does succeed in killing Palpatine the Jedi’s role as essentially police-diplomats for the past thousand years would make them pretty effective Investigators so covering one’s tracks could potentially be more daunting than the assassination itself.
2: Senate Guards, The Coruscant Guard and, (depending on the year of the War) The Royal Guard.
While not always depicted that way all three of these organizations are the elite, the best that the Republic has to offer in the realm of protection which is certainly nothing to snuff at. All three would willingly die for their Chancellor and while Senate Guards can be corrupted, clones and the Royal Guard cannot.
3: Republic Intelligence
These guys have been wire tapping, spying, and disappearing Galactic denizens long before they became Imperial Intelligence. If there is a plot brewing and it’s not Palpatine’s chances are Republic Intelligence is aware of it, if not behind it themselves. In addition to alerting Palpatine of a potential Cartel Plot Republic could easily provide agents to act as covert protection as well as orchestrate a counter plot against the Grand Hutt Council.
4: Palpatine himself
Palpatine is himself a force to be reckoned with. Not only is he perhaps the most powerful Sith Lord, a fact that the Hutts are undoubtedly unaware of, he is also a schemer himself and he’s pretty darn good at it too. Palpatine’s own connections to the Criminal Underworld could result in him being aware of a Cartel plot against his life which he could very well nip at the bud by deploying any number of his Dark Side assassins be it Sly Moore, Dooku, any number of Dooku’s dark disciplines, or any of his own personal acolytes.
So folks what do you think? Cartel power is certainly nothing to gawk at since they’ve been around for well over ten millennia but could they pull off an Assassination of Palpatine and get away with it too?
