"Sho makes a good point. Get as high as you can and don't fire until I give word." 
"I'm staying in here, right?!" The pilot looked back at the gathering with an apprehensive smile. 
"That you are. Assess damages, fix what you can from the inside and DON'T leave the shuttle unless one of us asks you to. I want to make sure the shuttle is in working order if we need to make a quick escape." 
"You got it, Elder!" The shuttle door slid upward upon Voldon's slamming of a button next to the exit, the party greeted by a misty forest floor with various shades of green and beige as overtones for the foliage. Light thankfully peered in slightly from gaps in the canopy above, silvers of yellowish-silver light helping visibility dramatically. Their craft had landed in a relatively wide space flanked by a number of branching paths that led further into the wilderness, inviting any adventuring soul to have their brains torn out of their heads by looming monstrosities or fall into a trap laid by scavengers that were desperate to find their ticket out of squalor.
"Focus, Yerbol." Voldon sternly chided, feeling the Champion's drifting thoughts with agitation. 
"Right, sorry. Plan?"
"They should be here momentarily. There'll be more of them than us." He motioned to the massive tree trunks surrounding the rectangular shaped clearing. 
"Hide, see their numbers and then thin them out." 
"Do we take them alive?"
"Manus is our primary target. The others will get in the way of that." Yerbol wanted to counter the Elder's harsh suggestion, but understood quite well from their previous encounter with these "Faceless" that they were out for blood. No need for restraint when the opponent would gladly cut your head off. 

"Hide. Now." Complying with the directive, the trio of Force users scattered to different points around the clearing, Yerbol choosing a spot directly opposite the scorch marked shuttle. Sho was on her way to her own point of cover when the whine of hyperdrive engines became audible from above, then slowly grew in volume as two of the three shuttles landed parallel to each other. The same ebony colored armor with red streaks were visible as five, then six Faceless emerged from both shuttles respectively. Where was the third shuttle? 

[i]Manus must think this is a trap...or doesn't want to do the dirty work.[/i]

As the group of Faceless made their way to the supposedly defenseless shuttle, he heard Voldon cry out:
"NOW!" Two bolts cracked from the darkness of cover, slamming through the helmets of two of the operatives, bodies crumpling to the forest floor. Sabers crackled to life on both sides as the Qyaari leaped into action, taking advantage of their startled enemies, who were a hair too slow in responding to the assault. Yerbol dispatched of one with a simple thrust into the gut, twirling the blade so as to launch the body against one of the assault shuttles. In mere moments, the squadron was dispatched. 
"Were they..." Yerbol's stomach churned in guilt as he stood over one of the bodies, removing the helmet to reveal a Chiss girl who looked maybe eighteen. 
"So young. So bloody young." 
"And more of them will die if we don't get to Manus now!" Voldon roared, a vehement glare cast at the bodies before looking upward. 
"SHOW YOURSELF YOU COWARD!" The words reverberated across the forest, but also seemed to work, seeing as a few moments later the third shuttle descended and perched itself at the farthest end of the clearing. When the door slid open, a man with dark eyes and a shaved head smiled narrowly. His plated armor clinked as his boots landed on the ground, gaze moving from the Champions to the presiding Elder, smile growing slightly wider. 
"Voldon. Champions." His voice had a silky gravity to it that seemed to invite questions about the greatness of who spoke. 
"Manus, what in Force's name are you doing?! These are CHILDREN and you're manipulating them to serve your own agenda!"
"Children, yes. But they knew what the cost was for joining our cause. They will be remembered."
"FOR DYING IN VAIN?!" A vein in Voldon's neck pulsed in zealous indignation. 
"No, for contributing to the rise of something greater than themselves." He motioned to the Force users haphazardly, hand limply pointing at the Champions particularly. 
"Don't tell me that these two aren't serving the same purpose? Your anointed Champions stand as examples of something bigger than them. Same as these. They will fall, but others will take their place, I assure you. And soon, your philosophy will undo you." 
"The Qyaari stand for what we should've been, not-"
"NO!" Spittle flew from Vo's mouth as he retorted: 
"The Qyaari are EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE, Voldon! Can't you see that?! All this talk of Harmony and Balance WILL be distorted over time, turned against you. You can't preserve this so-called 'golden age' of Force enlightenment. In the end, we will be divided, always." 
"And you're not contributing to that division?"
"I don't want unity, Voldon, I want freedom. They are two very different things. I want those who use the Force to give into it, to BECOME a living arm of the Force and use it however they wish."
"So anarchy?"
"Enlightenment! To think that every Force user could tap into their innate connection with the Force and use it however they wish! Free of philosophical restraints or codified law. Their identities BECOME the Force. They are Nameless. Faceless, if you will." 
"Enough of this." Voldon's saber snapped to life.
"I'll give you one shot at surrendering peacefully." Manus let out a hearty chuckle, shaking his head as he responded:
"Always the stoic soldier, never thinking beyond the immediate battlefield. You didn't think I was completely ignorant of your ploy? I sensed you and your champion's Force energies the moment you all stepped on world. I wanted to see you face to face, to see how far you've fallen, to remind myself of what I'm fighting for." He gestured to the shuttles.
"The shuttles contain several pounds of explosives that could wipe out an entire city block. Trying to escape and chase me will only result not only in deforesting some of the Shadowlands, but also cause the Wookie delegation attempting to forge peace talks with the Alliance to have serious doubts about their partnership with the Qyaari. Reckless endangerment of their hallowed proving ground and all that." Manus stepped back onto his shuttle. 
"The disarming mechanism isn't that difficult! Shouldn't take you too long." 

Yerbol hated him already.