"Son of a bantha!" Neta angrily protested, her loud curse a stark contrast to the smooth quiet of hyperspace. Yerbol looked to Aria, shaking his head as he plopped helplessly into the co-pilot's chair. His mouth was ajar ever so slightly for a few moments, allowing the magnitude of what had just occurred wash over him.
"I had told them that they would be able to take care of themselves." He choked out, vocal chords seeming to strain at every syllable.
"That...that they could do it, they could..." His wide shoulders, normally thrown back, were slumped forward, hands running over his face. Neta walked over to the duo, placing a comforting hand on Yerbol's back.
"This wasn't your fault, sweetheart." Her gaze went to Aria before adding:
"And it wasn't yours, either. We're dealing with powerful people, people that are gonna stop at nothing until they get what they want. I'm used to the type." Instead of adding to the story that seemed to accompany that statement, she instead rubbed Yerbol's back for a few seconds before saying quietly:
"You kids take your time processing. I'm gonna go check on the younger ones, see if they need anything." As she walked away, she told them:
"We've got a lot of time. Take it. You'll need it."

Her combat boots clicked off towards the apprentices, prompting Yerbol to ask:
"You felt that, right? That...ripping. That awful tearing. It felt like...like every hair on my head was being slowly and methodically being ripped out by the root." He shook his head once more.
"Bad analogy, I know, but that's all I've got." Yerbol sat back against the chair, looking up at his companion:
"I just can't believe they did it. They actually...they want to do this. Kill every Force User not dedicated to their cause at whatever means necessary." His eyes returned front and center, staring into the blackness.
"All the Masters, the Temple, the Knights...everyone and everything that this order stood for. Wiped out." He slunk into the chair, head now resting where the upper back was supposed to go.
"I can't help but think about that vision we had before Manaan. 'Kill the Force'...is that what they're trying to do? By murdering anyone who can wield the Force, they can establish their own Order, but Ari, I don't think they just want to manipulate governments for their own power. It has to be bigger than that, more calculated." He thought for a minute, then added:
"They're going to do the same to Korriban, aren't they? Those murderous, conniving..." Words couldn't encompass the vortex of emotions that were swirling inside of him, but giving into that instability wouldn't help. Not now.
"I don't care what it takes, but we need to get whoever is alive on Korriban out. We can regroup, then, figure out how to...how to do this without the Masters." He chuckled, a grim edge to it.
"I never thought I'd miss the Jedi council this much. They were sort of like a security blanket for solving our problems. Even when our Masters had problems, they took it up with the council." Sitting up, a note of optimism crept into his voice as he spoke again:
"Some of the Masters must have been offworld, right? The Sith can't get to everyone...maybe we can put out some kind of message to them? Get them rallied to a secret location, then...boy this sounds desperate, doesn't it?" He slunk forward again.
"Tell me you're feeling some of the same things I am or else I'm going to ramble on for the next..." He peered at the navigation panel.
"Two days."

Aria shook her head, still feeling numb as Neta moved past her and disappeared further into the ship to check on the young Padawans.
"This wasn't your fault, ...we're dealing with powerful people..." the pilot's words registered with her brain, but didn't really sink in as she moved in an almost mechanical fashion to collapse in the pilot's chair where Neta had been previously.
"Shit..." it was a callous exclamation, perhaps, but she was at a complete loss for how else to put words to that incapacitating shift in the Force. "I couldn't breathe...felt like someone was carving a hole in my chest. I thought my heart was gonna explode." She forced herself to try and think about this from the True Sith's point of view. Of course, it was a logical next step to deduce Korriban would be next as the center of the former Sith's training grounds. It would guarantee that most, if not all, of the other Force users other than the ones Aria, Yerbol and Neta managed to band together before the bombardments were out of the picture and couldn't interfere with their rebuilding process.

She nodded along with the Knight's suggestion for a little while, before her head dropped forward into her hands, a soft whimper escaping from between her pursed lips.
"My father's going to die! They'll track him down too, Bracknell's not going to let him live!" it was a foreign feeling for Aria, to be THIS worried about Roan's safety. The guy was a Sith Lord, after all. Not many people were brave OR powerful (or, perhaps in some cases, stupid) enough to tangle with one and live to tell the tale. But after what they had just witnessed, she was beginning to realise that this was entirely different. "He's too powerful a threat to be left undealt with, and not even those tomb beasts will be enough to stop them! Kark, Bol...they're going to kill him...they're going to kill them all..." she was fighting a rapidly growing panic now, desperately keeping the hyperventilating at bay as they tried to work together to come up with a strategy of how they were going to stop these people from doing this.

They could get to Korriban as fast as Neta's ship could carry them there, and hope that it was still intact when they dropped out of hyperspace. Rescue as many people there as they could, yes it was desperate and foolish, but what other option did they have? Cower, how had Yerbol said it at the outpost, in the shadows like rats until Bracknell or Soto finally caught up to them and added them to their kill tally? Aria gritted her teeth angrily as she looked up to meet her companion's gaze.
"Where, though?" she whispered, her voice hollow. "WHERE could we POSSIBLY rally a bunch of Force sensitives where Bracknell and Soto and their cohorts wouldn't find us? They're EVERYWHERE now, watching and waiting!" her hands clenched into fists as she continued:
"And that's not even acknowledging the fact that we'd be dumping people from previously opposing sides of a conflict together and asking them to play nice and help each other!" apparently Yerbol wasn't the only one with a rambling's worth of thoughts about the matter. "Do you think, for a SECOND, that the fact we could all be killed will make a difference to how your Masters would see my father, or he them?"

Then again, she reminded herself, the two of them had done it. A freak accident had forced them to set aside their differences and work together to survive. Who was to say this catastrophic genocide wouldn't be enough to do the same for the older, more stubborn Force users. As much as they might have hated one another, the looming threat of death hanging over their heads SHOULD be enough to keep some kind of mutual alliance, however tenuous, between the two groups so they could make a stand against these True Sith.
"...You're right, we have to try. Whatever it takes."

It was Aria's time to process, which Yerbol allowed her to do without by not saying a word, giving her the same courtesy she allowed him a few minutes ago, which was to just...talk. He looked to her when she asserted they would do whatever it took and nodded.
"And we're going to pull this off. We're too stubborn not to." He leaned forward, examining the control panel in the center of the dashboard before flicking a switch that dimmed the lights of the cockpit to where they weren't reflecting off the glass viewing shield. Sitting backwards, he told her:
"Wild Space might give us the best bet to lay low for a while. With Neta's piloting abilities, we can find some sort of obscure moon or a small planet off the beaten path that would give us an opportunity to summon the Masters...that is, if they want to come." He rubbed the back of his neck as he continued:
"I think it'll honestly depend on who shows up. I know that some of the Jedi Masters are a lot more stringent when it comes to their...stance on the Sith. But then again, it won't matter, will it? They'll have to work together or watch the entire galaxy fall apart because they can't get over their petty differences." Yerbol then snickered, following up with:
"Could you imagine the conversations that we're going to hear? I think I might just want to watch them argue for a while for the sake of comedy alone. Lock them in a room, take their sabers and tell them 'YOU ALL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER!' before running away cackling gleefully while we get ice cream and let them hash it all out. That way we won't have to deal with their politics AND we get ice cream." His stomach rumbled, Yerbol patting it gently.
"Well, I think that's a sign. I'm going to go see if Neta has anything better than Republic rations and I'll let you know if they actually taste...ok. Probably get shut eye, too." He stood up, stretching his arms overhead as he examined Aria's side profile and couldn't help but admire the way her face was pleasantly round, but too round. Her hair seemed to blacker than his, but it went well with the complexion of her skin and her dark, piercing eyes. In all their troubles, he had never slowed down to actually...well, SEE her. She was strikingly attractive, even if she would deny it profusely.

His stomach garbled again, interrupting his momentary reflection. The Knight placed his left hand on her right shoulder softly.
"You did great, by the way. I think you must have been a gunner in another life." He lightly squeezed her shoulder before turning.
"And Ari..." He paused as he stepped out of the cockpit.
"I'm really happy we didn't go our separate ways. We'll take them down together..." His stomach warbled a third time.
"After dinner. Yep, after dinner."

______________________

He had promised himself it would be only a few hours, then talk strategy on Korriban. Just a quick couple of hours! That would be all, he assured both Neta and Aria. Then, after getting undressed for sleep, his bare back hit the poor excuse of a mattress and he was practically deceased for twelve hours. Neta had walked in to ask him if he was still up for talking, but then let out a volumnious laugh as she saw the Knight on his stomach, arm over the edge of the bunk, face buried in the small "pillow" that was provided. Of course, he hadn't heard this laugh or anything else until his body decided it was time for him to wake up. His eyes opened slowly, Yerbol attempting to move his dangling arm only to curse at the soreness that crept through not only his arm, but his entire upper body...well, scratch that, HIS whole body. He managed to scoot himself to the edge of the bed before sitting up, groaning groggily. His hair was in disarray, his eyes were still a bit glossy and his muscles felt like they were encased in barbed wire.
"I feel old." He croaked to no one in particular, rising from the bed and hoping that Ari was nowhere nearby to see this...

______________________

He shed his worn cloak, throwing it against the side of the cave in disgust. Wiping the blood off of his hands on his Republic(!) issued greaves, he sunk to his knees, hands on the moist cave floor to balance himself, to help the tremors stop. The adrenaline coursing through his body was beginning to wear off, but the experiences of the past twenty four hours...those wouldn't be going away for a long time. His head turned upward towards the mouth of his cave, shoulders slumping in relief as the sun set on the Tattoine landscape. He would be safe for now...but just him? Was he the only who had survived this nightmare? He reached out, grasping for the link forged between he and some of his closest friends, but there was silence. They too were Jedi Masters, so to hear the silence only confirmed his suspicions. He might be the only Master left in known space.

And that frightened him.

Aria smacked her forehead with her palm and groaned softly at her own lack of foresight. Wild Space, of COURSE!
"Good thinking." she beamed across at him. "And call me a daredevil, but if we could find somewhere relatively close to the Sith homeworld's co-ordinates, it'd put us in a pretty good strategic position." she crossed her arms behind her head, following up with some further thoughts to clarify (just in case he thought she had some kind of crazy deathwish): "Cause, y'know, they have a ton of now unguarded archives over there we could look through for information on their tactics. And maybe a little bit of that old proverb 'the closer we are to danger, the further we are from harm'."
She stretched out lazily in the chair, her head now perched halfway down the backrest while her feet planted firmly on the floor to keep her from toppling out of the chair as she tried to work some of the tension out of her muscles. She snorted loudly with laughter at the thought of the Dark Council and the Jedi Masters forced to sit in a room together and actually TALK about things for once instead of dissolving into petty name calling and defamation of each others' characters.
"I dunno, I mean, I'm all for getting ice cream but it might be funny to sit on a viewing deck and watch them throw lightning at each other for a few hours until they figure out they've got no choice!"
It wasn't until they began talking about food that Aria realized exactly how hungry she was. She smirked in amusement, waving her hand dismissively as she protested:
"I practised a lot after the first time, I'll tell you about it some other time." before he could enquire any more, she waved him off as his stomach made another loud protest and hers decided it was about time to join in, too, just in case she hadn't heard it the first few times.
Aria felt a strange glow of warmth forming in her chest as Yerbol proclaimed, just as he was leaving, that he was glad they had stayed together and realized she was glad for the odd chain of events that had forced them to become friends, too.

It wasn't long after sharing a small meal between all of them (thankfully, Neta had a few staples-namely bread and nuts as they were easiest to keep fresh, though there was a bit of cheese as well which went down quite nicely-squirreled away, it turned out she hated ration packs just as much as they did) that Yerbol vanished back into the room they had rested in the day before after declaring he needed to sleep for a little while. Aria had remained in the main compartment with Neta for a while, though when a few hours had turned into nearly six she had insisted that the pilot go and check on the young Knight to make sure he hadn't gone into hibernation. She could have heard the redhead laughing from the other end of the galaxy. They'd decided not to bother him, and Aria had soon joined Yerbol to use the next few hours' travel time to get a bit of shut eye herself.

__________________

"You snore like an old man, too!" Aria crowed from the bunk above Yerbol's head, a wicked grin plastered from ear to ear as she rolled over to peer down at him over the metal framing. As he looked up to meet her gaze, he would be greeted with the pillow that had been under her head plopping down onto his face. "Put a shirt on, Neta's probably bringing us in to land by now."
She waited until he was out of the way before swinging her legs down to hop onto the ground so she wouldn't end up kicking him in the head and adding to his various aches and pains. She had tried not to stare too much, but the muscles in his torso were more well-toned than she had been expecting (guess he hadn't been lying about lifting weights a lot) and it was kind of hard for her NOT to take a quick look before they were hidden by his underclothes once again.
"You sleep like a Hutt, by the way. We could've been shot at again and you wouldn't have known." she added, strafing out of the door with another cackle before he could do anything to get back at her.

___________________

The Dathomirian paused mid-stride as she caught a glimpse of the Ubese waiting with their weapons at the ready in the next street. She ducked back into the alleyway she had emerged from, melting into the shadows to conceal herself as a familiar presence reached out to connect with her mind. She allowed him in, but didn't wait for him to speak first.
So, it looks like you were right after all, Roan. Her lips curled into a disdainful smirk. The rat wants us all dead.
He hasn't done a bad job of it so far. the other Sith Lord growled. There's four of us left, including Bracknell.
The Sith woman whistled quietly. You have to admit, he's efficient, for a slimeball. Roan didn't acknowledge the comment, instead adding, just as agitated:
You need to get out of sight, he'll be coming for us too.
Duly noted. she severed the link quickly, not wanting to take the risk that Bracknell would be monitoring her activity. He knew she had come to Coruscant to go over a potential new treaty deal with some of the Senators and if she wasn't careful he would find her sooner than she would have liked. Granted, they had suspected Bracknell for some time and so she and Roan were more prepared than the others, but they couldn't afford to take any chances. Roan was on his own until it was safer for them to move around in the open again.

He was about to retort to the comment when he suddenly saw nothing but white, Aria slamming a pillow in his face. Yerbol grunted, grabbing the pillow and throwing it back at her before complying with her teasing command.
"Because for some reason going shirtless is a bad thing when facing down the entire might of the Empire and Republic?" He asked playfully as he got dressed. Yerbol wanted to respond to Aria's comment in some other way than shouting at her down the hall, but it would have to do for now:
"Oh yeah?! Well...I'll come up with something later! Just you wait!" What came out didn't sound very menacing, which was the opposite of his intent. There would be time for pillow related retribution later. For now, his sights were on Korriban...and so was everybody else's, as evidenced by the gathering around the holographic galaxy map. Neta was finishing a thought when she saw Yerbol approaching, a smirk crossing her face. Before she could remark, he held up a hand.
"I ask that we save all comments about my sleeping habits until after we're safe. From there, I can properly come up with retaliation." Neta had opened her mouth in the middle of Yerbol's protest, but then nodded.
"Fair enough. It'll give me time to come up with the right term for someone who could wake the dead." Udike, one of the Padawans, stifled a laugh, the gesture earning him a glare from Yerbol.
"So I assume that our gathering isn't just to mock me?" All eyes returned to the map as Neta pointed at the blue dot nearing Korriban, which was conveniently labeled. Around Korriban was a circular pattern of black and red colored dots that were shifting to the left and right in incremental amounts.
"This, my dears, is a blockade." Janika swallowed a lump in her throat, brushing away locks of wispy brown hair from her forehead as she asked:
"Is that...the same kind of thing we saw when we left Tython?"
"Correct. Both fleets, according to my long term radar, have already formed a strong ring around the planet. My landing codes were already used once to get past the first blockade, so I'm assuming they're going to fire on us the moment I try those codes again, let alone show up on their radar. So we'll need an alternative course of action to get planetside, which I believe I've already come up with. Roan oh so graciously installed a multi-signature panel onboard. That simply means that I can switch ship signatures at any time to fool radar detection, but when we made that jump to hyperspace, the memory banks of almost every component of the ship went haywire because of the power expenditure. I've only got our signature."
"And how would we obtain a ship signature?" Neta hooted a laugh, looking around at the young flock before her and told them:
"We've got to get us another ship signature manually."
"And...oh no. Please no." She nodded.
"We'll need to scan the ship's id tag manually with a scanner. I've got the scanner, but the ship..." She pointed at a small moon about three miles away from the blockade.
"Is there. There's a small Imperial outpost that probably is being used as a staging area for troopers who are being sent planetside, but if their pattern of behavior holds up, they won't be needing it for much longer. We'll need to get our boots on the ground there, scan the sig, then hightail it to Korriban before they smoke the planet." Neta's gaze fell on Aria.
"Unless our little firecracker has a trick up her sleeve that'll make this easier?"

Yerbol joined the group gathering around the galaxy map, abruptly cutting off any further verbal jabs that either Neta or Aria might have prepared in the time it had taken him to get dressed. The blockade was expected of course, given the reception they had received on Tython, but no less inconvenient for that fact. Aria groaned softly as Neta delivered the unfortunate news that their code scrambler had bit the dust in their hyper jump.
"Oh, this just keeps getting BETTER and better!" she grumbled, pressing her index fingers to her temples as she tried to think. Detouring to the moon outpost would take far too long, given that the fleet could launch their bombardment at any moment. It was precious time they couldn't afford to waste. Everyone was looking at her expectantly now, waiting for her to pluck some kind of ingenious back up plan out of thin air. Fortunately, the rest had done her some good and Aria was able to do just that.
"Well, u-uh....what about the ID signature from that shuttle we used to get off Manaan?" she suggested, wandering away from the galaxy map for a moment to rummage through the storage compartments, hoping her father had been predictable for once and deactivated and removed the ID tag from the little shuttle to avoid it being tracked. If they couldn't find it, they could take a chance and try to make one up but that was just as likely to get them blown out of the sky....

It didn't take much looking to find it, Aria holding up the transponder card with a relieved sigh. "We could use that one." a small smirk decorated her face as she proclaimed: "I don't know about the Republic ones, but Imp admirals are lazy as banthas, they never check the codes properly. It'd take them long enough to figure out which ship the code is SUPPOSED to be from that we'd at least be able to land planetside, then we could find a hangar and pull another code from an inactive ship to get back through on the way out."
The Padawans were mumbling uneasily amongst themselves, questioning whether or not the plan was likely to come off. Neta frowned seriously as she considered it, nodding slowly.
"...it COULD work."
It was the best shot they had. They had to wait tensely in the main compartment as Neta took the other code from Aria and whisked away to plant it into the multi-signature panel. The red and black dots on the map inched steadily closer as they approached the blockade around Korriban....and passed straight through it.
"Phew....it actually worked!" Aria grinned, swiping a hand over her brow to get rid of the thin sheen of sweat that had built up there during their tense wait. "I suggest we split up once we're down on the ground; Yerbol or Neta can come with me to look for survivors and the rest of you should go looking for that other ID code so we can get out of here as soon as we're all back at the ship."

It was safer to keep the Jedi Padawans inside the buildings where it was less dangerous; if the Academy turned out to be empty of any living beings, there was still the possibility that some of the students had been clever enough to take shelter in some of the secret passageways in the tombs. If that was the case, they would have to search them to find out. The last thing Aria wanted was to be stuck with any of the younglings for company in that situation. It wasn't that she doubted their abilities necessarily, more so that she was certain they would piss themselves in fright the minute they saw a Tuk'ata or a Shyrack, and that wouldn't do any of them any good. "Any objections, or are we all as ready to go as we're ever going to be?"

"Honey, I'm not objecting to your plans for a while after you came through this time!" Neta had been cursing in streams as they had passed the blockade, hoping and praying that the girl's plan would work. When it did, she gained even more respect for the girl...but then again, this was ROAN'S daughter. It shouldn't have shocked her that Aria displayed the same kind of resourcefulness he did. It was now time for Neta's own abilities to kick in, the former spec ops soldier scanning planetside for a landing spot before settling on a rather uninhabited stretch of desert that lay about a few hundred yards away from the tombs. It just so happened that this was one of the meeting places she and Roan had used a couple of months ago, so taking the ship down stealthily wasn't a problem. Once on the ground, Neta returned to the map room, where Janika was hugging herself tightly while Manso stood next to her, hand on her back.
"What?"
"It's so cold, here."
"Oh please, the ship isn't THAT bad."
"No, no, it's the planet. So empty, devoid of anything..." Janika shook her head.
"I don't know if we can go out there." Neta sighed, looking between Ari and Yerbol, the latter turning his attention to the Padawans.
"I'll take the lead with these guys. We'll need to get directions to the hangars, but once we're there, we should be alright."
"Yerbie..."
"We've got this. We'll make sure to stick to the shadows, take detours, whatever we need to do to make it there and back without alerting a single person on this planet that we're here." He looked to Aria as he continued:
"Get us directions to the hangar and you can go search for survivors."
"She's not going alone." Neta told the young Knight, adding:
"I'll help Aria make her way through wherever she needs to go. It'll be nice to stretch my legs." Yerbol wanted to change course, to have Neta lead the Padawans, but Yerbol had a sneaking suspicion that the younger ones would need a familiar face to help them one of, if not the most difficult tasks they've ever been asked to do.
"Ari, if that's good with you, it's settled."
"Sun just set, so we'll at least have some cover. Should probably get moving when it's a bit darker, though. Give it an hour and we'll hit the ground running."

The next hour saw Yerbol coaching the Padawans through meditative breathing techniques, focusing and channeling the primal fear they were experiencing into stores of energy they could rely upon during their small scale operation. To their credit, they did well, their energies now not AS much of a swirling vortex of stress, nerves and terror. In some small way, Yerbol thought he knew what it was like when Masters saw their pupils effectively practice what they taught. It was rewarding to see how they calmly suited up, making adjustments to their blades, encouraging each other to stay together. As long as they could keep this up, they had a shot. Maybe. Admittedly, he was nervous himself, leaving the Padawans about ten minutes before their agreed upon departure to mentally prepare himself, going to the rear of the ship and kneeling on the impersonal metallic floor. He half closed his eyes, breathing deeply...
"She's going to be fine." Neta stood in front of him, arms crossed over a ebony colored vest that was laid over a long sleeved black undershirt.
"What?"
"Oh stop it. You know what I'm talking about." She got down on one knee as she continued:
"I'll make sure she gets back alive. I've fought Sith before...not that hard to take down if you ask me.'
"I trust your abilities, Neta, I've never-" She held up a hand.
"Look here, baby face: I see the way you two look at each other. You may say you're 'just friends' or that you're 'partners', but that could change reaaalll quick. Take it from someone who's been around a while: if you two keep this up, you need to take that little girl in your arms and never let her go." Yerbol's brow rose, heat flushing his face.
"Neta, I..."
"Now you're going to protest, I know, tell me I'm all wrong, but...but I know what I'm talking about." She wiped the corner of her right eye, sniffling as she rose.
"Remember what I just told you. Sooner or later, you'll know I'm right." Yerbol came to his feet as Neta clicked away, her presence replaced by the Padawans.
"Are we ready to leave?" Manso asked, his lekku twitching in anticipation.
"I suppose we are." On cue, the loading ramp began to descend, Neta calling out over the comm system:
"Good luck, guys! We'll be following you here in a minute!" Yerbol swallowed hard, looking to the Padawans before reaching out to Aria, who he unfortunately hadn't had the time to talk to before their departure:

Be safe out there, Ari. I want you back in one piece, ok? I don't want to take all the credit for taking the Sith down.

The ramp connected with the ground, Yerbol motioning for the group to follow him.
"Slow and steady, right?"
"Right."

Understandably, the Padawans were nervous wrecks as soon as the ship touched the planet. The energies pulsating off every cliff and crevice would have that effect on younglings who had never been in contact with presences this strong in the Dark side before. Therefore, it made sense when Yerbol volunteered to accompany them, even if the thought of not being with him if something bad happened left a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. Looking out of the viewing window, she observed the deep, reddish tinge to the sky that indicated night-time had indeed set in. Out in the distance, across the sand dunes, a large square building jutted out of the cliffside, two saber-wielding statues standing proudly on either side of a yawning entryway. Aria pointed towards it. "Academy's just across that way, the hangar's on the second floor next to the training room, just keep following the hallway round till you see the stairs and it'll be the door on the right. Watch out for old excavation sites that the sand hasn't filled in yet, they're all over the valley." she warned them, "And steer clear of any old bones, if you touch them you'll wake the Hssis and they'll be starving."

She spent the hour it took for the sun to go down suiting up and offering any tips and tricks she could to the Padawans once they had finished meditating under Yerbol's guidance. She waited with them by the loading ramp to give Yerbol and Neta some privacy as the pilot slipped over to have a conversation with the young Knight before he joined them.
"Just stick near to Yerbol and stay calm, I know you're afraid but a lot of the monsters here are Force sensitive and they'll pick up on your fear. Neta and I will start in the tombs and make our way back across to the Academy with anyone we find." The ramp touched the orange earth and Yerbol was beside them again, unfortunately they had to hurry and there wasn't time for them to talk properly though he did throw a glance over his shoulder at her as the little expidition descended the ramp towards the Academy.
She chuckled softly at his joke, replying:
Hey, it'll be fine! I know how to deal with tomb beasts, remember? Don't you get beat up by any frightened acolytes either, okay? She wanted to add 'I'd hate it if anything bad happened to you', but for some reason kept the thought to herself. It probably wasn't an appropriate thing to say, especially in front of everyone else.

Neta joined her a few moments later, the pilot's bright blue eyes boring into her knowingly for a moment before she shrugged and hopped off the ship.
"Okay then, which way first?" she asked instead, though Aria had a nagging sense of dread that the mercenary had something else to say, there was something about the twinkle that glittered in her irises that just...gave Aria that impression. She tried to ignore it and keep things objective, gesturing towards Marka Ragnos' tomb.
"We'll check Ragnos' tomb first. If anybody's still alive and they're sheltering out here, it'll be in Marka Ragnos or Ajunta Pall's tombs. The other ones are too far away, they'd never get that far along the valley while being chased." Aria only had to duck slightly to get underneath the small door into the burial ground, drawing one of her sabers from her belt to her hand and using it as a light to guide them in the gloomy darkness the tomb presented them with.
"Keep your ear out for any noises, Neta. They could be acolytes, or worse, Tuk'ata or Shyrack. Either way, we wanna know what's coming before we walk into one of them." she warned the pilot, a smirk playing across her lips. "And if you're going to use a blaster, try not to miss, the wall's are close in here and you might hit me, which wouldn't be great."

Neta smirked back, gesturing to the blaster rifle slung across her back.
"Honey, give me some credit. I wasn't assigned as a sniper for several years in the Republic militia because I couldn't hit a moving target." As the pair made their way through the drafty halls of the tomb, Neta withdrew her rifle, clicking a couple of buttons on the side of the weapon before holding it out in front of her as she moved, making sure to stay at Aria's six for an ambush from the rear. Thankfully things weren't as dark as Neta thought they would be with Aria's lightsaber, but she wished there was a bit more illumination. Darkness was indeed their friend when it came to sneaking past enemy detection, but these tombs had monsters and beasts that could tear them apart in pitch blackness. Her ears strained to pick up on anomalies, but only heard the slight "woosh" that the air currents within the tomb were producing. It was in this relative quiet that Neta decided to say her piece. She had wanted to reserve this discussion for some other time, but as she had learned in difficult ways, it was much better to get something out of the way rather than letting a situation spiral out of control.
"I've only known you two for forty eight hours, but I've been around long enough to know when there's the potential for trouble." She paused for a moment, checking the scope of her rifle to examine the upper left corner of the room they found themselves in for a potential creature, but found nothing. She then resumed:
"I met my husband in the service...actually rescued him and a couple of his men on a botched rescue mission in Hutt space. We met, we talked and then we just..." She shook her head.
"We just knew. There were sparks flying off of us just after knowing each other for a week. We dated for a month and got married the month after because in our line of work, we didn't know when..." She took a breath, exhaling before finishing:
"When our last day would be together. Managed to stay together for ten years. Even had to go on parental leave when we had the twins." She quietly chuckled, memories flitting through her mind as she continued:
"We loved each other, yeah, but it was more than that. We wanted to be around each other all the time, lived for the moments when we got back from separate deployments and could just be goofballs together..." Another shake of the head.
"I was on Kashyyk when I got the news. We hadn't seen each other in a few months because of what I was doing for work and...and my squad commander told me. He was killed trying to rescue civilians from Corellia. And I never got the chance to tell him how much he meant to me. I told him that I loved him, but I never sat down and really TOLD him...." Her voice was cracking, so she stopped, continuing to walk forward, eyes trained on her surroundings, vision getting slightly blurrier. She wiped the blurriness away as she wrapped up:
"What I'm trying to tell you through this particular sob story is that if you've got a connection with someone, I mean a REAL connection with someone, you need to act on it as soon as you can. Relationships like that don't come along very often. Grab them when they do." She wanted to follow up with some kind of quip to lighten the tension, but that was interrupted by the sound of garbled voices from up ahead. There were slivers of moonlight that shed some light on the situation.
"Hold it." Neta walked in front of Aria, scope trained on the entranceway to the larger and lit room.
"Three of them. Two arguing, one up against a pillar. Looks injured, holding his side." She turned to Aria.
"Think they'll want to talk or should I just turn my stun bolts on and start firing? I'll knock em down in five seconds flat."

__________________

"NO!"

Udike slammed the blunt end of his apprentice blade against the shock trooper's helmet, a sickening CRACK thudding against the animal cages. Janika picked herself up off the ground, wincing as she placed weight on her left foot.
"You ok?"
"Uh huh. Thanks." A feeble smile crossed her face as the two emerged from the beast pens back into the main hall where the chaos had started. Yerbol was currently standing over a Republic trooper at the base of the imposing statue that greeted those who entered the academy. The trooper tried to raise his head, but Yerbol ended that gesture by slamming his right fist into the trooper's unarmored skull. Breathing heavily, the Knight tore at the holes in his overshirt as he made his way to the Padawans.
"Did Manso get out ok? I don't see him around." Yerbol looked at the handful of troops laying on the ground, sighing in relief.
"Good. Let's meet him at the hangar entrance and get out of here. We've done enough damage as is. Don't need any more of them storming down on us." Following Aria's directions, the trio ambled down a corridor, then another, then on an extended walkway that served as a bridge between the main Academy grounds and the hangar.
"Janika...what happened back there..." Sorrow tinged his voice.
"It wasn't your fault. They attacked first and you were caught off guard."
"I don't wanna talk about it." He nodded.
"Right. Let's just get Manso, shall we?"

Neta started talking, and Aria just listened and let the words sink in, until the honeyed voice fell silent again as she had finished her story. Aria glanced sideways at her and thought she had seen tears misted in the mercenary's eyes, which was unsurprising given the topic at hand. "I'm...sorry, Neta." though as she began speak about having 'REAL connections' with people and something about not taking them for granted, the former acolyte's step faltered and she gawked at the pilot incredulously. "...A-Are you trying to say that B-Bol and I...?" Aria scoffed loudly, but felt the blood rushing to her face and was silently glad that the colour change would be indistinguishable in the red glow cast by the lightsaber blade. "Neta, I think you've been smoking something because there is...NOTHING going on there, I promise you!" she insisted, adding in a barely intelligible mumble. "I've known him THREE days, and my father would KILL him if..." she broke off abruptly, stopping dead as the redheaded mercenary stepped in front of her.

Standing on her toes to peer over Neta's shoulder at the three figures ahead, Aria quickly whispered. "No, don't shoot them! I think I know them. Just...hang fire a second." as she took a step into the alcove ahead, the arguing voices abruptly ceased as the two standing people snapped around to look in their direction. Both drew their sabers, though one, a Cathar, hung back to allow the other room to maneuver since she held a saberstaff rather than a single blade. Aria was just as quick to whip her own saber up to block the overhead blow, stopping the acolyte in her tracks as she landed. The pitch black tattoos beneath each eye and on her forehead and chin stood out against the olive green tone of her skin; she was missing her left eye, the socket fused over with a large scar that was frayed around the edged. The other eye, slate grey in colour though slightly orange tinted, sparkled as the Mirialan spoke in an alien dialect*:
"Roan bee dan ohk ch'sei."
Aria chuckled, retorting.
"Uru Juno'hervoe toyid go solsehan san. Ish ohk voylan toe san." both of them switched off their weapons and lowered them back to their sides at the same time, the moonlight was enough for them to see by. "Dan fic debis t'an loo." Aria quipped, noting the missing eye.


The Mirialan flashed a toothy grin back at her, falling back into Basic as she proclaimed:
"Still better looking than you." her gaze then fell on Neta, who had been lining up a shot in order to defend Aria and had frozen in place as the exchange between them started. "Who's the redhead?"
"This is Neta. She's our ride off Korriban." Aria retorted, giving Neta a glance and a reassuring nod before she began to walk towards the Cathar and the individual slumped against the pillar. As they moved closer they could see he was a Togruta, large of frame but with a boyish look in his face still and a gangly appearance to his limbs that indicated he couldn't have been older than 15 at most.

"Did anybody else get out?" Aria looked over her shoulder at the older acolyte, asking in a quieter tone. "Merak?"
The Mirialan remained where she was standing, looking Neta over for a moment before her attention returned to Aria and she answered:
"He was with us when the shooting started, but they were waiting in camo gear outside the tomb and-. We almost made it back towards the Academy, but Merak got cornered trying to help Takree and they..."
she didn't have to finish the sentence, a flash of hurt appearing in Aria's eyes at hearing the news. Whoever he had been, Merak had obviously meant something both to Aria and the other Mirialan, who was now glaring the injured togruta. "If SOMEBODY had used his saber instead of standing there like a brainless LOUT, then Merak would still be alive!"
"I panicked, okay?! It wasn't my fault!" Takree, the Togruta snapped back at her, clutching at a wound on his abdomen. "I got hit too, in case you missed it!"
"Then Takree was too weak to walk back to the hangar and we ended up stuck in here!" the Cathar hissed, her teeth flashing. "We should have just left him here and gone by ourselves Vano, I TOLD you!"
"That's ENOUGH!" Aria shouted, silencing all three of the quarreling acolytes.

With some help from the Force to bolster her strength, Aria hauled the young Togruta to his feet, supporting his weight until he was able to stand, albeit somewhat painfully, on his own. "Neta, d'you think you can help him walk? We HAVE to get back to the hangar. ALL of us." Aria grunted, scowling at the other two before they could make any further protest against taking Takree with them.

"Yeah, yeah.' She slung Takree's arm around her shoulders, propping him up with her other arm as she peeked at the boy's wound.
"It might hurt now, kiddo, but you're going to be fine. Trust me." Takree grunted in response, Neta laughing inwardly at his sudden need to play the tough guy. Probably needed to feel better about himself after his friends effectively slammed his character in front of a bunch of women.
"Right then. Lead the way, Aria."

_____

Outside the hangar bay was Manso furiously typing at a console next to the massive steel doors, his face furrowed with concentration.
"What's the word, Manso? Any luck on the lock?"
"Getting there...long decryption keys, faulty UI, bad...ah, there it is." He looked to the trio with a relieved smile.
"Without the cover you guys gave me, I would've been toast."
"And without you, we ALL would have been dead." The Padawan stuck his chest out at Yerbol's affirmation, pressing a key on the security panel keyboard. The hangar doors slid open slowly, Yerbol muttering:
"Stay close and fight together."
"I don't know if I can..." Janika whined, retreating a few steps back.
"Jani, listen to me: we've got the drop on THEM this time. No one else is going to die today, ok?"
"Die? Wait, who di-" Udike glared at Manso, who mouthed "What?!" before shrugging and getting his apprentice blade ready.
"Remember: focus on your own energies and channel that instead of the chaos around you." The Padawans nodded, Yerbol igniting his saber as the doors fully slid open.

There were a few shuttles parked near the exit to the bay on the right with a handful of Republic Shock Troopers, Imperial Special Forces and gunner droids stationed around the shuttles. The droids let out a squawk as they clambered their way forward towards the intruders, the combined force opening fire on their position while a few of the troopers charged ahead, double bladed vibroswords in hand. Yerbol threw up a wall of energy to deflect the droid fire, the Knight shouting:
"We take out the droids first!"
"But what about the-"
"THE DROIDS!" The vibroblade soldiers bounced off of the barrier as Yerbol made his way forward with the Padawans in tow, Manso and Janika slicing through a couple of the machines flanking them before Yerbol dispelled the wall of energy, knocking the troopers on their backs for a moment, giving him time to throw his saber at the last remaining combat droid, effectively cutting it in half.

Saber now back in hand, the Knight dodged a now upright trooper's stream of blaster fire, thrusting him backwards with a powerful burst of the Force. Another came towards his right, vibroblade in hand, only to be taken out at the legs by Udike, who finished the trooper off with a solid blow to the ribcage. Yerbol spun around, delivering an elbow to another oncoming enemy when he heard a shriek of pain echo through the hangar. He then saw Manso gripping his left leg, blood oozing onto the floor. Janika threw herself towards Manso, hoping to help the now injured Padawan, but the same soldier that had shot Manso in the leg had delivered a couple of bolts to the right shoulder of the female Padawan, who dropped to the ground, eyes closing. Yerbol leaped towards the younglings, crouching in a defensive position, deflecting whatever bolts he could, but a rogue bolt hit Udike in the torso.
"Close in." One of the troopers flatly commanded, a ring of soldiers forming around the injured Padawans and their lone protector. As the ring tightened in formation, Yerbol heard the whimpers of the fallen Padawans, their blood needlessly spilled, their lives crushed underneath the heels of the Sith. He had to make sure they would survive. No matter the cost.

Yerbol closed his eyes, feeling the emotions he had been wrestling with, trying to suppress coming to the surface. Anger. Sorrow. Confusion. Rage. Loss. They were begging him to act. To abandon restraint...just this once. For Tython. For Lysa.

A visceral cry ripped from his throat, eyes snapping open as he threw his arms to either side of his body, throwing the troopers backwards. Exploiting their momentary lapse, Yerbol dashed forward, slicing two troopers cleanly through the torso, dashing to another and jamming his saber in the troopers back, rushing forward to allow the armor of his latest victim to absorb the incoming fire of the now capable soldiers. He ejected the body off his saber, ducking to the ground and throwing his saber at the legs of three troopers, shins separating from upper legs as Yerbol projected another burst of energy at the remaining members of the squadron, sending them flying against the wall of the hangars, their necks snapping. As the saber returned to Yerbol's hand, he found one trooper left, one leg forward, one leg pointed back towards the shuttle. The Knight threw his saber to the ground and jumped forward at lightning speed, delivering a powerful fist to the trooper's helmet, which cracked underneath the pressure of Yerbol's strike. Two punches to the gut and another to the chin sent the former assailant to the ground, Yerbol sinking to both knees on top of the soldier, his eyes wide as Yerbol slammed his left fist into his cheek. Then his right.

Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.

He stood up, blood coating his knuckles and hands, staining his tattered clothes. Breathing hard, he retrieved his saber and clipped it to his belt before bending over at the waist, hands on his knees.

Ari...get here...please

The trek back to the Academy from the tomb was long and arduous because the group had to accommodate for Takree’s reduced mobility; punctuated with more petty squabbling from Vano and Qanarr, as they still insisted they would be better off leaving the ‘deadweight’ behind. The Togruta could only walk so far before his wound became so painful that they had to stop and let him get a second wind. Each time, Aria insisted that ‘NOBODY was being left here to be eaten alive by tomb beasts or Hssis when the sun came up’ and forced them to wait until Takree was ready to keep moving. Twice they were ambushed by trooper commandos searching the dunes for survivors, during the second exchange Qanarr took a fatal shot to the gut and after they had dispatched the troopers Aria snapped the Cathar’s neck to spare her the long and painful death by bleeding out.

Their boots had just touched the steps at the entryway as Aria felt the sudden surge of powerful emotions emanating through her bond with Yerbol. She wasn't sure what had happened exactly, but Aria panicked as the frenzy died down and the Knight's voice, desperate and pleading, cried out to her:
Ari...get here...please
I’m coming!!
Without a word to the four companions behind her, Aria broke into a breakneck sprint towards the hangar bay, ignoring Vano's voice as the Mirialan screamed after her: “Ari, what's wro-?! Ari, wait! ARIA!” The older acolyte wanted to follow behind Roan’s daughter but without Qanarr there was no one else to stay with Neta and Takree to cover them so she had to remain with them and catch up at a slower pace.

Please, let him be okay. Don't let him be hurt...was all she could think as she rounded the corner into the hangar. Trooper bodies and damaged droid chassis littered the steel room, the three Padawans were down also and she couldn't tell if any of them were still alive. Yerbol was doubled over in the middle of the room, bloody hands braced against his knees as his breath came in shaky gasps. There was a LOT of blood as she raced over to join him but the Knight didn't seem to have any open wounds as Aria crouched down in front of him (so she assumed none of the blood was his).
“Yerbol...Bol, I'm here...it's over.” she whispered, “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry….” guilt welled up in her chest as she thought about the Padawans who might not make it because she'd put them in the most dangerous place without thinking about it properly…in the back of her mind a niggling worry started to form, that if all three of them were dead then it was HER fault and he might blame her for it, but she shoved it away. Not now.

“I should have sent you to the tombs, I thought the troopers would all be out on the dunes by now…I thought it was safe in here, I'm sorry...” the words stuck in her throat, her voice cracking as she fumbled to try and think of the words of the Jedi Code, to refocus his mind and give him something else to focus on. But Aria had only read the Jedi's mantra about twice in her entire lifetime, and she couldn't recall the words properly: something about peace and serenity and restricting passion or some bullocks like that...frustrated, she settled for the next best thing:
“Hey, Yerbol...look at me.”
Without thinking, she laid one hand on each of his cheeks, gently lifting his face so he had to look her in the eye as she took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, hoping he would be listening and follow her example. “Breathe. Slowly...in and out…”

Footsteps behind them signalled that the others had caught up to her but Aria shut the other sounds out, only concerned with getting her partner to calm down at this moment.

Vano paused at the doorway as her eyes settled on Aria who was murmuring soothingly to a young man dressed in Jedi robes, her forehead leaned gently against his as she cradled his face and coaxed him to calm his frantic breathing. A slight smile pulled at the corners of her mouth, there was clearly something going on there whether either of them were ready to admit it yet. She left Neta with Takree as she moved across to Janika, Manso and Udike (who she didn't recognise but could assume they were the Jedi boy’s companions) to check for signs of life.

Udike’s torso had been burnt through, there was no way he would make it. Janika and Manso though, seemed to have less serious wounds. Glancing back at Neta, the Mirialan called:
“Hey, they're still breathing!”
“Go help her,” Takree winced bravely, “I can manage to stand on my own.”

Eventually, Yerbol was calmer and Aria suddenly realised how close her face was to his, and that the others were looking at them, abruptly sitting back away from Yerbol and clearing her throat, hoping Neta hadn't been looking their way or the mercenary might have had something else to say given what she had said to Aria in the tomb. Straightening up again, she glanced back at the others then at Yerbol again. “Come on, I'll grab the transponder card and then we should get the frack out of here. We have to keep going, or they all died for nothing.” she urged the others, heading over to the nearest shuttle, she ducked into the cockpit for a moment and re-emerged with the card clasped in her hand.

Yerbol could hear Aria's words, but they didn't register. His frenzied stupor was still in effect, senses overloaded with a brutality, with a rage that he had never experienced before. It was so comfortable, so fitting for a time like this that he didn't want to stop. He wanted to-

Then their eyes met. Those striking, beautiful dark irises locked onto his, their foreheads gently touched and that once burning anger began to subside. She breathed deeply, asking him to do the same. He shook his head once, but then, as he continued to hold eye contact, he complied with her encouragement, breathing slowly and deeply, savoring the comforting feel of her hands on his cheeks. It took a few breaths before he began to straighten up, adrenaline leaving his limbs, mind calming. A couple of minutes later, Aria withdrew from him abruptly, ending the experience far too early for his liking...but she was right. They needed to keep moving or else their sacrifices here would be for nothing. He couldn't live with that.

Yerbol walked to the Padawans, two of which Neta had helped to their feet and was supporting one with each of her arms(boy was she strong). The young knight looked down to Udike, whose abdomen had been split open, viscera and gore spilled on the hangar floor. His chest was moving, but breaths were coming in ragged gasps. Yerbol knelt down, holding the boy's head up with his left hand.
"I...I wish I had more to say than I'm sorry. You deserved better than this." Udike tried to mouth something, but a soft gurgle came from his throat, blood spurting from his mouth, dribbling down his chin.
"We WILL remember you, Udike. May the Force..." His throat closed, choking up for a brief second, but managed to squeak:
"Bring you peace." Udike's eyes closed for the final time, prompting the young Knight to rise and Janika to wail the boy's name before burying her head into Neta's shoulder.
"There'll be time for grieving later. Right now..." A distorted voice floated from inside the shuttle, Neta's eyes widening.
"Here, hold them up. Think I might've found an even easier way off planet." Handing the two Padawans off, Neta sprinted into the shuttle, catching the last words of the voice;
"...t minus five minutes. Report your status." She looked up at the shuttle's designation posted above the pilot's seat before hitting the "transmit" switch and relaying in a slightly higher pitch than normal:
"This is pilot of XO725 checking in."
"XO725, get your tails back here! Bombardment starts in less than five minutes and they're not waiting on you people. Clean up whatever messes you started and report to command post 2572."
"Roger that. On our way." Neta breathed a sigh of relief, telling the rest of the party:
"GET ON THE SHUTTLE! WE'VE GOT AN EASY WAY OUT!"

They took the shuttle back to Neta's ship, which was boarded immediately.
"Yerbol, honey, get in the co-pilot's chair. Aria, get the ID code logged into our system and get your new friends all situated. Everyone else, hang tight! We'll get to injuries once we're out of here, I promise!" The ship launched itself into the stratosphere and back into space. The blockade loomed in the distance as Neta said with a slight chuckle:
"Well, Kashyyyk isn't going to work."
"What?"
"I can't take the chance that the original meeting place is going to be safe. I'll need a more secure location...and I've got an idea." She looked to the nav panel before nodding:
"Plug in these coordinates." Yerbol looked on Neta's screen and scowled.
"Nar Shaddaa? Really?"
"Hutt Space is neutral territory for now, anyway. I've got contacts on Nar Shaddaa that can get us supplies and I can...well, try to explain to Roan why I did what I did. That'll be fun." She snorted a laugh as the same distorted voice came through the comm system:
"XO725, forwarding you coordinates for debrief."
"Roger, reporting to coordinates."
"Happy hunting, XO." Neta's brow raised, mouthing "Hunting?" silently as they drew within firing distance of the massive Republic destroyers, the Imperial ships not too far off deploying their rail guns. Finding a small crack between two destroyers, Neta slipped through, going to hyperspace a few moments later.
"Won't take us very long to get Nar Shaddaa, so just take a breather...also, get up."
"What?"
"I said get up!" Yerbol complied, brow furrowed in confusion. Neta looked him over before a sad smile formed on her full lips.
"You did what you had to." He looked away from Neta, jaw tightening.
"Hey, hey, don't pull the tough guy crap with me!" She grabbed his chin and swung it back towards her, maintaining a strong grip as she continued:
"You're entitled to FEEL BAD about what you did. Just don't let it define who you are." He grimaced.
"How can I not?"
"You'll figure it out. I promise you'll figure it out." She then took him in her arms, hugging him tightly around the waist for a few seconds before letting Yerbol go, patting him on the chest.
"I'm gonna go take care of the kiddos. You go talk to her. You two need each other right now and DON'T tell me otherwise."

Yerbol was sitting in he and Aria's quarters, garbed in a clean black undershirt that Neta had found in a drawer and shorts, elbows on his knees. He could feel Aria somewhere around the ship, but didn't know exactly where she was, but he assumed that she was busy sorting out the acolytes. He had spent some time with Manso and Janika while Neta patched them up, mainly just providing a shoulder for Janika to cry on and an ear for Manso to ramble into. The painkillers that Neta gave them also induced drowsiness, which allowed Yerbol to leave quietly to...think.

And hope she would show up. It'd be nice to have her to himself especially...

Sick. He was going to be sick.

He leaned over, back facing the ceiling. The fierce tearing, the gaping loss, it was there again. He gasped, feeling the breath rush out of his lungs, sinking to his hands and knees, head slamming on the mattress across from his and bouncing up, back of his skull connecting with the ledge of the upper bunk. He took a few moments, allowing the stillness in the compartment to fill him, to sooth the sizable wound left by Korriban's destruction. Managing to get to his feet, he heard footsteps coming towards him.

Aria nodded, whisking past Neta to plug the other code into the machine. Thanks to Neta's quick thinking, the blockade Admirals believed their bluff and the ship passed through freely with no more violence threatened upon them. Aria didn't question what the statement of 'happy hunting' meant. Probably something to do with tracking down others who weren't in line with the collective goal and...removing them. She trusted Neta to pull through on her promise of contacts on Nar Shaddaa who could help them, so after they'd made the hyperspace jump she left Yerbol and the redheaded mercenary in the cockpit (she wanted to talk to Yerbol, of course, but she had to attend to their two newest additions first), in order to get Vano and Takree as comfortable as they could in one of the other bunk rooms.

There was more arguing as Vano made vehement protests against her willingness to team up with 'some stupid Jedi kid', which almost resulted in Ari decking the older acolyte for that comment against Yerbol, though she restrained herself and simply implored with the Mirialan to trust HER, even if she didn't particularly like or trust YERBOL at this time. After Takree had chipped in with a few persuasive arguments of his own to help with Aria's convincing, Vano reluctantly agreed. Aria had intended to leave the two acolytes with Neta, Janika and Manso and return to Yerbol precisely then, but had to wait until the tearing sensation had dulled again before she was coherent enough to put one foot in front of the other to actually get back to the room they'd ended up dubbing as 'theirs'.

When she stepped through the door, he was just getting up after presumably recovering from the planet death side effects himself. Aria started towards him, but paused halfwway across the room to check herself for a moment. He had at least changed into clean clothing, she on the other hand had not done so yet. Her nose wrinkled as she held up a hand to stop any possible protests.
"Hang on, you don't wanna come any closer right now. I reek." she couldn't even begin to imagine the kinds of thoughts that were running through his head right now, it was unlikely Yerbol had ever experienced such a strong surge of emotions in a recent enough time period, and of course she wanted to offer any support she could to him in helping him to come to terms with it. But AFTER she was clean. "Just give me a few minutes to get freshened up a bit."
The spare clothes Neta had lying around were different to what she was used to wearing; and she was almost certainly too pale in complexion to pull off the awful cream colour, but desperate times called for desperate measures. As promised, Aria was in the cramped refresher room no longer than ten minutes before she sidled out again and sank down to sit beside him with a soft groan.

"Ah, dammit, my spine aches, I think I landed on it funny when we jumped out at that Twi'lek village." Aria grumbled, a wry smirk flickering over her lips before it faded and she glanced sideways at the Knight beside her in concern, resting a hand gently on the knee closest to her. "Do you...want to talk about stuff? I-I know you're feeling crappy but I KNOW how to cope with the whole 'emotion overload thing." she squeezed his knee reassuringly, a thin eyebrow quirking upwards as she smiled at him again. "You remember that scream thing I scared those ice demons off with on the Sith planet; that you asked me to show you? That's all that is: emotional overload, channeled properly and directed to do what I WANT it to do."

"Wait, wait...the planet that you've called home for years just got vaporized into particle dust and you want to talk about ME?" He took a free hand and placed it over the one Aria had on his knee, patting it gently before laughing.
"You're a lot better at handling this than I am. Maybe you ought to teach me that scream sometime...it'll save us a lot of trouble down the line when things get even worse...cause they're going to, right? Of course, I can't imagine things getting worse than both the Jedi and Sith Orders literally exploding." He sighed, looking at her with an amused smirk.
"Hold on, so if I get you mad, does that mean you're going to scream at me? Cause you basically ripped those Ice Demon things to pieces. I'd like to stay together if you don't mind." The smirk disappeared as swiftly as it had appeared, gaze cast towards the bunk.
"I don't know how you can do that. Have that much anger, so much rage inside of you without breaking mentally. I mean, what happened in the hangar was what I imagined a Sith feels like ALL the time. To use the Force like a weapon, to manipulate it like that felt so wrong and unnatural. To top it all off, I couldn't keep Udike alive." He absent mindedly began to run a thumb over the top of Aria's hand as he continued:
"But Jani and Manso are ok. They're shellshocked, but they're ok. That counts for something." Yerbol shifted a bit on the mattress, his right shoulder touching Aria's left.
"I wouldn't have..." He paused, trying to figure out the right phrasing, then settled on the following:
"I couldn't have made it off planet without you. All I could think of right after I killed all those soldiers was how I was going to explain this to you, that I lost control of myself THAT badly, that you have no reason to trust me after that massacre. I know it's going to be hard to trust myself from now on. It starts with troopers now, but if I lose control again, if there are innocents around, I..." Eyes drifted to Aria once more and he couldn't help but smile, easing his anxieties a tad.
"I'll just look at you, I guess." A blush came to his cheeks, which caused him to look down.
"So uh...you doing ok? Cause this isn't just about me, you know." He cleared his throat, continuing to massage Ari's hand with his thumb.

RH: Touching down soon. Meet at the normal place.
K: You sure? Showing your face in public again might not be the best thing for you
RH: Ah, I'll be fine. Plus, I'm bringing back-up.
B: Back-up? Since when did you travel with other people?
RH: Heh. Since the galaxy started falling apart. They'll have some interesting info for you.
E: Well, any piece of info is interesting info these days. See you all in a few.
RH: E, bring your files on what you've been working on
E: Really? You guys laughed at me last time I brought it up.
RH: We're not laughing now. Bring your files. We'll need them.

___________

As one of your trusted allies, I think you ought to know that we need to meet on Nar Shaddaa. A lot of stuff has hit the exhaust fan and we need to talk about...stuff. Remember the first place we met? See you there in a while. By the way, she's safe. And she's a lot like you.

She chuckled softly in response to his query, responding teasingly:
"Well now that you ask, yeah...I totally COULD make your head explode...you know, if I wanted to." she cleared her throat, quickly ammending the statement with another in its place. "Not that I would, of course. I AM capable of settling an argument without resorting to screaming." though soon the joke had dissipated and the topic became slightly more serious. She sighed, shifting her weight to lean back slightly, her right shoulder leaning against the wall while the other stayed touching his. "It's...a lot easier than it seems, once you get used to it. You don't think about it, it just happens." Aria glanced sideways at him, colour flushing into her cheeks as his thumb began to trace over her hand, though the contact was oddly soothing and helped her calm her frayed nerves, so she made no move to pull her hand away and instead just let it rest there comfortably. "Would you believe me if I told you that all the Masters said that getting us to have our first big blow up was the trickiest thing? You already did the hard part on your own. Took MONTHS of them taunting us and picking at our every insecurities at the Academy to make most of us snap like that. Now you just need to learn how to harness it." she promised, again, to help him with that; and followed with reassurance that the fact he had saved Janika and Manso was VERY important.

Her gaze turned briefly to the ceiling as he relayed his worries of her trusting him. "Hey, you think that was going to scare me off?" she snorted, shaking her head. "You'll have to do better than that..." more quietly, she added: "You haven't even seen the worst side of ME, yet. I think....I think it would terrify you, if you ever did find out those things." Their eyes met briefly again before Yerbol looked away and asked how she was coping with everything. That, she had to think about for a moment.
"I...I think so." she mumbled, biting her lip as she continued:"Listen, a-about what happened at the Academy, I'm sorry..." her weight shifted again, her hand still in his though she rolled onto one side to prop her head up on her other arm. She had already apologized before, of course, but he'd been so wrapped up in his rage she wasn't sure he'd heard her. "It was my fault. I thought it would be safer for them than the tombs and...I was wrong. I wouldn't blame you, for being angry that I put you all in that situation. I was trying to protect them...." a pause, punctuated by a heavy sigh, before she continued to voice her own worries, since he had asked: "I'm worried about my father. I think we should try and contact him, after we've met these people Neta wants us to talk to. He could help us, maybe, and I'd at least feel better knowing where he was, and that he was still alive."
Aria knew it might be uncomfortable for Yerbol to have Roan around and so she had still phrased it carefully, to avoid making it sound like she was trying to say "we're going to do this whether you're happy about it or not" and instead more like he still had some kind of say in whether it would be carried out.

Before he could give an answer straight away, though, Neta's voice chirruped through the comm system and interrupted them again (she seemed to have a habit of doing that, which Aria found a little annoying though she did keep that to herself, too) to announce they had touched down on the smuggler's moon. They once again had to grab their gear and join their ever-cheerful redheaded pilot who informed them they would be travelling to a somewhat seedy part of town (because they wanted to remain on the down-low, of course) to meet up with some of the 'contacts' she had mentioned. No-one else was awful keen on accompanying them after everything that had happened on Korriban, so they opted to remain on the ship and recover while Ari and Bol followed Neta's lead.

The place turned out to be as disgusting as Aria had been dreading. Her face scrunched up in a way that was oddly adorable as she grumbled, clearly unimpressed. "Couldn't you have picked somewhere less...like a cess pit?" apparently Yerbol's earlier joke about Aria having high standards that bordered on the snobbish variety wasn't ENTIRELY unfounded.
Neta apparently found it rather amusing, patting the former acolyte on the back as she argued:
"That would defeat the point of passing under the radar, sweetheart. Come on, it'll be over before you know it. Just...hold your breath, or something."
The contacts in question, a Chiss woman, Devaronian and human man, were as unassuming as the rest of the patrons. In fact, Aria was surprised Neta was able to recognise them in the crowd at all.
"Over there." the pilot murmured, gesturing towards the table they had occupied right in the far corner of the bar. Still grumbling under her breath about the state of the place, Aria followed behind Neta as the trio made their way over.

To say that Yerbol was uncomfortable would be the understatement of the century. He had experienced the stench of rotting flesh while fighting off Colicoids on Balmorra(what a great way to spend the first month of one's Knighthood...), saw brave men and women throw themselves in front of blaster fire to protect their squadmates and lived through not one, but TWO epicenters of the Force being blown apart by a corrupt regime.

And yet, this place still gave him the willies.

It was the combination of acrid, sweet smelling vapors that wafted in the air, the scantily clad waitresses posing in rather suggestive...positions in order to secure tips, the dim neon lighting that cast a bluish-green glow over the entire space. Yet, if it was safe and if Neta thought they could actually get stuff done here, then he would follow along. They sidled into chairs across from the trio, the Chiss furrowing her navy blue brow.
"When did you start babysitting?" Her Imperial-tinged accent made the remark all the more condescending.
"Please, Kandar, they may be young, but they've lived through more than the average Republic citizen ever will in their lifetime. Besides, it gives me a spring in my step to hang around such spirited young adults." She shot the duo in question her all too familiar teasing smile before turning her attention to the human male, whose straw colored hair looked a yellowish green in the odd lighting.
"So tell me, Edor, you make any updates to those files?" The Devaronian blew out a sigh as the human brought out a datapad, placing it on the center of the table.
"He's going to tell you 'I told you so', Neta. He's been telling US that for the past hour, haven't you, Ed?" Edor smiled widely.
"It's just nice to get the jump on all of you once in a while, that's all."
"Just show them the bloody files." Kandar growled.
"Right, right, so here..." He turned the datapad to where the newly arrived trio could scan the information.
"See these stats?" There were columns of numbers, all headed with indecipherable abbreviations.
"They're travel log entries for all known Jedi and Sith that cross any kind of checkpoint in both Republic and Imperial space."
"Wait, how did..." Yerbol was about to finish when Ed held up a finger.
"Hold on, Yerbol, I'll get to that." Yerbol's eyes widened.
"How did..."
"Oh please,kid, I'm SIS. I know everything." Both Kandar and Bek knowingly chuckled, very aware that Edor was enjoying his time as the information bringer.
"So these entries look normal, right? Everything looks good...right up until here." He pointed at mid way down the expansive chart to a repeating set of numbers.
"This is the ship ID for both Lord Bracknell's and Master Soto's respective ships. While the entries are timestamped at different periods, they certainly met on a few worlds for a period of about two days each spaced out in two weeks intervals. The weird thing is...those periods of time correspond to extremely important elections in the Republic Senate. I could understand Soto, but Bracknell? Why would he risk showing up? But then...after seeing what's happened, I did some more digging. Turns out Bracknell's been doing a LOT of traveling, but to destinations that were just labeled "personal business". After consulting with Kandar over here, she managed to pull some logs from Bracknell's ship directly-"
"Which you owe me for."
"Right, right, so she pulled the logs and..." Ed swiped to the left, pulling up a star map with highlighted points.
"Taris, Malachor three, Hoth, Tattoine, Manaan...all unrelated except for what old Jedi and Sith records have to say." Ed's grin got even wider.
"Turns out all those locations had something to do with where the True Sith were once rumored to have bases of operations. The Sith and Jedi suppressed those records, didn't want anyone else to know, but these True Sith(as they call themselves even back then...which is weird) were extant throughout the galaxy. I mean, not MUCH exists, but from what I've pieced together, they were powerful Force Users."
"We know that now..." Yerbol mumbled as Ed continued:
"So, long story short, I've had a 'wacky' theory that Bracknell was trying to discover the True Sith's whereabouts. He somehow meets up with Soto(still trying to figure that bit out), they start to glean disciples and what do you know, the same people that pushed for this new government with a genocidal streak were elected during the time Soto and Bracknell were planetside."
"We didn't think it could be true, but...Ed here was right." Bek clapped Edor on the back, who nearly fell onto the table from the force of the gesture.
"So that's interesting and all, but we can focus on the past when we've got time to breath. For now, we've GOT to figure out how to get people rallied against the Sith." Kandar raised a hand at Neta's exhortation.
"I've got a lead on where another Sith Master could be."
"And I've got a bead on Master Carnagie and Master Ignus from the Order." Bek looked at his compatriots before snorting.
"I think the Sith have proven that it's going to take more than just a few Masters of the Force to get us where we need to be. If you want to take these guys down, you need an army. Troops, covert operatives, support specialists...and I know where to start." Neta beamed, clapping her hands together.
"I love you all. I love you all so, so, so much."
"Well, don't thank us yet." Ed placed his datapad back in a satchel next to the table before adding:
"We've gotta find a place for you guys to lay low."
"I've got someone who can do that for us, don't you worry." Bek looked to Ed, head jutting forward.
"What?!"
"Tell her about what you found here!"
"Oh, oh, right. Turns out the Jedi Battlemaster is on Nar Shaddaa." Yerbol's jaw dropped for a brief moment before he regained control of his faculties.
"THE Battlemaster?" He nearly squeaked. Kandar rolled her eyes at the exposed fanboy as Ed nodded.
"Yeah, Master Voldon Naylen. He and his wife Kira arrived on Nar Shaddaa about a month ago. They were causing a lot of trouble in the Red Light district last time I heard. Don't know why they're here, but it's worth looking into."
"Know where they were last spotted?"
"An agent last spotted them at a SIS outpost in The Works, which is awfully close to the ruins of that Jedi Temple. Need coordinates?"
"Forward them to my datapad. Bek, you said you had a lead on 'an army'?"
"Well, I exaggerated a BIT. Elara Dorne and Havok Squad, according to my sources, just turned rogue."
"Really?!"
"Oh yeah. Don't have the full story just yet, but apparently they're on the run just like your youngsters here. I know of a way to reach out to them. If we can Havok on our side...well, it'd be a good start."
"And I'll keep my eye out for our Sith Master. Once I find out anything, I'll let you know."
"Right." Neta looked the three of them each in the eye, surveying them for a moment.
"You know, you don't have to do this. You could just as easily walk away." Kandar chuckled, retorting:
"Neta, there's a reason why we work with you. We hate government just as much as you do. This abuse of power has to stop, one way or another." The other two nodded in approval before slinking away, Kandar following suit.
"Well guys...care to find out where the Battlemaster is or should we leave that to the SIS?"

Aria's eyes followed the lists of numbers on the datapad as Neta's contacts blabbered back and forth about Bracknell and Soto's previous travelling arrangements, shifting impatiently on the spot. This was old information, they needed to know how to deal with what was going on NOW. Thankfully, that part of the conversation didn't last very long and soon they were putting forward the kind of information that they could actually use. Now they had to think about whether it was more important to seek out this Jedi Battlemaster (if his title was anything to go by, he certainly SOUNDED like he could provide them with useful information) or whether it would be better to get out of sight before they drew attention to themselves.

Aria voiced her thoughts out loud, hoping either Bol or Neta might add to them or agree, and they could move on from there: "Well, I don't know...Nar Shaddaa's a pretty big place." it could be risky for them to go prancing through the streets in full view looking for the guy, but what if he could help them out? "The question is, is it worth risking us being spotted to find him?" she leaned back slightly in the chair, but not too much because she was afraid that it might collapse if she put too much of her weight onto it, "What if we head down there on our way back to the ship, just have a quick look around and if we can't find any immediate clues we should get out of here." they couldn't afford to risk staying in built up areas for too long. Bracknell (and likely Soto) would be actively searching for them in order to subdue them. "If we can't find him, I'm sure the SIS can, right? Isn't that, you know, what they do for a living?" clearing her throat, Aria jumped to her feet again. "Can we get out of here now, please? This place stinks and if I have to breathe it in any longer I think I might throw up."

Thankfully, neither of her companions argued with the suggestion and shortly afterwards they had stepped out of the backwater bar and into the (slightly) fresher air. "So...the temple is...." she turned around in a circle a few times as she tried to get her bearings. There were transportation vendors nearby that could get them there fairly quickly, but that would require them to provide some form of payment and that might mean putting their names on paper. "that way somewhere....It can't be THAT far, can it?" she looked towards Neta and Yerbol carefully. "Unless either of you have a better idea." she'd never been more glad that they had Neta with them than at that moment, or they might have been standing there scratching their heads for much longer. At least they were in the right area now, even if Aria still had no idea what this Battlemaster guy actually LOOKED like.

"I'm guessing you'd know him if you saw him?" she quipped playfully at Yerbol, not having missed his over-the-top reaction to hearing about the Battlemaster's presence on the planet. "Cause I wouldn't know him from the next guy in the street." speaking of that, there didn't seem to be awfully many people in the streets around here at all. All the better, she supposed, for keeping a low profile. "So, if we find him then what are we going to-?" she was interrupted by the holocommunicator in her pocket chirruping insistently to announce an incoming call. Aria's first thought was that it was one of the Padawans or Acolytes back on the ship trying to get through to them to warn them about something, so she sidestepped off the main pathway to answer it, beckoning her two companions after her.

The miniature hologram of Roan that greeted her after she had pressed the button was a less-than-pleasant surprise.
"You deliberately disobeyed me." he didn't raise his voice, come to think of it she couldn't recall a time he had ever shouted at her. Aria often wished he WOULD yell, because the disappointment that edged his tone cut into her far worse than yelling ever could.
"Daddy, I-" before she could attempt any form of explanation the Sith Lord had cut her off again.
"I'll wring that mercenary's neck when I get my hands on her for not following my instructions." Alarmed, Aria quickly leapt to Neta's defense in an attempt to placate Roan's anger (the last thing she wanted was for her father to hurt Neta on their account, they HAD persuaded her to help them after all):
"It wasn't Neta's fault! We got ambushed by Dustmakers on our way there and we HAD to change course! We tried to go to Korriban but there was a blockade and then they blew the planet up and Nar Shaddaa was closest. She was just trying to look out for us!"
Much to her relief, he didn't question the little white lie any further, instead ending the call with:
"Stay where you are. I'm coming to get you before you get yourself bloody killed."

As the communicator disconnected, Aria looked back up at Yerbol and Neta, grimacing uncomfortably. "I was hoping it'd take him a while to find out..." Roan must have finished with whatever 'loose ends' he had mentioned previously and made his way to the expected meeting place only to find that the trio were not, in fact, there.

"I was the one who told him." Neta's neck muscles twinged a bit, lips pursing together to suppress a stream of foul curses she wanted to bestow upon her employer, but instead quietly added:
"Figured he ought to know where his daughter was and the kind of progress we've made." Her cheek puffed out as her tongue slammed against the interior of her mouth.
"I think that's better than what a mercenary could provide, right?" Her hands had clenched themselves into fists, Yerbol arching a brow at the sudden surge of quiet anger that Neta was holding back.
"Uh, Neta, are you-"
"Fine. Fine." She blew out a sigh, looking around the brightly lit common area they found themselves at(a contrast from the seedy den of iniquity that they had just frequented) before telling the duo:
"I transmitted meeting coordinates for him near the ship. I'll head there now. You two try to convince the Battlemaster to join our cause and we'll see where we go from there." She turned on her heel and strode off, her gait noticeably less...skippier.
"I didn't expect her to take the comment that hard, but then again, when I called her a merc she was about ready to slam her fist straight through my chest cavity." He had turned to watch Neta walk off for a brief second, then resumed eye contact with his companion.
"Let's go find Master Naylen. I have a feeling he and Mrs.Naylen will want to hear what we have to say."

__________

"You shouldn't be here." Yerbol winced at the chiding command shouted from the entrance to the ruined Temple, Master Naylen's imposing outline looming in the distance. It was frustrating to hear the Battlemaster's scolding, but Yerbol could understand his apprehension. The Works was a dangerous place, filled with gangsters, rogue droids whose A.I. circuitry had gone out years ago and other unsavory types that Yerbol and Aria had to sidestep with a wide berth. They had not gotten into TOO much trouble other than having to cut down a few rusting Imperial battle droids that were terrorizing a family of Rodians who were trying to get off world(there were communes within this industrial maze, most of which were composed of those who had no other place to go or were trying to hide themselves from who knows what). After navigating through the hodgepodge of pipes, bodies and droids, they found a shuttle that took them straightaway to the ruins, said shuttle established by scholars who had once occupied the temple for weeks on end, but most had been scared off by the path TO the shuttle. A few remained on the exterior of the ruins, one of which had pointed Yerbol and Aria in the direction of the Battlemaster.

"You tell em, big guy." A petite red-head came alongside the dark-skinned Battlemaster, slugging him in the arm with a fist. His verdant irises looked down at her, eyes narrowing.
"What? Gotta give my man encouragement, right?" Volden rolled his eyes, the beginnings of a smirk flickering onto his face for a quick second before turning his attention to the pair who were now within a few feet of them.
"Master Naylen, it's an honor. I'm Yerbol Massani, a recently inducted Knight and-"
"No pleasantries. Why are you here?"
"I'll keep it brief."
"Please do." Yerbol swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat, calming his mind as much as he could before speaking:
"I know that you're aware of what's happened on Tython and Korriban and I know that there aren't many Masters left. Along with my companion Aria, we're attempting to assemble what Masters we have left to a safe location where you all can convene, regroup and strategize how to move forward." Naylan grimaced, his once gruff exterior turning softer.
"It all happened so fast, didn't it? The collapse of our Order before our very eyes..." Kira placed a gentle hand on her husband's arm as he continued:
"It would be of no use to try and fight this threat head on. I agree with your reasoning and I can sense your sincerity, but your companion..." He looked down at Aria, piercing eyes attempting to survey her motivations.
"I sense the Dark Side within you, young one. Am I to believe that you want the restoration of the Jedi Order?"
"It's not just the Order we want restored, Master Naylan...we're calling together Sith Lords as well." Kira chuckled, giving Yerbol an incredulous gaze.
"You're gonna have to explain this a lot more thoroughly, kid. A lot more."

It took a while, but Yerbol and Aria spun their tale as best they could for the couple, not leaving anything out. After they had spoken their last word, Naylan replied almost instantly:
"This sounds practically impossible, but with the way events have lined up...I'm willing to give this a chance." Kira snorted.
"To think that we're going to have to work with the same people the Emperor trusted..."
"Differences aside, Kira, we must at least be willing to meet with the others." She shook her head.
"Fine, fine. Just shoot us the coordinates and we'll meet up with you as soon as we can make our way out of here." Yerbol wanted to ask why the duo were at the Temple to begin with, but thought better of it and simply said:
"Of course. We'll make sure you know exactly where to go."

__________

They made it back to the hangar in time to hear Neta shouting at the top of her lungs:
"NO ONE TALKS ABOUT ME LIKE THAT, YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A MAN! NO ONE!" Yerbol sighed, looking down at Aria.
"This is going to be so much fun to defuse..."

Aria found herself out of habit, studying the pair that stood before them as Yerbol began to explain part of their plan. Her spine stiffened as the Battlemaster's scrutinising gaze turned to her and he made question of her alignment and her motives in relation to the matter. "Forgive me, sir, but it wasn't just Tython that was attacked." she growled softly, hand clenching into a fist as she retorted carefully. "Korriban was bombarded too, and most of the Dark Council is also scattered or dead."
Of course, their doubts were understandable given the bitter conflict between the two Orders that had spanned many centuries. But that was all in the past now, they had to get them to work together, somehow.
Thankfully, despite the various gripes Kira seemed to have about teaming up with a bunch of Sith Lords and their acolytes, Master Naylan promised that the pair would join their group as soon as they had wrapped up their own errands.
"Well, I guess we'll have to remember to send them co-ordinates once we've found a place, then."

___________________________

They caught wind of Neta's shouting as they were coming within a few paces of the hangar bay where they had docked. Aria winced, groaning as she passed a hand over her face and muttered:
"You're telling me. I thought he would have had the sense not to use the 'M' word, but apparently not." with that, she picked up the pace in order to hopefully intercept the argument before there was any Force energy involved. If that happened, Neta didn't stand a chance. Thankfully, as they arrived Roan seemed more amused than angry, the Sith Lord standing with his arms crossed over his chest as he smirked pointedly down at the redheaded pilot.
"Then perhaps you should have followed my instructions as they were given to you, miss Orso." his burning yellow gaze shifted to the duo as they entered the hangar bay, narrowing as he proclaimed a little bit louder: "If I had intended to leave my daughter in the charge of an incompetant fool who could be easily swayed to other motives, I would have left her with an Imperial Officer, or Force forbid that oaf of a Grand Moff."
Aria immediately averted her gaze to the floor, her feet shuffling as she quickly fumbled for an apology:
"Daddy, I can explain...."
"Oh you will do plenty of that young lady, I can assure you." he jerked his chin back over his shoulder towards the ship. "On the ship, NOW."
"But I-"
"NOW, Aria!"

She flinched, visibly, at the scathing tone in his voice, casting a quick glance sideways at Neta and Yerbol before she flitted past Roan to head up the loading ramp with a quick affirmation of "Yes, sir."
His attention once again on Yerbol and Neta, Roan's gaze flitted briefly over the pilot before coming to rest on Yerbol. "I'm going to assume that this Rancor-brained plan was YOUR idea." he leaned forward slightly, face hovering inches from Yerbol's as he hissed. "And I assure you, boy, that the only reason I don't allow those tomb beasts to tear you to ribbons is because you're attached to my daughter and I would not risk the chances that killing you may kill her, too."
Turning sharply on his heel, Roan followed Aria up the ramp, beckoning for the other two to join them in the main meeting area where Aria was waiting.
"Actually, it wasn't just Yerbol, we both thought that we could..."
"That you could rescue the others, is that it?" Roan demanded, muscles in his jaw tightening as he looked down at his daughter.
"But that's the thing, see, we actually DID get some of them out and we think that-"
"That you would go straight to the busiest spaceport in the sector and parade yourselves around where anyone could see you, so Bracknell would KNOW you were still alive AND to come looking for you?! Do you have ANY idea how careless you've been?"
"NO! Would you just LISTEN for five minutes!!" Aria snapped angrily. "Bracknell's got the upper hand NOW, but we might actually be onto something. We came here to talk to people, see if there were others that could have got out that could HELP us." Roan snorted derisively, clearly not particularly impressed with the offered explanation thus far, but allowed her to continue regardless.
"Do you REALLY think we can run and hide from this, Daddy? How long will it take him to catch up to us and kill us if we did just keep running? Two months? Three? Don't you think that time would be better spent trying to fight back? I'd rather go down fighting than running away and if you want to hide like a coward then fine, but I'M not!" she was silently imploring him to listen, and held her breath as she waited for her words to sink in.

The Sith Lord sighed heavily, his head rolling back to scowl at the ceiling as he considered the available options. Aria's threat was not idle, she was as stubborn as her mother and there was a good chance that she WOULD try to continue to help Yerbol behind his back. That left him with only one option.
"Fine, I'll help you."

Now of course, there was just the matter of getting Neta to overlook Roan's earlier poor word choice enough to not start another argument....