The parade of all imperial branch of services had almost come to an end. It had been several hours since the first platoons had marched past the imperial citadel in the middle of Kaas City. Badesh sat next to Darth Marr and Darth Vowran on a grandstand that was reserved for the Dark Council. He would have been bored hadn't the anticipation of the coming fight distracted his mind from the dull spectacle in front of him.

Vowran took the last sip of his wine. "What a waste of our time – I appreciate a good show of military strength, but I prefer it on the battlefield."

"Mind you tongue, Vowran. It is good to see the discipline of our troops," growled Marr. "The ball later will be a true waste of our time."

"Indeed," murmured Vowran and gestured the service droid to fill up his glass.

Badesh decided that now was a good time as any to bring up a certain topic. "I was more surprised to hear that the Emperor would give a speech."

"Yes, it is very rare for him to show himself in public," Marr remarked.

"And to think that our presence is mandatory," added Badesh quietly. He trusted his fellow Sith to be paranoid enough to understand the implication.

Vowran narrowed his eyes. "It is of course the prerogative of the Emperor to demand the presence of the entire Dark Council."

Badesh slightly bowed his head to show his consent.

"I see that you are wearing two lightsabers on your belt, Darth Tenebra. Is one of them a recent trophy?" inquired Marr in a cutting voice.

"Of course, why else would I carry two lightsabers on a festive occasion like that?" answered Badesh and glanced on his chronometer. In a matter of an hour the diner with the imperial dignitaries would start.

ooOOoo

The ball was held inside the citadel. The walls were draped with red imperial flags, a ridiculously large chandelier hung in the middle of the hall. Imperial dignitaries who had dressed up in dresses and robes made out of golden shimmersilk caught Badesh's eye as he slowly ventured into the ball. About two dozen couples were dancing to some classical piece in ¾ time. He snorted as his glanced at the so-called nobility that scurried around the political elite such as Ministers and Moffs. Luckily they were smart enough to avoid the Siths that were present. Badesh reached out through the force and felt Quinn near him. Vette was somewhere across the room on the other end of the hall, probably with Grand Moff Kilran. It was a good time to make contact as any, Badesh reached up to his headset that was hidden under his hood.

"Vette? Is everything set?" he whispered but only static hissing was answering him.

"M… int… heavy…" he heard Quinn whisper through his earpiece.

Badesh had to acknowledge that their assumption that the hidden signal they had planned to use to coordinate was too weak to cut through all the interference. Vette had already anticipated it and had simply shrugged and had said: "Well, if it comes to that we have to improvise." Yes, he had to improvise… they were most certainly under surveillance of the Imperial Guard and therefore under surveillance of the Emperor. It would be the best to remain somewhat discreet and not simply storm to Vette to talk to her and Kilran. Badesh wasn't exactly used to act discreet or even stealthy, as a towering Sith who did as he pleased he was very foreign to the very concept. How was he supposed to make contact?

Then he recalled that he had once been ordered to kill failed acolytes on Korriban who had hid in an abandoned tomb. One of them had hid himself among the other slaughtered acolytes and had almost escaped Badesh by laying still next to the dead bodies. Yes… perhaps hiding in plain sight was a suitable tactic. Badesh's gaze fell upon the dance floor and the couples that were dancing on it. Badesh gritted his teeth, he had to do it – for the Empire! Badesh turned his head to the right; Darth Vowran was obviously having a good time talking with a woman from the Imperial Reclamation Service. Then he looked on the other side. Darth Marr stood alone in a corner… perhaps he could ask…

In this very moment Quinn stepped next to him. "My Lord, to establish communications I propose a series of non-verbal signs to avoid suspicion."

Badesh was relieved to see a familiar face. Quinn looked dashing in his parade uniform too. "Major, may I have this dance?"

"Of course, my Lord," replied Quinn smoothly as ever.

Badesh and Quinn walked on the dance floor and began to dance to the waltz that was currently playing. If somebody found it peculiar for a member of the Dark Council to dance in public they didn't show it. On the contrary; Badesh saw how Darth Nox who had been avoided by other guests clapped his hands excitingly and strode to a young kaasian noblewoman with heavy make-up. After a very short conversation he led her on the dance floor.

"Everything is quiet at the moment, my Lord."

Badesh averted his gaze from Nox and looked at Quinn. "I hinted to several Darths that something might happen tonight. I can only assume that they are alarmed now, even if they don't know why. Did you hear from Vette?"

"Unfortunately not, she and Grand Moff Kilran were seated too far from me."

"I feel her force-signature in the north-eastern corner of the hall; we should try to make our way towards her," replied Badesh while focusing on keeping the pace.

"Agreed, my Lord," replied Quinn.

They slowly made their way across the dance floor. Badesh didn't care for the dance nor the music, but he liked the close proximity to Quinn. For a short moment he was tempted to move his right hand from Quinn's shoulder blade a little bit lower, but that would have been bad style and he discarded it.

Badesh spotted Vette and Kilran standing in a small group of Moffs, Vette was about to take a sip from her champagne when she caught sight of them. She almost chocked on the sparkling wine and began to cough, drawing the attention of Kilran and the other military dignitaries. For a brief moment Kilran looked taken aback when he saw what had caused Vette to cough. Then an ironic smile returned to his lips and he bowed before Vette in a rather exaggerated way. Badesh deduced that he had asked her for a dance. She seemed a little reluctant, but finally she took Kilrans outstretched hand. Murmurs rang though the crowd as they proceeded to the dance floor.

Badesh narrowed his eyes, they dared to whisper about Vette? Perhaps he had to order that some dignitaries got visited by Imperial Intelligence…

"My Lord, might I suggest that abandon any thoughts of defending Vette's honour?" said Quinn quietly. "Allowing aliens into the navy is quite new after all."

Badesh turned his attention to his partner. "Surely it bothers you to hear that some lowly scum runs their mouths about her?"

"Of course it does, but I have heard worse on the Imperial Fleet and so has Vette. Punishing some snobby dignitaries isn't going to change the Empire."

"Oh, but it would be so very satisfying…" interjected Badesh.

"My Lord… a few months ago you would have agreed with them; and so would I. They still have to learn to respect aliens."

"Indeed, and in my experience pain is always a great teacher."

Badesh registered that Kilran and Vette were moving towards them. At the beginning Vette struggled visibly with the right steps, but at the time they reached Quinn and Badesh she had memorised the movements.

"I can't concur, my Lord. But I will of course comply should you give the order to identify the dignitaries who made gamey comments," replied Quinn.

Before Badesh could answer the composition ended and they had to stop and clap to the Bith musicians who bowed their heads before playing another piece of music.

Badesh stepped to Kilran and Vette. "Grand Moff… mind if I cut in?"

Kilran smiled and bowed before Badesh. "Of course not – Major, if I may?"

Quinn also bowed. "You honour me, sir."

"Thank you for the dance lesson, Grand Moff," beamed Vette.

"Always a pleasure, Sergeant," replied Kilran and turned to Quinn.

Badesh took Vette's hand and in this very moment the quiet murmurs died down. They started to dance.

"I'm quite certain that some of the older folks in here are having a heart attack right now," remarked Vette archly. "Not only they have to see a revered member of the Dark Council dance, but he even dances with an alien upstart."

"It seems that Nox has also taken a liking in dancing," said Badesh. Nox was indeed still dancing, of course his partner looked pale and horrified because he hadn't bothered to turn down his dread power.

"Uh, I feel sorry for her…"

"You shouldn't – it is an honour to dance with a Sith."

"Okay, but it is a doubtable honour – present company excluded." She smiled at him and Badesh felt a strong affection towards her.

"Thank you… but we should focus: Is everything ready?"

"As ready as it can be, boss. We are pretty much in the dark about what could happen. Could you warn your fellow Sith?" Vette frowned.

"Yes, I think so. But it is unclear whether they will help us." Badesh felt clearly that she wasn't as relaxed as she appeared. He intensified his grip on her hand and her shoulder. "We will prevail and it will be a battle for the history books."

Her smile vanished from her lips. "Can't you just tell me that we will survive this and everything will be fine?"

"You want me to lie to you?" asked Badesh puzzled.

Vette hesitated and averted her gaze. "No, of course not… I'm just afraid that our luck has run out."

Badesh was still confused – why was she asking a question that she already knew the answer to?

"Hey, how come you know how to dance?" Her smile had returned. It seemed that Vette had already calmed down.

"The Sith academy provides it's acolytes with all necessary knowledge to represent the Sith Empire on foreign planets; including the most common social skills," he replied.

"Really? Kudos to whoever thought of it… It's nice, you know. Dancing this ridiculously posh waltz makes me feel… Well, perhaps we could do it again?" Vette seemed sad again. Badesh was confused, what was he supposed to say? Then he recalled that Vette had stated that she didn't wanted to be lied at.

"No, I don't enjoy dancing; it's an outdated social ritual."

She shrugged. "Okay, then I should dance as much as possible today, boss." Badesh wasn't sure, but Vette seemed to be… disappointed. "I'm sure that Darth Nox is up to it!"

At first Badesh was alarmed but then he realised that Vette was joking when she caught the mischievous look on her face. He chuckled and made another turn with her.

ooOOoo

It was almost time: A quick glance at his chronometer showed Badesh that the Emperor was about to give his speech shortly. The music had ended and all dignitaries stood in the back of the hall while the members of the Dark Council had taken their places on twelve thrones that had been brought in after the music had stopped. Badesh watched as slaves were carrying a gigantic black throne into the middle of the room. It's backrest almost reached the chandelier, it was plain and at the same time regal. He was curious – he had never met the Emperor in person; but he felt him approach. It was strange, whereas Badesh had anticipated that he would feel the might of the Emperor much stronger than for example Revan's power, it felt more like a hole in the force. The absence of everything surrounded the being that was drawing nearer. Badesh had never felt anything like it, there was no hate, no passion… there was absolutely nothing.

"Something is wrong…" whispered Darth Vowran at his right side. "I have met the Emperor decades ago, this feels completely different. The force used to swirl around him, but now there is no force whatsoever."

Badesh didn't answer, he was certain that the other Darths felt it as well. He reached out through the force and found Quinn's and Vette's force signature. They were in position; the question was whether they truly could defeat the Emperor. How could he kill a void?

In this moment the large doors opened and twenty Imperial Guards in their red uniforms walked in lockstep into the hall. A tall, thin figure in red robes walked in their midst. The Emperor wore a red mask without eyeholes and walked slowly towards his black throne. Badesh knew that this was the Emperor, he could see him after all; but he couldn't feel him.

Badesh grabbed his arm rests. His breath quickened, he felt how sweat was running down his temples. He was aroused and thrilled at the same time, his greatest challenge was about to begin…