The shrill beeping of the chronometer rang through the room. Quinn exhaled and fumbled the shrieking device on his bedstand until he finally hit the off button. He closed his eyes for a moment before he finally got up. He slowly entered the tiny bathroom he had in his own personal quarters. Quinn activated the hydro tap and splashed water in his face. He looked at himself in the rectangular mirror above the washbasin. Had these lines in his face always been there? Or hadn't he noticed before?

With a few mechanical movements he shaved himself with his durasteel razor. With the same routine he brushed his teeth and combed his hair.

When he stepped out of the bathroom he glanced at his chronometer on the small table next to his bunk.

05:07.

He took a fresh uniform from his wardrobe and began to dress.

Quinn checked the time when he closed the top-most button of his uniform jacket: 05:12.

He strode out of his quarter and headed for the mess hall in barrack E1. Quinn walked through the grey corridors, nodded at some of the soldiers, trying to look alert instead of weary. Finally he arrived at the mess hall and took a piece of dark bread and a cup of Balmorran seagrass tea from the meagre officer's buffet. The tables were mostly empty. Quinn sat down at the table in the far back and ate the slice of bread while drinking his still-hot tea. He read the latest report on enemy movements on his data pad, bookmarking suspicious activities for later.

He looked at his chronometer: 05:21.

Quinn put the mug into the delivery station at the entrance of the mess hall and headed for his office in central Sobrik.

At exactly 05:30 he sat down at his desk and began to check his messages, as well as incoming reports and intel. At 05:55 his colleagues arrived at their work places.

Quinn was working with his usual diligence, losing himself in the process of analysing reports and drawing up possible strategy tactics to counter the resistances efforts. At 11:37 Quinn realised that he was ahead of his schedule – if he didn't slow down he would be through with his work at least two hours before his shift ended. He sighed and tried to read slower.

Lunch break was at 12:00. Exactly 59 minutes later, Quinn began working again. Reading, analysing, writing reports, instructing soldiers on strategies. Five hours later, his shift ended and Quinn headed in the mess hall E1 for dinner.

At 19:30 he visited the training room and worked out. Then he returned to his room and began to read about the history of Taris. Third edition. Quinn had started to read up on complete histories of core planets after the first five years on Balmorra. It was of no direct interest for him, but it relieved the strange tension that sometimes overcame him: a gruelling feeling that his skin was too tight, an urge to senselessly punch something, anything; usually accompanied by the creeping suspicion that his mental faculties were disintegrating. Sometimes he stared at his data pad without reading, too tired to move on, sometimes he didn't even remember what the reports he wrote contained. Panicked he checked them at once – only to discover that they were as meticulous and succinct as the ones he remembered.

At 20:45 he showered and prepared everything for the next day. At 21:00 he went to bed and turned the lights off.

The beeping of the chronometer woke him up. He buried his face in his hands, for a fraction of a second he considered to go to sleep again, after a brief moment of hesitation he got up and headed in the bathroom.

At 05:12 he left his quarters and arrived at 05:30 in the office. 12:00 Lunch. Slow reading in the after-noon. 18:06 Dinner. 19:30 working out. 20:30 a shower. 21:00 lights off.

Day after day after day.

ooOOoo

A new batch of recruits arrived in Sobrik. Quinn greeted and instructed them as always. It was the same speech he had given over and over again. After he dismissed them, he put out the holoprojector and started to scroll through the personnel files. The recruits murmured and he heard how they discussed going to the local cantina.

"Man, I could use some booze!"

"Yeah, me too!"

"Jillins – you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll just ask the Lieutenant…"

"Nah, leave him…" the rest was whispered.

But Quinn didn't need to hear it to know what they were talking about. That he had earned a deep disfavour with High Command, that he would never make it off this rock let alone rise past his current rank. That he wasn't worth the effort. He was respected by his fellow soldiers, there was no doubt about it and he was good at his job, but that was it. He had long come to accept that.

He glanced at the recruits. They were laughing and talking with each other. Even if they were to ask him if he wanted to come along, he wouldn't know what to say to them. They were all so young… but perhaps they still would be interested to hear how Taris was destroyed? He could tell them all about it, pointing out the importance of superior naval might. Perhaps he could listen where they had been stationed before. It could be nice change…

Quinn watched how they left, he still stood by the holoprojector pretending to look through the files until the last soldier strode out of the room. Nobody asked him to tag along. He scoffed. Well, it was certainly better this way. He wasn't good at small talk; it would've bored him anyway. And he had planned to read some more in the evening.

ooOOoo

A few hours later, just when he was about to turn off the light, his holocommunicator beeped. Quinn noted with excitement that it was a caller ID from Dromund Kaas – it had to be Darth Baras. He took a deep breath, exhaled and pushed the receive button.

Baras's figure appeared, he clasped his hands behind his back. "Lieutenant Quinn."

"Darth Baras, how may I be of service?"

"I have two tasks for you: Tomorrow my apprentice will arrive on Balmorra. I expect you to support her in any way you can. The second task is strictly confidential: You will monitor a Jedi investigator who arrived two days ago."

Quinn bowed his head. "Yes, my lord." His voice was steady, but he was excited. Finally something of importance to do! Something to put all his energy into!

"You will receive all necessary intel shortly – this is an important mission, and I only entrust the finest."

"I'm honoured, my lord," Quinn replied. Although he knew that Baras wasn't seeing him as a key figure in his schemes, it felt surprisingly good to hear these words.

"We will speak again soon," Baras said before he cut the connection.

True to his word, Quinn received a huge pile of data in a matter of minutes. He scrolled through it and quickly calculated how much time it would take him to compile everything and come up with instructions for Baras's apprentice. Energized, Quinn buried himself in the work.

ooOOoo

When the chronometer rang in the morning, Quinn quickly got up, rushed into the bathroom and left his quarters at 05:09. He strode into the mess hall, grabbed a bowl of Corellian porridge and his usual cup of tea and consumed everything quickly. Although he had only slept five hours, he felt more awake than in months, if not in years.

Quinn arrived in his office at 05:22 and immediately checked his data again. He knew that he had been thorough, but he left nothing to chance.

When everything was prepared Quinn plunged himself in his daily work, determined to finish everything up so that he could support Darth Baras' apprentice in every way.

About three hours later he heard the usual chatter outside his office die down, and almost creepy silence spread out. Quinn interpreted this as a sign of Sith presence. He got up from his desk and stood at parade rest. He intended to greet the apprentice with all possible dignity and honour.

When a tall female Sith pureblood entered, he snapped at attention. Her skin was dark red, her symmetrical face was covered in golden piercings. But the jewellery seemed pale in comparison to her bright yellow eyes. Judging from her short black hair and her unadorned armour, she seemed to be a rather practical Sith. The apprentice was accompanied by a blue-skinned female Twi'lek who wore light armour and carried two blasters at her hips.

The apprentice flashed a breathtaking grin at him. "At ease, Lieutenant Quinn." Her voice was deep and calm, a beautiful voice…

"My lord," Quinn pulled himself together and bowed. It was always better to be careful when dealing with Sith. Then he eased into the parade rest, and clasped his hands behind his back.

"I assume my master has already informed you of my arrival. I'm Teava Kâmnash and this is my companion, Vette."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, my lord. Darth Baras will brief you personally, but I'm to acquaint you with the climate here on Balmorra first," Quinn said. He fully expected Teava to dismiss his briefing like most Sith would, and dug this right thumbnail into the soft tissue between his left thumb and index finger.

"By all means, go ahead."

Quinn relaxed his fingers and explained quickly how the Empire was fighting against the Republic sympathisers on Balmorra. Then he patched Darth Baras through so that he could instruct his apprentice.

As soon as Baras appeared on the holocomm station, he ordered Quinn to leave. After a few minutes he was called back to brief Teava for her attack on the satellite control tower.

She checked the map he had uploaded to her data pad.

"You are very thorough, Lieutenant." Again she smiled at him. It wasn't the usual cruel smile Sith tended to give Imperial personnel, Quinn registered, and he felt heat crawling up his cheeks. "Do I assume correctly that you will help me with any further missions on this planet?"

"Yes, I am in your charge for as long as you are on this planet," he replied quickly.

"That's a relief," Teava remarked, and ogled him from top to bottom.

The way Vette snickered after these words caused Quinn to fall back into parade rest. He pinched his left hand again. Was Teava mocking him? He had no doubt that his plans were immaculate, so why were they mocking him? Since he didn't know how to interpret her reaction, he decided to ignore it.

"Yes, my lord."

Teava turned to Vette. "You ready to blow things up?"

"Sure!" Vette exclaimed.

Quinn wondered what their relationship was. At first he had thought that Vette was Teava's slave, but she wasn't wearing a shock collar and she didn't act like a slave.

They strode out, leaving Quinn alone in his office. He wiped across his face and decided to check upon the Jedi investigator his spies were tracking.

ooOOoo

Teava and Vette's mission was successful and when they returned in the late afternoon Quinn greeted them with a stiff bow.

"You don't have to bow to me, Lieutenant. Just make sure that you keep up the good work," Teava said, leaning casually against his desk.

Vette even sat down on his desk and let her feet dangle in the air.

Quinn blinked and cleared his throat. "Yes, my lord… I apologize."

"Don't sweat it."

"Well, I will work on future calibrations to suit them for your unprecedented abilities. Clearly, you are not a typical Sith…" When he realised how condescending he sounded, he broke off.

Instead of getting angry, Teava gave him a lopsided grin. "Quinn… you know just what to say."

Again Vette giggled. Quinn glanced at her and swallowed. "W… Well, I…" then he pulled himself together. "Darth Baras is pleased. He says it's time to zero in on your prime directive, and he awaits your contact. You can use my holocommunicator, the line is secure. I'll be waiting outside."

"Thank you," said Teava in her deep, melodious voice.

Quinn looked at her and frowned before he rearranged his face into a neutral expression. Then he left so Baras could talk to his apprentice.

When he was called back in, he gave Vette and Teava the prepared briefing on the Balmorran Arms Factory and what they should expect. Coming up with a strategy to infiltrate the factory had kept him up for quite some time;it was a very complicated matter. And yet he was certain that he had come up with the best possible solution.

"An incursion into the arms factory will be a monumental feat. I'm excited by the prospect of you laying waste to that place," he said as he concluded the briefing.

Teava put her hands on her hips. "So, I excite you, do I?"

Quinn was again caught off guard by this … Sith game. Was it mockery or did she actually flirt with him? "W… well, what I meant was … when I imagine all the ways you will shape the galaxy, I get very excited, yes."

She stepped very close to him and said in a sultry voice: "How easily you fluster, Lieutenant."

Quinn felt heat crawl up his cheeks and at the same time his heartbeat quickened: She was really flirting with him. He cleared his throat. "Well, my lord, your question was a bit surprising. My mind is on the task at hand."

"It's called multitasking, Lieutenant. Look into it," piped Vette in.

"I am always interested in bettering myself..." Quinn cleared his throat. "M-may I continue to brief you on the Balmorran Arms Factory?"

"I reserve the right to readdress this issue in the future," Teava said.

Quinn gulped. She was indeed as tenacious as she was attractive. He didn't understand what she was hoping to achieve with her flirting. She was a very powerful and competent woman – a Sith with the best prospects to become Darth Baras' right hand. In other words, she was completely out of his league. Did she really expect him to go along with her flirting? Or was she setting him up?

"That is your prerogative, of course," he finally replied.

"We should get going, Vette," she said, without letting him out of her sight.

"Right behind you, boss."

Teava turned on her heel and walked out of Quinn's office. He couldn't help but follow her with his eyes until she was out of sight.