The young warrior walked into the room, pride radiating off of him, and he bowed deeply to his master.

"My apprentice. Your timing is impeccable. Tell me, how did your mission go?"

"My target was eliminated without anyone being alerted, master. The body was disposed of and no evidence of our involvement remains."

"Well done, Xeran. Come, join me. It is time I tested your skill with one of the techniques I recently taught you."

He motioned for Xeran to approach. Before him, there was a barely conscious grey haired man, securely strapped to a table. Whatever Maul had been doing to him seemed to have affected his mind, and he was babbling and speaking to himself, stuttering all the while.

"This is Owen Muc. Mister Muc is one of the men loyal to us, or so he claims. Recently, he has been discovered tampering with a report that had been sent to us from another segment of our organization. When asked to explain his behavior, he tried to escape. Since he is not willing to cooperate, I decided that a more…direct approach was required, and that you should be the one to do what is necessary. I believe it will be an educational experience, both of the Force and of the nature of one's allies, and why they should not be left to their own devices for long."

Xeran nodded in understanding. "You want me to read his mind."

"The mind is not a book to be read. What I want you to do is more complicated. Every individual's thoughts and feelings radiate into the Force. If you forge a connection with his mind, you can sense them more strongly and understand them better, perhaps even shift through them and take what you desire, if you are prepared to violently abuse the bond. Only in some cases, when the subject is unwilling to cooperate, that connection must be…forced. You have to force your presence inside the sanctuary of his mind, distorting both the subject's consciousness and, to a degree, his Force presence itself. I have explained the theory to you before, but you did not have a chance to test your hand. I shall guide you. I have weakened him, and I will be asking the questions. Your task is to observe the information he recalls when probed by me."

Xeran nodded again even as he cast his essence into the currents of the Force. "I am ready."

As he touched the prisoner's mind, he felt pain radiating in the Force, and, as he pushed further, he felt it so vividly that he could not be sure if it was his own. The prisoner -or Xeran, he could not tell at this point- screamed. Then he felt the gentle touch of a familiar presence, and he followed it, letting it bring him back to the surface and anchor him to reality.

As he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Maul's yellow ones looking at him with concern. "Focus, apprentice. Look at me. Remember who you are, use your feelings, let them be your anchor. Have you got this?"

Xeran exhaled. After a moment he raised his head. "I got it. I am inside his head. Ask your questions now, master."

Maul approached the man and grabbed his face with his hand, forcing him to meet his gaze. "Shall we begin, then? Will you listen to reason and tell me who asked you to tamper with the files?"

The man groaned, his eyes open wide with fear. "Please, I don't know what you're talking about! Let me go, just let me go!"

It was Xeran who spoke then, having heard the prisoner's thoughts as if they were his own. "Who is this Qi'ra person? And why did she ask you to tamper with the files?"

"Qi'ra? That is interesting." Maul's gripped tightened around the man's throat. "And what did she ask you to do?"

"I-I can't tell you. She'll kill me, she'll kill me…"

"He was asked to delete the files concerning some payments, so that they are never discovered by this command sector. He knows nothing about the payments themselves, or anything else of value, I believe. He was informed only of what he needed to know."

Maul turned his back, his face a frown. "Then it is as I feared. Qi'ra has been plotting against us." He was silent for a moment, lost in thought. "You did well for a first attempt, my apprentice. Now dispose of the spy. We are done with him."

A loud crack was heard, and the man's whimpering stopped. Xeran remained silent for a while, not wishing to disrupt his master's thoughts. Finally, he decided to ask.

"Who is Qi'ra?"

"She is the mock leader of the Crimson Dawn. I employ her as a decoy, since I need to remain in the shadows or risk the Empire's wrath, should I be recognized. Now, she appears to have made an attempt to hide something from me, and I intend to find out why."

"You believe she has betrayed us?"

"Very possibly. That woman has been allowed to increase her own power in my organization for far too long. I will question her before I remove her, but whatever I discover, I will need to monitor her movements more closely from now on." He looked at Xeran. "If the need arises, you will have to take care of this problem. I can trust no one but you with it. Tonight I will attempt to communicate with her and assess the situation. For now, I shall retreat to my quarters."

Xeran frowned. "Master, I thought we had a sparring session planned today? It is still early."

Maul paused. "Xeran, there are things I need to take care of. We can postpone our sparring for tomorrow."

"As you wish, my lord."

Maul kept walking, until he couldn't take it anymore. There were indeed important things he had to do, but the boy's disappointment was like a thorn at his side. He wondered whether it was normal to care about such things. Nevertheless…

He turned around and activated his lightsaber. "Then again, you could always use one more lesson."

The young man smiled as he drew his weapon himself, eager to test his strength against the older warrior. "Bring it on, master!"

.

He was pacing before the hologram of the woman, deep in thought.

"So you claim to have tried to hide the information from a spy who hides in our midst? I do not believe he would have escaped my notice."

"I could not take that risk, my lord. I would never dream of hiding anything from you, but if your sector has really been compromised, then the consequences could be catastrophical."

"If the matter is as important as you claim, then we must discuss it further. In person. You will join me here, and we shall talk."

"We must. It wouldn't be wise to say anything over this channel, but I promise I will give you good reason to forgive my transgression. All I can say is, you need to be wary of those closest to you."

Maul probed her mind, undetected. There were no walls protecting it, and he easily sensed the sincerity of her words, something only a Force user could help her falsify, which he deemed improbable. He did not trust the woman, but he could trust the Force. So maybe she really did find a spy among his people. Not as unlikely as he would like to think. He would need to double check his defenses and review his contingency plans. But what did she mean by those closest to him?

"Two standard weeks. Make your arrangements, finish your business, then come to me."

She bowed. "As you command, my lord."

He deactivated the holoprojector and sat alone in the dark. Perhaps he needed to have Qi'ra on an even shorter leash, even if she was telling the truth. Or dispose of her altogether. Maybe it wasn't a good practice to keep ruling his syndicate through a proxy, especially one too clever for her own good.