I've started playing the Ace Combat games, these are all really fucking good. The original planes have given me some ideas for later, too, particularly the Morgan. Holy shit, do I love the Morgan's design.

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Nax kept shifting around in his chair, agitated and uncomfortable. He'd woken up around a half-hour ago to find one of the doctors dipping in and out of the room Lexi was in, and Kyra was still partially latched on to him. He had to admit, the sight of her holding on to him like a giant stuffed animal was actually kind of cute. Wrapping his arm around her, Nax pulled Kyra closer in, and she quietly cooed when he did.

Briefly stirring in her rest, Kyra slowly came to and looked up at Nax, her blue eyes seemingly glowing in the shoddy lighting of the facility. "…Hey." she greeted, perfectly content to sit where she was. "Anything happen while I was out?"

Nax cracked his fingers against his leg and sat back. "A doc went in and came back out, said we could go in if we wanted, just to not touch anything." he answered. Pouting ever so slightly at the idea of having to leave her very comfortable spot, Kyra leaned further on to Nax. In response, he gently ran his hand through her hair. "I've been waiting on you to wake up so we could check on her."

Kyra conceded and got off Nax, stretched her arms and legs, and then got up. Nax quickly followed after her, and they went into the room Lexi was in. While the room with the tank looked like it was in piss-poor condition, the tank itself appeared to have been stolen straight out of a cruiser's medbay. Lexi was floating inside the tank under the effects of heavy sedatives, wearing nothing except for some briefs and a very tight shirt. From what they could see, her wounds had all closed up very nicely, not even leaving as much as a scar. She almost looked blissful in the tank – Suns know she needed the rest. On a desk at the back of the room were her clothes, neatly folded into a pile.

The dull repetition of the equipment chirps and barks slowly added up in Nax's mind, pressing what had happened to Lexi to the forefront of his thoughts. Biting his lip, Nax pressed his hand against the tank and cursed. Kyra quickly took notice of this and put her hand on his shoulder. "Nax, there wasn't anything we could have done to help her. Any closer to her, and the door would've crushed us."

Nax's look soured. "I know that, Kyra." he responded, shaking his head in frustration. "It's just that I hate seeing either of you end up like this."

Their conversation was quickly interrupted by a protocol droid poking its head in through the door. "Excuse me, but I must tend to the patient and release her from her tank. Please step outside."

The pair exchanged looks, before doing what was asked of them. Soon after, they were helping a still very sedated Lexi back to the ship. She was sort of moving, but Nax and Kyra more or less had to carry her the whole way. Bringing her on board, they brought Lexi to the crew lounge and sat her down, catching her when she almost fell face first onto the table. "…So's…" Lexi slurred. "Issatit?" she questioned, still a little bit lucid even after her heavy drugging.

"Almost." Nax answered as he held her steady so she didn't collapse. "We've still got to throw the Pather info on the holonet before we can shutter this for good."

Lexi chuckled, a sly smile showing itself on her face. "Can I do it?" she requested, somehow able to string together a clear sentence despite everything running through her system. "I want to do it. End the Path, once and for all."

Shooting Kyra a briefly unsure look, Nax tilted his head. "I don't see why not."

Fighting to keep her eyelids from falling shut, Lexi looked up at Nax, her grin one of vengeful glee. "Thanks, just… give me a few hours to sober up…" she trailed, before her body listed to the side, and she fell asleep in the seat.

Kyra motioned for Nax to sit down with her, and the two launched into a hushed conversation about what to do next once they tied everything up. "So, way I see it is we've got two options." Nax whispered. "Either we can go straight to Dawnglade and hope someone recognizes you, or we can head back to Tatooine, ring up the garrison in Mos Eisley, and find out where the Empire took the Bantha so we can check the logs and maybe get a clearer picture of who you were. It's your choice, Kyra." Nax laid out before her.

Kyra tapped her forehead in thought. "Dunno." she answered after a time. "As much as I'd like to go straight to Alderaan to unwind from this horror show, I think we should go for the Bantha, first." she continued, shivering at the thought of having to enter that hellship again. "Don't know if Lostur was one for keeping records, or if the Imperials already wiped the computers, though."

Nax nodded as he quickly changed his attention from Kyra, to his datapad, and then back to Kyra again. "Fair enough. If Lostur didn't keep anything, then we're probably shit out of luck on that front, but Vopa might have contacts in Dawnglade that can look into missing persons cases for someone of your description."

Kyra clasped her hands together and slowly breathed out. "…I can't believe I'm as close to my past as I am right now. Stars…" she choked out, before looking up at Nax. "And I have you to thank for it."

"No problem-" he started before Kyra interrupted him.

"No no no, you've gone out of your way for me." she cut in, trying to keep her voice down. "Taking the risk of keeping me around you and Thel, watching over me when I screwed up, hell, even keeping me with you after we were done. None of that is something you do for someone and go 'yeah, its not a problem, I do this all the time!' to, Nax."

That gave him some pause. Sure, he didn't really have anything else on his plate before the girls showed up, but this was admittedly a very large deviation from what he originally had in mind. "You know what, Kyra? You've got a point. I have gone out of my way for you both." he said, tapping his fingers against the table. "If I'd had it my way, I'd have dropped you two off wherever, and then gone planet hopping, taking bounties, getting paid, and then getting smashed in cantinas. Maybe stake a claim over a nice piece of land on an Outer Rim backwater if I ever had enough money and got old enough."

Kyra raised an eyebrow. "…And would you have preferred that to what we're doing now?" she questioned, very much interested in his answer.

"Sometimes, yeah." Nax responded, scratching his neck. "Shooting at treadbrains with bounties on their heads in the Rim is sure as hell less complicated than what we've gotten mixed up in." he went on, reaching for a glass of water they had left out on the table. "…But every time I imagine doing that, I always remember that I wouldn't have you two around. Or the droids, for that matter, and if there's one thing I learned between my dad and brother dying and meeting you, it's that I hate being alone. Eats away at you like nothing else can." Nax rambled, taking a drink before finishing up. "Of course, it doesn't hurt that you're both easy on the eyes."

Kyra was blindsided by that last bit, and brushed profusely. "Nax!" she hissed in embarrassment. "I barely keep up appearances as is!"

He looked at her straight, a sly smirk making its mark. "You say that like it's a bad thing, Kyra. I don't see it that way."

Kyra's embarrassment turned to confusion. "Are you serious?"

"Dead. Way I see it, if you can go through what we've experienced, barely maintain yourself, and still look pretty, then I'd say that's good enough for me." he elaborated, before gesturing to Lexi. "She gets an advantage because, you know, she's a Zeltron, but the point remains that you two are damn pretty." he went on.

Nax's flirting, intentional or not, was far too much for Kyra to bear, and her face was a bright shade of red from her inability to handle it. "…I'm just gonna, uh…" she stumbled and stammered, slowly inching her way off the seat, before running down the hall to the crew quarters, covering her face to try and hide herself.

Although he was content to remain there, there was a buzzing from his datapad. Glancing over at the screen, he saw a message. 'Voto and Fultun are awake and request your presence.' it read. Stretching, Nax got up and headed for the cockpit to prepare for takeoff.

Lexi had woken up during the flight to the Church, and Kyra had decided that she was done hiding away in embarrassment. "Give me one more…" Lexi mumbled, trailing off as she focused on her datapad. "…Done. The Path is as good as dead, now." she finished, a satisfied look on her face.

"That's it?" Kyra asked, surprised that it was that easy to just dump all of their information on the Path onto the holonet.

Lexi smirked as she stashed her datapad. "That's it." she answered, sitting against the comms terminal. "No need to break into something like the INN broadcasting tower on the surface, or leak it piecemeal to the Empire. Just a single, anonymous seed file on the holonet, and it's out there forever." Lexi stated, before looking out the cockpit window. "Where are we heading, by the way?"

"To the Ascendancy. Kelah and Nevda both woke up and wanted us there."

Kyra stepped forward. "They're up?!" she said in shock. "But they're still inf-" she tried to get out before Nax stopped her.

"Relax, Kyra. They've probably replicated the sample of the cure we gave them. I just hope they're distributing it."

Kyra paused, before crossing her arms in uncertainty. It didn't take long for them to come up on the Church hangar, and after being cleared for landing, they were met with a hazmat team that sprayed them down with a disinfectant, sterilized the ship's interior, and then gave them compulsory shots of the cure. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, two guards who were very clearly much higher in station than anyone else in the hangar came out of the turbolift and beckoned for the group to follow them. Doing as they were told, they were led through the grandiose halls of the Church, small groups of members of the Ascendancy crowding around preachers and listening to words of salvation and sanctuary in these trying times. Being directed to another turbolift, they piled in, the guards flanking them as they went further up, ending up outside of the medbay. As they continued to be shepherded around the place, they saw Ascendancy medical staff attending to infected patients, samples of the cure in hand. The guards ferried them to a room at the very end of the hall on the right, before standing at their posts flanking the door.

The group headed in, and two familiar faces poked up from the beds inside. "Scrap my damned arm off, you guys are alive!" Nevda exclaimed, very much excited to see that they all made it out alive.

Nax smiled and nodded in her direction. "Good to see you too, Nevda." he replied, before looking to Kelah. "Same with you."

"You kick the asses of the ones responsible for this mess?" Nevda questioned, very much hopeful that Nax and the others had made good on their promise.

"Well, Rest is rotting in carbonite, and the Pather leaders are fragged to hell, so yeah, I'd say so." he replied.

Nevda and Kelah both got a chuckle out of that. "I also just finished throwing up the Pather information on the holonet earlier. Every bounty hunter in the Core is gonna be going after them now." Lexi added, earning her an approving nod from Kelah.

"Good work, Lexi." Kelah complimented, before wincing. "…Sorry, phantom pains." she apologized, nursing her hands. Sidewinder had been content to hide behind Nax, but at the sound of Kelah's voice, he immediately flew over his shoulder to her, making a series of excited, happy trills and chirps. "Good to see you too, Sidewinder." Kelah said with a smile as she scratched his chassis affectionately.

Nevda suddenly perked up, reached over the side of her bed, and pulled out a datacard. "Hey, Nax? This is for you." she said, offering it to him. He walked over and took it off of her.

"…What's this for?" Nax asked, examining the datacard.

"Remember when I mentioned that I could make your freighter dogfight interceptors?" Nevda asked, and Nax raised an eyebrow, having remembered the conversation but wanting to know where Nevda was taking this. "That datacard's got the location of one of our refit hangars on it. You can take your ship there, and the guys in charge'll do whatever you want to it, and it all comes out of my account."

Nax tried to push the datacard back into her hands, but Nevda refused. "Nevda, I can't just do that." he protested, and Nevda's expression soured. "That's your money, not mine. If I'm upgrading the ship, I'm going to be the one paying for it, not someone else."

Nevda narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you always this much of a slagbrain about taking someone else's money?" she grilled, pushing the datacard back into his hands. "You've saved not only the lives of Kelah and I, but the entire Ascendancy. I owe you this."

Contemplating whether to actually take it from her or not, Nax wordlessly accepted the datacard and stashed it into his duster. Kelah reached for the viscom remote and looked to Nax. "I almost forgot – you guys might want to hear this." she said before turning it to a broadcast from the Senate.

Front and center on the screen was none other than the Emperor himself, who seemed like he hadn't aged a day since the end of the Clone Wars, and flanking him were two of his red-robed guards, force pikes resting against their shoulders and visors pointed forwards. "-in light of the recent attacks in the Underworld, it has come to my attention that a free asset working under Imperial jurisdiction provided documentation proving that not only was this new virus engineered, but also provided the ability to synthesize a cure." the Emperor said cooly, his warm demeanor never lifting even for a second. "The Empire's finest minds are working on synthesizing the cure in an aerosol form for deployment via Imperial Center's weather system within the week." he finished, and Kelah paused the broadcast immediately.

"I'd lay low for a while if I were you guys." Kelah advised, her tone laden with caution. "I'd imagine it wouldn't take much for the ISB to figure out exactly who you are, and considering the trail you've left behind…" Kelah trailed.

The group nodded in understanding as the guards came in. "The Grand Ascendant wishes to see you now." they said in a robotic manner.

"Best not keep him waiting, guys." Kelah said, before waving them off. Lexi and Nax followed the guards out, but Kyra remained in the room, practically staring through Kelah and Nevda. "…Kyra, is there something wrong? You're staring." Kelah asked, sitting up straight.

Snapping out of it, Kyra nodded. "Yeah, actually." she said as she reached into her duster and pulled out an item not too dissimilar to a glowrod. It was the Pather leader's weapon. "The lead Pather had this on him, and I was hoping either of you would know what it was."

Kelah and Nevda's eyes both went wide. "Please tell me that isn't what I think it is, Kyra." Nevda said, effectively about to pass out from shock.

"Stars alive, Kyra…" Kelah trailed as she took the weapon into her own hands. "You could get into some real trouble with this, and I don't mean that in a good way."

Their responses only added to Kyra's confusion, and she cocked her head. "Why? What's so special about it?" she questioned, curious as to what they were prattling on about.

"This," Kelah said, holding the weapon out by its bottom. "is a lightsaber. They were weapons of the Jedi Order – enemies of the Empire that were hunted down to the last. They're still being hunted, as far as I know." Kelah explained, examining the weapon. "If you show this to anyone that isn't us, you will be chased by Inquisitors for the rest of your damned life. That is, if you don't get shot to death by the Stormtrooper division that'll get dropped on your head alongside the five Star Destroyers in orbit. You may not be a Jedi, but you have a lightsaber, and that's all that matters to them."

Kyra stared at the lightsaber. Had she known that such a small thing could bring such destruction to her, she'd have left it at the Pather base. "…So, what do you suggest I do with it?"

"Get rid of it as soon as you can." Nevda immediately answered. "You could probably get it through to someone with the Hivers that can fence it off to a collector or something. Make some money off of it that way, at least." she continued to advise. "But you absolutely cannot show that thing to anyone that you don't absolutely trust with your life. Do you hear me, Kyra?"

Kyra nodded as she took back the lightsaber. "I understand, Nevda." she said, before inching back towards the door. "I should probably be going, now."

"Yes, that would be best. Stay safe, Kyra." Kelah said as Kyra left the three to their own devices.

The group stood before the Grand Ascendant and bowed. "…You are the ones responsible for ending the Pather threat, yes?" the Grand Ascendant questioned, his voice an almost angelic, if mechanical choir that soothed their minds and seemed to ease their internal troubles. The trio nodded in response, and the Grand Ascendant stood up, his enhancements making him look far taller and more imposing. "Then I owe the three of you not only my personal thanks, but a great debt. Name your prices, and it shall be made so."

They all paused for a while, trying to think of something to respond with. Lexi was the first to speak. "Can I get some kind of infiltration armor?" she requested, before pointing at Nax and Kyra with her thumb. "These two have their own stuff, but I've had to make do with basically scraps for armor."

The Ascendant nodded to her. "That can be arranged, yes. I will send a group of scribes to assist you with this." he said, before looking at Nax and Kyra. "And what of you two? What would you request of the Ascendancy?"

Racking their brains for something to answer him with, the two gave up. "I think we've got everything we need right now, actually. We'll keep that in mind, however." Nax replied, and two of the Grand Ascendant's 'tentacles' crossed over each other.

"Very well." he said, his voice turning to more of a booming announcer than a choir. "Voto and Fultun have also been cleared to travel with you at any time, should you request their assistance."

The group bowed again. "Thank you, Grand Ascendant." Nax said humbly. As crazy as he thought the Synthskins were when they had just arrived on Coruscant, Nax had to admit – they weren't so nuts after all. Sure, finding religious significance in technology was strange, even a bit eccentric, but at least it wasn't downright terrorism like with the Path.

The Grand Ascendant sat back down at his mechanical throne and straightened up. "I will also be investigating your superiors – with how useful you three have been, perhaps an alliance of sorts could be struck with the Hivers." he noted, before dismissing them. "However, I have other business to attend to at the moment, so if you would, please return to the main hall."

The three did as was asked of them, and at the bottom of the turbolift was a group of about six Ascendants carrying tools and equipment for something. They instantly focused on Lexi, and whisked her away to make her new gear. Not sure of where else to go, Nax and Kyra headed back to the ship, where they would be waiting for the rest of the day for Lexi to return.

When she did get back, though, she'd practically had a makeover with what she wore. For starters, her stomach was no longer exposed, covered by some kind of plastoid compound, the only bit of skin still showing was hidden behind small panels of wire mesh right below her breasts, towards the bottom of her ribs. Her sleeves had short drapes that likely only served aesthetic purposes, and she now had a hood. "Hey, guys!" Lexi greeted before pulling back her left sleeve. "Check this out!" she demanded, before pressing a button, and in the blink of an eye, Lexi had disappeared, leaving only shimmers of light where she stood. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Nax and Kyra sat straight up in their seats, eyes wide open. "How the hell did you get a cloaking device from the Ascendancy?" he questioned in shock.

Lexi turned her cloaking off and smirked. "…Well, when the Scribes said I basically had free reign over what I wanted in my suit, I may have went just a teensy bit overboard." she said, her grin growing as she sat down. "Aside from a slicing suite built right into the bracers and the cloaking device, I can create hologram replicas of myself, stab someone with knuckleplate vibrodaggers, and it even makes my footsteps quieter." she explained, quite proud of herself. "Of course, I'd have sprung for a personal shield generator, too, but that would've put too much strain on the suit, so I left it out."

Nax eyed Lexi up and down repeatedly. "You know what? I like it." he declared, happy with what she'd gotten out of her end of the deal. "You having your own suit of armor means we can finally sell that junk armor we keep in the hold." he noted. "Plus, it looks nice on you." he finished off, and to be fair, the new suit was sticking pretty tight to her body, only serving to complement her already attractive figure.

Lexi blushed, and then sat down across from them. "So, where are we going now?" she asked, resting her cheek on her hand.

"I think we'll pay Vopa a visit next and collect our pay for this mess." Nax answered, caught in thought for a second. "After that, we can do that thing you wanted, and then we'll head back to Tatooine to track down the Bantha."

"Sounds good to me, Nax."

Vopa had been basically restricted to a bacta tank during the days following the attack, same with Eath, and while collecting their money was a one-and-done affair, Kyra was still lingering in Vopa's office while the others were on their way back to the ship, and something was obviously bothering her. "…Do you need something, Kyra?" Vopa questioned, curious as to why she was sticking around.

Kyra swallowed. "Yes, actually." she responded, before reaching into her duster and pulling out the lightsaber. "Do you think you could find a fence for this?"

Vopa almost had a heart attack from the mere sight of the weapon. "Kyra!" he hissed, more than angry that she would be willing to bring that kind of heat on to him. "Do you even know what you have?!"

"It's a lightsaber." she replied flatly.

"That's exactly the point! You don't just pull that shit out and ask 'Hey, can you sell this for me?', especially not when that little something would bring so much attention to us!" he reprimanded angrily, expression twisting and contorting in fury. "Where the hell did you even get that thing? Does it even work?!"

Kyra flicked the switch on the hilt, and with a snap-hiss, the blade bathed the room in its white-orange glow. Just as quickly, she shut it off and turned to look at him. "I got it off the lead Pather."

"He was a Jedi?"

"Beats me." Kyra replied, holding the hilt further out to Vopa. "…Look, I know what kind of heat this thing has, Vopa, and I don't want it as a liability for myself or the others. That's why I've brought it to you." she elaborated, her mind seemingly being clouded by the tension. "You're the only person I know with the connections to get this thing away from us, so back to my question – can you find a fence for this?"

Vopa studied her expression for a few moments. Kyra desperately wanted the lightsaber away from not only herself, but the others, too. Hell, she'd probably kill someone if it meant getting it away. "…Probably." Vopa eventually answered. "But I want forty percent of the sale. The fences take ten, and whatever's left is yours."

"Deal." Kyra instantly responded, and she handed Vopa the lightsaber.

Crouching under his desk, Vopa put the weapon in a hopefully secure spot, before popping back up. "Look, Kyra, you're probably not going to see the money for a few months, at the very least." he revealed, looking sour at the idea of what he had just done. "Smuggling a lightsaber and finding a good buyer for it isn't exactly easy, you know, but I'll do what I can."

Kyra nodded. "That's alright, Vopa. Just try and keep the heat down. Take care." she said, before turning and following after Lexi and Nax.

"…You too." Vopa muttered under his breath, the weight of his task already bearing down on him.

Nax and Lexi had grabbed the BARC with the sidecar from the hold and set off for her old home while the ship was having work done on it at the Ascendancy refit hangar. The whole way there, the both of them were silent – not that they could have spoken over the roaring turbines anyways, but there was an undeniably melancholic atmosphere during the trip. They'd spent weeks enduring this wild mynock chase, and it was only now settling in that they were done with everything.

With a tap and a gesture, Lexi had Nax pull the bike onto the curb, and they dismounted. She led him to an apartment near the street's corner, and there was a G-2 security droid floating outside the door. "Analyzing." the droid stated in a monotone voice. "Recognized facial pattern detected. Hello, Lexi." it continued, and the apartment's electronic lock opened.

Lexi let herself in, and Nax followed her. Admittedly, he wasn't sure what to expect of her childhood home, but it was actually a pretty nice place. Sure, it needed a lot of care to get back into a presentable state, yet there was significantly more space here than in Lexi's apartment. The living room area was directly to their left, a caf table marking the center space between two couches and the viscom, while the kitchen was centered around an island on the right. Right next to the conservator was a hallway that led to the bathroom and the bedrooms.

Running her finger along the countertop, Lexi saw just how much dust had been collecting. "…Stars, it's like a time capsule. Nobody's broken in – it's all how I remember it." she murmured, almost silent with how low her voice was. Slowly pressing on, Lexi went down the hall and opened the second door on the left, which led to the master bedroom. The large bed clearly hadn't been touched in a long time, yet it was like someone had made it just this morning. Lexi turned to the dresser against the wall in front of the bed, and froze up at the sight of a few pictures resting on top of it. Most were of a younger and much healthier Markan and a woman who bore great resemblance to Lexi. Others were of that woman carrying a newborn infant, and it didn't exactly take Nax long to piece together what the pictures were. Lexi's attention, however, was focused on the picture closest to her – one of a slightly older Markan and his wife, alongside a very young Lexi, probably no older than six or seven, all of them very happy with their lives.

Choking up, Lexi wiped tears from her eyes as Nax moved to comfort her. "…Do you need a minute? I can step out if you want." Nax asked as gently as possible.

Lexi wiped her tears again, before turning back and giving him a pained smile. "…No, it's fine." she answered, and they headed into the room across the hall. Lexi's room. Her room was like a complete reversal of everything else in the apartment – girlish toys littered practically every surface, old picture holobooks standing on shelves, unread for probably over a decade. Her bed had two long black plastoid cases on top of the pink tooka-cat pattern covers that stuck out like sore thumbs. Going over to open the first case, Lexi found a familiar instrument inside. Her very first xantha, its faded pink shell bearing the same stupid marks she made on it as a girl. Lying next to it was a plush morolaath toy that had seen a lot of love from its owner when it was still used, with the illusion of scales having clearly faded away over the years. Lexi ignored the xantha and grabbed the plush, cradling it like it was her baby. Lexi eventually sat the plush back in the case and locked it up, before pulling the second one closer.

This second case was far larger, and Lexi's hands trembled at the latches, almost as if she were afraid of what was inside. Steeling herself, she popped the case, and inside was another, far more expensive looking xantha. The shell was lined with chromium trim and had signatures all over it, with names like Erma Sotma and Kima Deno making their marks. Carefully picking the instrument up, Lexi also spotted a datacard that had been hidden underneath, so she grabbed it, set the xantha back, and slotted the card into her datapad.

A recording started. "Hey, Lexi." Markan's voice started. "I hope that I was there with you to tell this, but I think after what happened to me, it was best to make a backup, just in case." he continued, sounding slightly sad. "…I know I haven't been the best father to you. In fact, I've been downright terrible, but I wanted to start making it up to you."

Cracks started to show in Lexi's façade as the message continued. "I know what you thought of me, and I don't blame you. I was a coward to run away in the first place. I don't deserve you in the slightest." he continued to self-deprecate. "…But I wanted to patch things up with you, especially after what your friend Nax told me." the recording revealed, causing Lexi to turn back to Nax. "I know that I can't buy your trust back with gifts, but I wanted to give you this anyways. I don't know how long you'll be staying on Coruscant, but I wanted to spend as much time with you as I could." it went on, and Lexi started to choke up again. "If Nax is with you, then please have him listen closely." the recording paused briefly, with the recorder picking up sounds of Markan swallowing. "Please take care of Lexi for me. She means everything to me, and I know she trusts you with her life. I love you, Star Angel." the recording closed out.

Lexi effectively shattered into a million pieces. She began to sob uncontrollably, blathering incoherent nonsense in anguish over the recording. Nax immediately hugged her and tried to calm her down, only for Lexi to basically latch on to him. "…He really loved me, even after everything I said to him?" she finally managed to get out in-between sobs and wails. "After I told him that I hated him and to go to hell?"

Nax tightened his grip on her and pulled her close. "…Parents usually love their kids no matter what, Lexi." he tried to answer as best as he could. "Markan strikes me as the repentant type. He knew his mistakes, and he knew how you felt about them, and he tried to make up for it as best he could."

"But even after what I said?" Lexi interjected.

Nax shook his head. "Lexi, when I pulled him out of Bullen's place, I asked him what kept him going through the torture." he revealed, gently running his hand through Lexi's hair. "He told me that it was his love for you. If his focus on you kept him alive, then I doubt you saying that to him did much to change that love, Lexi."

Lexi seemed to absorb that, but otherwise remained quiet in his arms. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, Lexi pulled herself away. "…Can you help me pack some things, Nax?" she requested, before heading to the closet next to her bed and opening it to pull out a suitcase. "I… don't want to leave much behind."

"Sure thing." he answered, before moving to help her.

Tekti watched the INN viscoms through a store window, his fingers tracing the back of Thrasher. Imperial propaganda was having a field day with reporting the destruction of the Pather cells, and things looked to be at their end with the deployment of a cure for the Path's little virus project. Perhaps it was time to move planets, as he had done so many times before. "Come, Thrasher." he ordered, and the compdog gave a hungry mewl. Rolling his eyes, Tekti reached into his jacket and pulled out a sealed pack of dried bantha meat, took one out, and tossed it to Thrasher, who gleefully caught the meal and swallowed it whole.

As Tekti disappeared into the shadows with his pet, he briefly considered the possibility of going to Alderaan. A change of scenery would certainly be appreciated, and he had most definitely grown tired of the same meals every day. It would certainly be refreshing, to say the least.

And that marks the end of the Coruscant chapters. Next chapter is when we finally get a move on towards the fun shit that I've had planned since basically day 1. Honestly never thought I would make it to this point, yet here I am. Feels good to meet my goals. Now if my procrastinating ass could only apply that to real life.

Until next time!

-Tweak