"There's just no frakking way!" Hades pounded his fist on the desk in disgust. "They MUST have known we were coming. It was too perfect to be just a chance ambush. Who could have known our plans?"

"Just us in this room," said Frosty.

The Marshal and Quaestor still had their heads down, poring over the tabletop display of the battlefield while Frosty and Hades stepped back, shaking their heads in disgust. They played it through, rewound it, and paused it. Occasionally one of them would point out some detail, but they had played through it so many times that each of them could now recite the events by heart. Tarentum's forces had split up, attempting to envelop a One Sith encampment on Nicht Ka in secret. As they broke cover to open fire on the encampment, artillery rained down on each of their positions and wiped them all out. After reviewing the imagery from the battle, each of them had been forced to agree with Oberst's initial assessment that it was not simply defensive fire: each shell had precisely targeted a Tarentum unit, and areas where there were no Tarenti had not been shelled. The One Sith had known the plan, and had been briefed in detail.

"We have to find this leak and seal it. Today." Scion's voice was gravel cascading down a hill. "For the time being, military strategy will be discussed between the Marshal and myself only. The rest of you are dismissed."

Hades, already red with anger at the massacre they had been studying, finally lost it. "Are you frakking kidding me, Scion? You're questioning MY loyalty? You nerf herding, slime sucking, son of a bantha poodoo..."

Frosty placed an enormous hand on the back of the Aedile's neck and guided him forcibly out of the room. As soon as the door clicked shut, the Marshal spoke.

"I may have a lead. I sent one of my most trusted operatives to the encampment after our assault failed. He was able to retrieve a One Sith hostage. He has been in interrogations for the past few hours, but so far we haven't gotten any useful information from him."

"Let's go pay him a visit, then."

***

The wretch tied to the chair didn't look like much. He had been stripped down and beaten, then subjected to the standard interrogation droid. So far the droids had not been successful on any of the One Sith prisoners Tarentum had taken, although they had proven useful for softening up a couple of the individuals for a more personal session.

"This one's Force sensitive." Oberst nodded to a figure dressed in black robes standing in the shadows behind the prisoner. Scion couldn't tell who it was, but he could sense that the prisoner's link to the Force was being actively suppressed. Bloodfyre maybe, judging from the man's imposing stature. "We think he was adjutant to the commander of the outpost based on where we snatched him from, but he hasn't confirmed that for us yet."

Scion grabbed the back of a nearby durasteel chair and dragged it slowly across the floor toward the prisoner. The man's head was slumped forward and his hands bound behind his back. Blood streamed down from several wounds on his head. The metal chair made a piercing screeching sound as it scraped across the floor. Scion sat down facing the One Sith officer, regarding him for a moment as one would a new holo-terminal or a particularly interesting inventory report.

"Do you know who I am, Sith?"

The man looked up briefly, then his head sagged back down.

"Just more kriffing Dark Brotherhood filth to me," he said.

"I'm the Prince of Yridia. Do you know what that means, son?"

"You're king of the filth, then. Big frakking deal. Just kill me and get it over with. I've got nothing to say to you."

"It means that if I told these men to give you a new set of clothes and a TIE Defender, and let you fly on out of here, they would have to do it. Would you like that?"

The prisoner said nothing.

"It also means I could let the Marshal here penetrate your eye socket and frak your face until your brain turns into soup, and nobody would say a word about it. I've heard he enjoys that sort of thing. Maybe you do too?"

The prisoner lifted his head and raised an eyebrow at the Prince. "Fine. Torture me then. I'm not talking."

"Our second wave wiped out your little outpost, you know. All your friends are dead. I put some of their heads on spikes myself. The ammonia rain will dissolve their flesh and eat away their skulls within a few days, but I think it's the symbolism that counts more than anything."

"But, if you truly have nothing to say to us," Scion pulled his chair up closer to the man, and placed his hands on each of his cheeks. "Then you won't mind if I put my hand in your mouth and just rip your jaw off right now."

The prisoner's eyes bulged as Scion forced his fingers into his mouth and began to pry his jaws apart. The man's tongue flailed helplessly and he tugged at his bonds but the Prince's grip was like durasteel. A cracking sound echoed through the chamber as the muscles in the prisoner's jaw finally gave way. His screams were transformed into a watery suck as blood boiled up out of his throat and onto Scion's face. He pulled the bone free from the tendrils of flesh that still clung to the prisoner's head, and tossed it onto the floor.

"Valhavoc." The name rang as true through Scion's mind as if the prisoner had screamed it out loud. He turned to Oberst. "Someone on our team is leaking our plans to the Iron Throne, and the FIST is passing it to the One Sith. Find the mole on our team. I'll deal with the FIST personally."

***

Scion Altera arrived at Antei as Quaestors of Independent Houses and Consuls typically do, with an entourage of several ships and supplies. He made his way to the office he kept in the Dark Hall, which was largely empty and generally remained unused because he was convinced it was bugged. Upon his arrival he put in a call to Ernordeth, his old friend and former Aedile of House Tarentum. These days, Ernordeth was working on Antei as, among other things, Magistrate to the Grand Master, and Magistrate to the FIST. If anybody knew about the FIST passing information to the One Sith, it would be him.

"Erno, it is great to see you my friend."

The two men had agreed to meet in Tarentum's office space, and Scion had arranged for a meal to be set in the antechamber just outside his office.

"Please have a seat and enjoy. It's not much, I know, but it was the best I could do on short notice. I have an urgent matter to discuss with you that could threaten the security of the entire Dark Brotherhood."

Ernordeth's interest was clearly piqued, but he did his best to play it off.

"Our security is threatened all the time. I should know; I work for the Grand Master. We're in the midst of a war, after all."

"Recently, an entire unit of ours was ambushed and wiped out. It was too precise to be coincidence or even good planning. The One Sith knew our positions down to the meter."

"Sounds like you've got a mole in your House. How is this my fault?"

"It's not, Ernordeth. You know that. We interrogated a prisoner. He had some... interesting things to say."

Ernordeth shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and picked idly at his food.

"Oberst is seeing to the mole in House Tarentum, but from the way it sounds there is another one higher up. I need your help, old friend."

"I don't have to sit here and listen to this, Scion." Ernordeth stood up from his seat. "The stress of failure has finally started to get to you. Your unit was wiped out due to poor planning or a leak in your organization. The Dark Council's loyalty is unquestionable and their security is tighter than anything Tarentum can hope for. You can investigate if you want, but you won't find anything. There's nothing to find."

Ernordeth turned to leave, but Frosty stood in the doorway.

"Unfortunately Ernordeth, I still do need your help."

The drug in Ernordeth's wine began to take effect, and the room spun around him. Within moments he was unconscious on the floor. The last thing he saw was Frosty leaning over him to pull him into some kind of storage container.

***

Scion's shuttle floated aimlessly through the Shroud. Hades was at the controls, using his knowledge from Tarentum's days as the Shroud's caretakers to keep them in the deepest eddies of the anomaly where few would be able to locate them. Scion stood over Ernordeth as the drugs began to wear off and he blinked awake.

"I know that room was bugged. You can speak freely here."

"I don't know what you're talking about. You're paranoid, old man. If Marick finds out you've kidnapped an Arconan you can kiss your Axis goodbye. If the Grand Master or the FIST find out you've kidnapped one of their Magistrates..."

"That's why they won't find out," Scion interrupted. "We're in the Shroud. This ship is registered in your name. People get lost in the Shroud all the time. Usually not Tarenti, but well... I'll make it out alive, anyway. What do you know about the FIST passing information to the One Sith?"

"Nothing," said Ernordeth.

"Don't make me torture you, friend. I ripped a man's jaw off his face to find out Valhavoc was behind this. I just need you to confirm it before I can bring it to the Justicar."

"I'm telling you I don't know anything, Scion. You trusted me when I was your Aedile, but now you're just acting crazy. Look into my thoughts. The Dark Council is loyal to the Iron Throne."

Doubt nibbled at Scion's mind for the first time since the investigation had begun. What if he was wrong? Ernordeth was right about at least one thing: if Marick Arconae found out that he had kidnapped Ernordeth, the Estle-Eden Axis was finished and the future of Tarentum was dire at best without Arcona's help. As much as he hated them, he had become convinced that Tarentum could not continue to survive without them.

"Ok, you're right. We'll let you go unharmed. Don't breathe a word about this to anyone. I just... got carried away. You know better than almost anyone how much I care about Tarentum, and how far I'd go to protect it. I'm sorry you had to be a victim of that, but I think in my position you would have done the same."

"Frak you, Scion. Don't ever ask me for a favor again. You've burned this bridge."

Scion sighed heavily, but released Ernordeth's bonds. Ernordeth's mind revealed no trace of untruth, just anger. The old man's heart told him he had been on the right path, but Ernordeth was a dead end.

"Just... keep an eye out, will you?"