The Republic has fallen.
In the final days of the Clone Wars, Chancellor Palpatine died under mysterious circumstances. With the Senate struggling to retain a sense of unity, it was the perfect time for the Separatists to strike. And strike they did...
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"Lussidran, catch me!"
Lux snapped up from where he'd been reading an analysis of the forged Noreino crest from a slicer contact of his. He nearly dropped his datapad in his haste to find the source of the cry. He'd sent the nursemaid droids away an hour before, and if anything happened on his watch–
His eyes quickly found the intrepid child perched on the footboard of the bed, thankfully close enough to his seat on a low couch for him to scramble to the rescue. As soon as Gregorieva heard the scuffling of his feet on the thick carpet, she leapt into the air. With a burst of speed Lux made it beneath her just in time to catch her neatly in his arms – even if it made his still-healing ribs throb with pain.
Lux turned the chubby three-year-old so she sat with her legs wrapped around his midriff. It was easier said than done when she was shaking with joyous, full-bodied giggles. In the handful of seconds between her safe landing and the start of her laughter, Lux had had a dozen reprimands against her antics at the ready. But as always, as he looked down at her beaming face shaded by fluffy dark locks the same caf-brown as his own, every hint of discipline melted away.
He didn't come see his little half-siblings nearly often enough.
Gregorieva's twin brother Noxarrin scampered over from where, moments before, he'd been utterly engrossed in a group of animal figurines by his own bed on the other side of the nursery. "Carry me too, Lussidran!" he cried, reaching up.
"Didja see, Nossarin?" Gregorieva called, wriggling in Lux's arms to face her brother. "I was in a starfighter! I went woosh and landed on Dagri!"
Her brother stared blankly at her until she pointed to Lux. Lux kissed the tip of her finger and set her down beside Noxarrin, offering her a bright smile when she pouted at the change in altitude. "And now you've made a safe return trip to Onderon," he murmured. Then, louder, to get the point across, he added, "You have to remember to do your preflight checks before you take off like that, or you might get hurt, Grey. Tell your ship where you want to go, first!"
"Don't call me Grey," she huffed, averting her gaze and crossing her arms in a way that Lux knew meant that for the time being, she would refuse to be consoled. "My name's Gregoreffa."
Lux sat down beside the pair, offering the sleeve with his wrist comm to Noxarrin when he grabbed for it. (Thankfully, knowing it would be of interest to them, he'd had the foresight to shut it off before arriving.) "Why not? It's so much easier than remembering such a big long name for such a little girl!"
"Papa says long names give us character and let other people know we're in charge before they even meet us," the girl stated primly, with meter and monotony that suggested she was repeating a lecture she had heard many times before.
"My mother never called me by my whole name when I was growing up. It's silly to do that when our names are so hard to say. You know, I once had a friend who was very smart, like you. Her full name confused people, so she just went by..."
