Aeris circled the planet in the ship, as she was instructed, growing more and more uncomfortable with every passing moment. She could feel the horror of every living thing projected, their pain placed on her shoulders. It hurt. It was terrifying and lonely. It was a feeling she had never experienced before. But then, never before had she been so close to a planet as it died. Never before had she simultaneously felt such terror and pain, and then felt the lives of those to whom they belonged snuffed from existence.<br/><br/>It almost felt as though a piece of herself died with the planet. And when it was over, when every last shred of life had been consumed, she felt empty. It was an emptiness like nothing she had ever felt before. It was as if the Force itself had disappeared from this place, leaving nothing behind but a void surrounding a rock. She felt a chill, and she desperately sought something, anything to remind her that she was still alive, something to fill this sudden emptiness.<br/><br/>She wanted to gasp, to squirm, to run, but she didn't. She couldn't. She couldn't allow herself to show weakness as the Sith beside her cackled and in the back, the other Sith sneered and jeered and she alone felt the weight of the deaths, the weight of this void. She alone felt the sudden sinking feeling, the sudden loss of hope.<br/><br/>Just as she was about to shut it off, all of it, every feeling inside of her, both her own and from those around her, she felt something. It was a familiar, comforting presence. Dren. His voice reached her mind, telling her where she would find them, if she could escape. It was like a breath of air after being stuck in an endless vacuum, and she gladly welcomed it. It was a reminder, however brief, that she wasn't alone. It was a reminder that she was alive. And a small hope in the darkness, something to hold onto, to keep her from falling endlessly into the despair she felt within the emptiness of all that had just happened.<br/><br/>Yet she couldn't hold onto it for long. She didn't even had time to respond to it before his presence disappeared, or more accurately it slipped away, out of her perception. And then she shut everything out. Even as she held onto that shred of hope, she pushed everything else out, lest it overwhelm her. For now she went alone into the midst of their enemies, under the guise of one of their recruits. She didn't know how she would escape, but she would, somehow. She had to. And until then, she had to survive. But surviving she could do. She had spent many long years blending in with those whom she did not agree with. She had survived then, she would survive now. If they doubted her, then she would remove that doubt. No matter what it took. Because in the end, what mattered most was surviving, so that she could ensure that Dren and everyone else survived, too.<br/><br/>And with that, she punched it, jumping to hyperspace, leaving the dead planet behind and heading for the Sith Temple. It would be a longer journey than she wished, trapped in here, but once they arrived, she could start coming up with a plan for how to escape. She just had to be patient, something she had once known well, but now came as a struggle after so many years of turning her back on those lessons. But she recalled them nonetheless, and centered herself as best she could for the long journey ahead.<span style="font-style: italic">'Wait for me. Please,'</span>she thought to herself, hoping that Dren could find some way to believe in her, or at least find some hope that, despite his doubts, she would find him, as soon as she could.<br/><br/><br/>-------<br/><br/>Dren seemed to take his time in thinking of where they were to go. Or perhaps it merely seemed like forever in the face of everything going on. Below them, they could see the planet die, and with it, everything else. And in the Force, he could feel it. It was unsettling, to be sure. Not to mention distracting. He supposed he would forgive the Jedi for such, as he thought that perhaps he felt the deaths more acutely, as Jedi often did, As such, he waited as patiently as he could for Dren to answer him.<br/><br/>Hoth? "Well, alright," he replied with a shrug. He wasn't a huge fan of the cold, but he would manage. After all, it wasn't like he had many better ideas. Clearly, they couldn't go to the Sith, as Darth Devorer was heading there. That left the Jedi, if they wished to learn something, to try to find a way to defeat him. It was a risk, bringing two Sith to a Jedi temple. He might lean more grey than the other Sith, excluding Aeris, but he was still a Sith. Not that it mattered. To Jedi, anyone who was not a Jedi, who did not exclusively serve the Light Side was an enemy. So it hardly mattered if they were Grey Jedi or Sith. They would not be welcomed with open arms.<br/><br/>Nevertheless, he plotted the course. "I hope you have a plan," he  glanced at the Jedi, not terribly fond of the idea of basically putting his life in the hands of one, but considering his choices, he'd take the Jedi. "I don't particularly like the idea of everything and everyone in the galaxy dying, or even the galaxy being ruled by the Dark Side. I may be a Sith, but that doesn't mean I want that. The Dark Side isn't meant to control the galaxy. There is meant to be some semblance of balance," he shrugged, "Besides, I don't fancy dying just yet."<br/><br/>"So, yeah, I guess I'm with you. And no, you don't need to watch your back. At least not as far as I'm concerned. But I have a feeling that for the foreseeable future, we should all watch our backs," he added the words as he entered the coordinates and did all the calculations. "To Hoth we go," he shook his head before jumping to hyperspace, just moments after Dren had sent his message to Aeris.<br/><br/>He hoped that he was making the right choice, that he wouldn't regret this one day. But he was certain that supporting Darth Devorer was not the right thing. At any rate, they had a lot of work ahead of them to find something of use against this ancient Sith. He would not prove an easy foe, of that Jax was certain. Perhaps they would find something at this Jedi temple. Perhaps Aeris could find something of use in the Sith archives before she escaped, although he wasn't sure how many of the archives remained that she had not yet read. Not many, he feared. Nevertheless, there was a chance. He just hoped that she could escape, for all of their sake. Whatever happened, one thing was certain: this was certainly going to be an interesting journey.