An immense weight filled the cave, threatening to crush every ounce of strength he was attempting to muster in preparation to dispatch(or so he thought) the supposed harbingers of chaos that Illesia had brought back to life. It was his gaze. The piercing, all knowing black hole that simultaneously destroyed one's self-will and sapped any kind of resistance one could put up to the ravenous hunger that emanated from it. He was all too familiar with this leeching of power, which allowed him the leisure of averting eye contact, about to warn Aria when she suddenly tilted her downward and headed backwards in the direction of the exit. It was odd that she knew how to counteract the initial blow from the Five, but he wouldn't question the intuition, instead affirming her sentiment that they couldn't allow the Five to leave the cave. If they were set loose on the galaxy, the doomsday scenario Bracknell would have enacted those months ago looked optimistic. 
"They'll get nowhere." He looked to Aria with a nod, quickly going on the offensive with their array of attacks that normally were effective on the first go around, but the Five displayed their genetic engineering and training from the True Sith, easily side stepping and dodging attacks while managing to get in a few quick swipes right before Yerbol could throw up a blade in return. Within seemingly mere moments, they were separated, Yerbol cornered by three of the Five, their eyes flashing in malevolent lust. Thankfully Taral and Chwuq were nearby to get in a few bites and scratches, Taral going so far as to completely tear one of the Five's shins right out of her skin, allowing Yerbol to finish one of the would-be chaos bringers quite easily. It didn't take long for Chwuq to gallantly stomp across the room to help Aria out, but surprisingly it didn't hinder his battle with the remaining Five; in fact, it felt easier, his blows coming closer and closer to fruition. However, Yerbol misjudged a blow and slashed too fast, allowing one of the men to pirouette away before slamming his shoulder into Yerbol's chest, knocking him backwards while the other came at his neck, talons ready to dig into the Champion's jugular. He managed to throw a current of energy at the oncoming Xiis, but not before the first attacker sliced at his midsection, three jagged slashes marking Yerbol's abdomen. With the second attacker already back on her feet and the other Xiis onlookers blocking the exit, it seemed like their graves would be dug in this cave. 

That was until Cheriss came. 

He couldn't help but laugh at the almost comical flailing the Xiis underlings participated in as their blue forms made sickening cracks against the marble altar, Cheriss proclaiming that she had received a tip on their whereabouts before joining Yerbol's side to thwart the other two members of the Five. He wanted to check on Aria, but the thunderous threats uttered in an all too familiar voice made Yerbol look over at the rippling mass of dark energy for just a moment, which gave one of the Five the time he needed to leap into the air and deliver a thundering blow to his chest. Cheriss scowled at the Champion's lack of focus before delivering a burst of lightning at the attacker, his body going limp as it dropped to the ground. With no other support, the last member of the Five standing hissed, teeth bared in one final act of defiance as she dashed forward, Yerbol intercepting her and ducking under her reach as he ran her through with one of his blades, withdrawing it to allow the body to crumple to the cave floor. 
"Distracted at a time like this?" Cheriss asked as she clucked disapprovingly at his wounds. 
"You saw that, right?! All that black energy just floating in to help us? Did you summon something?" 
"I don't think I was ever strong enough to control that man. No one was." 
"Man? Wha-" As Ari rejoined them, he saw that the energy had form...
"Ro...Roan?" With a nod, the form disappeared, leaving the trio alone with nothing but corpses and the hounds. 
"I mean, am I the only..." Aria's statement brought him back once again to their current state of affairs. Swearing under his breath, he examined the chamber in vain before saying:
"She's bound to be off world by now, especially with this being the last..well, really, the only plan she had. With the Five gone, where else could she go?" 

[i]Her fingers traced across his chest, her lips at his ear

Home...jealous...so jealous of home...so jealous of home...[/i]

He grit his teeth, the memories of he and Illesia's "evening" together flooding back at a time when he desperately wanted to push them out, yet they pulsed through his mind:

[i]Home is...never me...never...I...jealous of your home...[/i]

"Home...jealous of home..." He mumbled to himself, ignorant of the blood dribbling down his tattered shirt as he paced, fingers massaging his temples. 
"HOME!" He pointed upward.
"Illesia's going back to where Renso first planted them. She's obsessed with it, wants to go back and 'reclaim it' for themselves. She was so insistent on that point. To make a home for her people, like they had before...like we have now." He rubbed the back of his neck in agitation, not able to look Aria in the eye as he mumbled:
"When she went into my mind...I saw some of hers." That's all he could allow himself to say. There was much about that evening that he hadn't told Aria about simply because he couldn't come up with the words. In time he knew they would come, but for now...
"Renso must've known where the home planet was...think we can find some stuff in the archives?"