Vette sighted. "Okay, forget it." And here she thought that Badesh had finally understood the concept of humour.

Badesh remained silent for a few moments, and Vette assumed that he still tried to understand what she was talking about, but when he spoke it became clear that something else had occupied his mind.

"I have thought about what Quinn has told me earlier about your perception of me contacting you through the force, and I have come to the conclusion that we have formed a force-bond that enables us to feel distress from each other."

"My Lord, how is that possible? Vette and I aren't force-sensitive," objected Quinn.

"I don't know," admitted Badesh and the thought of something force-related that was unknown to him unsettled Vette. She had always found the force to be something dangerous and intimidating. To think that she was affected by it in this way troubled her.

"We will have to investigate our connection," continued Badesh, "however, for the time being we will focus on our mission."

"Of course, my Lord," replied Quinn smoothly and Badesh ended the call.

"What is the matter, Vette?" Quinn looked at her with a concerned expression on his face.

"Doesn't it scare you? This bond I mean…" she wiped with her hand over her face and closed her eyes shortly. "I don't really understand the force and how it works. What if it influences us?"

"In which way?"

She looked him in the eye. "What if the connection intensifies? We feel his pain now, but what if we start to feel his other emotions too? Won't we lose ourselves?"

"I… I have to admit, I didn't think about it that way. I simply assumed that it could help us to keep each other safe and would help us to accomplish our missions."

Vette smiled at Quinn, perhaps she was only overthinking and he was right. Their fate was anyway intrinsically tied to Badesh, it could give them an edge in dangerous situations. But this couldn't completely dispel her discomfort about it.

"Alright, but you start to rip off you opponents heads and go berserk I will say 'Told you so'," she said in an attempt to lift her own mood.

"That is of course your prerogative."

ooOOoo

It was fairly easy to contact Darth Malgus' office on Dromund Kaas. But it turned out that the true challenge lay in getting an audience. The ordinance did of course his best to defer them to Malgus' apprentice and insisted that the Darth was far too busy to receive them personally.

"I understand that Darth Malgus is a busy man," argued Vette, "but it is very important that we speak to him in person."

The ordinance, a skinny fair-skinned human Captain, finally tapped something in his console and murmured. "In this case I will arrange a meeting at 5 o'clock – but I can assure you that Darth Malgus will be very displeased that Darth Tenebra isn't calling on him personally."

Vette bowed and answered: "Thank you, Captain." Then she ended the holocall and strode into the cockpit where Quinn was already plotting a course to Dromund Kaas. She sat down on the co-pilot seat and glanced at the chronometer. They hadn't much time to get to Kaas City, but since they were still docked at the orbital station at the Imperial Fleet it would be a rather short trip.

"Do you think that Malg… Darth Malgus is really a danger to us?"

Quinn activated the ship's engines and looked over to her. "It is entirely possible. I assume it depends on why he asked Grand Moff Kilran to guard the Jedi. But there is no doubt that we are threading on thin ice – as you know Sith aren't patient and they certainly don't like to be questioned."

"Gee, thanks for the prep talk…" sighted Vette. She was genuinely worried about their meeting with Malgus, it was the first time they had to face a Sith without Badesh.

ooOOoo

A few hours later they entered a large grey building complex that hosted the war ministry. Unlike Imperial Intelligence this ministry was decorated with several grand statues and flags, huge pillars with supported a dome which was depicting past imperial victories. The floor was made from rylothian marble. Everything in the ministry seemed excessive and also a little gaudy, something Vette wouldn't have thought that Malgus would appreciate.

Quinn's and her's steps echoed through the entrance hall as they made their way to the reception. The Captain she was speaking earlier to was sitting there and stood up to salute Quinn as they approached.

"Sir, please take a seat," he gestured towards a few black sofas standing right next to the reception. "I will call you as soon as Darth Malgus is ready to receive you." The man didn't even look in the direction of Vette.

"Thank you, Captain," replied Quinn.

They only had to wait for about five minutes, then the Captain addressed Quinn: "Sir, he is ready for you." A large door in the left opened silently and Vette registered that there was hardly any light in the hallway that lay behind it. She felt nervous. Nevertheless she got up, straightened her uniform and walked together with Quinn through the door, which slid close behind them. Again the only sounds were their steps echoing through the gallery. Vette felt cold and a chill travelled down her spine when they finally reached another door that slid open.

Darth Malgus was kneeling on the floor, obviously meditating. His heavy breaths filled the room. Vette looked around; it was an almost empty, scant office with little furniture. A single light source from the ceiling, was dimly illuminating the surroundings. The contrast to the splendour outside this room was remarkable.

Quinn silently stood at attention and Vette imitated him; surely he knew how to handle a Darth better than she. After a few moments Malgus rose to his feet and approached them. He was as tall as Badesh and Vette felt threatened by his towering presence alone. Malgus looked at her with this red eyes, she returned his gaze boldly. Finally he turned towards Quinn.

"I hear you are inquiring about the prison outbreak in the maelstrom nebula?" Malgus' voice was distorted by his cybernetic respirator.

"Yes, my Lord," replied Quinn and bowed. Obviously Kilran had already told Malgus that they were coming.

"Care to tell me why Darth Tenebra isn't bothering to appear personally in front of me? It is rude to send one's subordinates to a meeting with a fellow Council member."

"I apologize, my L…"

"Your apology means nothing to me Major, you are in no position to make excuses!" retorted Malgus sharply. Vette felt a bang of annoyance at these words, Malgus didn't need to remind them that they were mere minions in his eyes.

"My words were poorly chosen my Lord. I simply wanted to express my regret that Darth Tenebra isn't available at the moment. He is on a vital mission for the safety of the Empire. Time is of the essence, otherwise it would be completely unacceptable for him to send us instead of coming before you himself," Quinn said smoothly.

"He trusts you, doesn't he… Sergeant?" asked Malgus and turned around and began to walk towards his desk in the middle of the room.

"Darth Tenebra knows that we are loyal to him," retorted Vette and tried to sound calm and collected.

Malgus sat down and pressed his fingertips together. "Answer my question."

Vette gulped. "Yes, my Lord. He trusts us." She wasn't sure that it was wise to admit that to another Sith, but she couldn't think of another answer.

"You are his weakness, both of you. He doesn't know it yet, but you will be his downfall… but for the time being I will cooperate with you."

Vette and Quinn remained silent.

"13 years ago I commanded Kilran to guard the prison because I had a vision. The force showed me bits and glimpses of the past and the future. Suffice to say that everything was connected to the Jedi."

"My Lord, may I speak freely?" Quinn had spoken in his usual haughty way, but Vette detected a slight tremor in it.

"If you must."

"According to Grand Moff Kilran you didn't command him to guard the Jedi, you asked him as a personal favour. Am I correct to assume that you did that because you wanted to keep this mission a secret from the other members of the Dark Council?"

"You assumption is false, Major. I didn't want to keep it from my colleagues. But answer me this – why is this important?"

Vette glanced at Quinn; it seemed that they had to tell Malgus the reason for their questions. Quinn hesitated shortly, then he answered: "We have cause to believe that the Jedi is connected to an attack on the Empire. We are investigating everything and everyone to determine how deep the conspiracy runs."

Malgus leaned forward in his chair. "Hm… in this case you already know that the fallen Jedi Narma is also known as Darth Revan, don't you?"

Vette was amazed, she almost blurted out an incredulous "what?" but she restrained herself.

"… no, we didn't know that…" said Quinn quietly, "I take it that your vision was about the Revanites?"

"It is not in the nature of visions to be clear. At the time I didn't know about the Order of Revan, the vision merely showed me a destroyed Empire and Darth Revan. I interpreted the vision as warning and acted upon it."

Vette believed that Malgus was telling the truth and but he was holding back something. It didn't make sense, why would he ask Kilran to guard the Jedi – why hadn't he been at the prison himself? His previous answer had implicated that he didn't want to keep his vision a secret from the Dark Council, but from whom if not them? And why would Malgus allude so much without telling them the whole truth? Her train of thought was derailed when Malgus spoke again.

"I have told you everything you have to know, our meeting is over."

"My Lord, may we…" begun Quinn, but he was interrupted by Malgus.

"No, you may not. Leave."

Vette and Quinn bowed and obeyed Malgus' command.

ooOOoo

They didn't speak to each other until they had reached Badesh's office in Imperial Intelligence and had closed the door behind them.

"Malgus knows more than he lets on." Vette sat down on Badesh's chair.

Quinn pulled a chair to the desk and rubbed his temples. "Yes, Darth Malgus omitted enough to make it clear that he wasn't free to speak about the matter. And that is what worries me… he is certainly not afraid of the Dark Council, there is only one institution or rather one person that has the authority and power to keep a him quiet."

Vette frowned. "You mean the Emperor?"

"I can't believe it myself… but it's the only answer I have come up with." Quinn had a pained look on his face. "But it can't be… the Emperor is absolute."

It was clear that the very thought that the Emperor had not acted in the interest of the Empire disturbed Quinn deeply. Vette felt sorry for him, but he had to concur.

"Well, it makes sense… Malgus couldn't guard the prison himself because the Emperor would have become aware that he knew something. And it would also explain why Malgus didn't simply tell us the whole story – I guess it's treason to even question the Emperor, isn't it?" Vette's gaze fell upon Jadus' heart, the trophy was standing on the right corner of Badesh's desk. To her own surprise she wasn't disgusted.

"It is high treason!" Quinn slammed his fist on the desk and Vette was spooked to see him so emotional. "By the stars! It is high treason and yet we have the duty to investigate!" He stood up and paced back and forth. "Or perhaps we should trust him… yes, it's blasphemy to think that he wouldn't know what's best for the Empire! We can't see the whole picture, only he knows what's right!"

"Do you really believe that?" asked Vette quietly.

Quinn stopped and stared at her. "How dare you? How dare you question my loyalty to the Empire?" His voice was cold.

"Mal, you are too smart for this. You know that I would never question your loyalty to the Empire, I know that you would do absolutely everything to protect it. But you know as well as me that nobody is flawless, not you, not me and not the Emperor."

"The Emperor is omniscient! He is the Empire!" She had never seen Quinn so angry.

"Guess then I missed him on Corellia when we claimed the planet! Don't you get it? He is not the Empire, we are!"

"Stop it!" Quinn yelled.

"Answer me one question – why do you serve in the imperial navy?"

He closed his eyes and pinched his nose. Quinn was making a visible effort to calm down. Finally he returned to his seat, Vette knew that she had won the argument, but he still struggled to admit it. "I… I serve because I believe in order and strength – I believe that the galaxy is a better place under imperial rule."

She leaned forward and took his hand in hers. "See… you believe in values and not in some distant leader."

Quinn had a tormented expression written on his face. "You don't know how much it hurts to acknowledge these allegations… you mustn't ever tell anyone. It is a treacherous thought… I… I…" He broke off. "As a child I idolized the Imperial Guard. To serve the Emperor as they did was the greatest honour a non-Sith could achieve. Now… look at me…"

Vette smiled in an encouraging way. "Yes, I look at you. And I see a man who was smart enough to change his views concerning aliens, I see a man who realised that blind duty is wrong and I see a man who isn't afraid to do whatever it takes to… erm… protect his beloved Empire… and… well, don't you want to stop my embarrassing lofty speech? It's getting awkward."

She felt almost mortified, Vette fully aware that at least she wasn't really a part of this glorious Empire she was talking about. She was only an ex-slave who had stayed with her former master because she had nowhere else to go.

Quinn lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it tenderly. "Thank you, Vette." She fully expected him to joke about her and her stupid speech, but his expression was solemn. "And I don't mean the platitudinous patriotism…"

"Do you mean to say that I don't have a future in the Ministry of Propaganda as a speech writer? I'm hurt!" Vette said in an attempt lighten up the mood.

"You don't have to do that," replied Quinn in an earnest voice.

She wiped her face with her right hand and smiled at him. "Do what?"

"Degrade yourself or the things you say," he whispered.

The smile died on her lips. "Yes, I have to. I really do." She felt exposed and wasn't interested in diving further into the subject. "Let's get back to work, shall we?" She didn't miss the enquiring gaze Quinn shot her, but he pulled his data pad from his utility belt and began to type on it. Luckily she could always count on his work ethic.