Aria accompanied Voldon to the medbay entrance, sighing heavily as the Elder proclaimed he felt it prudent to continue on ahead to the Senate tower post haste. Yerbol was in no condition to travel, at least not yet. She had been skeptical of Voldon contacting Junoco at first, but of course the hacker could prove useful if they needed somebody to handle all the technological jargon while they were here; they didn’t exactly have time to call Manso in and wait for the Twi’lek to arrive after all. After Voldon had disappeared out of sight again, she retreated back into the medbay to check up on Yerbol once more, drawing up a chair to perch beside the tank and remain nearby. Chwuq and Taral settled themselves at her feet, the latter perching his chin on her knee and blowing out a loud snort.
“Yerbol?” 
She managed to smile, scratching the Tuk’ata’s ears soothingly. “Bol’s gonna be fine, buddy. Don’t you worry.” She tried to make conversation with Rhine and Denali, who did their best to return the sentiment, but other than commenting on the state of the streets outside or Aria providing explanation (for what felt like the umpteenth time) of what the Tuk’ata were and why they followed the pair around all the time, there wasn’t awfully much to talk about that wouldn’t have made the conversation even more awkward. Just when she thought she might die of embarrassment if she had to endure the awkward silence any longer, Taral’s head shot out of her lap and into the air as Yerbol finally stirred again and called out to her. Standing up, she moved closer to the edge of the tank and took his hands gently in her own. 
“I’m right here.” she smiled in relief as she helped him to sit up further, cautioning him to be careful as he asked about how long he had been gone for. She told him a few days, then added:
“But that doesn’t matter now, what’s most important is that you’re here, and you’re safe, and I’m NEVER letting you out of my sight again.” Aria placed her free hand over his as he clung to hers tightly, and squeezed it firmly. “I thought I’d lost you.” the words stuck in her throat, effort to get out, but she felt better now that she could expel the thought permanently. He was here, he was going to be okay. 
Chwuq and Taral barked and leapt excitedly, their tails lashing as they sprang up and down in their attempts to lick his face and convey their enthusiasm at his recovery. They sank back down to their former positions at her feet, allowing Aria to drop back onto the chair, though she kept a firm hold on his hand, running her thumb gently over the top as he spoke of his experiences with Illesia. She took the information in, the implication of the sheer strength lead Xiis’ power sending cold shivers of dread down her spine. If she could become that powerful by feeding on the energies of just a few people, how were they going to combat that?
Yerbol attempted to climb out of the tank, Denali and Rhine immediately racing over to stop him.
“Woah, Woah, Bol...baby, take it easy a minute.” Aria murmured, patting his hand with as much of a calm urgency as she could manage. His hand went limp in hers, the Champion’s eyes drooping shut as he once again fell asleep, accompanied by a relieved sigh from the Echani twins. 
“A little reckless, isn't he?” Rhine chuckled, drawing a smirk from Aria. 
“Actually, he's usually the sensible one of the two of us. He just gets passionate about protecting people and sometimes does silly things.” she had to laugh, it made her feel a little less weird about having to be the sensible one for once. 
“Sounds familiar, doesn't it?” Denali shot his sister a good-natured glare. Rhine rolled her eyes and was about to reply when Yerbol began to stir again at the same time as Aria's comlink chirped at her belt. 

Grabbing it, the Champion popped the device back into her ear and answered in time to receive Voldon's instructions.
“Tunnel network, got it. See you soon.” she reiterated, signing off and turning back to their newest companions. “That was Voldon, they’re badly holed up at the Senate tower, says we need to get over there right now.” her datapad made a little noise to indicate Junoco’s promised file finding its way through. “We’ve got a map to follow. Thanks, for not throwing us out, and for helping him. I really can’t thank you enough.” she flashed the Echani twins another smile before she slipped past them to send the healed up Alliance troopers back down to aid their comrades in the undercity. When she returned to help Yerbol get out of the bacta tank, Denali had disappeared back into the office again. Aria had been going to ask where he had gone when the doctor reappeared, handing her two hyperdermic injectors with the explanation of:
“Adrenal stims. It’s not much and it’s in no way a substitute for proper rest, but if you both REALLY have to fight, then they’ll give you an extra boost.” with another smirk he proclaimed that he had enough of a stock to give the two hounds one each too if they had the means to administer it to them.
“Thanks, Denali.” Aria smiled, quickly administering the stim shots for herself and Yerbol, and with some effort doing the same for Chwuq and Taral (who both shot to the other end of the room squealing as soon as the needle jabbed into their shoulder). 
“The least I could do.” the medic nodded, folding his hands behind his back.
“Hey, it’s probably pretty bad up there.” Rhine chipped in as she stepped up to join them, fully kitted out in some kind of electrostaff in hand. She looked like she meant business, Aria thought, which was backed up by her asserting: “So, we’re coming with you. Your little boyscout over there is still worn out, and you three are no better even with the stims in your bloodstream.” she grinned at the pair mischievously for a moment, before it was gone and her face was once again a mask of seriousness. Aria and Yerbol could hardly argue against their help, from the sounds of the tightness in Voldon’s voice as he had spoken on the comlink they could use all the fighters they could get. And if Denali could patch up some of those who were more badly wounded, they could maybe hold their own….she hoped.

_______________________

They found that it wasn’t so much Xiis that were the main problem in getting to the tunnels Junoco had mapped out for them, but rather the local gangs. She should have been expecting it of course, after their brush up with the thugs as they left the undercity, but Aria was still somewhat perplexed to find the gangs not taking the same “cower in fear of the blue guys” approach that everyone else on the planet seemed to favour.  
“It started out that way.” Rhine explained as they fended off another band of thugs, the entrance to the tunnel just around the corner. “But then once the...what are they, Xiis?” the Echani frowned at the new word but continued on after Aria nodded in affirmation, “Once the Xiis went back into the pipes they started getting a little braver. They’re used to being in charge in the undercity and once the undercity wasn’t safe anymore they had to find somewhere.” Rhine shrugged. “They had a lot of firepower, and with the Alliance forces stretched thin after the initial attacks I guess they figure it’s time for “Revolution!” and all that crap!” the Echani mercenary snorted sardonically as they weaved through the tunnel network, slowly working their way upwards towards the Senate tower. Junoco’s map was precise, and surprisingly reliable, as they re-emerged to the surface once more, they could clearly see the (somewhat battered) white structure jutting out of the ground a few feet ahead of them. 

The group paused to allow Yerbol to take a quick breather, though they all took full advantage of the respite too, before they moved forward again. After Rhine and the Tuk’ata had ascertained that there were no gang sentries poised to ambush them as they broke their cover, they slipped across the small expanse of open ground and through the side-door which the map indicated had been left open for them (the main doors had been completely sealed and were inaccessible in order to deter the heavy artillery Junoco proclaimed the gangs had been carting out to try and get at the forces inside. Rhine believed him. Aria was inclined to trust the Echani woman, she seemed to know her way around battlefields in the same way that Elara and Havoc did). They found Voldon and a slightly scraggly-looking young sergeant at the head of an exhausted group of Alliance personnel, who were more than relieved to see them. 
“What’s the situation?” Rhine enquired as Aria found Yerbol a chair (with some difficulty, given all the debris and discarded weapons that now littered the room after the firefight from before) to sit down on and dropped into a crouch beside him, keeping one hand rested reassuringly on his knee as she faced Voldon and the commanding officer to hear their report.
“Could be better, could be worse, ma’am.” the sergeant chirped, saluting the newly arrived troops respectfully. “We’re very glad to see some extra help, fight’s been going on for a while now and we’re nearly worn out.”
“The blast doors are holding out...for now.” Voldon grunted, his face grave.
Aria knew what he meant. If the Xiis arrived now, they would be in a spot of bother...a lot of the soldiers had very little to no ammo left, they had only six turrets and a handful of droids that were nowhere near adequate to hold off a contingent of gang fighters AND the bloodthirsty aliens who would be entirely fresh and likely capable of overpowering them all without batting an eyelid. She swallowed the lump that had begun to form in her throat and sucked in a deep breath to try and calm her own nerves, her fingers unknowingly clenching into a half fist against Yerbol’s knee. They needed a plan, and a very good one, if they were all going to get out of this. 
She wished Roan was here, he would have come up with one before she could have said “we need a plan”.
She could use Renso’s teachings to keep herself fighting fit, but whether she would be able to extend the same benefits of her Battlemind ability to the other members of their group, she wasn’t certain...