The Dark Academy on Korriban

Lord Baras continues walking. The Imperial aide attaches himself and they speak some more. Sylvain recognizes the man as one of the undersecretaries that serves his father in the Ministry.

Sylvain narrows his eyes a bit after they pass trying to figure out why his father's secretary would be with Baras. But pulls out his holopad shortly after and keeps walking down the hall.

Sylvain walked into an empty classroom and pulled out his communicator. Dialing the ID number for his father he thought about what he would ask.

As the communicator sent the signal he waited for a reply on the other end.

His father answers after a moment with a look of slight annoyance, “Do you realize what time it is?”

"A true servant of the Empire is always vigilant... or so someone once told me." He said with a knowing smile.

"Sorry to bother you father... but I had an unusual occurrence just take place and had to ask you about it."

“Speak my son,” he says in a military manner.

“Your mother is sleeping.”

"I just spoke with Lord Baras. He seemed quite interested with mother's absence from recent events and had one of your undersecretaries following him around like a henchman. Do you have anyone assigned to Baras now?"

“Lord Baras has been assigned as an attaché by Darth Vengean and the Dark Council to my office. Things are in motion but not to worry, unlike Imperial Intelligence the Sith will not control Ministry of War,” he says firmly.

“We need some sanity at the top.”

"When did this start?" Sylvain asked.

“Within the last year, there has been a great deal of pressure on the Ministry to produce results and evidence that our efforts are being sabotaged on the inside…” he sighs as he pauses.

“This line is not secure for this kind of talk, you should not worry about it, I will be damned if I turn our military assets over to power hungry Sith who will turn our military against each other. I could trust Darth Marr.”

He groans and says, “Now you see the world you are coming into my son.”

Sylvain nodded. "I'll do what I can to help father. Keep me informed if you can."

“I’ll think about it, the last thing I need is to throw you in this arena of Sith Lords and Imperial Moffs,” he says with seriousness.

“I have to go your mother needs me,” he ends the call.

"Goodb..." Sylvain is cut off before able to get his farewell out.

Hmmm... weird storms brewing.

Sylvain continued down the hall and considered who he could seek out that may know something about what is going on.

Father's mentioning of what happened in Intelligence seemed to be troubling... there was something he wasn't being told that was really important.

Elsewhere in the hallways, Shaisha was reading from her datapad... and walking at the same time.

Green places on Korriban... The Forgotten...

Looking up from her datapad, she spotted Sylvain.

"Syl?" she gave a small wink. "What's up?"

Looking up from his thought he smiled a bit, "Oh, hey Shai. What's up?"

"I asked first," she raised a ridged eyebrow at him. Then she lowered her voice as she stepped closer to Sylvain. "... Is something wrong?"

He looked around a bit, still trying to figure out a feeling that something was wrong.

"I just had a very unusual interaction with Lord Baras... and a call with father."

He paused, "I can't be sure... but I think Baras knows mother is ill... which no one knows but father, I and you..."

He looks at her, "You didn't tell anyone right?"

"You know I don't share secrets easily, Syl," she looked a bit hurt, and concerned. "... Why would Lord Baras know about it?"

"I'm not quite sure... and he had one of father's men following him around like a henchman.."

He paused, "I called father about it and he told me not to worry... but made a comment about how the Sith had taken over the Intelligence branch of the military... and had assigned Baras to father's department for nearly a year... and that the Military's efforts were being hampered from the inside...."

He shakes his head, "I have a sense that there is something foul afoot."

"Hm..." she frowned. This sounded really fishy.

"We should see what we can figure out about this. You know you got my full support, and I don't take no for an answer... your family has been kind to be, and I don't take lightly to others hurting them."

Sylvain nodded. "Thank you Shai... Of the many beings in the galaxy, I do know that I can depend on you."

Can I though... who is to be trusted when it's the Sith who aren't to be trusted?

"Keep your ears open... Though I'm not sure this is a game we're capable of winning..."

"We're not the players in a game between a Sith Lord and a Minister, Syl," she said with a surprisingly gentle tone, "but we can be important pieces in the game, if we choose to."

He nods.

"How so?"

"It's easy to step aside and not be apart of it, or be used as a pawn. Take action, and you can be more than just a pawn..." Shaisha shrugged. Spindral must be rubbing off on me.

"What did Baras say?"