"It's a miracle you're here at all, Farfalla," Hoth replied. "I'm afraid to even ask how you managed to run the blockade, in case this all turns out to be nothing more than the fevered dream of a doomed and dying man."
"Rest assured, General, I am quite real. As to how we arrived, that is easy enough to explain: the Sith broke the ranks of their blockade to engage our fleet. With our capital ships drawing the focus of their cruisers and Dreadnaughts, we were able to send several gunships down to your aid."
"What about the rest of our fleet?" Hoth asked in concern. "The Sith had nearly double the numbers of your ships."
"They held their own long enough for us to get through the blockade, then disengaged and retreated with surprisingly few casualties."
"Good." The general nodded. Then he frowned. "But I still don't understand why they would engage your fleet at all. It makes no sense!"
"I can only assume that they received orders to do so from someone here on the surface."
"Kaan was on the verge of wiping us out," Hoth insisted. "The last thing he would do is give the order to engage."
Both Jedi were silent for a moment, pondering the implications of what had happened. Finally Farfalla asked, "Is it possible we have an unknown ally among the Brotherhood of Darkness?"
Hoth shook his head. "I doubt it. More likely the Sith are finally beginning to turn on each other. It was inevitable."
Master Farfalla nodded his agreement. "It is the way of the dark side, after all."
Kaan was fuming as his flier touched down back at the Sith camp. How could everything have gone so terribly wrong in such a short time? They had been on the cusp of victory, and now suddenly they were on the knife's edge of defeat.
He stormed across the camp toward his tent, ignoring the questioning looks of Githany and the others. They wanted an explanation, but he didn't have one to give. Not yet. Not until he got a status report from Admiral Nyras. How did Farfalla break through the kriffing blockade?
His anger was so great that he didn't notice Qordis's flier parked near his tent, or the droplets of blood scattered on the ground nearby. If he had, he might have searched the area and found the body stashed in the nearby undergrowth. But all of Kaan's focus was concentrated on reaching his tent and the communications equipment inside.
He found Bane there waiting for him, standing still as stone.
"Back so soon, Kaan?" he asked. "What happened to your glorious battle?"
"Reinforcements," Kaan snarled. "Somehow Farfalla found a way to break through our blockade."
"I told your fleet to engage the Jedi," Bane said, his words as casual as if he had been discussing the weather.
Kaan's jaw dropped. He had suspected treachery, but he wasn't prepared for the traitor to openly admit it! "But… why?"
"I wanted all the Jedi here on Ruusan at the same time," Bane replied.
"You blasted fool!" Kaan shouted, waving his arms madly as if they were gripped by uncontrollable spasms. "Victory was ours! We had Hoth beaten!"
"That is your goal, not mine. I'm after a prize far greater than the death of General Hoth. He is but one man."
Kaan barked out a harsh laugh. "We all know what prize you seek, Darth Bane. You're here to take over the Brotherhood."
Bane shrugged indifferently, as if it didn't matter one way or the other to him.
He seemed so calm, so certain of what he was doing. It was all Kaan could do to keep himself from leaping at the larger man's throat. Didn't he understand what he had done? Couldn't he see that he had doomed them all?
Kaan slumped wearily into a chair. "If you lead them against the Jedi, you lead them to their slaughter."
Now it was Bane who laughed, a low, sinister chuckle. "How quickly you've fallen into despair, Kaan. It seemed only hours ago you were certain of victory!'
"That was before Farfalla and his reinforcements arrived," Kaan shot back. "Back when we had the advantages of numbers and air superiority. All that is gone, thanks to you. We can't possibly defeat them now."
"I can," Bane vowed.
Kaan sat up straighter in his chair. Again, there was that unwavering confidence. Bane knew something he didn't. Some trick. "Another ritual like the last one?" he guessed.
"I know many rituals. Many secrets. And I have the strength to use them."
Dread gripped Kaan. "The thought bomb," he breathed.
"Your leadership has failed!" Bane declared. "Now I will take the Brotherhood down the path to victory."
"And what of me?" Kaan asked, already knowing the answer.
"You can swear your loyalty to me with all the others," Bane told him, "or you can die here in this tent."
Lord Kaan knew he was no match for Bane, either physically or through the power of the Force. Yet he wasn't about to surrender so easily. Not while he still had cunning, guile, and his unique talents of persuasion on his side.
"Do you really believe the others will follow you?" he asked, pushing out with the Force to plant the first seeds of doubt in his rival's mind. "They are still wary of you after your last ritual."
A flicker of uncertainty passed across Bane's hard features. Kaan increased the pressure of his invisible compulsions and continued to speak. "The Brotherhood is about equality, not servitude. Asking the others to bow down before you will only drive them away, or turn them against you."
He rose from his chair as Bane nervously stroked his chin, weighing the arguments. "How do you think the others will react when I tell them how you orchestrated the arrival of the Jedi reinforcements?"
Bane's dark eyes flashed angrily, and his hand dropped to the hilt of his lightsaber.
"Killing me won't keep your secret," Kaan warned him. "The others know you weren't at the battle when Farfalla's ships arrived. More than a few of them probably already suspect you of betraying them."
Kaan pushed even harder with the Force, trying to twist and warp Bane's very thoughts. "You may be the strongest among us, but you can't defeat us all. Not by yourself, Bane."
The big man staggered and clutched at his head. He stumbled over to the chair and collapsed in it, the wood groaning under his massive frame. He hunched forward, hands pressing hard on his temples.
"You're right," he said through tightly clenched teeth. "You're right."
"There's still hope, though," Kaan said, stepping over and placing a reassuring hand on Bane's broad shoulder. "Follow me and I will keep the others from turning against you. Join us in the Brotherhood!"
Bane nodded slowly, then turned his head to stare up at Kaan with a desperate, hopeless expression in his eyes. "What about the Jedi? What about their gunships?"
Kaan stood, slowly releasing his mental hold over the other man. "We can nullify their air superiority by retreating into the caves," he said. "I know General Hoth; he will follow us. And there we will unleash the thought bomb against them."
Bane leapt to his feet eagerly. Kaan was pleased to see that his powers of Force persuasion were as strong as ever. Even Bane was not immune to his manipulations. "I will do as you say, Lord Kaan!" he exclaimed. "Together we will destroy the Jedi!"