[IC] You never see it coming Part II [RedeemedLight x Elven]

[RedeemedLight]

The shuttle hovered ten clicks away from the planet Zakuul, it's orbit swarming with sleek, golden tinted satellites that similarly colored fighter ships dodged between as they made a circuitous route around the monitoring devices and encompassed the planet. Fifteen minutes, Revan had told them. That was all it took for the fully automated fighters to circle around a planet that was, again, according to Revan, about the size of Coruscant and far more technologically advanced. Yuno and Revan had tried their best to brief the party on the current situation, yet the staggering amount of information was almost too much for Yerbol to take in. Thankfully there had been enough of a lapse in time between their exit from Revan and Yuno's makeshift briefing to their leaving Odessa that the Champion could ingest at least part of what they heard and wrap his head around it well enough to be an effective operative in the field.

A hand grazed his upper back, Yerbol's eyes meeting Neta's normally sparkling green pupils. Yerbol valued Neta's ability to maintain her cool when the stakes were extremely high (as they normally were when it came to helping the Champions), but the cloudy hue of her irises and waves of erratic cautious slamming into his consciousness spoke to the concern she held about what they were about to do. He knew she wouldn't verbally express the anxiety she felt, almost wanting to answer her question before she spoke it:
"Feeling ok?" The Champion peered across from where he was seated, the small viewing window putting on display the very superiority of Zakuul's mechanized defense force.
"Of everything that we've ever done, Neta, this...this is different." He recalled what Yuno had told them about the nature of their robotic enemies, how their control panels, circuitry and artificial intelligence were powered by a device similar to the Star Forge, which took raw Force energy from living creatures and poured them into...those things. Revan had added that he had faced the horrors of the Star Forge in person, how he and Malak had traded blows for hours on end thanks to the seemingly endless supply of energy the Forge provided Malak through the comatose Force-sensitives Malak had harvested on his quest to take over the galaxy. There was more that Revan had said he wanted to share, but their immediate course of action was to rescue another legendary figure who was being held at a remote base on a planet named Zakuul, which is where the seat of the Eternal Empire resided and whose Emperor, Arcann, wanted to extend his reach far beyond his remote corner of the galaxy and sweep across the universe as a reaper of the Force for his own ends. According to Revan, the Heralds were the only force standing in-between Arcann and complete annihilation of the galaxy, but the key to their success was a woman named Meetra Surik, canonically called "The Exile" in their own pocket of the universe. Yerbol had read snippets about a veteran of the Mandalorian Wars who had been exiled due to her actions, but he couldn't fully grasp her contribution to the galaxy until Malachor, when he had felt her resentment, her aching loneliness, the overwhelming sense of gratitude she felt towards Revan. In a strange way, he felt like he had known Meetra for years and yet she was still a myth, a stranger of legend who they were supposed to rescue.

Wait until the Council hears about this...

"Might be a different galaxy, different people, but you know what's the same?" She pointed to his chest, jamming her index finger right above his ribcage.
"You. Me. Ari. We've faced odds like this before and came out on top. It'll be exactly the same this time, too." The cargo hold where the duo were seated jostled gently as it proceeded forward.
"Except this time we've got my apprentice at the controls of a ship headed towards a heavily monitored planetary hub. Why didn't you volunteer to steer this?" Neta shook her head, loose strands of vividly auburn hair lazily dangling in place.
"When I was training operatives, I always wanted them at the front lines as soon as possible. Can't learn how to deal with the pressure of operations until you actually face it. If they screwed up, they learned and hopefully had a chance to use what they learned to their advantage." She cocked her head upward, looking at the open hatch that led to the upper bay of the ship, which included the cockpit.
"Besides, this small of a cargo freighter is a breeze to handle. Shouldn't be too much trouble for someone who has the kind of experience he has." At times, Yerbol forgot that Ethan had experience with the Alliance as a foot soldier and pilot on aerial missions, both of which Ethan had talked about with great pride (he mostly spoke about it to Neta, but some details he revealed to his master).
"Surprised you aren't at least supervising him." Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Eh, he's got your lovely wife, Kytra, A pureblooded Sith and karkin Revan up there guiding him. I THINK he doesn't need another voice telling him what to do." A few moments passed before Yuno spoke loud enough for the duo below to hear:
"Our ship codes were accepted by the transponders. We won't have much time until the docking bay droids send a distress signal due to our not showing up. We will drop down to the atmosphere in three minutes and descend, per Master Revan's orders, half a mile away from the compound. We will proceed from there."
"Got it." Yerbol rose, half-closing his eyes while pushing aside thoughts, emotions and nervous ticks that wanted to manifest themselves. His breath slowed, muscles relaxing as his shoulders slumped forward.

The Force is One. The Force will always be One. The Force is Harmony. The Force is Life. You are the Force.

Suddenly, his shoulders snapped back, eyes opening on cue with the ship's sudden acceleration.

You coming down to join us, love? Or are you going to glare daggers at Ethan whenever he makes a wrong turn?

A smirk played across his lips as he turned his body towards the cargo ramp, leg muscles flexed in anticipation.

He was ready.

[The Elvenqueen]

To say that the cockpit of their shuttle was "crowded" as it currently stood was the understatement of the millennia, Aria reflected, as she, Kytra, Yuno and Revan all crowded around Ethan whilst the young Champion in training attempted to maneuver them through the scores of fighter jets and other assorted starships without putting them directly in the flight path of any of the vessels. They had been bombarded with information since being introduced to the galactic legend that was Revan, no last name needed (though he admitted that he had once had one, but couldn't remember what it was - which was a long story in and of itself, and one which they currently had no time for). Perhaps what was most disconcerting about this Fleet of ships, aside from the sheer NUMBER of them alone, was that Revan claimed the craft were entirely automated.
"Well, they don't need ORGANICS to pilot them at least." He'd clarified when Aria had raised her brows at him dubiously, "They use those droids, GEMINIs I believe Arcann calls them...because they're much easier to both mass produce and control."

It was at this point that the visions from Malachor telling them to turn back made more sense. The diminutive Champion was suddenly struck by how in over their heads they were.
"Try not to think about it too much. It'll make it seem as bad as it is." She almost jumped as Revan broke the silence once more, his sharp eyes glancing across to meet hers.
"Somehow, that doesn't help much." Aria admitted with a wry smirk, her shoulders sagging slightly as she paced with him to the back of the cockpit, then added, in a voice slightly lower so as not to alarm the two young apprentices that were with them, "...How do you do it, Revan? I mean...don't you ever get tired of the whole, hero of the galaxy thing?"

“Of course I do.” Revan’s shoulder twitched in a shrug, “But when you’re the hero, you don’t have the luxury of admitting that. Panic is for the masses, and you have to be the one that keeps your head clear so you can save them.”
“Tell me about it.” Aria huffed, chewing anxiously on her lower lip.
“You’re lucky, though.” Revan continued, tilting his head slightly at her, “You’ve got your husband here with you. I had to leave Bastila behind, leave our son behind. I never got to see her again, never got to hold him, or see him grow up. He never even knew who I was...but I had to make that sacrifice to save the rest of the galaxy.”
Aria blinked in surprise.
“I guess I hadn’t thought of it like that…”
“Eh,” Revan grunted, shrugging once more, “circumstances are different for everyone, but sometimes a different perspective is all you need.” He dipped his head to the Champion then, advising her, “You should go and get ready, we’ll be down on the ground soon and then it’s touch-and-go.”

She had tried not to glower at the apprentice too much, but apparently this wasn't as effective as Aria had thought, given her spouse's comment.
I'm coming down there because honestly, its stifling up here. Besides, Revan could clearly handle intervening (should Ethan mess up) without her hanging around and getting in his way. She made her way carefully down to join her partner by the cargo ramp, fingers flexing towards her lightsabers as they waited for the ramp to drop.
“You ready?” she asked him, swallowing the lump of nerves that had begun collecting in her throat. “Revan says it’s gonna be touch-and-go, so...regular day at the office, right?” as she often did, Aria found herself managing her own nerves with her signature brand of dark humour. “Should be a piece of cake for us. Apparently because the droids are powered by this Star Forge technology...thing, they still have some sort of Force signature that we should be able to sense, so, silver linings?”
“Best not to go in there sabers blazing, if we can.” Revan called down to them. “We won’t have the element of surprise for long, but even a few minutes could help!”

Being the galaxy-wide renowned tactician that he was, Aria was inclined to take Revan’s word for it. Therefore, as soon as they were down, the Champions made their way down onto the...metal walkway? That was a little bit disconcerting, Aria had at the very least expected SOME grass or natural plant matter on the planet’s surface and was more than a little put out to discover that, much like Nar Shaddaa or Coruscant, Zakuul was simply metal walkways, scaffolding and buildings as far as the eye could see. And yet, despite all of this, the aforementioned Force signatures were clearly all over the planet.

“How are we going to find this person in...all of this?” Kytra whispered, her fur standing nervously on end as she and Ethan joined the other trio, Revan and Yuno trailing behind them.
“I can find Meetra.” Revan promised. “I know her Force signature better than anyone else, but those droids will be after us as soon as they realise we’re not on our ‘designated’ landing pad so I need you all to cover my back while I search for her.”
While he had explained that the Exile was within the facility closest to them, the trouble would be finding exactly WHERE in said facility the woman was being held.
“Then we need to move as quickly as we can.”

[RedeemedLight]

Yerbol snorted a chuckle at Aria's overt attempt to calm herself down with dismissive humor, telling her after Revan made his point:
"We'll be fine, Ari. This might even be a bit simpler than normal, right? Rescue operations aren't so bad...right?" He turned to Neta, who had sidled up next to Aria in preparation for their arrival.
"Sure! Just keep the target alive." She nudged Aria gently with a sparkle that danced across both her eyes.
"You've kept me upright this long, haven't you? Shouldn't be too difficult to get Meetra with all of us working together."
"Touchdown in sixty seconds!" Ethan called out, the strain in his voice all too evident.
"Follow Master Revan's lead when we arrive. He has the most experience regarding the navigation of Zakuul."
"I think your master has the most experience regarding everything involving saving the galaxy. Yeah, we'll follow him."

"This is weird."
"What is?"
"This is all mechanized, Yerbol. I mean, yeah, Coruscant has it's machines, but this...this just doesn't feel organic." Yerbol grunted in affirmation as the party made it's way down the wide metallic path, Revan spearheading their navigation as they wound their way around a corner to be greeted by walkways that branched off in several directions. Their visibility was hemmed in by a three buildings that jutted proudly up towards the stratosphere, although based on the caked dirt and rust that was visible on the buildings, they were closer to the foundations than the inhabited (assumption) portion, which more than likely was far above.
"I've visited the underbelly of Coruscant a couple of times, but this does feel a lot more desolate." While Coruscant featured citizenry going about their shady business and cantinas that loudly proclaimed they were the best place to get intoxicated, this portion of Zakuul featured an ominous silence that was only punctuated by the faint hum of power generators and the party's footsteps resounding against the buildings that surrounded them.
"Master, the paths diverge quite a bit." The party had come to a full stop now, Yerbol observing how each of the paths seemed to stretch forward and wind down different directions that snaked around the wide foundations of the buildings. The Champion was about to ask Revan where he thought they should go when he felt a sudden burst of energy cascade across his skull, jaw now clenching at the sensation.
"WHAT..." Ethan gripped the front of his head, groaning in agony. A moment later, the somewhat picturesque view of the sky they had been treated to was blocked by the form of a ship, it's underbelly opening to drop more of the droids the party had initially encountered on Odessa. Same droids, same warped, twisted Force signatures. To think that this empire was built on this kind of Force energy...
"I will deal with these threats! Follow Master Revan to your destination!"
"We just can't leave you here! One of us can stay behind and at least help you out!"
"HALT IN THE NAME OF ARCANN, ETERNAL EMP-" Yerbol launched his saber at one of the droids, dashing forward to deliver a crushing shoulder slam to the droid adjacent to the one who had been slashed by his saber.
"Ari, take the apprentices and follow Revan! Ethan and I will help Yuno before rejoining you!" Ethan took his cue from Yerbol, settling into a crouch before twirling mid-air to avoid blaster fire, landing on his feet a couple of feet away from a droid before thrusting it through on his saber.
"GO!"

___

"Excellent. Keep them occupied for as long as possible, then get them onboard the ship."
"Lord Arcann-"
"Do not question my orders, Colonel. Follow them." The miniature holographic projection of Colonel Eason disappeared from Arcann's holo-communicator, the wielder of the Eternal Throne glancing over at the stretched out Exile as a smile creased his features.
"You will get to witness a true expression of the power you sought to suppress, Surik. Be happy." Managing the smallest frown, Meetra spat out with a dose of blood and spittle:
"What you...have planned...will consume you."
"Isn't that the idea, Surik? Consumption rather than suppression?"
"You..." Her head dropped forward, normally lustrous brunette hair caked with blood and a greenish liquid that seeped down her temples onto the ground.
"Leading them all here is going to be so much fun, won't it brother?" Vaylin giggled, eyes trained on the steel doors about twenty feet away from they stood with the Exile.

[The Elvenqueen]

Aria couldn't help but snort slightly in agreement with her husband. "Master Revan is DEFINITELY the most experienced of all of us, I've got no doubt that he knows what he's doing." She couldn't quite match the confidence of Neta's smile, but the Champion did her best. "Thanks Neta, but I think we may have just a few more hurdles to jump through for a Galactic renowned hero than a top-notch pilot like yourself."

She gladly allowed Revan to take up the lead of the group, keeping pace with Neta just behind him, Kytra not too far behind them with Yuno, Ethan and Yerbol bringing up the rear.
"I don't like this place either." The shorter Champion agreed, keeping her voice low, "It feels...unnatural." she recalled Yerbol telling her something similar when they'd first encountered a squadron of the droids on arrival. Revan suddenly came to a stop at the place where each walkway converged, brow furrowed deeply in thought. Before anyone could enquire the reason for his halt, however, a wave of...ultrasonic? sound hit the group from one of the Zakuulan ships. Kytra let out a pained shriek, the Selonian dropping her saber to clap her paws protectively over her sensitive ears. Aria barely registered the reaction from her apprentice before the wave and the residual headache from Yerbol through their bond hit her simultaneously, the Champion hissing through her teeth as she fell onto one knee, the impact jarring through her bones for a solid half minute before she managed to scramble to her feet again.

She glimpsed Revan exchanging a glance with his apprentice, perhaps some silent exchange passing between them, before the older man dipped his head in a nod and bolted off down the left-hand pathway. Kytra and Neta quickly followed Yerbol's instruction and took off after Revan once they regained their faculties. Aria hesitated for a moment, a stab of panic twisting her gut as she remembered what had happened to her husband the last time they'd separated during a fight. The rock fall and that awful woman's smile flashed in the Champion's mind's eye for a brief moment before she forced it back down and met Yerbol's gaze for long enough to mutter.
"You come back to me."

She didn't have time to wait for Yerbol's answer before she had to run after the others to catch up to them. Most of the droids were held up with the trio that had stayed behind, but a few stragglers had managed to give chase and Aria and Revan both had to launch a saber each to cut them down before they reached them, so they wouldn't have to slow their pace.
"We're close!" Revan grunted as he kicked a chassis out of his path and over the edge of the walkway, his eyes scanning the doorways ahead before they locked onto the middle one. "There!"
He ran towards the barrier he'd indicated, with Kytra and Aria close behind whilst Neta hung back slightly. The two Qyaari took up positions on either side of Revan, sabers at the ready and angling themselves so they could keep a watch on all the walkways for any more droids, to allow Revan to focus all his attention on getting the door open. Aria had truly expected him to use his lightsaber to cut an opening through the steel, as most Force users usually chose to. Revan had apparently decided this would take too long, and instead extended one hand, not unsimilar to the way she had known the Sith to grab hold of a victim before choking the life out of them, though instead he directed all of his power into the frame of the door and frowned as it buckled in on itself and collapsed.

They appeared to be in some sort of hangar…? Or was this entire section a hangar, since the ships seemed to be able to come and go rather freely, dropping yet more troops to attempt to slow the path of the rescue team before they could get to their destination. Revan appeared to have no interest whatsoever in stopping and or turning back, throwing his saber in another arc to take out the contingent that made their way towards their little group. Before he could get too far ahead, however, a squadron of armoured individuals wielding some sort of odd weapon that appeared to be a combination of a lightsaber and a...pike? rushed out from a side door and began to encircle the group.
"Who're THEY?!" Kytra hissed, baring her teeth at the newcomers. Aria rushed forward to cover Revan whilst Kytra remained with Neta, the pilot taking a series of pot-shots at them to lay down some cover fire for the Force users.
"Knights of Zakuul!" Revan yelled over his shoulder, "Arcann and Vaylin's personal security force, we're getting close!"

Aria clashed blades with one who tried to lunge for Revan while he was preoccupied with some of the others, watching the Knight reel backwards in alarm as her lightning leapt across her blade and onto his. Without a second thought, she ran him through and turned to attack the next one, having to strafe to one side to avoid his parry, and ending up almost back to back with Revan.
"That ship, up there." She heard him mutter, risking a glance over her shoulder Aria located it and nodded in understanding.

Something about this didn't feel right. Aria couldn't put into words WHAT it was, but the way the Knights kept attacking and retreating every few moments had unsettled the Champion. It was almost as if…
"They're herding us!" Neta's warning put the feeling in her gut into words. Shit, they were in trouble.

Revan had seen an opening in the Knight's ranks, making a dash for it, he darted past them and up the empty (or so it seemed) loading ramp before Aria could warn him otherwise.
"Revan-!!" She tried, but the only response that was hollered back at her was an angry.
"I'M NOT LEAVING HER, NOT AGAIN!!"
Whatever trap he was about to walk into, Aria had a feeling that he might need her help.
"Stay here and wait for Yerbol and the others!" She ordered her apprentice and Neta, taking off after the older Force user.
"But Master!"
"KYTRA, STAY!" Aria hollered, taking a Force-propelled run towards the ship before it could try and take off. The Champion had to take a running leap and use the platform below it as a springboard, but she managed to combat roll into the ship and pick herself up, albeit gasping to catch her breath, to try and catch up to Revan as he frantically searched through the ship's corridors for the Exile.

[RedeemedLight]

A few minutes passed, Vaylin pacing, fingers clenching the hilts of her lightsabers repeatedly, mouth twitching. Arcann watched his sister for some of the time, keeping his innermost thoughts about his sibling as suppressed as possible, fully aware that she could read him at any moment. It was both aggravating and beneficial to have Vaylin in such close proximity, yet even he could muster up the patience to deal with the most unstable member of his family thanks to the raw power she held. She would be an excellent to-
"My lord, part of the group has boarded the ship. Shall I disengage the droids?" Colonel Eason's question was met with a determined nod.
"Very well. Droids will disengage and the ship will remain in position until you give the order.
"Very good, Colonel. Stay on this channel until further notice. I believe I will need the combat center in short order."
"Of course, Lord Arcann." Vaylin spun on her heel, brow furrowing.
"We won't NEED help, will we, brother?"
"Not for Revan and the so-called 'Champions'; the Heralds, however, might try to come after their master. I want our forces ready for when they do make their eventual arrival." She pouted.
"I wanted to kill them myself."
"Sister, you will have the privilege of slaying one of the most renown figures in all of the galaxy, a living legend. Be content with your very fortunate position." A flicker of a frown crossed her features before she turned back to the door once more, sabers now fully in hand.

__

"Watch it!" Ethan threw up a barrier of Force energy to block the incoming bolt of electricity from shocking Yuno, the apprentice pushing the energy out from their position in the direction of the attacker, which caused the droid to fling back against a few others who were firing on Yerbol's position. With a nod of thanks, Yuno leaped towards Yerbol, the latter occupied with several droids that had abandoned their blaster rifles in favor of vibroswords that emitted crackling bits of energy from the blades. Yerbol had gotten clipped a couple of times, each blow prompting a short burst of the same kind of pain he felt when they had arrived. No droids that Yerbol had faced before held this kind of weaponry or battle expertise for that matter. The Champion ducked another horizontal slash before jamming his saber upward and behind him, flinging the now defeated droid towards others that Yuno had engaged. As Yerbol rose to his feet, the droids that had once hounded them all simultaneously crumpled to a heap on the ground, their collapse echoing against the buildings. The trio surveyed the battlefield, Ethan commenting:
"That's...not good."
"Why would you say that? Our enemies have been triumphed." Ethan shook his head at Yuno's confident assertion.
"For all of them to shut down like that would indicate that someone either messed with their controller units (unlikely) or they were deactivated on purpose." Yerbol grimaced, kneeling to take a look at the remains of a droid.
"I have to agree with Ethan on this. This is far too convenient."
"Then let us make haste to Master Revan and the others; maybe their actions have caused the droids to fall." Yerbol nodded, rising.
"Potentially. That would be a much better alternative to what I'm currently thinking."
"Which is?"
"That the droids were a distraction and that the rest of the group is in trouble."

___

"Son of a bantha-herder!" Neta let out another curse that was much more vulgar than the first as she rolled to her right, throwing her blaster pistol to the ground and withdrawing a vibro-dagger sheathed at her hip before jamming it into the Knight's leg, twisting it in for good measure as she withdrew it and stabbed again, this time at the hip. With a groan, the Knight fell over, Neta wiping droplets of blood that had formed around her mouth.
"Who needs the Force when you can play dirty, right?" She kicked the deceased Knight in the stomach, gripping her dagger tightly as she saw Kytra fighting off three of the Knights, the Selonian looking flustered as she parried as fast as she could.
"Hold on, Kytra! I'm coming!" The Knights were moving far too quickly for her to take a shot with her pistol, so instead she withdrew a second dagger and charged ahead, catching one of the Knights with their back to her.

Big mistake.

A howl of agony filled the air, Neta having jumped into the air, both daggers landing deep in the upper back of the Knight. The Knight thrashed in defiance trying to shake Neta off, the spec ops commander hanging on long enough to wrap her legs around the Knight's waist and use his flailing against him, bringing him down onto his side right as Neta removed daggers and used one to slit the Knight's throat, a cascade of viscous fluid spilling onto the chilly metallic surface. Breathing heavily, Neta managed to pull herself up from the ground, ready to engage more Knights when three forms flitted past her and ended the Selonian's lone stand in a matter of seconds.
"Where's Aria?" Yerbol asked Kytra, Neta answering as she made her way to the assembly.
"There, on the ship...that hasn't taken off?" The loading ramp was still attached to the assumed dock, both Aria and Revan already having gone through the steel doors that lay at the end of the ramp.
"Right, so on the ship on we go."
"Into a trap." Neta warned Ethan, looking to Yerbol with a frown.
"I mean, you see it, right? This is totally a trap. Whoever's coordinating this wanted Revan and Aria by themselves."
"So let's fix that and get our arses on this ship."

_____

The ramp closed hastily after the group made it onboard, yet the ship made no indication of movement.
"This is weird." Ethan's sentiment wasn't replied to, but the party could all feel a sense of imminent dread as they went through the steel doors and emerged into a wide, square-shaped space that had a cavernous ceiling and two sets of steel doors, one of which was open on the opposite end of the space.
"Looks like a staging area." Neta commented, pointing at the weapon racks dotting the area.
"Droids probably were deployed from here, which means that their command center must not be far."
"We are not here for the droids; we are here for Master Surik." Yuno closed his eyes for a moment, then pointed ahead.
"Through those doors there." He moved forward, Neta's brow furrowing as she cast a glance at Yerbol.
"Don't think I'm gonna try and throw myself in the way of a Sith and...well, all of you people. I'll try and find a way to deactivate the ship's security protocols, maybe even hijack it for ourselves?" She smirked, patting her hip.
"I'll be fine. Took out those knights well enough, didn't I, Kytra?"
"You're sure you'll be ok on your own?" The red-head nodded with a smile, gently punching Yerbol on the arm.
"Go get Meetra. I'll find you when you're finished."

[The Elvenqueen]

There were a lot more of these Knights than Kytra had been anticipating, especially after Revan and Aria had disappeared into the ship, leaving only Kytra and Neta to fend them off. She put every single technique that Aria had taught her to use in a desperate attempt to hold her own, but as the Knights kept coming at her in trios, the Selonian quickly found herself getting overwhelmed. In fact, Kytra almost thought she was done for when she was forced to lock her lightsaber with two of their pikes, had Neta not suddenly appeared swinging a combat knife and come to her rescue.

As Yerbol and Ethan both expressed their desires to follow Aria and Revan onto the ship, Kytra’s hackles rose and she quickly piped up with a protest. “B-But...Master Aria said to stay here and-!”
Of course, she couldn’t very well stop Yerbol from deciding to go after his wife (nor would she presume to), but Kytra couldn’t help but feel rather...nervous, of the whole plan.
“Neta actually saved my tail back there.” the Selonian added with the best smile she could manage in their current situation, “I’d have been in serious trouble if it wasn’t for her.”

Kytra’s assurances seemed to put Yerbol at ease, and the Champion finally agreed to let the pilot split off from the rest of the group.
“I’ve still got a bad feeling about this…”
As if to emphasise the apprentice's point, suddenly a loud scream erupted from behind the door Yuno had indicated, rattling the frame ominously.
"...That was Aria." Yerbol growled in agitation as the other three looked between them in confusion. It was all the encouragement they needed to hurry and join the other pair in the next room.
__________________________________________

Aria kept her sabers up and stuck close to Revan as they began to move through the confines of the ship. This was undoubtedly a trap, and if he was going to insist that they walked into one (especially one where they might die), then the Champion was resolved that she was going to go down swinging. Revan paused once again, apparently sensing something, before he growled lowly.
“Arcann’s here…”
“We can take him.” the comment earned her some serious side-eye from her companion, who quirked his brow at Aria and retorted.
“Arcann is no joke, Saal. He’s very dangerous. Even for me, and especially for the rest of you.”
“It’s Massani, now, actually…” Aria’s back straightened in surprise at the use of her maiden name. “And more importantly, HOW did you know my maiden name?”

Revan peered around the corner to check for hostiles, then withdrew and gave her a crooked, knowing smile.
“Your great-great grandmother fought with me during the Mandalorian Wars, you walk and talk a lot like she did. Nice to see the Saals haven’t changed very much.”
He gestured ahead of them, adding. "They're this way."
Unnervingly, the steel blast door at the end of the hallway opened itself as soon as the pair approached it. Revan squared his shoulders, straightening his posture and heading inside with slow, deliberate steps. Aria paused to draw in a breath to calm her own nerves, and followed him, trying not to flinch as she heard the door slam ominously shut behind them.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show, Revan!" A man's voice, slightly distorted by some sort of respirator, rang out clearly from the far end of the room as they entered. Aria peered past Revan to train her gaze on the source of the voice, finding it belonged to a rather tall and imposing, bald-headed human man dressed in striking white and gold robes. A black mask covered the left side of his face, but his remaining eye was trained on the pair as Aria and Revan began to move slowly towards him.
"I could say the same. You're brave to show your face to me again. This time I WILL kill you." Revan was more interested in the Exile's crumpled form on the dais, but Aria found her own attention drawn to Arcann’s companion whilst the two men exchanged verbal jabs and Revan did his best to subtly inch closer to the dais without being noticed.

The woman was only slightly shorter than her companion, and in stark contrast to him she was dressed from head to toe in black. A good pulled over her head concealed nearly all of her face, save for the pair of fiery yellow eyes that glared at the Champion as she moved slowly along in Revan's shadow. Revan's eyes fell onto the Exile, but before either of them could say anything to the other, Arcann spoke once more.
"That's close enough."
Aria darted forward to intercept the woman in the same moment that Vaylin lunged for Revan's jugular with her own sabers. Her face twisted into an enraged snarl as their blades clashed and a shower of sparks bounced off of them. The Champion had planted her feet, but before she could push back and swing her second saber for Vaylin's wrist, Vaylin had brought her free hand up and in one motion flung Aria violently into the wall.

Before the Champion could pick herself up off the ground again, Vaylin was on her again and she found herself being lifted into mid air while her airways began to rapidly tighten. Aria's eyes blew wide as she realised what was occuring, kicking and struggling frantically to break out of the chokehold the other woman held her in. Revan was presently engaged in a duel with Arcann himself, and thus unable to offer her any sort of assistance. Couldn't breathe, she couldn't breathe...she needed to do SOMETHING. She couldn't reach far out enough to pull her lightsabers back towards her, but maybe...She barely had any air left, but Aria thought she could manage it.

She screamed.

It had been several years since she'd last used a Force scream, but it had the same effect on Vaylin as it did on the ice demons from Quensu. She released Aria to reel backwards with a shout of pain, clutching at her head. The shockwave even seemed to hit Arcann and Revan before it died out. Revan recovered quickly, lurching to his feet and sprinting over to crouch beside the Exile.
"Meetra! Come on, we gotta go." While Revan attempted to help the Exile to her feet, the rest of their party (minus Neta) appeared to cover them. Yuno, Kytra and Ethan quickly formed a line between Arcann and Vaylin and the leaders of the Heralds, whilst Yerbol dropped onto one knee to help Aria.
"Ari! Ari, are you okay?!"
The shorter Champion spat out a mouthful of her own blood as he hoisted her into a sitting position, managing to nod despite the burning pain in her throat and lungs.
"F-Fine." She huffed, spitting again. "S-So that's what it...feels like. Damn, I feel...bad for all those people I ever...choked, now." While it was another technique she hadn't put to use in several years, being on the receiving end this time provided her with a sobering new perspective should she ever need to do so again. She needed another brief moment before she could stagger to her feet again, calling her errant weapons back to her hands and activating them again.

"Well, there are an awful lot of you, aren't there?" This time, Arcann appeared content to remain where he stood, gaze darted from one party member to the next, sizing them up whilst Vaylin paced with jerky movements, her teeth bared as she forced herself to hold back on her brother's request. He looked to her again, the smirk evident in his tone as he said: "I told you they would all come."
"How convenient...for us!" Vaylin cackled gleefully. The sheer joy in her voice at their impending demise caused icy claws of fear to grip hold of Aria's heart.

They'd made a mistake coming here. A big one. They weren't attacking them again, which meant they must have had something else planned...and by extension, then this was about to get SO much worse for their group.

[RedeemedLight]

Vaylin's lust for violence would be perfect for an encounter of this magnitude, although Arcann would monitor his sister's progress throughout the skirmish to ensure that she wouldn't lose complete control of her faculties. He had seen her give herself over to her more...unstable proclivities only a handful of times and even he was chilled by her behavior. While he wanted to wipe them all out here and now, the strategist within the young ruler of the Eternal Throne knew that keeping at least Revan alive would be beneficial. The kind of power Arcann could extract from the galactic legend was too much of an opportunity to pass up. Then again, leaving him alive would only encourage more of this heroic stupidity from his followers.

While you contemplate, your enemies gain an advantage. Strike. NOW.

His one visible eye widened slightly at the command that rang through his mind, casting a sweeping glance at the would-be heroes with an almost invisible nod.
"You will all succumb to the might of the Eternal Throne. The power of the Throne demands it." He thrust his left arm upward, violet tendrils snaking from his arm, rapidly undulating in a spherical pattern above the elevated hand, saber crackling to life in the other.
"STOP HIM! STOP HIM NOW!" Meetra called out hoarsely, shoving Revan aside with a surprising amount of Force as she joined Yerbol and Ethan in a charge forward.
"I love it when this happens." Vaylin grinned, casting a hungry glance at Kytra, Revan and Aria, sabers out to her side as she dashed forward, moving to engage the trio just as the tendrils that Arcann had summoned exploded outward, piercing the charging Qyaari and Meetra with ferocity. While the tendrils didn't generate physical force, the Force users who were primed to attack Arcann staggered, Ethan collapsing to one knee before coughing up a mixture of blood and bile.
"Fight it!" Meetra exhorted, teeth gritted as she thrust her hands forward, bolts of energy crackling from her palms that Arcann deflected deftly with his hazy, yellow-tinted blade as he chuckled.
"Even after all the power you've given me, you manage to muster up even more."
"The Force is not something you can...rob someone of!" With a shout, the bolts that had once been projecting forward now collapsed into a singular beam that she blasted in Arcann's direction, the Emperor spinning to his right a half-second too late, the beam cutting through his right shoulder with tenacity. A momentary groan, then a laugh.
"Do you really believe that to be true? After all you've gone through." Yerbol had managed to fight off the searing pain that had shot through his limbs and was in the process of getting Ethan back on his feet when the trio watched as the gaping hole that Meetra's attack had created vanished, bone and flesh sewing together in a matter of seconds.
"I took the power you've consumed from others and brought it into myself. Now, I have the opportunity to finish what your Darth Nihilus could never accomplish: rip the Force from your very soul." He nodded towards the now functional Qyaari.
"They too will have the opportunity to serve the Empire, as you have, Meetra. The Force will propel the Eternal Empire to the heights that my father could never take it." He crouched, saber pointed forward.
"Now then, to complete the extraction process personally."

___

It was strange to not face any resistance on an enemy ship, Neta assuming that the forces they had faced on the ground were more than likely deployed all from this vessel. Either the enemies they were facing had no tactical sense whatsoever OR they were so confident in the abilities of the Sith (or whatever they were) that remained onboard that they could throw everything they had at their new-found enemies without fear of losing control of their ship. Whatever the case, Neta would make sure that they would pay for their stupidity or arrogance.

Starting with the sabotage of their nav computer.

The spec ops officer had split to the left of their original position, navigating the gleaming ebony hallways as quickly (and safely) as she could. She made a few observations in her trek, one of which was that there were no posted signs or directions for crew members. Although the droids and small sample size of the population they had met spoke Basic, there were no signs on the ship to indicate where even the bridge was. Something else she discovered was that the doors she used to access different passageways had no active security measures. No turrets, cameras, motion sensors, not even a karkin fingerprint reader. Although this made her roaming much easier than anticipated, there was a growing sense of panic within the operative. This was TOO easy. Whenever something was this simple, there was always something lurking in the shadows waiting for the right opportunity to pounce.

With a bit of dumb luck and backtracking, she found her way to what appeared to be the bridge based on the elevated, circular platform in the center of the room, the wide viewports opposite the entrance and rows of terminals against the walls, chairs in front of said terminals unoccupied. Mumbling a curse, she gingerly made her way to the assumed Captain's chair (or platform in this case) and stepped into the center of the area. A nasally, robotic voice thudded across embedded speakers:
"Access codes?" Ah, there it is. Her eyes bounced around the room for any hint of a terminal she could hack that might have the codes she needed, the voice ringing again:
"Access codes?" Deciding to take a gamble, she ran off the platform to the nearest terminal, pulling up a screen that asked for credentials.
"Access codes?"

She knew that was a catch to her initial ease of access.

Time to get to work.

____

Yerbol thudded against a wall, grimacing as he heard a couple of cracks from around his spine, indicating that his ribcage might have fractured slightly. In the grand scheme of this fight, that was the least of his concerns, shaking his head as he called for his saber, which had been flung from his hand after Arcann had thrown him against the wall in a fight that was beginning to make Yerbol very concerned.

They weren't winning.

Meetra was putting up the best fight out of the three, dodging blows with twirls, aerial maneuvers and delivering blows with various Force attacks; Ethan and Yerbol, however, were lagging far behind. Their strikes and parries were slow, forced, Arcann managing to cut through their defenses at lightspeed. Ethan had been sliced across the shoulder several times and Yerbol almost had his legs amputated if it hadn't been for Meetra pulling Arcann off his feet a second before his saber connected. The most frustrating part of all this was that Yerbol, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't muster the kind of energy he was used to utilizing nor could he feel his bond with Aria as strongly as he normally did. Whatever Arcann had done with those tendril...things had affected he and Ethan's connection to the Force. Frankly, he and his apprentice were more of a liability in this fight.
"Come now, 'Champion'! I expected more from you." He pointed his saber at Yerbol with a smirk only half-visible thanks to the mask he wore.
"Yerbol!" Meetra and Ethan rejoined him opposite of Arcann.
"What did you do to us, Arcann?"
"I simply took some of your power. It has proven quite useful already." The smirk grew wider.
"Arcann can manipulate the Force in a way that I didn't think possible...that I never wanted to see become possible." Meetra hissed, her eyes ablaze.
"You were given a gift, Meetra, a powerful, unstoppable boon that could have seen you become the most powerful being in the entire galaxy. I believe it only just that I use the gift you neglected."
"You know NOTHING of what you speak, boy!" The Exile spit out, moving slightly forward.
"Nihilus, Kreia, Sion, all of them were eaten alive by their desire for the Force, to leech as much power as they could for their own ends. I saw with my own eyes how they were torn apart by their pursuits and I swore that it would never happen to me, to anyone else." Another step forward.
"I will NOT allow a petulant, irreverent child to turn all the years of suffering I endured onto the rest of the galaxy. This ends HERE!" Yerbol and Ethan could only stand back and watch as Meetra summoned the same tendrils that Arcann had conjured earlier, except these entities moved with lightning precision towards Arcann, who severed several from the initial onslaught, but was eventually overwhelmed by the assault.
"You WILL release the power you've leeched from me and I will ensure that no one else is harmed by your greed!" Her eyes, normally a honey-amber, now glowed a crimsonish violet as she continued closer to Arcann, who was now letting out intermittent moans of anguish.
"Yerbol, Ethan, close your eyes, focus on the power that is echoing through this room and channel it all towards me!"
"Wha-"
"Just do what the woman says, Ethan!" As Yerbol closed his eyes, a sudden jolt of something hot, burning, coursed through him, jaw tightening as he suppressed the urge to scream.
"Keep at it!"
"NO! Nooo, not-"

You've done well, my son. Exactly what I had planned. If you will excuse me, I believe this is where I will take over.

Suddenly, a smile crossed Arcann's face, his demeanor morphing, eye narrowing. Before any could react, Arcann broke the grip Meetra had on him, flicking his wrist towards him and igniting his saber just as the once seething Meetra flew towards him thanks to the gesture. Yerbol opened his eyes just in time to see Meetra being impaled on Arcann's saber. He wanted to move, yet his feet were locked to the ground, limbs paralyzed. Through the blood that gushed out of Meetra's mouth and mid-section, she still made the effort to look Arcann in the eye.
"Y...o..u...."
"Your stranglehold on the Force ends here, Meetra Surik." With another flick, Meetra's limp corpse was discarded haphazardly against a nearby wall, Arcann now examining the Qyaari.
"Your power is impressive." He looked in the direction of Yerbol, who was still fighting to regain control of his body.
"Your apprentice is nothing compared to what I want from you." He strode forward, hand in front of his body.
"Your connection to the Force will be mine." Arcann closed his eye for a moment, his open hand clenching as the pain within Yerbol ascended, the Champion forced to endure the searing pain that threatened to black out his vision. There was a ripping, a tearing that he tried to fight, tried so hard to battle against, yet in a matter of moments the violence was complete.

And he felt.

Nothing.

Nodding, he then pointed his saber at Ethan.
"Not worth the effort." He raised his saber overhead.

[The Elvenqueen]

“I love it when this happens!” Vaylin’s cackle was almost entirely drowned out by Meetra’s warning shout to the others, and indeed the party scarcely had time to react at all before it seemed the siblings were making their advance towards them.
Revan stumbled backwards from the sheer force behind the Exile’s shove, momentarily losing his balance and falling onto one knee. Aria and Kytra quickly leapt into action to put themselves between the Heralds’ leader and Vaylin, the Champion’s own partly-amber eyes tracking Vaylin with wary precision as she watched the older woman pace, sizing them up.
“You and me, crazy, let’s go!!” Aria snarled through her teeth, green bolts of electricity crackling from both of her saber blades. Vaylin’s features split into a sickening grin and she let loose another cackle as she set upon them again.

The Champion leapt to the side to avoid the broad swing of Vaylin’s lightsaber, frowning in thought as she noticed something. For all her talk, Vaylin’s saber movements were...choppy, at best. Kytra, too, narrowly avoided being sliced across the midsection, a low hiss slipping from between the Selonian’s teeth as she righted herself once more. Vaylin raised her free hand, bolts of bright blue electricity shooting out of her fingertips in time to meet the green from Aria’s lightsaber as she raised it to deflect the attack.
“You’re going to have to do better than that.” the Champion challenged, pivoting her feet back as she prepared to lock blades with Vaylin.

“I’m just getting started!” she retorted, instead of pushing forward with a saber attack as Aria had expected, Vaylin hung just out of her reach, stepping backwards each time the Qyaari tried to advance and continuing to throw various blasts of Force energy in their direction. By this time, Revan had regained his faculties enough to surge to his feet and join them, snarling.
“She’s not going to close with you, we have to go to her!”
What began next was a rather tedious game of cat and mouse, with the trio pressing forward as they attempted to fend off Vaylin, which proved a lot trickier in practise than it was in principle…
Revan was right about one thing, Vaylin was very much aware of her weakness and doing her utmost to avoid a saber duel with any of them, even Kytra, who lacked much of the experience of her fellows. Any moment that Aria or Kytra got too close, Vaylin would suddenly summon up an immensely powerful wave of Force energy and send them flying backwards again.

Aria lost count of the amount of times she connected with a railing, or a bulkhead, and on one occasion even Kytra, but she knew that almost every bone in her body HURT as a result of it. Vaylin’s power in the Force was...terrifying. The Champion quickly began to realise that although they had nearly double the numbers advantage in comparison to the two siblings, Revan and Meetra were the only two in the party who might have stood a chance at matching their power; the four Qyaari might as well have been newly-initiated acolytes trying in vain to throw pebbles at a Darth and hoping it would somehow save their life...

They were barely holding their ground against Vaylin, and across the room Yerbol, Ethan and Meetra seemed to be having an even worse time with Arcann, as evidenced by the flashes of pain Aria could feel from her partner through their Force bond.
“MEETRA!” Aria turned towards the other group upon hearing Revan’s shout in time to see the Exile impaled on Arcann’s saber. Aria wasn’t entirely sure how to react, but Revan...Revan was INCENSED. Before Arcann could bring his saber down towards Ethan, the leader of the Heralds had launched his own blade across the room to intercept it, taking off at a run towards the Eternal Emperor instead.

The pain she was feeling from Yerbol worried her enough, but it got even worse when suddenly, it just...stopped. All of it. She couldn’t feel anything from her partner anymore, and after many years of being used to some sort of residual signs of his Force signature being in the back of her mind, the silence was DEAFENING. The Champion’s grip on her sabers were white knuckled as she continued to parry lightning from Vaylin left and right. She desperately wanted to follow Revan and make sure Yerbol was okay, but she couldn’t leave Kytra to face Vaylin all by herself, her poor apprentice would be dead in under a minute.
As if in answer to the Champion’s silent prayer, another form suddenly appeared between the two Qyaari and Vaylin, for a moment Aria feared more of the Knights had come to their masters aid, until she noticed that the armour they wore wasn’t gold, but grey and off-blue...and strangely familiar even without seeing the Lorekeeper’s face since her back was to them.
“VANO?!” she gawked in surprise as the Mirialan threw out a hand to fling Vaylin backwards, “Wh-what…?!”
“No time,” Vano growled, her eye locked on Vaylin as she kept her hand extended to try and hold the madwoman in place where she stood, “Get going, quick, I can’t hold her long!”
Vaylin’s eyes widened too, though she soon barked out another cackle as she jolted herself free of Vano’s grip, landing on her hands and knees on the floor.
“Oh, this is interesting...! Did daddy send you, Wrath?” Vaylin cooed.
“That’s no concern of yours!” Vano snarled back at her, taking only one stride before she ended up almost face-to-face with her and managed to land a glancing blow onto Vaylin’s shoulder. With an enraged snarl, Vaylin lunged for the Mirialan, only to roar in fury as her saber whisked through empty air when Vano seemed to suddenly vanish yet again, popping up behind Vaylin for long enough to catch her attention and make her turn around.

The entire cat and mouse chase seemed to do nothing but infuriate Vaylin, who’s attention had thankfully now diverted from Aria and Kytra in favour of trying with all her might to land a powerful blow against the newest member of their party...to no avail, Vano never seemed to stay in one place for longer than a few seconds before she reappeared somewhere else with an alarming amount of precision. Upon first seeing her, Aria had felt concerned for the Lorekeeper’s safety...this fight was out of the depth of most of the Qyaari, even. But then, it had been years since Aria remembered seeing Vano fight, and it was easy to forget that the Mirialan had once been the Emperor’s Wrath - one of the greatest duelists that the Sith Empire had ever seen. If anyone could stand a chance at keeping Vaylin at bay, it was her.
“You’re spoiling my fun!!” Vaylin complained, flinging another bout of lightning and yet again, missing her target.

They weren’t going to win this. They had to leave, now. The angrier Vaylin got, the more power she was going to use, and if that happened Aria had the sinking suspicion that the crazy daughter of the Emperor could fry every person in this room to space dust without so much as batting an eyelid.
“Kytra, find Neta, get back to the shuttle we came on and get the engine running so we can get the FRACK out of here.”
The wide-eyed Selonian didn’t need to be told twice, squirreling up one of the support rails and onto the balcony above their heads (for it was the quickest way to get out of the room without opening the hermetically sealed door - for which they had no access codes) and racing out of sight in search of the spec ops pilot.
“NETA! NETA, WE’VE GOT A PROBLEM!” she screamed, hoping she’d be heard.

Aria quickly raced over to check on Ethan and Yerbol, fluttering between them anxiously while Revan kept Arcann occupied with a series of violent and successive saber strikes from any possible angle he could get to. Arcann managed to deflect them all, though he didn’t appear to be tiring in the slightest, thanks to whatever he’d managed to do to the other Force users.
“Are you alright? What HAPPENED, what in Force was that?! Come on, both of you, y-you gotta get up, w-we, we gotta go.” Aria urged them gently.

[RedeemedLight]

-A few minutes earlier-

"Access codes?" Neta scanned the terminal, noting that there were panels underneath each individual screen for probable maintenance. Tuning out the repeated request for non-existent codes, Neta squatted down before jamming her miniature vibroblade into a thin sliver of space that ran between the terminal she was trying to access and the adjacent one. With a couple of grunts and exerting pressure, the panel popped off, revealing a web of wires that snaked in every direction. Her eyes narrowed, summoning whatever knowledge she had about terminal systems to the fore of her mind.
"These wires head towards...the power...circuit..." Using her blade, she severed a few of the wires. noting that most of the terminals on this row went dark.
"Right, so this..." With a few more cuts, all the terminals on the bridge minus the one she was trying to access and the one on the center pedestal were dark, which bought her some time in case she had some unexpected visitors who tried to activate any defense systems. With that out of the way, she chewed on her lower lip, looking to the center console before turning back to her own terminal.
"Gotta be a way to get past needing codes." Just then, she heard Kytra's high-pitched screaming, the Selonian managing to stumble onto the darkened bridge.
"Kytra, here!" She waved Kytra over and got a very jumbled report on the happenings below, Neta touching the girl on her upper arm and squeezing gently before telling her:
"Not all the details now, honey. All you and I have to focus on is getting us all out of here safely." More chewing on her lower lip as she turned to the terminals. They had no time to find access codes nor try to decipher a way past them. At this point, their best option would be to...

Bantha in a karkin well.

She spun on her heel to Kytra, telling her:
"The ship hasn't left dock yet, see?" She pointed out the viewport, where Zakuul was still visible.
"The arrogant sons of Banthas didn't think we would survive long enough to set a contingency plan, but they left some of their munitions on board. There's an armory with just enough munitions to cause the life support systems on the ship to activate. We're planting charges in the bridge and the barracks, then setting them off. That should be cause for the ships A.I. to unlock all doors for evac and that's where we get off this hunk of metal and scurry back to our own transport." Not wanting to trip any silent alarms or defense mechanisms, she resisted the urge to shoot at the central terminal, instead telling Kytra:
"Come on; we have a ship to sabotage."

___

Ethan had braced for his inevitable death, but was saved by a well-timed saber throw and rush by Revan, who engaged the revamped Arcann in a series of strikes that were almost invisible. The power that Revan wielded was incalculable, awe-inspiring...
"Ethan..." Right, Yerbol.
"You alright, Yerbol?" The Champion shook his head, eyes fluttering as he looked around, the normal sparkle in his aqua colored eyes reduced to a faint ember that threatened to be stomped out.
"We need to go..." He muttered, collapsing against the wall, head back.
"Yerbol? What happened? What's..." The apprentice grabbed Yerbol's right shoulder and attempted to help straighten him up, Aria coming alongside and assisting in the endeavor, imploring them to leave.
"Ari...Ari I can't hear you." The Champion looked to his spouse, mouth slightly ajar.
"I can't...can't hear you. You're so far. You're all so far...far..." His eyes half-closed, stumbling forward. Ethan managed to catch him, slinging Yerbol's right arm over his shoulders.
"Believe me, I want to get out of here, but the doors! It would take hours to cut through them even with a saber and-" A screeching alarm shot through the ship, metallic commands issuing from the ceiling as the ship rocked violently:
"An emergency has been detected. Please vacate to the nearest emergency shuttle and await further instructions." Suddenly, the doors that once held them prisoner slid open quietly, revealing their path off the ship.

Arcann twirled his saber to block another blow, locking sabers with Revan as the crimson eye that stared the legend down mocked him, a snicker coming followed by a challenge:
"You came all this way to defeat me, Revan, yet even my son's weak frame is able to provide more than enough of a challenge for you." Arcann spun to his right, swinging at Revan's feet before rolling backward, smile creasing the visible cheek.
"Meetra's power is just the beginning, Revan. Soon you too will fuel the apex of my powers." A grimace replaced the smile as a siren blared through the ship.
"A meaningless distraction." Just then, the ship rocked to one side, the unexpected turbulence causing Arcann to falter in his stance for a millisecond, which would have given Revan a split second to take advantage of his enemy's weakness.

The woman named Vano was firmly engaged with Arcann's partner, which gave Ethan, Yerbol and Aria a window to escape.
"Aria, let's move!" He began to head towards the exit, Yerbol's limp body in tow.

_____

After setting off the appropriate charges, Neta had led Kytra back to the staging area they had emerged into when they first arrived, blaster cannon in hand that she had found among the grenades.
"Once they round the corner, cover me. I'm gonna keep lobbing shots at the bad guys until the others are clear, then we hightail it." She smirked.
"Pun somewhat intended."

[The Elvenqueen]

The bridge was dark when Kytra finally managed to find it, and the Selonian wasn’t sure whether this was a good or a bad sign. She stumbled, catching her foot on some console or other that she hadn’t been able to see, even with her species’ enhanced night vision. It was the panic, it scrambled her focus, made her clumsier. Kytra’s frantic babbling was abruptly cut off by Neta’s hand placed firmly on her forearm, the Qyaari apprentice’s voice immediately dying out as she stared at the pilot, wide-eyed, but thankfully seemed to possess enough of her faculties to take in Neta’s words and give a shaky nod of agreement.

Kytra had no idea how to set explosive charges herself, or if this plan was even going to work, but she trusted Neta’s expertise..and if they didn’t TRY then they were all going to die here ANYWAY, so it was worth a shot.
“A-Alright. Tell me what you need me to do and I can do it.”
________________________

Aria kept her hand braced firmly on Yerbol’s left shoulder as she helped Ethan to hoist the Champion up once more, shushing him frantically in her best attempts to comfort him, and avoid sending either of them into a panic that could cost them their lives.
“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay. Bol, I’m here. I’m right here.” she promised, though she knew her spouse’s words were not meant in the literal sense at all, but from within the Force. She knew what he meant, because she couldn’t hear him anymore either. And it scared her. They didn’t have time to pinpoint the specifics now. They needed to RUN. Ethan presented a very logical observation about the obstacles barring them from that course of action, but before Aria could open her mouth to snap another rhetoric at the Qyaari apprentice, she was cut off by the loud blaring of the siren now wailing through the entire ship. There was only one explanation for this, and it might have just saved their lives.
“...Neta.” the Champion huffed softly under her breath, looking over her shoulder to catch another glimpse of Revan, who still had his blade locked with Arcann’s, his face twisted into an angry snarl.

“Soon you too will fuel the apex of my powers.”
The all-too-familiar sneer made Revan’s eyes widen slightly. He had long suspected this, but that voice...it was the first confirmation he’d received that he had been RIGHT.
I KNEW it was you, you bastard. The siren cut him off initially, and provided a very welcome advantage for Revan to take back control of the situation. He wouldn’t waste it.
“I will fucking END YOU before you ever get the chance!” the leader of the Heralds snarled with venom in his voice, disengaging his saber from Arcann’s and in that very same instant thrusting out a hand to blast the Eternal Emperor backwards into the bulkhead with a mixed charge of lightning and Force energy emitted by his palm.
“VA, REVAN!” he heard Aria scream for them and turned in time to see her and Ethan supporting Yerbol as they fled through the now open doors. Revan spat angrily, every fiber of his being wanted to end this, right here, right now. Make him pay for all the deaths he had caused. ESPECIALLY Meetra’s. But Revan knew it would take more than the strength he had on his own, and Yerbol had been wounded enough already. Perhaps the others do. With one final, angry growl under his breath, the leader of the Heralds took off after the rest of their group.

Vano took a few seconds longer to respond to the request, but still managed to catch Vaylin off-guard as she stumbled and lost her footing when the ship rocked. She was a lot faster than Vaylin, and able to gather her footing way quicker than the other woman, quick enough to seize her with the Force and fling her right into Arcann just as the Emperor attempted to stagger back to his feet. The impact sent both of them tumbling off balance again, and left Vano the opening she needed to dart out of the room after the others.

Kytra and Neta had barely made it up the loading ramp of the shuttle before the rest of their party quickly thundered up after them.
“Where’s Meetra?!” Neta hollered, only for Revan to yell back.
“She’s dead! Arcann killed her! GET US OUT OF HERE!”
The entire shuttle was in chaos, organised chaos of course, as Neta and Ethan quickly situated themselves in the piloting seats and got the craft out of the dock and shooting out of the wide-open hangar doors, but chaos nonetheless. While their pilots precariously navigated around the tower buildings equipped with defence turrets, Ethan managed to help Yerbol into one of the seats and allow the Champion to fall down into it.

“Va!” Aria wanted to check on her spouse, but first, there was something she had to clear up. As the Mirialan attempted to brush past her, the smaller Champion lashed out and grabbed hold of her friend’s wrist. “How did you find us?”
The Qyaari Lorekeeper stopped in her tracks, her brows pulling together in a frown as she jerked herself out of Aria’s grip.
“What do you mean?! We sent you here. I decoded the coordinates.”
Aria’s stomach twisted into an uncomfortable knot. Was her oldest friend LYING to her? Or had she just...forgotten something? It HAD been quite a while since they’d left Qyaari space...
“Yes, but for Lehon.” she reminded Vano. “Not here. It took us like, three months to get from there to Revan’s planet; and then HE brought us HERE.”
“I just...figured it out.” Vano responded with an evasive shrug and refused to meet the Champion’s gaze for a moment as she asked: “Does it matter? Saved your asses, didn’t I?” the Lorekeeper gave a sarcastic snort, adding. “You’re all bloody welcome, by the way.”
“Well, yeah, but it doesn’t-”
This time, Vano’s head whipped around to face her again, her remaining eye narrowing as she hissed.
“DROP IT, Aria.”
Out of instinct, the Champion flinched backwards a few paces, narrowing her eyes suspiciously back at the Mirialan, though out loud she muttered. “...alright.” and turned to cross back to where Ethan and Yerbol were sitting. As she dropped into a seat beside her husband, she caught Revan’s eye and noticed him studying their “rescuer” with the same amount of wariness she felt herself.

________________

-Back on Odessa-

The moment they had put down on Odessa, Ethan, Kytra and Vano helped Yerbol down the loading ramp and into the improvised medbay the Heralds had constructed, but before she could follow them Aria felt a hand close around her shoulder, pulling her to one side into the shadows cast by the craft’s wings.
“A friend of yours?” Revan asked as she turned to face him, nodding at Vano’s retreating back before the group disappeared out of sight into the structure of the base.
“Y-Yes...she’s the Qyaari Lorekeeper.” Aria answered straight away, trying her best to keep her voice steady despite her trepidations.
“And when you were Sith?” Revan barely gave her time to breathe before he was pressing for the next answer. This time, Aria was quiet. Should she tell him, COULD she? “Don’t try and lie to me, kid.” Revan growled sternly.
Aria grimaced uncomfortably, and quickly spat the required information out so as to not end up on the bad side of a Galactic legend who was well-known for destroying things (and people) that made him angry.
“Th-The Wrath.”

Understandably, Revan was none too pleased with her response, spinning around on his heels to glare at the hull of the shuttle as he let out another agitated growl under his breath. “She’s a good person!” Aria quickly insisted, though her voice sounded feeble and unconvincing instead of the firm assurance she had meant it to be in her head.
Revan looked over his shoulder at her skeptically, brows raised.
“Do you trust her?”
This time, Aria hesitated. And she hated herself for it. She should have said “yes”, straight away, she KNEW she should have. Vano was her oldest friend, she’d known her for twenty one years of her life, and for all of those years they’d stuck by each other, helped each other. And yet...there was something so very WRONG about Vano, even if Aria couldn’t put her finger on it.
“...I don’t know.” she admitted, shoulders sagging.
“That’s what I was afraid of.” Revan sighed, brushing past her to follow the rest of their party into the complex once more.

Aria accompanied Revan to the medbay to visit Yerbol, the shorter Champion now settled in a chair beside the gurney he was sitting on, her hand perched on his knee to provide some form of comfort while Revan began asking the wounded Champion some questions about what had occurred during the confrontation with Arcann...or rather, the aftermath which Yerbol was currently experiencing.
“What do you think is wrong with him?” Aria asked, chewing her lip.
“We’re going to find out.” Revan retorted, dropping a small weight - one that should have been easy to lift for one as well-practised as the Champion - onto the gurney beside Yerbol. “Can you lift this?”
Yerbol responded with a tired frown, his eyes travelling across to Aria dully for a moment. She did her best to smile encouragingly at him, nodding towards it gently.
Revan held out a hand quickly when Yerbol leaned forward to reach towards it instinctively, cutting him off with. “Not with your hands, kid.”
“Y-You don’t think that he-”
“Hush.” Revan quieted Aria as well. “Quiet. Let him concentrate.”

[RedeemedLight]

The emboldened group of Force users were reduced to fleeing for their lives from the menace they had faced around the corner. Whatever they had seen, their jerky movements, frenzied eyes and elevated voices conveyed a story that Neta would have to inquire about when they were in safer territory. They would need to hoof it back to their shuttle in one piece, which thankfully Big Red (Yuno) was in charge of, Neta easily following the party by way of his massive frame sticking out at least a foot above the others. He was intensely focused straight ahead, saber forward, which the spec ops officer thought nothing of at the time; however, if she had known the heartache that the Sith was experiencing at failing his Master at the most critical time in the Herald's existence, she would have understood that he was a squad of droids away from snapping completely. Thankfully, there was no resistance to their escape shuttle, Neta barking at Ethan:
"Bump over, sweetheart! You're on support!" Ethan opened his mouth to argue, but the glare that Neta shot his way was more than enough for the aspiring Champion to scour the controls, flicking switches and ensuring that all systems were in place. As they shot out of the hangar and into the atmosphere, Neta scowled.
"Anti Air cannons below! Strap in! Ethan, get the shields up now!"
"Diverting fr-"
"DON'T DIVERT, YOU NERF-HERDER! I NEED THOSE THRUSTERS! JUST GET THE SHIELDS UP NOW!" If Yerbol had been even the slightest bit conscious, he would have had to suppress a chuckle; it had been a few years since he had heard General Orso bark orders like she just did when they were first teamed up against Bracknell and his Alliance, but for Ethan, it was his first experience, which translated to a simple "Yes ma'am!" and compliance. The shuttle flitted between bolts of plasma as Neta circumvented the shots by weaving through some of the taller buildings they had seen the foundations of just a few minutes ago before initiating a hard climb into the upper layers of the atmosphere, unconsciously holding her breath until they were out of planetary range. The codes that they used earlier to get past the initial defenses of the planet were void, which meant there was a bit more acrobatics needed to get around the smaller defense droids that picked up their signal, but Neta managed to scoot past them by dodging around a few chunks of debris that the droids collided into. Once the last of the droids were defeated, Neta slumped in her chair as she set course for Odessa, looking to her co-pilot with a wry grin.
"Not bad, huh? Should've seen me back in my heyday."
"Wait, this ISN'T your heyday?" With a wink, she turned her attention back to the viewport, where Odessa was coming up quickly.
"ETA for landing in fifteen. The big guy ok?" She didn't get much of a response from either Champion, prompting a frown. Instead of prying, she guided the shuttle down towards the encampment, landing in a clearing about a hundred yards away. The party filtered out, leaving Neta and Ethan as the last to depart, which allowed Neta to ask the apprentice:
"Kid, what happened in there?" Ethan ran both hands through his shock of chestnut colored hair, looking to the pilot with weary eyes.
"All I know is that there are some dangerous people here. People who want to see us dead."
"That's not new."
"No, no, Neta, this isn't...this isn't like anything you've seen, anything any of us have seen except for Revan and even he was struggling with whatever...'they' were." Lost for words, Ethan's forlorn eyes darted from the pilot's soft green irises to the bunker they had been led to when they first arrived on Odessa.
"I gotta just go. Go somewhere and just think."
"Hey, Ethan, you going to be ok?"

Silence.

___

Yuno stood grimly in the doorway, his massive frame nearly obstructing the view from both the occupants of the room and any potential onlookers, eyes intently focused on his Master, who had just entered the room where Yerbol lay, his spouse beside him. The tendrils on his chin twitched and squirmed, the Sith attempting to suppress the sinking feeling of absolute failure that threatened to swallow him alive. They had arrived on the ship and he accompanied the others into that room, but when Arcann stared them down, him down, he could hear the screams all over again, the anguish that was never-ending from he and the others, crawling inside of him, down his spine, into his bones. He had been rooted to the spot, then was knocked over by a blast of concussive energy from Arcann and only regained consciousness when sirens alerted them of Netanya's cunning ploy. He hadn't said a word to his Master since they had reunited in the land of the living, although he knew that Revan already was aware of what had occurred. He would ensure that the next time they faced Arcann and the demon that lived inside of him, he would be ready. No matter the cost.

"Too much." Yerbol scrunched his forehead, brow furrowed, right hand unclenched as he tried to direct the Force towards the weight Revan had dropped in front of him to no avail. He threw himself against the elevated upper half of the rickety gurney he was on, swearing loudly as he cast desperately befuddled eyes at the former Sith Lord.
"So he did do it, didn't he? I could just..." He looked to Aria, shaking his head as he clenched the hand that she had laid on his knee.
"Those wounds from Illesia, do you remember? How she had temporarily somehow disrupted my connection to the Force? Arcann must have seen that there was a weakness there and exploited it and..." For the first time in a very, very long time, the Champion's shoulders sagged in utter defeat.
"I can't hear you anymore, baby. I can't...I can't hear you and there's...nothing I can do." He cast his eyes up at the ceiling, jaw clenching.
"To think that our bond, that my connection to the Force could be destroyed so easily...am I that weak?"
"No." Yuno's gravelly voice interjected, casting his gaze onto Yerbol as he continued, hoping that Revan wouldn't chide him for speaking out of turn:
"Our enemy is just that strong. Believe me when I say that the man known as Arcann is gone, replaced by a being that has power beyond our imagination. It is the same being that inspired Master Revan to create the Heralds, an order dedicated to thwarting this one threat."
"Who is he? This 'being'? And how can I get back to normal? This feeling of, what, vacuum? Emptiness? It's karking numbing." His eyes moved from the imposing Sith to Revan.
"So what happened to me, Revan? And who is this being? How can we stop him?"

[The Elvenqueen]

"I can't hear you and there's...nothing I can do." Hearing the defeat in her spouse's voice hurt Aria. She had no idea how to help him, but she didn't want to simply do NOTHING either.
“Shhh, shhh, it’s not your fault.” she murmured soothingly, reaching out to take his hand in hers. “I know, it’s not your fault.”
“Yuno’s right,” Revan chipped in, though his brows were pinched with worry, “The kind of strength he possesses, there was no way you could have fought him off, Yerbol.”
Aria hadn’t wanted to admit it, because it made the whole process sound so terrifyingly final, but she had to KNOW; so while her mind tried to put the pieces together, out loud she croaked a shaky question,
“S-So his connection to the Force is…” she didn’t really need to finish it for Revan and Yuno to know what the question was meant to be, the Champion’s voice cracked as she instead finished with: “It-It’s temporary...right? I-It’ll, come back…?”

Revan said nothing. And Aria’s heart sank. “R-Revan?!”

The Heralds’ leader was unnervingly silent for a few more minutes, before knitting his fingers together and muttering severely. “I don’t know.” he sighed deeply, rubbing his face with his hands. “Meetra and I managed it, but we both had help from someone else who was strong in the Force. I could...we could TRY and help him.” he glanced at Yuno warily, then looked back at the two Qyaari. “But I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to restore ANY of it.”
At Yerbol’s question, Revan fell quiet again as he picked his words with care, not wanting to upset either of them any further. Though she was trying her best to hide it, he could feel the anger rolling off Aria in waves, and he hated to think what sort of stupid thing she might do if she didn’t take his explanation well.

“I believe the name that he used when he was with the Sith was “Vitiate”, but as far as we’re aware, his “true” name is Valkorion. He used to rule over the Sith, but after a run in with the Jedi he retreated here, back to Wild Space.”
“But...the Jedi killed him?” Aria frowned in confusion. “Kira said Voldon-”
“They killed his BODY, yes.” Revan interjected. “Didn’t kill HIM.” from the looks the two Champions gave him, Revan could tell he’d have to elaborate further. “Valkorion studied a very old Force technique, possibly similar to the one Renso used to stay alive as long as he did, only the difference is Renso drew on the Force itself, and he never took more than he NEEDED, Valkorion...developed the ability to take what he wanted from OTHER Force users, against their will, if necessary. And in excess, sometimes enough to cut off their connection with the Force entirely. He’s drained entire planets of their life force before…” Revan steepled his fingers together, his eyes darkening the more he continued to explain to them. “Since your friend Voldon defeated him he’s been here, this whole time. With his children, Arcann and Vaylin, the two we fought today. Training them up so he can use them as...vessels, I suppose. I suspect he wants another physical body to rejoin our world so he can continue to try and pin the galaxy beneath his fist. His old plans didn’t work so well, not after Renso and his followers took apart the Jedi and Sith Orders and caused the other war that you all fought in.”

The Heralds’ leader sighed, turning his head away from them for a moment as he growled. “I thought Meetra and I could stop him, if we trained enough...if we had enough apprentices. I guess I was wrong. This is...going to take a lot more thought than I anticipated.”
“So his power comes from other Force sensitives?” Aria frowned.
“In a...manner of speaking, yes.” Yuno rumbled warily, looking back across to his master once more. When Revan gave him a nod of confirmation, the True Sith continued with his explanation. “During our time and our studies here, Master Revan has discovered that he’s able to switch bodies, in some respects. When one body becomes too weak, when he’s taken all he can from it, he moves on to the next host, and so on. This is why the Jedi had never managed to fell him, and why no individual within the Sith Empire could ever say they knew what he looked like.”

The more she took in their words, the more Aria’s gut twisted.
Karkin’ hell...how are we gonna beat THIS? The Emperor had always been a sort of ethereal figure amongst the Sith and army officials alike, but to hear that he’d been using them as some sort of disposable power generator all this time...not only that, but as his Wrath, it was reasonable to infer that Vano had KNOWN this all along, and NEVER TOLD HER.
She threw a helpless glance across at her spouse, before shakily getting to her feet and muttering. “I-I need some air. Excuse me.”
Revan made no move to stop the shorter Champion as she brushed past him and hastily left the compound, shaking his head slightly at Yuno to prevent his apprentice from following her. She needed time alone to think, clearly. Looking back at Yerbol, he sighed once again.
“We’ll fix this, Yerbol…” he promised, “I don’t know HOW yet, but we’ll find a way. I promise.”

_____________________

-An hour or so later-

When she had initially left the Heralds’ compound, Aria had intended to seek out the Mirialan and demand to know the truth, but this plan was interrupted by the fact that no matter where she looked, she couldn’t seem to find Vano anywhere. That in and of itself would have been unsettling, if she wasn’t so karkin’ ANGRY about it. Eventually, she was forced to abandon her search in favour of finding a secluded, quiet spot where she could let off some of her steam without hurting anyone else.

By the time Revan found her, the charred tree trunks within the radius of where the Champion was sitting on her haunches, coupled with the swirling vortex of green lightning that had manifested around her, were pretty clear indications of why she’d left so suddenly.
“Don’t get too close. It’s volatile when I’m angry.” she warned the leader of the Heralds as she heard his approaching footsteps.
“So I can see.” Revan answered with a humorless chuckle, skirting around the Champion with a wide enough berth to avoid the tendrils of electricity that still flowed from her in waves. “You know you shouldn’t be hitting the poor trees, it’s not their fault.”

His attempt at humour didn’t go down very well, Aria simply cracking open an eye to scowl at him wordlessly.
“You alright, kid?” Revan asked more gently after a few more minutes of tense silence, settling opposite her.
“No.” she hissed through her teeth. “I’m karkin’ PISSED OFF.”
“That part was pretty obvious.” once again, the trees were indicated.
“I’m so used to him being there, in my head, and now he’s not and I-”
“I know.” Revan smiled sadly. “I still miss hearing Bastila, too, even after all these years.” his gaze cast up to the sky for a moment, “I don’t know how to fix this, and I won’t lie to you and say that I CAN. But I’ll promise you that I can TRY.”
“I hate this!” Aria choked out, her voice finally cracking. With a flick of the Champion’s wrist, the bolts dissipated into thin air, leaving only the static in the air as a reminder that they’d been there at all.
“I know.” Revan repeated again.
“Do you...really think Vano’s involved in this, somehow?” Aria asked him slowly. “With HIM?”

She dreaded his answer. She desperately wanted him to say “No, of COURSE not!”, but she knew he wouldn’t.

“I don’t want to assume.” Revan huffed out a breath, his shoulders sagging slightly. “But I have a bad feeling. How else could she just...show up, and know where you were, if she didn’t have the information from the Star Maps?”
“...Me too.” the Champion sighed. “Me too…”
“Try not to worry about it.” the Heralds’ leader gave her the most comforting smile he could muster, leaning across to put a hand on her shoulder gently. “You worry about your man, Yuno and I will worry about your friend. I’ll get him to tail her, keep an eye on things.”
Dusting off his robe as he stood up, Revan indicated back to the compound over his shoulder. “Now come on, let’s get you back in there before Yerbol starts worrying about you, that’s not going to help him get better.”
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Revan was right. She’d have to just...try and trust them, Aria decided as she trailed after the galactic hero to head back inside.

[RedeemedLight]

Aria left suddenly from the room, claiming she needed air when Yerbol knew his wife was bound to escape into the nearby wilderness. He hoped that she wouldn't get far enough away to where she couldn't make it back. A minute concern, yes, but now without any way to reach out to her, small, trifling worries that he dismissed under normal circumstances loomed large in his Force-stripped mind. He nodded at Revan's assertion that they would indeed "fix" whatever had happened to him, like he was one of the many droids that they had fought on Zakuul. Was that what the Force boiled down to? A component that could be taken out and reinserted as needed? His dealing with Illesia had shown him that one's connection to the Force could be altered, but with enough training, meditation and guidance, one could be restored to the Force. This vacuum of emptiness inside of him was completely different, potentially "unfixable' to use Revan's terminology.
"She'll be fine." He looked between the duo, sitting up stiffer only to wince at a shooting pain that cascaded down his ribs.
"Needs to probably process everything that's happened. Just like I need to." Blowing out a sigh, his shoulders slumped forward, eyes cast on the weight Revan had laid on a nearby end table.
"Of course." Yuno looked to his Master with a knowing glance, telling him:
"Master, I will await your return in the Meeting area. I believe that my research in this matter can finally be acted upon to defeat Vitiate. I shall summon a few others who can aid me in constructing what I believe might be a potential solution for Yerbol as well." With a nod, the Sith swept out of the room, stride hastily foreboding. Revan followed him, leaving the Champion alone with his thoughts. When he had a moment of solace such as the one granted to him now, he would try to slip into a meditative state, attune himself with the Force. Maybe if he tried...

He closed his eyes, taking deep, meaningful breaths. Yerbol could feel himself sinking deeper into the cot, almost as if he could slip through the furniture, into the planet's core, into-

He was brought back into the realm of consciousness by very concerned green eyes who was examining him closely.
"Was I..."
"Asleep? I think so. Muttered a bit when I was sitting here, eyes closed. Were you expecting something else?" Swearing under his breath, he sat up, prompting yet another swear as the familiar rib pain greeted him.
"I was trying to meditate."
"Doesn't meditation normally look like sleep to us 'normal' folk?" He shot her a sideways glance, responding:
"Meditation when connected to the Force is a...surreal experience. One that isn't just resting the eyes for a nap." His tone was sharper than normal, softening slightly as he told her:
"I hate this, Neta."
"I know you do. Everything you've ever known just got suddenly, inexplicably ripped away from you. Got nothing except anger, desperation and hopelessness churning inside your gut...or something like that, right?" A half-hearted nod.
"Figured. Never had the Force myself, but...wait, did I ever tell you about the time I was a galactic fugitive? No?" Yerbol turned to face the pilot, his brow furrowed.
"I mean, Roan described you as a freelance mercenary that was former spec ops, but..."
"Ever wonder how I became 'former' spec ops?" In their entire relationship, not once did Yerbol question that label. Odd. He did remember something about a retirement...
"Didn't you just decide to retire?" The pilot snorted a chuckle, leaning back in the creaky wooden chair Aria had occupied before she left.
"Wish it had been that easy. Nope. Long story short, I was sent to a planet for a simple pop and lock."
"Pop and lock?" She chuckled again.
"Slang for retrieving an asset or cargo that the Republic wanted, then shutting down whatever or whoever would go after it. Anyway, I get deployed with my team and, come to find out, the 'asset' the Republic wanted was a team of Imperial scientists who were doing work on some mega-weapon. Problem was, these scientists hadn't contacted the Republic."
"You were sent in to kidnap them?"
"That's the long and short of it, yeah. Had a bad feeling about that op from the start, but no love lost for the Imperials, right?" She started twirling the ends of her hair, crimson locks wrapped around her index finger as she continued:
"We get to the planet, some backwater hole. Sneak through the security detail, get to the scientists in the base. About ready to tranq them with sedative when one of them sees us, panics, reaches under his lab coat. One of my squad is itchy, decides to shoot first. Sets off alarms, scientists are armed (of course), which means we scrap this thing and get outta there." A light sigh.
"Security detail we got by storm in, we get in a firefight. I manage to get a smoke grenade off, one team member and I sprinting back to our ship. Hit the ground with five of us, two leave alive. When we got back to base, Republic SIS commander brought us into her office and chewed us out for such a 'botched' operation. Apparently the Imperials found out about our failed kidnapping, wanted some kind of recompense in return or they were going to blow the whole thing up, which would have violated one of the five million temporary 'treaties of peace' we had entered into. Had two choices: get throw into prison by the Republic for life or allow myself to be surrendered to the Empire as a political POW."
"Both those options sound terrible."
"I thought so, too. Chose the second option to buy myself some time. Once they threw me in a holding cell, I broke out with a little help from a guard I knew and didn't look back. Had a few safehouses I could go to, raid supplies and then...well, I said 'kark it' and went freelance. If my government wanted to give me up over their screw up, then why should I be loyal to them, let alone submit to the Empire?" A snort.
"So then I get branded a fugitive by the Republic AND the Empire, which is probably why I got so many calls from the Sith to do their dirty work. Transporting prisoners, Dark Council members and the like along with security. I was an expendable cog that they could throw away, a gun without a purpose." She sat forward now, half-smiling as she took one of Yerbol's hands in hers.
"But what I had to do, Yerbol, was adapt. I knew that my entire life, my purpose had been stripped from me. I could have sat there, pouted and sulked, but that would have gotten me killed; instead, I chose to adapt, to embrace the discomfort I was experiencing. Yeah, it's terrible that this happened to you and I hurt for you, I really do, but you gotta do something to help take down this...guy, thing, whatever you're trying to kill this time."
"Ancient Sith entity..." Yerbol mumbled.
"Right, sure, whatever. Point is, you can STILL help, even without the Force."
"How?"
"Well, you know how to use a blaster, right? And you're not a total moron when it comes to hand-to hand combat. Combine those two things along with some tutoring from me and you get to be a part of an infiltration team to take down...something. I can almost guarantee that we'll be asked to do something important to help and you, Champion, need to be ready to answer the call. Just like you always have." She gave his hand a squeeze.
"I believe in you, kid. I always have."
"Always?" She smirked.
"Ok, not ALWAYS. I mean, come on, the first time we met? Really? Some wide-eyed Jedi from Taris who was an emotional powder-keg?"
"Powder-keg is a bit of hyperbole." They shared a laugh, Neta withdrawing her hand as she rose just in time for Yuno to appear with Desun and Kyla behind him.
"We would like for you to join us in the Meeting area. There is much to discuss." Neta quickly looked to Yerbol with a trademark glint in her eye.
"What'd I tell ya?"

___

The Meeting area was the same room the Qyaari party had met Revan for the first time, although now in the middle of the room/area was a square shaped table that had holographic images of planets and datapoints plotted on those planets suspended right above it. The others had assembled around the table when Yerbol and Neta arrived, the Champion spotting his wife before sidling next to her, a hand planted on the small of her back as he looked down with a small smile. While this was not the time to be dwelling on such things, but when her dark, full eyes met his, there was a very big temptation to scoop her up in his arms and kiss her with a kind of passion that he didn't think possible without the Force. That, he felt, was an encouraging sign: their marriage wasn't based solely on their bond...or at least he hoped that was a sign.

He pushed aside the train of thought as Yuno spoke:
"Master Revan has allowed the Heralds to scout this part of the galaxy in search of ways to banish Vitiate completely."
"Uh, Yuno..." Ethan raised a hand meekly as he asked:
"Did you just say 'banish'? As in, make him 'not exist' any longer?" The Sith nodded.
"Indeed. Vitiate's existence has been embedded in the Force for so long that there is no conventional way to 'kill' him. We must, quite literally, excise him from this plane of existence." Ethan's brow shot up.
"To continue, what you see before you are three planets that Desun, Kyla and I have scouted as best as possible while avoiding detection from the Eternal Throne. These three locations were discovered through many an expedition to various moons surrounding them. True Sith artifacts, records and holo-logs were examined from these moons, the data extracted pointing to these planets as being extremely important."
"How so?" Yerbol's question was answered by Kyla, her light, airy voice responding:
"Each planet holds a very specific weapon created by the True Sith masters thousands of years ago. Each weapon has the ability to absorb one's Force energy."
"That's some crazy bantha sh-" Neta silenced the boy with a firm nudge as Desun picked up where his sister left off:
"The True Sith masters seemed to believe that these weapons would serve as a countermeasure to any one master throwing off the balance of the Force. In short, if one master became greedy for power, the others would retrieve the weapons and use them on the power-hungry individual." Yuno wrapped up the exposition:
"Force crystals are embedded in the hilt of each weapon that can store energy. How much is uncertain, but what we speculate is that if we use these three weapons against Vitiate, they can weaken him enough to where we can defeat him once and for all."
"But couldn't Vitiate remove himself from Arcann's body?"
"Not if he's weakened. Vitiate feeds on his host's Force energy. If the host is drained, then Vitiate will lose a valuable power source. We use these weapons, we have a chance."

[The Elvenqueen]

Aria accompanied Revan to the same room where they’d first met the galactic legend upon arriving in this portion of the Unknown Regions. The Champion found herself a place around the table as Yuno called up the holograms of the planets and all their associated datapoints, taking some time of her own to examine the information in front of them whilst they waited for Neta and Yerbol to join them again so that Revan and the Heralds could go over the plan they’d come up with. Yuno and Revan both looked up as the doors behind her slid open and the twins who had first led the Qyaari party to the compound filed in, followed closely by Neta and Yerbol, who immediately came to stand by her side and placed an arm around her. Out of instinct, Aria went to reach out to him through the Force as they had always done, but quickly remembered that the bond was no longer there and so instead, the smaller Champion leaned back into his touch briefly, tilting her head up to meet his smile with one of her own. It was the best non-verbal reassurance she could give him with their bond no longer being existent, but she was immensely relieved to find that it might be enough for now, if his expression was anything to go by. She wanted to say something more, but Aria reluctantly had to shelf that for later and return her attention to the Heralds as they began to explain the plan to those who were assembled.

The party listened in silence to the explanations offered by Yuno, Desun and Kyla, though naturally Kytra frowned at the last assurances and had another question to offer in supplement to the one which had come before it.
“And you’re SURE he couldn’t just leave Arcann’s body, what’s to stop him from jumping from Arcann to Vaylin, or Force forbid, one of US?” she gestured around the room at the Heralds and Qyaari who were present, the Selonian’s fur prickling with noticeable worry.
“He won’t.” Revan assured firmly with a shake of his head, providing some further clarification for the group. “Yuno and the twins are right...with these weapons, it SHOULD work. Kind of like a power circuit. Valkorion drains Force power from others - people, creatures, planets, absolutely anything he can get his hands on - in order to fuel his own. If you take some of that power away...he won’t be strong enough to maintain a connection to an outside source, meaning he won’t have the strength to switch from Arcann’s body to another person’s.”

Or...so they hoped. Aria didn’t say it out loud, but she was thinking it.

“That’s only WEAKENING him, though.” The Heralds’ leader clarified, his eyes travelling from one member of the party to the next as he continued: “If we want to KILL him once and for all, that means we’re going to need all three. Again, like a power circuit, you can kill the main generator, but unless you kill the back-ups as well then power COULD still be restored. If any of us are going to be strong enough to end him, it’ll take all three of these weapons to do it.”

Kytra’s ears flattened uneasily against her skull.
“So...we’re going to have to split up?” she queried slowly.
“Yes, we will.” Revan answered with a nod. “There’s no way to do this efficiently without splitting us up, I’m afraid. All of us going after each weapon will take far too long and we run the risk of Arcann and Vaylin coming after us again.”
“But...splitting up is gonna make it more dangerous, right?” Kytra pressed.
“Potentially.”
“Not if we’re in small groups.” Aria interjected quickly, hoping to cut off any potential panicking from her apprentice before it started.
“ - Exactly.” Revan finished, looking between them as he listed off each of their names. “The idea is to stay in threes, that way everyone has some sort of backup; so, Aria, you, Kytra and Ethan will look for the weapon here.” the Heralds’ leader raised a hand to point out the hologram on the right of the display. “The atmosphere seems pretty standard, from what Yuno has managed to dig up in the True Sith records, but there’s a LOT of surface water to work around, I don’t know whether you’ll have to dive for it, but be prepared just in case.”
“I hate water-” Kytra complained softly under her breath, but abruptly silenced any further protest after another piercing scowl from her mentor.
“We’ll be ready.” Aria promised.
“Yuno and I will take your friend--”
“Vano.” the Mirialan huffed softly.
“--Vano, right, sorry.” Revan muttered a quick apology, “And go after the other two.”

There were a few tidbits provided about the other two locations, as well as an exchange of more questions between Revan, Vano and Ethan, but Aria wasn’t paying much attention to those admittedly.
“What about Yerbol?” she interjected, noting how Revan had conveniently left her spouse out of both strike teams. Logically, she could understand why of course, but that didn’t mean she could simply overlook him in the same way. He was still more than capable of doing SOMETHING to help them, even without the Force. Neta, who had been quietly taking in the plan of action up until this point, spoke up once more.
“Well, if you’re still worried about these guys coming after you...why don’t we disrupt any and every comm system of this Eternal Empire that we can? Flood the channels with white noise and they won’t be able to run scans, give orders and so forth. I could use a hand with that.”
“That’s a...very good idea, actually.” Revan mused, nodding as he looked to the other Champion this time. “So Yerbol, you and Neta do everything you can to keep them off us.”
“We’ll do our best.” the former spec-ops pilot promised.
“Alright, then. We move out in an hour.” Revan declared, “Make sure you’re ready.”

Most of the party members filed out of the room after the dismissal, moving off to prepare themselves in whatever way they saw fit for the tasks at hand. Neta paused briefly to place a reassuring hand on Yerbol’s shoulder, flashing Aria a knowing look before she followed after the rest of the crowd, leaving the two Champions alone for a brief moment. Aria let out a shaky breath, turning to take a step closer to her spouse and embrace him tightly for a moment.
“It’s gonna be okay.” she murmured into his chest, “Everything’s gonna be okay...I’m here. I’ve got you.”
She knew she’d have to let him go eventually, but until that moment came, she didn’t really want to. Bad things always happened when they were apart, and even if Aria knew this was the RIGHT way to plan things...it didn’t mean she had to LIKE it.
“...You be careful out there, Ari.” Yerbol’s voice wobbled just as much as her own, and the shorter Champion could only cough out a laugh in response.
“I-I will, I promise. You and Neta take care of each other...just like old times.” maybe that would help...thinking of it as a re-run of the old days, with Neta and the two of them and her father at the other end of the line barking angrily about what a bad influence Yerbol was on his daughter…

Aria had to cut off that train of thought before the tears threatened to well up again, she released her grip on her spouse only to stretch up to cradle his face in her hands tenderly instead, muttering tearfully. “I’ll be back soon.” She couldn’t promise that, really, though, she knew she couldn’t. None of them knew what was going to happen once they left, what Arcann and the Emperor who possessed him were capable of...but she wanted to. So badly, she wanted to assure him that this was temporary, it would be over soon and everything would be back to normal…
Instead, she had to settle for a better set of words, words they both knew would always be true regardless of the outcome of this plan:
“I love you. And I ALWAYS will; no matter what happens, I need you to remember that. And I’ll fight like HELL to come back to you.”

[RedeemedLight]

Yerbol felt a jolt of annoyance cross his mind as plans were made to retrieve these artifacts of ancient Sith legend. He was supposed to be one of those strike teams, at least in some capacity; instead, he was sidelined while the fate of potentially the entire universe was going to be decided. It was aggravating, to say the least.

If Aria had managed to read his emotional state or not, he was both mildly embarrassed and relieved to hear her ask about what his fate would be in the plans that had been drawn up. While he didn't necessarily enjoy the idea of Aria having to come to his defense (in his already weakened position), he was grateful that she probably knew that he needed her to speak up at this moment. Neta's suggestion to disrupt communications made sense, albeit Yerbol was skeptical about how much of an impact they could make in an entirely unknown region of the galaxy. It was still better than sitting planetside and pacing the jungle hoping for the Force to somehow magically be infused into his system again. Somehow.

When the party members left, Aria threw her arms around him, Yerbol gently smiling as he planted a kiss on her head, returning the gesture with a slight laugh when she told him that everything was going to be ok.
"I really, really hope so." A warble of doubt crept into his voice as he told her to be careful, the full realization of not being within a thought's distance of Aria sinking in. It was, in a word, horrifying.
"You won't have to really worry about us. I'm fairly certain that she'll do most of the smooth-talking. I'll just whop people on the head with a vibroblade. It'll be great." The false bravado was a terrible facade, one that he knew Aria would see through in a matter of milliseconds.

Her hands traced over his cheeks, Yerbol taking a hand and kissing the interior of it as he nodded, eyes beginning to water slightly as he responded:
"I know. If something that our adventures have taught us, it's that whatever happens, we'll somehow find our way back to each other, galaxy be damned." Right as the last syllable left her mouth, Yerbol gave into the urge he had felt earlier, sweeping her into his arms as he leaned into a deep, longing kiss that held more emotion than he could express in words. When he broke off, he leaned his forehead against hers, whispering:
"I love you too, Ari. Forever. Always."

____

"Hey, ah, Revan, got a sec?" The party had just left the staging area, but Neta had far too many questions left unanswered and needed to get clarification before any more bantha fodder hit the fan. When the legend was within speaking distance, she continued:
"Look, you and I both know that all of us who are 'visiting' from the other side of the galaxy don't have any kind of network established. I mean, yeah, you and the Force users have your powers, abilities and sabers, but a gal like me isn't used to not having...well, anything to work with. With just Yerbol and I out on the frontlines, we would be fine back home, but here? Tell me you've got some resources you can share with us to help you out." Revan smiled slightly.
"I can somewhat empathize. For a short time, I was not aware of my connection to the Force and had to rely on...other methods to get tasks done."
"Such as?"
"Blasters. Grenades. Vibroblades. That kind of thing." A smirk crossed Neta's features as Revan continued:
"In my time here, I've established relationships with a few members of what you could call 'clandestine organizations', underground movements that support criminal and noble enterprises."
"Would you be willing to share who Yerbol and I could get in touch with?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. You'll need to get to Zakuul, get to a public messaging terminal and send out the phrase: 'Walk tall'. You'll get a set of coordinates. Follow them."
"Got something I can use to follow coordinates?"
"And a few other things you should find useful."
"And who said a Jedi can't fight dirty?"
"I never did." Smirks.

___

There were two shuttles prepped in the hour that followed, Neta and Yerbol scouring through the gear that Revan had showed the former before turning up at the landing site where the others were making their final preparations. As the duo approached, Ethan walked to them, a flicker of a smile crossing his features as he asked Yerbol:
"So, I asked Aria what was going on with you, but she looked at me as if to say 'I will end your existence if you continue with that train of thought aloud', so I figured I'd ask you: what's going on with you?" Yerbol chuckled slightly, peering past him to spot Aria and Kytra discussing something.
"Something happened when we fought Vitiate, Ethan. My connection to the Force, it's-"
"Gone, isn't it?"
"That easy to tell, eh?"
"I tried finding you before our meeting with Yuno, but I couldn't sense your presence anywhere. Like you had just...stopped existing."
"Yeah, in a way, I have." He swallowed.
"I don't know what Vitiate did to me, but my connection to the Force is as you say: not in existence." Ethan's eyes widened.
"What does that even mean?"
"I've dealt with something like this previously, but not to this extent. There's an emptiness inside of me that...well, I'll get it fixed up and back to being a Champion that actually help guide you in the Force; for now, listen to Aria. She's the only Force-wielding Champion right now and she's a great teacher...also, do remember that she was a Sith at one point, so she can be a bit tougher than me. And direct. And blunt. But she'll watch over you well." Ethan opened his mouth, but then shook his head, looking to Neta.
"So are you two really going to do this? Take down an Empire's communication network?"
"We've got some leads. What, don't think we can do it?"
"I mean, I hope you can, but..."
"But why don't you put a little faith in what we can do without the Force and go do your job, huh?" Neta gave the apprentice a wink and a gentle shove on the shoulder as she told him:
"Be careful out there. And come back in one piece, ok?" A slight blush as Ethan nodded, turning back towards the shuttles as he departed.
"Oh goodness he has the hots for me." Yerbol let out a roaring guffaw, turning to the pilot with a wide grin left over from the display.
"I mean, I think it's a compliment, considering that I'm pushing forty, but I hope he doesn't think it'll go anywhere." The shuttle's engines flared up as the parties boarded the shuttle, Yerbol meeting Aria's gaze one last time. He smiled, putting a hand over his heart, hoping he knew that was where she would be while they were apart. The shuttle bay doors closed, the ships launching into the orange-crimson sunset laden sky on their trajectories.
"Come on, honey; we've got an underground criminal organization to infiltrate." Yerbol cocked his head to the side.
"Could you maybe explain that to me?"
"On the way. And don't forget a blaster pistol tucked underneath your pant leg; that's standard for this kind of op."

[The Elvenqueen]

The Heralds could prepare two shuttles for travel in absolutely nothing flat, Aria had to say she was impressed. Presently, the Champion was standing with her arms crossed at the foot of the loading ramp of one of the spacecraft, conversing with her apprentice after she’d seen off their questions about their other teacher with a few of her trademark glares.
“But… Master, Ethan and I are worried about Yerbol too!” Kytra protested, however by now the Selonian was smart enough to figure out that if she wanted ANY sort of answer out of her mentor, she would have to avoid using the phrase “what is wrong with” precisely and instead go in from a slightly different angle, “I mean, is he...you know, OKAY? Do we need to be REALLY worried?”

The shorter woman arched an eyebrow at Kytra quizzically, answering with.
“He’s not going to die, I promise.” she didn’t know how to explain it to her apprentice in a way that wouldn’t make the youngster panic, so Aria had been avoiding having to do so at all costs. “Things might...change quite drastically, but he’s going to be...fine. We’ll figure it out.” The Selonian’s whiskers twitched, and she didn’t look particularly convinced, but it would appear the reassurance was enough for her for the time being, so she nodded and turned to disappear up the ramp and into the shuttle. As Ethan joined them once more and hurried up to fire up the shuttle’s engines, Aria turned to check on her husband one last time, managing to catch the gesture he had directed towards her and respond with a brief smile in return before she had to hurry up the ramp to join the two apprentices.

It would be at least a few days’ journey before they arrived at their destination, so the trio spent some of the time gathered around Aria’s holoprojector going over the data Yuno had sent to the Champion regarding their destination, and the rest of it divided as evenly as possible between lightsaber drills (of which Aria was a merciless instructor, likely due to a combination of her father’s no-nonsense approach to training her and Renso’s more...unorthodox training methods. Luckily for Kytra and Ethan, though she barked at them like a military drill sergeant every time they made a mistake, Aria’s tutoring was far less life-threatening than the Sith’s teachings had been for her) and meditation in order to center their focus within the Force.
As one such meditation session drew to a close, Kytra had broken the silence between them to mutter softly.
“I know you said not to worry, Master ...but I AM worried. Maybe even afraid.” Ethan made a little noise of agreement in the back of his throat, looking towards the older Qyaari with a questioning glance.
“And that’s okay...it’s a difficult thing for me to teach you, but I CAN teach you to use that fear as strength. And I’m going to try.”
From the surprised looks on their faces, they’d been expecting her to snap at them again, Aria couldn’t help but feel a small stab of guilt. Perhaps she’d been a bit too harsh with them since they’d set off, but it was the only way she knew HOW to teach them; she filed that away and resolved to make an effort to try and be a bit more like Yerbol. Stern without being overly aggressive. “But being afraid isn’t something you should be ashamed of, it’s natural. Do you think Yerbol and I weren’t scared during the whole thing with Bracknell, or that I wasn’t terrified when we lost him on Nar Shaddaa? I was a mess. But I had to learn to use that to do something productive if we were ever going to find him again, so I did.”
“I never thought of it like that…” Kytra mumbled, her small ears flicking backwards, then forwards again as she thought about it. “You really think I can do it?”
“Hey, kid, if an unstable, murderous powder-keg of a Sith Apprentice like me can figure it out, I’m sure you can.” she offered the Selonian another smile. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.” her dark gaze travelled across to Ethan, next. “Either of you. I’m very proud of how far you’ve come already, and I’m sure Yerbol is, too.”

__________________

On the other shuttle, Revan and Yuno had remained at the controls long after it was necessary, mainly due to Revan’s suspicions of their current passenger. The Sith beside him glanced over his shoulder at the Mirialan hunched over in one corner with her head in her hands, then looked back at the Heralds leader.
“Do you believe she’s dangerous, Master?” he asked, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard.
“I don’t know.” Revan muttered back, his brows knit together in a tight frown. “But she could be. So I want you to be careful…”

Vano could hear them muttering in the cockpit, she couldn’t make out the words they were saying from this distance, of course, but the lorekeeper was all but certain that Revan and the Sith were talking about her. Likely about how suspicious she was. She huffed out another sigh, dropping her head back into her hands once more as she tried to drown the noise out.

As if to confirm her suspicions, THAT voice suddenly chose this precise moment to echo in her head, the son of a Hutt seemed to take great delight in mocking her, and had done for quite some time, though she had yet to tell any of the Qyaari about it.
“Do you really believe you can trust them?” Vitiate chuckled. Vano scowled sourly, thankful that her head was in her hands so neither of her companions would see the gesture as she thought back furiously.
“I didn’t ASK you.”
Nevertheless, the former Sith Emperor had decided that was an invitation for him to continue needling her,
“They don’t trust YOU.”
“Really? Hadn’t noticed.” the Mirialan scoffed back.
“How do you know they won’t betray you?” sometimes, it wasn’t just his voice. Sometimes, she could envision his spirit in her mind’s eye, those piercing yellow eyes boring critically into her as he spoke. This was one of those times.
“I have to trust them.”
“Mmm, yes,” Vitiate mused, an edge of false sympathy dripping from his tone, “and how well did that serve you last time, my dear Wrath?”
Just what she DIDN’T need to think about right now. But his question prompted the memories to rise to the surface, unbidden:

The space station, above Corellia. Captain Quinn had asked her to come alone, more discreet he said, less trouble that way. Vette, Jaesa and Pierce had all warned her not to go alone...tried to tell her he was up to something. She hadn’t listened. She’d loved him too much, trusted him entirely, after everything they had shared, to ever conceive the idea he may try to hurt her, or worse.

She’d been a karkin’ fool.

“...No.” Vano truthfully hadn’t believed what she was hearing at first. This had to be a joke. “No, Mal...please. This...this NEVER happened. You know Baras is crazy! If he threatened to hurt you Mal, I can...I’ll protect you!” she had pleaded. “Just, come back to the ship. No-one else has to know.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, my Lord.” Quinn’s voice was as level as it had ever been, he had the ability to do that; be so stern and stoic while at work. His brows pinched together in a frown, the only break in his character. “My debt to Darth Baras surpasses many things...even my feelings for you. I’m sorry.”
“Mal, PLEASE.” Vano pleaded, her voice cracking at the mere thought of it. “Don’t do this….don’t...make me HURT you.”
There had to be a way to talk him out of this, she’d desperately tried, even as the droids trundled in and he proclaimed there was no way she was walking off this station alive. For a moment, as she had to dive behind a stack of containers to dodge shots from the droids’ laser cannons, Vano believed him. Quinn had fought by her side longer than anyone else on her crew, save for Vette...he knew how to counter every one of her moves.

She’d tried so hard not to hurt him. But she’d expected the droids to be the thing that ended her, after all the bravado she had expected that he might at least love her enough not to shoot at her himself.

She’d been wrong.

The adrenaline and the anger had all but blinded her to the pain of the almost point-blank shot to the face, she wouldn’t realise until Noctis tracked her and her crew down later, how lucky she had been to only lose the eye and not end up worse off. When she’d thrown the Captain into the wall, some primal part of her had wanted to snap his neck for everything he’d done. But she couldn’t do it. Not to him.
Instead, she had simply screamed back at him.
“Don’t. EVER. Try. To. Touch. Me. Again!!” and left him there for Intelligence to pick up.

The Mirialan growled in annoyance, raising her head sharply and shaking it from side to side as if that would somehow dislodge his presence from her thoughts.
“This is different.”
“Is it? Even SHE doesn’t trust you. She would rather side with him, with them.” Vitiate had her on the ropes, and he KNEW it.
“You leave Aria out of this!” she did, however, glance to Revan and Yuno once more. They must think she was crazy. But then, even Noctis had thought that for a while. It’s why she hadn’t said anything to any of the other Qyaari, even if she probably should have. They’d call her mad, put her in the medbay and she’d never leave it again. Had she not done enough, taking herself off the field and staying in the archives so she would never run the risk of hurting another ally, ever again?
“But you know I’m right, Wrath, she can’t care half as much about you, if she would side with a Jedi over you.”
“GO. AWAY.”
“Do not worry, this will all be over soon…” mercifully, with that ominous warning, his presence faded away, and Vano could only let out a choked huff of relief. Finally, a moment’s peace. Focus, she had to focus, couldn’t let Revan and this Sith chew her out for this...if they found out, she didn’t know what they would do.