Pure excitement flew through Badesh, he felt how powerful Jadus was and the prospect of fighting against such a strong opponent made him… joyful. From the corner of his eye he saw how Vette and a few soldiers dragged the agent and her partner away from the fight. Jadus gestured and a chair flew towards Badesh, he dodged it easily but it enabled Jadus to shoot lightning at the agent. Badesh cursed under his breath, he had let his battlelust blind him! Clearly the agent was very important and Jadus was about to kill her. Damn it! He now had to capture Jadus alive, the agent… a scream rang out and Badesh jerked his head towards the source of the cry: Vette! She had thrown herself between the lightning and the agent, Badesh saw her fall in slow motion. Hot fury boiled up deep inside him, he heard his own blood swooshing in his ears. He grabbed Jadus' jaw with his left hand and applied so much force-power that the mask was split in half. The Sith shouted something but Badesh couldn't hear him, he lifted his opponent with the force into the air and threw him against a console. Jadus simply shrugged and rose to his feet. His face was marked by the dark side of the force: black veins ran across his face, his red eyes expressed hatred. Jadus smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

He shot lightning at Badesh who skilfully dodged the attack and jumped at Jadus. He was in mid-air when he realised that his opponent was about to summon a force-storm – it was too late to stop and he was caught in lightning and fell on the floor. Badesh felt like every fibre of his being was about to be burnt, but the pain didn't cause him to succumb, it rather exhilarated him.

Jadus was still shooting lightning at him, but Badesh slowly rose to his feet, taking one step after another towards Jadus whose face showed a flicker of fear when Badesh started to lift his lightsaber. Jadus' face screwed up in exertion and he intensified his lightning. The agony was now almost too much to bear, gone was the thrill of feeling alive, Badesh felt how he started to bleed from the nose. His strength left him and he fell on his knees. He had failed! Jadus would escape, he would… he would kill… Vette… Quinn… Badesh didn't even have to finish his thought, even the prospect of letting them die was so unacceptable that he summoned the last bit of his power and leaped forward. He gritted his teeth and surrounded his fist with the force, then he punched Jadus in the chest. Badesh felt how his fist penetrated Jadus' breastplate and he moaned in satisfaction when he felt warm innards around his hand. Something pulsed near it and Badesh grabbed it and jerked Jadus' heart out, and held it high in the air as Jadus fell lifeless on the ground. The sight of his enemy's heart in his hand send a surge of ecstasy through him and for a moment everything was alright, Badesh felt at peace.

The bliss lasted only for a few moments. Badesh felt how the pain returned to his body and with it his awareness of his surroundings: The imperial troops had secured the bridge, the soldiers didn't dare to look in his direction – they made an effort to avoid his gaze. Nine and her partner on the other hand stared right at him, Badesh registered with satisfaction that even in Nine's schooled countenance shock and fear were highly visible. Then his sight fell on Vette, she lay on the floor not far from the agents. Badesh felt sting in his chest and let the heart fall, he rushed to Vette and kneeled beside her.

"Medic!" he yelled and pulled his right glove from his hand to feel her pulse. Nothing. The lightning must have stopped her heart. The medic arrived and knelt down beside Vette. He applied several electro-probes on her chest and managed to get her heart pumping again.

"Her condition is very unstable, my Lord – we need to get her to a kolto-tank as fast as possible," reported the medic.

Images from the time when Quinn was deadly wounded appeared in front of Badesh's inner eye. Back on Hoth he had managed to save Quinn by using the force to… But he was a member of the Dark Council now. He would show weakness by… Badesh stared at Vette and he felt how a lump formed in his throat.

"I will stabilize her, prepare a kolto-tank!" Badesh closed his eyes and reached deep down into his own self, everything around him became still and cold. He could feel the force lingering and flowing through every being in the room. Badesh compelled the force to gather in his palms and as he felt a strange warm feeling taking hold of him he put his hands on Vette's chest. He opened his eyes again and saw how a golden aura passed from his hands to Vette. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times.

"Badesh…" she whispered. "Were is Mal, what happened?"

"Stay still, Vette," he answered and took his hands away, bloody handprints showed clearly where he had touched her. Badesh briefly toyed with the idea that he should threaten everybody in this room to keep quiet about his… unusual action, but he disregarded this notion. Nine had seen it and there was no way that he could keep it a secret. The medic had arranged for a stretcher and Vette was taken away.

He rose to his feet and returned to Jadus' corpse. The heart was lying in a pool of blood next to it. Badesh picked it up and looked at it with mild curiosity and satisfaction. A fine trophy indeed. His holocommunicator beeped and Badesh knew before he looked at the caller ID that it was Quinn.

"My Lord, the engine room is secured. What is the status on the bridge?"

"Darth Jadus is dead. Vette got injured but she will be well." As soon as he mentioned Vette Badesh registered that Quinn's professional mask slipped for a second and revealed sorrow and concern, but he regained his countenance quickly.

"I… I see, my Lord. Do we have other means to discern the motive behind the attack on the Dominator?"

"I'm confident that Cipher Nine has additional intel – and we have captured several hostile soldier for questioning." Badesh ordered Quinn to come to the bridge as soon as possible and ended the holocall.

Badesh returned to Nine and the other agent, upon closer inspection he realised that the dark-haired man looked like a human but his eyes were pitch-black. Badesh had heard about the Kilik and their joiners but it was the first time that he saw one.

"Interesting company you keep, Cipher," Badesh said with a low voice and called another medic. Badesh handed the medic the heart which he was still holding. "Preserve it, I wish to put it on display in my office." The man paled slightly, but he saluted finally and hurried away.

"I vouch for Vector, my Lord," retorted Nine with defiance in her voice.

"I didn't question his loyalty, Agent…and watch that tone!"

Quinn entered the bridge and stepped next to Badesh, he looked pale and Badesh felt that his usually focused energy was somewhat in disarray.

"My Lord, I contacted Captain Dorne – the Tempest will be flown back to the Imperial Fleet. All captives will be transferred to Imperial Intelligence on Dromund Kaas," Quinn stated. "The Fury has taken damage but it is spaceworthy."

"Good, Cipher – you're with me. I expect a full briefing once we are on board of the Fury. Quinn, arrange for Vette to be transferred in our Medbay."

"Yes my Lord," replied Quinn as smoothly as ever while Nine simply bowed.

ooOOoo

As soon as they had boarded the Fury Badesh called a meeting in the conference room. Only he, Quinn and Nine were present, Vette was still in the kolto-tank.

"My Lord, my previous assessment was that the Star Cabal had orchestrated the attack on the Dominator," began Nine, "but everything I've uncovered so far points in another direction." She activated the small holostation on the conference table. The picture of a Sith appeared. "It appears that a new cult has emerged: the Revanites."

"I assume they're connected to the Sith Lord Revan?" asked Quinn. Badesh had heard about that particular Sith but he was surprised that Quinn knew him as well. A little smile escaped his lips, his subordinate was the most diligent officer he had ever met. He felt a warm knot in his stomach as he looked at Quinn's handsome features.

"Yes, Major. They were once an obscure little sect, but it seems that they have usurped the Star Cabal's former agents and assets – and that is no small feat. Darth Jadus acted probably on the orders of the new leader of the Revanites."

"Do we know who they are?" inquired Badesh.

"No, and we don't know for certain what the Revanites are planning. Their philosophy is to bring balance between the dark and the light side of the force – in a way very similar to the philosophy of the Star Cabal – but it is unclear how they intent to reach this particular goal. But since they are obviously gathering a fleet and powerful force-users I assume that they intend to attack either the Republic or the Empire."

"It is quite alarming that this Cult of Revan holds so much power that even a member of the Dark Council succumbed to it," said Quinn. "How far does this conspiracy reach in your opinion, Cipher?"

She shut down the holoprojector and eyed up Quinn and Badesh. "First of all… It's my job to be paranoid, but… there has to be at least one major player in the Empire who is also a Revanite. Jadus knew all about me and about Vector and I'm a Cipher Agent – I don't even exist in the imperial database."

Quinn was sceptical. "But Darth Jadus was in charge of Imperial Intelligence, surely he must have known about you?"

Nine smiled. "Of course, but I joined Imperial Intelligence after the attack on the Dominator. There is no way how he could know about me. We have a revanite traitor in the highest ranks of the Empire."

Badesh felt an unfamiliar twinge in his heart. It disquieted him greatly to think about anyone high enough to leak such sensitive information to anyone. He did trust only a handful of people but the idea that someone in High Command or on the Dark Council was a traitor unsettled him more than he had anticipated.

"Do you think that the Republic has also been undercut by Revanites?" asked Quinn with a deep frown.

"I don't know," admitted Nine. "But the Star Cabal certainly had operatives in the Jedi Order as well as the Republic Senate. There is a high possibility that they are facing similar problems as we are."

"We have to keep this between us, Cipher. Who is absolutely reliable in Imperial Intelligence?" Badesh reached out with the force to examine the Cipher. Her energy signature was strangely organised, probably she was trained to resist force-users.

"Apart from Vector only the Minister and Keeper, my Lord."

"Very well, talk to nobody else about this matter. Dismissed."

Nine bowed curtly and left.

ooOOoo

Badesh was watching how Quinn took readings from Vette's kolto tank. He was leaning against the bedside while Quinn was filling out charts. Badesh had changed his clothes and had taken a shower. He felt very weary – the fight with Jadus had depleted his strength. He tilted his head down and tried to recall the feeling of the pulsing heart in his hand, but instead of invigorating him the thought made him even more tired.

"My Lord? Shall I treat your wounds?" Badesh looked up and saw that Quinn stood in front of him, a kolto-injector already in his hand.

"No, I want to savour the whole fight – even the… unpleasant sides." Feeling the pain from the battle reminded him of the glory of the duel. It also made him calm.

"Yes my Lord," replied Quinn, as professional as always.

"How is Vette?"

"She is going to heal completely, all she needs are a few hours more in the kolto tank. Her lightning burns indicate that she had been attacked by Darth Jadus… may I inquire what exactly happened that he would attack Vette rather than you?" Quinn took a few steps to the tank in which Vette was floating and put his hand on the glass.

"Jadus wanted to kill Cipher, Vette saved her life by shielding her with her body," Badesh curtly explained. He felt oddly reluctant to reveal that he had healed her.

"After all this time she still manages to surprise me," Quinn said in a tender voice. "She is so brave."

Badesh felt an iron grip around his heart as he watched at Quinn caressing the glass of the kolto tank. It was so unlike Quinn to do something so… pointless.

"We should resume our course to Korriban, Quinn. And we have to think about a way to flush out the Revanites in High Command or even the Dark Council."

Quinn turned around and stood in parade rest as he spoke: "Of course, my Lord. Might I suggest that we compile a list with every high-ranking officer and Sith and try to determine whether some of them had acted suspicious?"

"Agreed, I will start with all Dark Council members. You and Vette will examine High Command."

"Yes my Lord," responded Quinn and strode out of the Medbay to start with his work.

Badesh waited for a few seconds and walked slowly towards the kolto tank. He put his hand on the exact same spot as Quinn a few moments ago. He briefly wondered why he had done that, before he finally left as well.