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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Looking at Alynna now, with the light of the setting sun warming her white markings to a soft gold and setting her blue eyes aflame, Lux was certain he'd never seen anything more beautiful.
And it wasn't just the glow of the setting sun, either. She'd changed in the last week. Her silly pretense of being nothing more than a meek, feeble slave girl had been steadily eroding for some time now, but never before had he seen her so full of life – so radiant. Her full lips would part in a sharp-toothed grin at the slightest hint of a challenge, with clever wisecrack never far behind...
Lux sighed as he disembarked from the speeder, listening with half an ear to her animated critique of his last – and, in his opinion, his best – speech of the tour of the mining villages. Was it possible to know so little about someone and yet be so drawn to them? He felt like he could stay at the villa for the rest of his life, forever in her orbit and forever basking in her light.
"Hey. Hey. Onderon to Lux, do you copy?"
Lux shook himself out of the daydream, managing to smile at her through the color rising to his cheeks. "Forgive me. I must've zoned out."
"It's– no, no, it's fine," she said, looking away. She was flushing, too. "I just complimented you, and you didn't brush it off. That usually means something's up."
"Well, I'm sure you were being too generous, anyway, and–"
"Ohhh no, you don't!" She poked him in the side, grinning. "You missed your shot for excessive modesty, my lord. No speedy riposte, no excuses. Silence means you accept it."
Lux shook his head, laughing to himself. Alynna's grin widened, and she took his hand – something she'd been doing quite a lot lately. Lux's flush deepened.
"So. It's back to Kyzeron tomorrow morning, huh."
He drew his shoulders further back to keep from slouching. He'd go where he was needed, even if he was dying to stay right where he was. It was his duty. "It is."
"I wish we could stay longer. I feel like there's so much more I can do here."
"Me too." The additional freedom was nice. Recently he'd even been able to cut down on the amount of guards accompanying him to his speeches or fancy private dinners. Away from Kyzeron, Lux had been free to investigate the contents of the datapad he'd ripped in Izadash to his heart's content...
And somehow, he still hadn't gotten much done. He'd started off with a whole list of leads to investigate, but after a week, they'd begun to feel less like leads and more like a series of dead ends.
He'd read of countless allies to reinforce, countless credits to funnel to off-world buyers and local officials, countless villages to 'requisition' equipment and supplies from. How could anyone cover all that up so quickly? He'd run every cypher and code breaker he knew of, and still found nothing.
