A few minutes passed, Vaylin pacing, fingers clenching the hilts of her lightsabers repeatedly, mouth twitching. Arcann watched his sister for some of the time, keeping his innermost thoughts about his sibling as suppressed as possible, fully aware that she could read him at any moment. It was both aggravating and beneficial to have Vaylin in such close proximity, yet even he could muster up the patience to deal with the most unstable member of his family thanks to the raw power she held. She would be an excellent to- "My lord, part of the group has boarded the ship. Shall I disengage the droids?" Colonel Eason's question was met with a determined nod. "Very well. Droids will disengage and the ship will remain in position until you give the order. "Very good, Colonel. Stay on this channel until further notice. I believe I will need the combat center in short order." "Of course, Lord Arcann." Vaylin spun on her heel, brow furrowing. "We won't NEED help, will we, brother?" "Not for Revan and the so-called 'Champions'; the Heralds, however, might try to come after their master. I want our forces ready for when they do make their eventual arrival." She pouted. "I wanted to kill them myself." "Sister, you will have the privilege of slaying one of the most renown figures in all of the galaxy, a living legend. Be content with your very fortunate position." A flicker of a frown crossed her features before she turned back to the door once more, sabers now fully in hand. __ "Watch it!" Ethan threw up a barrier of Force energy to block the incoming bolt of electricity from shocking Yuno, the apprentice pushing the energy out from their position in the direction of the attacker, which caused the droid to fling back against a few others who were firing on Yerbol's position. With a nod of thanks, Yuno leaped towards Yerbol, the latter occupied with several droids that had abandoned their blaster rifles in favor of vibroswords that emitted crackling bits of energy from the blades. Yerbol had gotten clipped a couple of times, each blow prompting a short burst of the same kind of pain he felt when they had arrived. No droids that Yerbol had faced before held this kind of weaponry or battle expertise for that matter. The Champion ducked another horizontal slash before jamming his saber upward and behind him, flinging the now defeated droid towards others that Yuno had engaged. As Yerbol rose to his feet, the droids that had once hounded them all simultaneously crumpled to a heap on the ground, their collapse echoing against the buildings. The trio surveyed the battlefield, Ethan commenting: "That's...not good." "Why would you say that? Our enemies have been triumphed." Ethan shook his head at Yuno's confident assertion. "For all of them to shut down like that would indicate that someone either messed with their controller units (unlikely) or they were deactivated on purpose." Yerbol grimaced, kneeling to take a look at the remains of a droid. "I have to agree with Ethan on this. This is far too convenient." "Then let us make haste to Master Revan and the others; maybe their actions have caused the droids to fall." Yerbol nodded, rising. "Potentially. That would be a much better alternative to what I'm currently thinking." "Which is?" "That the droids were a distraction and that the rest of the group is in trouble." ___ "Son of a bantha-herder!" Neta let out another curse that was much more vulgar than the first as she rolled to her right, throwing her blaster pistol to the ground and withdrawing a vibro-dagger sheathed at her hip before jamming it into the Knight's leg, twisting it in for good measure as she withdrew it and stabbed again, this time at the hip. With a groan, the Knight fell over, Neta wiping droplets of blood that had formed around her mouth. "Who needs the Force when you can play dirty, right?" She kicked the deceased Knight in the stomach, gripping her dagger tightly as she saw Kytra fighting off three of the Knights, the Selonian looking flustered as she parried as fast as she could. "Hold on, Kytra! I'm coming!" The Knights were moving far too quickly for her to take a shot with her pistol, so instead she withdrew a second dagger and charged ahead, catching one of the Knights with their back to her. Big mistake. A howl of agony filled the air, Neta having jumped into the air, both daggers landing deep in the upper back of the Knight. The Knight thrashed in defiance trying to shake Neta off, the spec ops commander hanging on long enough to wrap her legs around the Knight's waist and use his flailing against him, bringing him down onto his side right as Neta removed daggers and used one to slit the Knight's throat, a cascade of viscous fluid spilling onto the chilly metallic surface. Breathing heavily, Neta managed to pull herself up from the ground, ready to engage more Knights when three forms flitted past her and ended the Selonian's lone stand in a matter of seconds. "Where's Aria?" Yerbol asked Kytra, Neta answering as she made her way to the assembly. "There, on the ship...that hasn't taken off?" The loading ramp was still attached to the assumed dock, both Aria and Revan already having gone through the steel doors that lay at the end of the ramp. "Right, so on the ship on we go." "Into a trap." Neta warned Ethan, looking to Yerbol with a frown. "I mean, you see it, right? This is totally a trap. Whoever's coordinating this wanted Revan and Aria by themselves." "So let's fix that and get our arses on this ship." _____ The ramp closed hastily after the group made it onboard, yet the ship made no indication of movement. "This is weird." Ethan's sentiment wasn't replied to, but the party could all feel a sense of imminent dread as they went through the steel doors and emerged into a wide, square-shaped space that had a cavernous ceiling and two sets of steel doors, one of which was open on the opposite end of the space. "Looks like a staging area." Neta commented, pointing at the weapon racks dotting the area. "Droids probably were deployed from here, which means that their command center must not be far." "We are not here for the droids; we are here for Master Surik." Yuno closed his eyes for a moment, then pointed ahead. "Through those doors there." He moved forward, Neta's brow furrowing as she cast a glance at Yerbol. "Don't think I'm gonna try and throw myself in the way of a Sith and...well, all of you people. I'll try and find a way to deactivate the ship's security protocols, maybe even hijack it for ourselves?" She smirked, patting her hip. "I'll be fine. Took out those knights well enough, didn't I, Kytra?" "You're sure you'll be ok on your own?" The red-head nodded with a smile, gently punching Yerbol on the arm. "Go get Meetra. I'll find you when you're finished."