The Fury dropped out of the hyper lane 20 hours later. Vette had just finished reading the file on the Jedi Narma aka Darth Revan. Quinn had pulled the file from the archives before they had left Dromund Kaas, but it was disappointingly thin: Narma had been a powerful Jedi who had fought on a long forgotten war and had fallen to the dark side. Apparently he and a Darth Malak led a mysterious alien army to conquer the known galaxy before he had been captured by a Jedi strike team after Malak had betrayed him. One of the Jedi, Bastila Shan, had bonded with Revan as she saved so that the Jedi Council could brainwash Revan into helping them to stop Malak. There were not much details beside that Narma had become a light-sided Jedi once again – even after he learned that he had been Darth Revan – and stopped Malak before disappearing into the unknown regions of space.

Vette sat in the lounge next to the commstation, her feet on the café table and smiled at Quinn as the stepped out of the cockpit, a disapproving look on his face; he didn't like that she had the habit of putting her feet on tables. But he didn't say anything, instead the activated the commstation and a few seconds later Badesh's picture appeared.

"My Lord, we have arrived on Rishi – awaiting coordinates for our meeting-point."

"Good to see you, Quinn – meet us on the surface in the Blaster's Path cantina in Port Rishi. According to Agent Heian it is supposed to be a discreet place..." Vette could clearly hear doubt in his voice.

"Right away, my Lord," Quinn replied smoothly.

Badesh nodded and ended the call.

"Guess we have to drop the uniforms," she beamed at Quinn because she knew how much he disliked to 'disguise' himself with civilian clothes.

"You show decidedly too much enthusiasm…" he retorted and strode towards the crew quarters. Vette followed him and already started to open up her jacket. As soon as she stood in front of her locker she pulled haphazardly a set of clothing out of it and started to dress.

"I just read Revan's file. Did you follow up whether the Jedi mentioned is somehow related to the current Jedi head honcho?" she asked while slipping into a pair of black trousers.

"She is, according to the Grand Master Satele Shan's file she is the descendant of Bastila Shan." Quinn voice was shortly muffled when he pulled a red shirt over his head.

"Huh, I didn't know that Jedi procreated at all. Aren't they celibate?"

"I don't know; I have yet to read a report on Jedi intercourse," he quipped dryly.

"Tell me if you find the appropriate file – I'm curious!"

"I won't dignify that with an answer."

ooOOoo

The Blaster's Path was indeed an excellent meeting-point; it was overcrowded, loud and downright chaotic. The customers were a rather shady crowd; most of the sported tacky cybernetics and badly stitched scars. The air was heavy with a strange smell, mixed with the usual cantina 'perfume': alcohol, sweat and greasy food. Vette had to resist the urge to grimace at the stench, she glanced at Quinn who was pushing himself through the mass right behind her.

"Smell that, Vette? That's the smell of low-quality blaster cartridges leaking tibanna gas. That's who we're dealing with on Rishi – very cheap, very violent people," he almost shouted in her ear. The music was deafening, the bass was in such a high setting that Vette felt every beat in her chest.

"This may be the saddest, most run-down cantina I've ever seen. I've said that before, but our missions keep surprising me," she yelled back.

They pushed through the crowd until they reached a small door in the back. The Cathar bouncer seemed to expect them; he opened the door as soon as Vette and Quinn approached. As soon as the door closed behind them the noise died down almost instantly.

Badesh sat on a large sofa, an untouched alcoholic beverage in front of him. Theron and Kalda sat on the sofa across from the Sith, since they still had all their limbs he assumed that Badesh had gotten along with them. Vette smiled at Badesh. He got up and stopped only centimetres away from Quinn and her. Due to his mask she was unable to tell whether he was smiling, but she was certain that he was pleased to see them. From the corner of her eye Vette saw how his right hand twitched as if he wanted to touch them but had changed his mind before he could act.

"Good to see you both," Badesh murmured and returned to his place.

Vette followed him and sat down beside him while Quinn remained standing.

"Good day to you, Agents," Quinn stiffly said.

"Hi!" Theron replied with a broad smile, he was obviously teasing Quinn.

"Hi," Vette blithely replied and made herself comfortable on the sofa.

Kalda didn't say anything, she stared at Vette, probably still trying to wrap her mind around her career choices.

"The Ewok has talked, Agent Biss suspects that she is only buying time but due to the many implications that came with her intel we need to verify it and that will cost time," began Badesh, "I wish to interrogate her further with all means necessary. Quinn, I hope you know enough about Ewok physiology to make sure that she survives."

Quinn denoted a bow. "Of course, my Lord. I studied it after I have learned that one of the assassins was a Ewok."

Badesh simply nodded.

"I take it that we have to screen through the information that she has already given us?" sighed Vette. She didn't like the thought that Badesh would torture the Ewok but at the same time she knew that it was only a question of time before their trail got cold and that they simply hadn't the luxury to wait – and it wasn't Badesh's style.

"Yes, we have brought her into a warehouse here in Port Rishi. It might take a while and we need a base of operations while we gather more intel." Kalda calmly said. Somehow it didn't surprise Vette that she had no qualms to let Badesh tantalise the Ewok. She didn't appear to be cruel, but Kalda had seen and lived through much to get squeamish about something that simply had to be done… but was it really completely necessary? The doubt Vette had silenced before resurfaced.

"Can't we wait before we torture a sentient being?" she asked hesitantly. "We could look through the intel first…"

"I agree," said Theron, "we could give it a day before we resort to that kind of tactics."

"No, we don't! There has to be a reason why Treek was filibustering – she knows something and wants to stall us and that means that we have to act fast!" Kalda's voice was firm.

"I agree with Agent Biss," said Quinn curtly.

Badesh nodded in the direction of Quinn. "We will proceed as planned."

On their way to the warehouse Vette saw very unusual aliens from the unknown regions. The ones that impressed her most were bird-like humanoid with wings as well as arms. A group of them stood together and were discussing something as the Imperials and the SIS-Agents passed them.

"I have never seen anything like that…" she said quietly to Quinn. "They look so… regal with all their colourful feathers."

"Indeed… I'm intrigued as well," he replied and glanced repeatedly in the direction of the aliens.

"They are Rishii – natives on this planet. They are very friendly and have a natural ability to learn languages," remarked Kalda from behind them.

Quinn had a contemplative look on his face. "The Rishii could make fine allies for the Empire. Of the alien species we've recruited, few have natural aerial attack capacity."

Vette nudged him. "You really have a one-tracked mind, Quinn!"

Kalda snorted and caused Quinn and Vette to turn around. "Allies? Don't you mean slaves, Major?"

Quinn narrowed his eyes. "Clearly I'm not the only one with a single-tracked mind. Surely you are aware that the Empire is currently undergoing changes…"

"Really? Are you telling me that you whole-heartedly condemn slavery?" Kalda asked pointedly.

Vette didn't like the conversation, secretly she feared that she would hear something she would rather forget: the fact that neither Quinn – nor Badesh for that matter – wished to abolish slavery. In the past Quinn had made clear that he wanted to enable aliens to escape slavery if they were of any value to the Empire, but he never stated that he detested the concept.

Quinn glanced quickly at Vette. "No… I don't condemn slavery," he began slowly, "in fact I believe that there is a place for slavery in the Empire, but there have to be standards that enable slaves to rise above their stations… a certain permeability if you will."

Vette felt a sting in her heart as she listened to Quinn's statement. Yes, she had known that he hadn't completely changed his opinion on slavery, even after they had become lovers… and still it hurt her.

Kalda smiled joyless. "That is what I thought."

"Yes, I'm a bigoted imperial bore, how insightful of you to notice… but at least I'm not a hypocrite who pretends to believe in republican values and yet drops them as soon as they become inconvenient," he arrogantly answered.

"It that supposed to insult me?" Kalda crossed her arms and frowned at Quinn.

"No, it's merely a statement. It's remarkable how our views coincide in matters on how to handle our missions, Agent Biss. And yet you act as if you were my superior in questions of morale."

"So, do you mean to say that utilitarianism is restricted to imperials?"

"Of course not, and frankly I admire your capability to make the unpleasant choices despite Agent Heians objections. My point is that I don't want to be lectured in questions of ethics by someone who knows that sometimes the end justifies the means."

Kalda shrugged. "Fair enough… but you are making it too easy for yourself, Major. You work for an Empire that is built on the backs of people that are less fortunate than you. You have blood on your hands… blood from men, women and children who were killed just because they were born into the wrong family!"

Quinn didn't answer.

Vette had remained silent through the whole conversation. She had thought that she had overcome her guilt as she joined the Empire, but the way Kalda casually questioned the changes in imperial society had reminded Vette how far away she – and every other alien or slave – were from being accepted as equals. Vette's pace slowed until she was a few metres behind the others. By the stars! She even accepted that the man she loved thought that slavery was appropriate! Vette was angry at herself, and a lump formed in her throat as she mused over the conversation.

Deep in thought she almost bumped into Badesh who had stopped and was apparently waiting for her to catch up. Startled she looked at him and managed to smile weakly.

He didn't say anything, but he walked beside her as they approached their destination. Vette realised that this was his way of showing his concern. Badesh would never ask her if she was feeling alright, at least not in public, but he must have felt her inner upheaval. It comforted her that Badesh cared about her. She set her gaze on Quinn who was walking with Kalda and Theron in front, he looked over his shoulder with an uneasy expression written on his face. Badesh's presence next to her and Quinn's worried look caused the lump in her throat to slowly shrink. Vette drew a deep breath, no, there was no need for her to feel guilty about her past choices. It was exactly as she had told Kalda on the freighter: she met two decent guys and stayed with them because they actually cared about her.

It was that simple. Nobody was looking out for her except a couple of Imps, the least she could do was watching their backs. And… maybe, with time, they would actually change their perception of the system the Empire relied on. There was no reason to give up hope, they had already begun to change. The thought calmed her down a bit and she slightly brushed Badesh's arm. She knew that he would understand.

ooOOoo

The warehouse was a rather shabby building that looked like it was built a few centuries ago, either that or the owner had used the cheapest materials possible, mused Vette as she looked at walls which were actually built from wooden planks.

"I see… you haven spared neither expense nor effort for a first-class hide-out," she mumbled. Vette still felt glum, but she tried her best to forget her depressing thoughts from before.

"Hey, it was the best I could do in the short time we had – and besides, it is remote enough for our purpose," retorted Theron with an awkward smile.

"No sweat, we have been to worse places," Vette replied. Then she saw how a large wombrat scurried through the room and disappeared behind a few crates. "…or not…"

Quinn had followed the wombrat's course with his eyes and stated dryly: "At least there aren't rakghouls."

"Yeah, point taken."

"Rakghouls?" asked Theron visibly interested. "Have you been to Taris?"

"I'm afraid that is classified information," answered Quinn curtly. He stepped to a table and put a small carrying case on it. Quinn opened it and glanced over the contents: There were several ampullae in it and after inspecting them Quinn closed the case again and turned to Badesh. "My Lord, I'm ready."

Badesh nodded and they left the main room and went into an adjacent room.

"Well, let's go through the information Treek has already given us," suggested Kalda and handed Theron and Vette data pads. "Vette, Theron has set up a commstation over there – just in case that you need to access the holonet."

Before Vette could answer a shrill scream rang out. Vette almost let her data pad fall and nervously looked at the door Quinn and Badesh had disappeared behind.

"Yes… thank you," she said quietly.

Theron looked remarkably pale and again Vette wondered how the man had managed to become a senior SIS Agent. Then she registered that he slightly touched his implants at his temple. She made a mental note that she had to add this observation to Theron's file.