Aria simply nodded in response to Voldon’s assertions as the trio positioned themselves around the room, exhaling a breath as she slunk into the corner opposite Voldon and hoped she could share his confidence. Trust in the Force, right. She could do that, they’d done it before. Her gaze flickered to the lower right corner of the room, where she knew her partner was crouched, knuckles white around the hilt of his lightsaber as he tried to calm his nerves. She could feel his anxiety, feel his heart pounding in her chest almost as if it was her own, and briefly reached out to him through their bond to provide some form of comfort.
[i]We can do this. We’ll beat her.[/i] 
She only hoped she would feel as confident when the Xiis leader burst through the doorway.  
She shut her eyes for a moment, stilled her own breathing, tried to remember everything Renso had taught her. The Champion’s eyes snapped open once more as the familiar, sultry tone of the Xiis leader echoed from the room’s doorway, lifting both lightsabers into her hands as the trio dashed forward to meet her in the same moment. She lifted her chin and met Illesia’s bright crimson gaze, her teeth clenched together as she hissed:
“TRY and touch him again, I DARE you!” before she could lunge for her, however, Yerbol had let out a cry of his own and darted forward from his place across the room. Voldon darted past her, Aria moving to join him before the Xiis leader’s foot connected sharply with her chest and sent her reeling backwards, emptying her lungs of every ounce of air. Faintly, she was aware of the scuffling sounds as Saresh made her escape through the designated hatch, but Aria quickly snapped her attention back to Illesia. Saresh would have to take care of herself for now. They had a monster to kill. The Champion collided with something warm and firm as she stumbled to regain her footing, Chwuq giving a powerful headbutt that provided enough resistance against her backwards momentum for her to gather her feet underneath her once more. Conveying her thanks with a quick glance, Aria propelled herself towards the Xiis once more. Illesia’s reflexes were so much faster than they could have anticipated as she pirouetted, almost lazily, away from another of Voldon’s blows. Yerbol moved to intercept her, Aria and the tomb beasts rushing forward to cut her off from the other side…she couldn’t possibly avoid all of them, no matter how fast she was. Taral flew past her and right over the Xiis’ head as she ducked to avoid him, barely managing to twist out of the way of Aria’s blades slashing for her exposed back. One of Yerbol’s blades sliced into her shoulder, Illesia dodging again before he could do any serious damage; a brief flicker of confusion crossed the Xiis leader’s features as she took in the unfamiliar canine creatures before the wicked grin returned and she taunted her assailants once more.
“Your dogs will not save you!” she cackled as she threw both Tuk’ata back into the corner once more, strafing to the side to avoid another assault from Voldon, which put her within Aria’s range again. Gritting her teeth, the Champion lunged for their opponent again and attempted to slash for her torso. Clawed fingernails whipped past Aria’s ear as instead of dodging out of the way this time Illesia moved TOWARDS her, sharp pain radiated from her cheek as the Xiis’ nails sank into her skin. In seconds, her knees were so weak she could hardly hold her own weight, couldn’t move away as the woman’s face came closer. "None of you can match my power!"

“GRRRRRRR!” Aria saw the pupiless crimson eyes widen in shock as Chwuq surged out of the shadows and seized the Xiis’ forearm between her jaws. Aria staggered backwards, scarlet droplets scattering onto the floor from the jagged marks left in her cheek. Yerbol appeared beside her, shooting her a concerned look though she managed to smile and nod shakily.
“…’m f-fine…doesn’t hurt…that bad…” the feeling of fatigue began to subside now that she and Illesia were no longer in contact, the Xiis snarling angrily as she dislodged Chwuq from her arm and flung her backwards into her mate. Aria tried to push away the sinking feeling of dread in her stomach. Illesia was too strong; they couldn’t beat her, not like this. She couldn’t risk using the lightning crystal with the others in such close proximity, any one of them could be hit as well…Aria gritted her teeth in frustration, unable to come up with a solution and about to resign to their fate, when Roan’s voice echoed in her mind again as if in answer to her earlier prayer, admonishing her:
[i]It’s not like you to give up so easily, Aria. Use that clever little head of yours. You have the numbers advantage and you aren’t using it![/i]  She frowned, jolted out of the potential spiral of despair as the hounds picked themselves up and paced back and forth between the Xiis and their pack, hissing furiously:
“NOT your prey! Pack is NOT your prey, female!” 
That’s when the idea hit her. Sending a silent thanks to her father, wherever he was, she caught Yerbol’s attention again.
[i]I think I’ve got an idea…that Force severing ability Renso taught you, do you think that if we could keep her distracted you could use it on her? At least enough to stop her draining our strength, so the three of us can wear her down and you and Voldon can overpower her?[/i]
She’d seen the Tuk’ata use a similar strategy once before, in the jungles on Dromund Kaas with Roan. Even the larger jungle animals had been felled using clever strategies of feinting and dodging, constantly goading them into attack to wear down their energy stores until they were too exhausted to keep it up, then they moved in for the kill. It would be a risk, but they weren’t going to win this by making half-hearted attempts and hoping for any other act of divine intervention. They had to at least attempt to out-smart her, and hope the Force would favour them with a good outcome. If they could work together with her father in that way, she was sure they would easily fall into the familiar habit with her.