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.”
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