The two Champions followed their unnamed contact into the elevator, the loud mechanics of which prompted anxious whines from Chwuq and Taral. They were clearly none too fond of the assault on their sensitive hearing that the grating mechanics made. Aria tried not to wrinkle her nose in distaste at the dilapidated state of their surroundings, no doubt it would not help their contact’s impressions of them, which already seemed to be….less than friendly. She could only hope some of the other Force users would be more welcoming. 
As the elevator shuddered to a halt and they stepped out into the room of conveyors, Aria reminded herself that just a few months ago they had crawled through the sewers on this very planet in pursuit of the Xiis, the filth (and the smell) in this room was nothing compared to that. 
It helped a lot. Helped her keep a straight face too. 
“I suppose that is one way to keep yourselves protected. But it isolates you as well.” 
A sideward glance as they entered the room, the Zabrak muttering a comment of:
“And if that's what we want?” before the Twi'lek man came forward and addressed Yerbol. Some pleasantries were exchanged and Yerbol elaborated a little on , during which Aria simply smiled and nodded politely until she was spoken to. 
“Well, it's good to meet you nonetheless. We hope we can change your mind, at least somewhat.”
“We'll see about that.” the Zabrak snorted, lowering the hood of her cloak to reveal the rest of her face; a set of five small horns projecting from the crown of her head revealing her younger age...perhaps a decade older than the two Champions at most. “We were expecting Malu, to be perfectly blunt.” 
“Well, we’re sorry to disappoint you but Malu decided to send us.” Aria answered earnestly, turning her attention back to Kartan as he began speaking about Manus’ deeds prior to Bracknell’s purge order. 

As the Twi'lek claimed there was little evidence to support their condemnation of the former Jedi Master, Aria raised an eyebrow and leaned carefully on the table. 
“If Manus really is the hero you say he is, then why isn't he helping you?” 
“And the Qyaari are any better?” the Zabrak retorted, arms tightly crossed over her chest.
“We're here now.”
The Champion’s statement was met with a glare from the Zabrak woman and a dubious frown from Kartan. 
“Thanks to MALU.” 
“I have to agree with Vaerth.” Kartan grunted. “The Qyaari haven't exactly gone out of their way to help us either.”
Groaning quietly, Aria ran a hand through her hair, her gaze darting from the neutral Force users to the ceiling momentarily as she regained her composure and tried not to appear confrontational. 
“We're not here to argue semantics.” the Champion spoke slowly, almost pleading with them to hear the words and THINK about them properly. “Yes, the Qyaari are not entirely blameless for what is going on here. We could have, SHOULD have, made a better effort to find and support you all.”
“And we're SORRY, but we can't go back and change that now.” Yerbol put in. Surprise flickered over their faces at the open honesty of the duo’s words. 
“But we want to make that right by helping you now. That has to count for something, doesn't it?” 
“We'll be the judge of that.” Kartan chuckled humourlessly. 
“You still haven't told us what ‘proof’ you have that Manus intends to turn on us.” the Zabrak, who they now knew as Vaerth, put in, redirecting the topic of the conversation. 
The Champions produced their data pads, calling up the saved holo messages between Nuly and Manus where they had discussed Soto’s breakout, and a few records which Malu had acquired (Kandar and her former Intelligence contacts were surprisingly efficient at finding information the Qyaari Elder needed!), which showed supplies had been diverted from their original drop-off points with very vague reasoning (and little explanation about where the supplies were going instead).
“This holo recording was taken from the Warden’s apartment. We visited him to question him about Soto’s escape and ended up finding a corpse and the Assassins Manus sent to kill him.” Aria explained, her gaze moving carefully between Kartan and Vaerth. “The other records were given to us by Malu before we left Zinuthra. She believes it proves Manus is stealing supplies from you and others on Coruscant to keep for himself.” 


Aria simply nodded and cleared her throat. 
“So, the question right now is: what do you know about the supply convoys? Do you know where Manus keeps them?” 
“Perhaps we do.” Vaerth nodded slowly. 
“Well, we can't help you take them back if you don't tell us.” Yerbol pointed out with a quiet sigh. 
“You're under no obligation to change your allegiances if you don't want to.” Aria reminded them. “We only hope that we can show you we could be valuable allies, should you need us.”
The Twi'lek and Zabrak exchanged glances, as if weighing up their options, then nodded slightly. 
“There's a section of private docking bays in the back of the spaceport.” 
“Just tell us what you need us to do, we're here to help.” 

The docking bay Vaerth had mentioned was indeed well tucked away at the back of the port, and vigilantly guarded by two individuals in the black masks and suits they had come to recognise as Manus’ soldiers. 
“There are probably a lot more of them inside.” Vaerth muttered, the four Force users huddled together to peer around the corner at the doorway they had indicated as the likely culprit. 
“Probably.” Aria muttered wryly. “But one thing at a time, right? We need to distract those two.” a nod towards the two door guards. 
“Hmm. Kartan or I could try and pose as some of Manus’ men picking up cargo.” the Zabrak suggested. 
“And you'd be happy going in alone, presuming there ARE more guards or droids inside and they attack you when they realise you're an imposter?” Aria frowned warily. 
“What, you think we're not capable of holding our own in a fight just because we aren't Qyaari?” Vaerth’s blue eyes narrowed to slits. 
“No, no that's not what I-” 
“Do you have a better suggestion?” Kartan cut in before Vaerth could escalate the conversation into an argument that the guards would overhear. 
“Well…no, not really.” Aria admitted, face flushing. “It just seems like a reasonable concern to worry about whether you'd be overwhelmed before the rest of us could get to you.”
“You telling me you can't cut through TWO people to come and help?” Vaerth snorted derisively. “I saw the way you worked when you were an Inquisitor.” 
Heaving a long-suffering sigh, Aria chewed her lip as she muttered.
“If you're trying to rile me up to prove a point, Vaerth, it's not going to work.” With a sideward glance at her husband, the Champion reached out to him through their bond:
[i]I guess we hit a few more nerves than we thought with whatever we're doing in the galaxy. Mind helping me out here, everything I say seems to make her more upset. This is why I'd be a terrible politician; my mother is probably turning in her grave right now.
[/i]