Manus Vo...the name vaguely rang bells in the back of Aria's mind. She recalled sitting in Roan’s office during her early training at the Academy and hearing her father arguing back and forth with Cheriss about the man’s strategic capabilities...okay, now this all made sense. This was NOT good, putting Vo and Soto together? They'd have a problem on their hands if they couldn't capture them and get this entire network under control. 
“One issue I can see...where, exactly, are we supposed to amass a believable stash of these goods in such a short space of time, Malu?” 
“Ask Garza.” the Miraluka chuckled softly in amusement, waving them off. “They're simple enough things that the Alliance military has access to.” 
“True....alright, we'll be ready when Voldon gets here.” The Champion promised before they disconnected the call. 
“Soooo...how do you want to do this so it's most believable?” she turned towards her partner again. “We could speak to Garza about the supplies first and make sure we get them, perhaps it's more believable for one of us to go in first and the other to come in afterwards, make it look like we think he won't hear us, drop Voldon’s name and the hyperspace route and then let him run?” it was a far more likely scenario than trying to convince the boy to lie to his supposed allies. 
__________


The plan seemed to be working out relatively smoothly. After securing the needed inventory, Yerbol returned to the holding cells (“I'm the bad guy, he's not going to believe me if I tell him we’re letting him go is he?”) to “release” their informant while Aria wrapped up the loose ends with the supply drop and worked with Garza to procure a suitably “secure” ship they could use as a transport. She returned to the room precisely as Yerbol was assuring their guest of his newfound freedom.
“Yes, I'm very serious son. General Garza has agreed to let you go. You're very lucky.”
“VERY lucky.” Aria cut in precisely as they had agreed would be “the right time” in the conversation, “Considering trying to murder two Qyaari should be a life sentence at least. But Garza’s right, you're not the instigator so...You're free to go.” flashing the young man what she hoped was a convincingly long-suffering smile, Aria made a show of pulling Yerbol back into the hallway with a declaration of “we've got bigger problems to deal with anyways”, and “forgetting” to shut the door in her haste. 


“Voldon’s due to land in half an hour or so. The Elders say they're attacking our convoys now, want us to guard the next one and make sure it gets to Zinuthra.” a pause, during which Yerbol feigned surprise and nodded firmly in agreement, and Aria risked a peek at their guest from under her partner’s arm. 
[i]Think he's buying it?[/i]
[i]Looks that way to me.[/i] Aria confirmed, quickly returning her gaze to Yerbol to deviate any suspicions. [i]One way to find out, right?[/i] 
Out loud, she finished with: “So, let’s get the kid out of there and get going, we haven't got time to waste if we're going to make this convoy.” 

The two Champions unlocked the cuffs and, after returning his helmet to him, sent the young man on his merry way. Needless to say, it didn't take him long to scurry out of sight of the facility and in the direction which Sho confirmed was likely to be towards a tunnel network heading towards the Undercity. The Mandalorian had agreed, under Garza’s orders, to act as the convoy ship’s co-pilot (that way if things got a little close, they had a sniper with a good trigger finger that claimed she could “drop those space monks with a few stun rounds no problem!”), while the Champions and Voldon posed as the guards set up as an extra security precaution. They met the Elder in the private Alliance hangar which Garza had arranged for the ship and the supplies to be sent to, Aria whistling nervously as she took in his stony facial expression. 
“You look....a little more serious than usual.” the Champion prompted carefully as they headed up the ramp while Sho and the pilots performed the last checks before take off. Voldon did not appear too eager to elaborate on the point as they settled into the makeshift seating area. The cargo lay securely in the hold immediately to their right, everything had been set up to ensure their success and yet Aria could not help but share some of Voldon’s apprehension. 
“Hey, what if this is a cop out and Vo DOESN'T come after us?” 
A long-suffering sigh from Voldon before he insisted: 
“He WILL. Manus isn't the kind of man to pass up the opportunity to take out three powerful enemies in one operation.”
“Even if this is a huge bust, at least y'all get the supplies you needed back to Zinuthra, right?” the intercom crackled for a few more seconds before Sho finished with: 
“So all three of you should stop frowning so much, it's not very comforting for the rest of us.” 
Aria responded with a half-hearted snort, ignoring Sho’s lackluster attempt at humor and turning to Voldon again. 
“So, when they DO show up, we'll handle Soto and leave Vo to you?” another nervous chuckle escaped the Champion. “I get the feeling there's some kind of history there? Not that I'm trying to be nosy, of course...but it was implied. And well...you ARE more experienced in fighting master tacticians than we are. Unless part of the plan was to let them beat us around a bit first, cause Malu didn't tell us that.” she was aware she was babbling unnecessarily, so Aria quickly forced herself to stop talking and attempt to focus her mind for the anticipated confrontation. The ship fell into silence apart from the low hum of the engines and the occasional clanking noise from the cargo as they entered hyperspace.


Slowing her breathing, she channelled the Force around her whilst keeping her hearing alert for the signs that the Faceless had begun their assault. Voldon theorized that they would try to track them and then pounce as the convoy dropped back into known space, which should be in the next few hours thanks to the new hyperspace lanes Won had set up between the Core and Wild Space after the Qyaari had signed the treaty. 
She just hoped they really would be prepared for whatever Vo and Soto could do when the time came. 
“Any last advice, Voldon? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a LITTLE anxious over here.”