The emboldened group of Force users were reduced to fleeing for their lives from the menace they had faced around the corner. Whatever they had seen, their jerky movements, frenzied eyes and elevated voices conveyed a story that Neta would have to inquire about when they were in safer territory. They would need to hoof it back to their shuttle in one piece, which thankfully Big Red (Yuno) was in charge of, Neta easily following the party by way of his massive frame sticking out at least a foot above the others. He was intensely focused straight ahead, saber forward, which the spec ops officer thought nothing of at the time; however, if she had known the heartache that the Sith was experiencing at failing his Master at the most critical time in the Herald's existence, she would have understood that he was a squad of droids away from snapping completely. Thankfully, there was no resistance to their escape shuttle, Neta barking at Ethan:
"Bump over, sweetheart! You're on support!" Ethan opened his mouth to argue, but the glare that Neta shot his way was more than enough for the aspiring Champion to scour the controls, flicking switches and ensuring that all systems were in place. As they shot out of the hangar and into the atmosphere, Neta scowled. 
"Anti Air cannons below! Strap in! Ethan, get the shields up now!"
"Diverting fr-"
"DON'T DIVERT, YOU NERF-HERDER! I NEED THOSE THRUSTERS! JUST GET THE SHIELDS UP NOW!" If Yerbol had been even the slightest bit conscious, he would have had to suppress a chuckle; it had been a few years since he had heard General Orso bark orders like she just did when they were first teamed up against Bracknell and his Alliance, but for Ethan, it was his first experience, which translated to a simple "Yes ma'am!" and compliance. The shuttle flitted between bolts of plasma as Neta circumvented the shots by weaving through some of the taller buildings they had seen the foundations of just a few minutes ago before initiating a hard climb into the upper layers of the atmosphere, unconsciously holding her breath until they were out of planetary range. The codes that they used earlier to get past the initial defenses of the planet were void, which meant there was a bit more acrobatics needed to get around the smaller defense droids that picked up their signal, but Neta managed to scoot past them by dodging around a few chunks of debris that the droids collided into. Once the last of the droids were defeated, Neta slumped in her chair as she set course for Odessa, looking to her co-pilot with a wry grin.
"Not bad, huh? Should've seen me back in my heyday."
"Wait, this ISN'T your heyday?" With a wink, she turned her attention back to the viewport, where Odessa was coming up quickly. 
"ETA for landing in fifteen. The big guy ok?" She didn't get much of a response from either Champion, prompting a frown. Instead of prying, she guided the shuttle down towards the encampment, landing in a clearing about a hundred yards away. The party filtered out, leaving Neta and Ethan as the last to depart, which allowed Neta to ask the apprentice:
"Kid, what happened in there?" Ethan ran both hands through his shock of chestnut colored hair, looking to the pilot with weary eyes.
"All I know is that there are some dangerous people here. People who want to see us dead." 
"That's not new."
"No, no, Neta, this isn't...this isn't like anything you've seen, anything any of us have seen except for Revan and even he was struggling with whatever...'they' were." Lost for words, Ethan's forlorn eyes darted from the pilot's soft green irises to the bunker they had been led to when they first arrived on Odessa.
"I gotta just go. Go somewhere and just think." 
"Hey, Ethan, you going to be ok?" 

Silence. 

___

Yuno stood grimly in the doorway, his massive frame nearly obstructing the view from both the occupants of the room and any potential onlookers, eyes intently focused on his Master, who had just entered the room where Yerbol lay, his spouse beside him. The tendrils on his chin twitched and squirmed, the Sith attempting to suppress the sinking feeling of absolute failure that threatened to swallow him alive. They had arrived on the ship and he accompanied the others into that room, but when Arcann stared them down, him down, he could hear the screams all over again, the anguish that was never-ending from he and the others, crawling inside of him, down his spine, into his bones. He had been rooted to the spot, then was knocked over by a blast of concussive energy from Arcann and only regained consciousness when sirens alerted them of Netanya's cunning ploy. He hadn't said a word to his Master since they had reunited in the land of the living, although he knew that Revan already was aware of what had occurred. He would ensure that the next time they faced Arcann and the demon that lived inside of him, he would be ready. No matter the cost. 

"Too much." Yerbol scrunched his forehead, brow furrowed, right hand unclenched as he tried to direct the Force towards the weight Revan had dropped in front of him to no avail. He threw himself against the elevated upper half of the rickety gurney he was on, swearing loudly as he cast desperately befuddled eyes at the former Sith Lord. 
"So he did do it, didn't he? I could just..." He looked to Aria, shaking his head as he clenched the hand that she had laid on his knee.
"Those wounds from Illesia, do you remember? How she had temporarily somehow disrupted my connection to the Force? Arcann must have seen that there was a weakness there and exploited it and..." For the first time in a very, very long time, the Champion's shoulders sagged in utter defeat. 
"I can't hear you anymore, baby. I can't...I can't hear you and there's...nothing I can do." He cast his eyes up at the ceiling, jaw clenching. 
"To think that our bond, that my connection to the Force could be destroyed so easily...am I that weak?" 
"No." Yuno's gravelly voice interjected, casting his gaze onto Yerbol as he continued, hoping that Revan wouldn't chide him for speaking out of turn:
"Our enemy is just that strong. Believe me when I say that the man known as Arcann is gone, replaced by a being that has power beyond our imagination. It is the same being that inspired Master Revan to create the Heralds, an order dedicated to thwarting this one threat." 
"Who is he? This 'being'? And how can I get back to normal? This feeling of, what, vacuum? Emptiness? It's karking numbing." His eyes moved from the imposing Sith to Revan. 
"So what happened to me, Revan? And who is this being? How can we stop him?"