You know, playing Cyberpunk has made me realize that I should've had Lexi talking more like the characters in both that and Shadowrun, since she's based off the Netrunner/Decker archetype. Also, while I'm talking about Lexi's inspirations, I've realized that I unconsciously channeled some of Starfire into her – not the Teen Titans show Starfire that we all remember, I mean the comic Starfire that people bitched about looking like a slut.

Anyways, Squadrons is fucking kickass in VR. I like, melted down into liquid soylent the second I saw the names Maarek Stele for the Imp and Ace Azzameen for the Rebel.

Read and review.

Dantinian walked the path out of his palace gardens, arms proudly crossed behind his back. He stopped only for a moment to look to the stars, before continuing onwards out and into the upper tier of Noridar – Khatlas – the tier of the noble and the scribe, and the last of three tiers. Myshov, the second tier, was the tier of crafters and laborers, while Vorovsk was the bottom tier, where the commoners and otherwise insignificant lived. As a rather conscious choice, Dantinian had his temple constructed in Vorovsk, mainly to humble the nobles – bringing them to the level of commoners and forcing them together.

Yet, despite all of this, Dantinian cared little for the politics of his subjects. The commoners revered him as a god – the savior of the Infinite Empire, protector of the rings, and guardian of the species, while the nobles engaged in petty squabbles for a chance at gaining his favor. Tributes of worldly belongings and trinkets were the usual order for gifts, but blood sacrifices were not an uncommon offering from the more eccentric nobles.

Tonight, however, Dantinian would not be engaging in the infighting between the nobility, or ordering the crafters to construct new war droids.

No. Tonight, Dantinian was simply going to take a walk.

His guards slammed the stocks of their pike-rifles against the ground, ever at attention and ready to join him, but a simple gesture was enough to convey that they were not needed. Their purpose was more ceremonial and decorative – of course, they were still trained to defend Noridar to the last, but in terms of Dantinian's personal protection, they were unnecessary. As Dantinian walked through Khatlas, he passively reached out and touched the minds of the scribes living here. Many of the ones that were working late into the night felt drained, but eager regardless to provide for the cause. There was a sudden spike in the emotional state of several scribes, and upon reaching further through the Nexus to them, Dantinian discovered that they had decoded another of Virgilius' tablets. Pleased with their work, Dantinian left the subtlest hint of his presence before continuing with his walk.

He could sense the gaze of the nobility upon him, but he paid them little mind. As he descended down into Myshov, he felt the pride of the craftsmen working on producing more equipment for his armies – war droids, battlesuits, tanks, artillery, and voidcraft. From the tiniest sidearms to the greatest cannons they could produce – the Infinite Empire would be ready to purge any and all threats to its existence, starting with the interlopers on these rings.

Again reaching through the Nexus, Dantinian touched the minds of the head craftsmen and gleaned information as to how production was going. What he found pleased him greatly – they had already outgunned the interlopers, and their stockpiles were growing by the day. Still, they would need more to fully restore the Empire, but it was an excellent start.

The guards Dantinian passed by locked up at attention, but he ignored them as he descended down into Vorovsk. Of much greater interest to him were the normal Rakata living here – they had been left alone for so long without any kind of greater purpose, and then Dantinian appeared, promising a return to the old ways, before the Nexus forsake their species and condemned them to the annals of history. Egos and rivalries melted away at the mere sight of Dantinian – bickering neighbors quickly resolved their differences and roughhousing children ceased to all stare in awe at their savior.

The Rakata of Vorovsk appeared impoverished, but not without determination to see through the restoration of their Empire – a quality that the nobility seemed to lack, and part of the reason for Dantinian's disdain for them. While they could not be any further apart, Dantinian felt a sense of kinship with the commoners, and it was their utter trust in him that helped keep him going – to see all of this through. He could not say the name for the nobles.

As the crowd watching Dantinian continued to grow, one of the guards dragged out a squirming peasant dressed in wet, dirty rags, with a small, formerly concealed blade clattering harmlessly on the ground as they struggled. "Sire, we caught this one about to make an attempt on your life!" the guard shouted, finally properly restraining the attacker. "What do we do with him?"

Dantinian looked down at his would-be assassin, his face swelling into a mixture of disgust and pity. "Release him. I will handle him." he ordered. The guard hesitated briefly, and then let off of the assassin. From there, Dantinian reached through the Nexus and grabbed hold of the attacker, lifting him up and pulling him along on his walk, now destined for the temple. There was not as much as a peep between the two until they reached the top of the temple – the highest point in Vorovsk, reaching up a little into Myshov. "Look upon all that I have created - the hope I have given to our dying race, and defend your attempt on my life, traitor."

The assassin was quiet. "Traitor?" he scoffed in disgust. "You seek to restore an Empire that collapsed from its own decadence eons ago – to restore a power to our people that forsake us!" he went on in anger. "You are no savior – you are a conqueror, a semblance of the exact thing that doomed us all to this cursed existence."

Dantinian closed his eyes and slowly moved the assassin around him. "You call me a conqueror as if that is not what our people are. Our Empire was built upon the bodies of those below our species." he rebutted. "Is it not within one's nature to wish to honor the memory of those that came before? To restore our people to the glory days where our Empire ruled the known galaxy? To provide a better life for the next generation?"

"It is not our galaxy to take!" the assassin spat in response.

Dantinian sighed at that answer. "You lack vision. Our Empire was not built from our ancestors cowering in fear at the shadows on the cave wall. No, they saw opportunities for conquest, and they seized them to secure a better life for themselves and their children." he replied as he lifted the assassin over the edge. "You are a spineless coward and a traitor to our species. You disgust me more than the vermin that infest these rings, and I sentence you to death." Dantinian finished, letting go of his grip on the assassin and letting him fall to his death. There wasn't as much as a scream on the way down.

Lexi slowly woke up, feeling rather heavy. Keeping her eyes open took a great deal of effort, and when her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she remembered that she'd been sleeping inside the Knight's quarters for the past few days. There was a small, vaguely canine shaped object on the floor in front of her, and she reached out to pick it up. Pulling it in, it quickly registered that it was her morolaath plush, and, feeling particularly lonely, she cuddled with it, stroking it as if it were an actual pet.

Lexi sighed as she looked over at the empty bunk across from her. Kyra was still with Nax, leaving her all alone in the Knight. Well, only if you counted organics – the droids were with her. Still, it wasn't really the same as having other people around. Finally deciding to get out of bed, Lexi got up, stretched, and made a half-baked attempt at fixing her horrifically messy hair.

Not entirely picky with how she looked, Lexi threw on a baggy white shirt and some gray sweatpants and then stepped out into the hall to be greeted by Katy, performing some repairs on the interior of the Knight. "Hey, Katy." Kyra said with a half-enthusiastic wave. Katy turned her pan-shaped head around to face Lexi and gave a pleasant 'dwoo-dwee' before returning to her work.

Heading down to the galley, Lexi passed by a deactivated Knockout and went straight for the conservator, pulling out a pack of yori bacon strips and some hash, before getting to work on frying the bacon. When that was done, she turned around to grab a plate to set it out on, and saw Kyra at the table, staring directly at Lexi, looking almost like a corpse with how tired she looked. "Kyra? I thought you were with Nax?" Lexi questioned as she grabbed a plate.

"I was." was Kyra's reply. She looked like she hadn't gotten any sleep whatsoever, and something was clearly bothering her. "They're letting Nax out of the tube today, and I'm not allowed to see him until after they run him through some tests, and after that they'll send him down to the Knight, so..." she trailed, losing her train of thought in her exhaustion.

Lexi frowned. "...You uh, want anything to eat?" she offered, gesturing to the still sizzling bacon. "Might help clear your mind – I know you've been sitting in that medbay for the past few days." Lexi continued, and Kyra responded with only a curt nod, so Lexi grabbed some slices of bacon, put them on a separate plate, and gave it to Kyra.

Kyra absent-mindedly stared at the plate for a few seconds, before starting to eat the strips so fast that you'd think she hadn't eaten properly in months. Embarassed, Kyra muttered a quiet thank you to a very impressed Lexi. Just as she was about to go make the hash, Kyra looked up at Lexi with her tired, baggy eyes. "Lex?" she called out.

"Yeah, Ky?"

"Zeltrons are psychic, right? You can… feel emotions, can't you?"

"Yup. Shockingly, not as well known as our other, uh, 'assets', let's say."

"What does it feel like?"

Lexi cocked her head at the strange question that seemingly came from out of the blue. "It's a kind of… tingling feeling, let's say. Positive emotions like joy and love feel like a really snug and warm blanket to us, but negative emotions like anger or sadness basically feel like freezing to death without, you know, actually being in the snow." she explained as she started to prepare the hash. "Why do you ask?"

Kyra's mouth hung slightly as she tried to formulate a response. "...I think I've been, I dunno, feeling what people think."

Lexi snorted. "Kyra, that's people skills, not-"

"Not in that way." Kyra interjected. "I mean actually feeling thoughts, not getting readings on people."

Lexi raised an eyebrow. "...Come again?" she questioned.

"I've been cooped up in that medbay for a few days now, and I've had this... reoccurring vision of a cantina. I'm sitting in one of the back booths – there's smoke in the air hazing the place up, but I've got a shot glass and a bottle of whiskey in front of me, and I feel… empty. Depressed." she explained, brushing her bangs out of her face. "It took me a while, but I've realized that it's a vision of Chalmun's – from the night I got to Mos Eisley and met Nax. Same band music, even if it's muffled to hell and back, same ugly mug on the bartender, but it's definitely Chalmun's. Hand isn't mine, either – it's Nax's."

"...Kyra, are you alright? This isn't the exhaustion talking, is it?" Lexi asked, concerned for Kyra's well being. "Nobody just… feels someone else's memory. That's not possible. Not unless its a holo scrolled by some chromed out slughead, and last I checked, you don't have any implants."

Kyra shook her head. "I'm completely serious, Lex, and I don't know if it's related, but that cube thing Deadshot gave me opened again. It was floating, too – had a little hologram of a Zygerrian on display, but it shut off before I could do anything."

Lexi wasn't sure if she believed that or not. "...Kyra, I know you've been through a lot these past few days, but..." she tried to say, only to come up completely blank. "...Maybe you should get some rest." she suggested. Kyra bobbed her head, half-listening, and then tried to get up, stumbling partly. "Definitely should get some rest." she corrected, before walking over and helping Kyra stand, letting her lean on her shoulder as they walked to the crew quarters.

Once they were in, Kyra stumbled away and leaned against her bunk. "...Thanks, Lex. I know I'm not making sense, it's just-"

Lexi hushed her. "I know, it's been a long few days. Get a shower, get some rest, and then you can tell Nax and I all about what's been going on when your head's clear." she said, putting her hand on Kyra's shoulder and giving her a warm smile.

Kyra slowly nodded in understanding, and then headed off to take a warm shower. Before Lexi left Kyra to clean up, she reached under her bunk for the slide out drawer, pulled it out, and then grabbed her xantha case before kicking the drawer back under the bunk and walking out. Heading back to the galley, Lexi set the xantha on the table and went back to making her breakfast, plus a little extra for Nax to eat if he showed up early.

After breakfast was done and she'd eaten, Lexi was left with nothing else to do but strum her xantha in idle boredom. The ship's electronics had been mostly fixed – comms, water recycler, EWAR suite, and so on. Really, the only thing out of her skillset for repairs was the hyperdrive, which would need to be completely replaced, probably by something they could dig out of that orbital graveyard. Regardless, Lexi popped the case and took the xantha into her arms.

For a moment, she seemed lost with the instrument in her hands. Then, slowly, Lexi began to play a few notes, as if she were a total beginner. Gradually, Lexi tuned the xantha to her tastes and started playing more complex strings as her muscle memory came back to her, with time seemingly blending together for her as she played. "We lost everything." Lexi sang, shutting her eyes and letting the song flow naturally how she remembered it. "We had to pay the price." she continued.

"Didn't take you for a Savaro fan, Lex." Nax suddenly said, snapping Lexi out of her trance. She quickly glanced around the room for him, and she found Nax leaning against the conservator, wearing his full set of armor minus the helmet, which was on the counter next to him.

Gently, Lexi set the xantha back in its case, closed it, and then turned to Nax. "Haven't listened to them in ages, but they were real popular with my friends when the band was still together." she replied, before giving him a concerned look. "You doing any better?"

Nax smiled and nodded. "Helluva lot better, Lex." he answered, before tapping his chestplate. "Even got my armor fixed."

"What, the 52nd just conveniently had a guy who knew how to work beskar around, plus the equipment for it?" Lexi questioned, not believing the odds of something like that happening.

"Nope." Nax bluntly replied. "Way I heard it, one of the quartermasters took a welding torch to the bent parts of the plating until it was soft enough to bend and then hammered it back into place before cooling it, so, you know, not exactly fixed, but it'll still stop blaster shots." Nax continued, before looking around absent-mindedly. "Where's Ky?"

"Sleeping." Lexi responded, gesturing with her head to the crew quarters. "Found her in here exhausted as hell when I woke up, so I gave her something to eat and then helped her to bed. She was on about some weird memory thing, too, so..."

Nax raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Memory thing?" he echoed.

Lexi shrugged. "Ask her yourself."

Seeing that as the end of the conversation, Nax picked his helmet up and walked to the quarters, passing by Katy and Arfive chattering in the hallway. The door to the crew quarters opened automatically for him and it took a second for his eyes to adjust, but under the covers on the left bunk was an unmistakable mess of white hair. Walking over, Nax found Kyra sound asleep, and he gently caressed the side of her face.

Slowly, Kyra stirred in her rest, and then opened her eyes. As soon as she got a look at Nax, she shot up out of bed and pulled him into a long kiss. Reluctantly, Kyra let go of him and remained sitting. "Hell of a way to say hello, Ky." Nax teased, giving her a quick peck back. "Sleep well?"

Kyra rubbed her eyes and then yawned. "About as well as I could. Definitely feel better, though. What about you?"

"Smell and feel like I've taken a bath in liquid copper, but I'm doing fine." Nax responded, running his hand through Kyra's hair as she went in to hug him. "Lexi mentioned you saying something about a memory… thing?" he asked, totally in the dark on the details.

Kyra didn't immediately respond to his question. "I was staying in your room pretty much the whole time you were in that tank, and I kept having these repeating visions..." she said, before going on to repeat what she told Lexi, making sure to include the cube opening.

Nax, naturally, was chilled by the idea of having his memories read by another person, even if that person was his girlfriend. "...Do you remember seeing me that night?"

"No. I only saw you when you went up to the bounty terminal, not when you were in the booth."

Neither of them had any idea how to interpret this. Clearly, something was happening to Kyra, but neither of them knew what. It seemed like the clones knew what was going on, but they were tight lipped, like an open secret that they weren't letting the three of them in on. "...Ky, I wish I knew what to say. This is way out of anything I've dealt with."

Kyra quietly murmured as she tightened her hug. "...Nax, I don't have the faintest idea of what's going on with me. What if it's not just reading memories?" she questioned, looking up at him, her eyes starting to water. "...What if I accidentally hurt you?"

Nax calmly wiped her tears away. "Kyra, I know you'd never hurt me, but I understand your worry." he said as he stroked the side of her face. "So, let's try and figure out what this is before something bad happens, okay?" he finished, and Kyra nodded.

Kyra was quiet trying to think of where to start. "...We can try the cave behind that waterfall. Remember when I passed out for a second and got a vision?" she offered, practically grasping at straws. "This… mind reading thing – it feels like a sixth sense, same as the part of me that felt whole inside the cave."

"Then we'll start there. I'll go check the BARCs to make sure they still work, and then we'll head out when you're ready." Nax said, moving to get off the bunk, but Kyra wasn't so inclined to let him go. "Kyra?" Nax said, nudging her arms. "Can't exactly go anywhere with you hanging off me."

Instead of saying anything, Kyra reached up and pulled Nax into a kiss before gently bringing him back down onto the bunk with her. "I missed you, you dumbass." she said after pulling away, only to go back in for seconds. The two of them stayed like that for a long time, just enjoying their embrace and affection.

Nax held her tight as they soaked in each other's warmth. "I'll try to keep slugs out of my gut." Nax joked as Kyra rolled off of him. She rolled her eyes, and then kissed him on the cheek before he got up and headed to the cargo hold for the bikes.

Both of the BARCs were heavily damaged, but the Dropstorm had excess parts that the mechanics used to repair the speederbikes, and with that, Nax and Kyra left for the mystery cave behind the waterfall. Neither of them knew what they were supposed to be looking for, just that the cave might be connected to Kyra's predicament.

Arriving at a considerably earlier time than they had on foot several days prior, Nax pulled up close to the trees, killed the engines, and they both dismounted. "Here we are. Hope we get something out of this." Nax commented as Kyra fell in behind him, both of their weapons at the ready and on high alert. Moving past the pond and carefully stepping along the outcropping of rock, they slipped past the waterfall and were in the damp cave it hid.

As it had done several days prior, the feeling of being whole returned to Kyra, but now it was clearer – more focused, and she could feel it pulling her around, like her hand was tied to a rope. Shutting her eyes, Kyra reached out and let the feeling guide her, Nax quietly following behind her. It wasn't long before her hand pressed against the rocky wall, and then pushed a particular part of it inwards. Kyra quickly opened her eyes and glanced to a part of the wall to the left of the button that was now coming down, spilling dust on the floor. "...A hidden door?" she said aloud as Nax came to her side.

"Looks like it goes down pretty far." Nax commented, picking up a nearby rock and chucking it down into the darkness, listening for each time it hit the ground, until it was quiet again, bar the roaring waterfall behind them. "Way down. I'll go first, flick your night vision on." he ordered, pressing the button on his wrist and being temporarily blinded, while Kyra did the same.

The way down was long, but ultimately uneventful, and the stairs, if one could even call them that, were claustrophobic. It honestly felt more like being trapped in a cave than going through an artificially made passage, but that feeling quickly went away once they came to the bottom and found what was essentially a large vault door embedded in the rock. "...Well, now what? It's not like we brought a detpack or a drill." Kyra wondered, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.

Nax, however, was not so inclined to give up that easily. Taking his helmet off so he could hear better, he pressed his ear against the vault door, and heard a very quiet, distant buzzing. "Power's still on." Nax noted, before glancing to Kyra. "Any bets that it's occupied?"

"Owners're probably dead, Nax."

He shrugged in response, and then pounded three times on the vault door. Before Kyra could tell him to give it up, she felt a strange presence approaching the vault door, and then a very aged TT-series droid shot through a hole in the vault door and scanned the both of them. "Chom noleeya, Jedai." the droid said in Huttese after scanning Kyra, before disappearing back behind its port as the vault door hissed and started to unseal.

"Told you." Nax said with a degree of smug satisfaction, before quickly throwing his helmet on and readying the DC while the vault door descended into the floor. Behind it wasn't any sort of riches or even a hidden cache of weapons – it was an airlock – the lights were all on, and it looked incredibly well maintained, visually identical to the interior of any modern Imperial ship. Carefully, they proceeded inwards as a klaxon briefly blared, signalling the rise of the vault door again. Once the vault door was up again, the vents kicked on and started what was likely a decontamination process.

"Identify yourselves." a deep, intimidating voice ordered from an unseen intercom.

The pair looked around in confusion. "I'm Nax Strag, this is Kyra." Nax introduced, acting blind since he didn't know where the voice was coming from. "Who are you?"

The person ignored his question. "How did you find this place?"

Kyra stepped up. "We were on a scouting mission several days ago and were ordered to see what was behind the waterfall at the entrance. I only came back because something up there made me feel… whole. A sixth sense, if you would." she responded, answering mostly truthfully but careful not to let loose too many details.

"...Is that you, Dreamer? Or are you just another Nexus tapper?" the voice asked, and they both froze up at the mention of the name Dreamer. "It is, isn't it?" it continued.

"...How did you..." Kyra started, only to be cut off.

"Come inside, there is much to explain." it finished, and the intercom clicked off. The decontamination process went shortly afterward, and the airlock exit opened, letting the two of them out into what seemed to be a large hangar bay converted into a lab and workshop. Directly to their left as they entered was one of the natives, wearing nothing but a kama. His skin was scarred as if he were a soldier, but he showed no such mannerisms. Nax and Kyra both prepared to shoot at him, but he quickly spoke. "I am not your enemy, Dreamer. Quite the opposite, in fact." he said, holding out his hand to stop them.

"You're a native. Last native I talked to threatened me and tried to kill Nax, so how are you any different?"

The native sighed and stared her down. "Because without me, you will be easy prey for Dantinian and his ilk. I can explain much, help you on your journey, but only if you are willing."

Kyra hesitated briefly, and then holstered her '44. "Stow it, I want to hear him out." she said to Nax. Reluctantly, Nax followed her directions and slung the DC over his back.

The native clasped his hands together and nodded. "Excellent. I will prepare something for you two."

The native's hospitality was… unusual, to say the least. For one, he wasn't intent on clubbing Nax and Kyra over the head with a mace – not that he could since they were still armored, but his intentions so far seemed pure. No weapons pulled, no threats made, not even as much as a threatening glare. The native returned to them with tea, of all things. "Please, drink." the native offered, setting the tea down on the table for the two of them. Kyra, being particularly trusting, took her helmet off first and drank. "You may address me as Apprentice, Dreamer."

"You don't have a name?" Nax asked, raising an eyebrow.

Apprentice shook his head. "No. We are not permitted to receive a name until we perform a task worthy of receiving such an honor. Before then, we are referred to by our station." he responded, drinking from his own cup. "Dreamer, where would you like me to start?"

Kyra tapped her fingers against the table in thought, and then spoke. "Let's start with these rings – who built them? Why?" she asked.

Apprentice closed his eyes to focus. "These 'rings', as you so bluntly refer to them, are a safehouse for my species." he answered, opening his eyes and folding his hands together. "Eons ago, my species, the Rakata, ruled the galaxy under our Infinite Empire. To say our rule was brutal would be an understatement – worlds burned for the most minor of transgressions, entire species lived and died on our whims. We made immense weapons of war that tore at the very fabric of the Nexus and ultimately served to aid in our demise." Apprentice continued, sounding increasingly grim. "My master, Virgilius, saw the writing on the wall for the Infinite Empire. He was not like the rest of our kind – when most sought to be fleet admirals and generals of the Infinite Empire's vast armies, Virgilius pursued grand engineering projects designed to create and preserve, not to destroy, and for this, he was ridiculed, but none could deny his skill. These rings were his final project for the Infinite Empire, meant to save what he could from the collapse."

"The collapse?" Kyra echoed, and Apprentice's expression only darkened.

"An empire built on genocide and slavery cannot last forever, Dreamer." Apprentice replied, his voice cold as stone. "Slave revolts were popping up far too frequently for our already stretched-thin military to deal with them, and the construction of the Star Forge merely served to push our abuse of the Nexus to its breaking point."

Nax raised a finger. "You've mentioned this Nexus thing a few times now – just what is it?" he questioned, and Apprentice put his hand to his mouth, trying to think of how to describe it to them.

"...Your people would know it as the Force. Stripped of all of its complexities and intricacies, it is an energy field radiated by all living things, like you and me, but it's so much more than that. Certain individuals, like the Dreamer, are attuned to it and can control it, but there is a balancing act to the Force, one that the Infinite Empire ignored, and for that, we paid a heavy price." Apprentice answered. "We were stripped of our connection to the Force, rendering the technologies our Empire used as utterly inert. Internal trade lanes collapsed, leaving frontier and urban worlds to starve. Whole fleets were lost as warlords carved the Empire up for their own personal gains."

Kyra crossed her arms after finishing her tea. "So, where do I come in?"

Apprentice sighed. "Your arrival was foretold of over a hundred years ago through a vision in the Force, and it was believed among the commoners that you were either going to save us, or finish us off. Now, though, I know better – it's not you that will destroy us, it's Dantinian."

"Who?" Kyra asked.

"Dantinian, one of Virgilius' apprentices. He… rediscovered his connection with the Force some years ago, and promptly killed Virgilius to take control of the Rakata here. Now, he seeks to restore the Force to the species, and if that happens, then there's no telling what horrors he could unleash." Apprentice warned, before looking deep into Kyra. "You are the final part of his plan, Dreamer."

Kyra was only partially following all of this. An hour ago, she'd barely given any thought to the rings, but now, she was seemingly at the center of the fate of an entire species. "How, though?" she pressed.

"Dantinian has done extensive research on the process of transferring the Force from one entity to another through ritualistic sacrifice. He's done this four times since Virgilius' death, and you, if he gets his hands on you, will be the fifth."

Nax's mood had soured. "So, if Dantinian is leading the Rakata here, then how the hell are we supposed to stop him from killing Kyra?" he barked, barely managing to keep his temper under control. "If you haven't noticed, we're just two people, not an army. Better yet, how do we get off these rings? It's not like we asked to be here, after all."

Apprentice clearly wasn't amused by Nax, but remained cool nonetheless. "Killing Dantinian and leaving these rings are tasks both easier said than done, this is true. However, even if you did somehow manage to escape Dantinian's wrath, another would simply take the Dreamer's place. Such is the way of the universe."

Nax rolled his eyes. "Great, so we're fragged either way. Still doesn't answer my question."

Apprentice remained patient with Nax's temper. "These rings are not just a safehouse for the Rakata – they were meant to propagate the species on new worlds, hidden from the prying eyes of the warlords of old. Hidden below the surface of the rings are a multitude of caches filled with terraforming equipment and weaponry from the days of the Empire. These will help turn the tide against Dantinian and his followers."

Nax most definitely wasn't believing any of this, but he held his tongue. "One last thing, Apprentice." Kyra spoke up, gaining his attention. "What's the Worldshaper?"

Apprentice's expression turned to one of shock. "Kev'nil krak." he said, his tone indicating it was a swear of some sort. "The Worldshaper is one such example of terraforming equipment – it is a massive armored worm, easily twice the length of one of your voidships, meant to level mountains and create rivers. If Dantinian has it, then the situation may be more dire than I thought."

"Fun." was Nax's only comment.

Apprentice got up from his chair, ignoring Nax's snark. "Before you go, Dreamer, I have something for you." he said, heading into what was likely his sleeping quarters. Just as quickly, he came back out, guiding a carbonite slab behind him. "I may be unable to help you awaken to the Nexus, Dreamer, but I can offer you someone who can."

Kyra and Nax got up and looked over at the humanoid encased inside the slab. It was a Twi'lek woman, wearing some basic looking robes, looking as if she had merely fallen asleep inside the slab when it had frozen her. The both of them were overcome with an odd sense of familiarity with the woman, like they had seen her before. "Who… is this?" Kyra questioned, trying to figure out where she knew her from.

"A Jedi." Apprentice announced, gaining their full attention. "She arrived with the voidship that crashed when war came to these rings again. She will help you." he explained, pushing the slab into their hands. "Return to your voidship with her. Go." he finished, before disappearing deeper into his lab.

Nax and Kyra looked at each other, before bringing the slab with them through the decontamination airlock and up back to the cave behind the waterfall. "...Kyra, please tell me you don't actually believe that crap." Nax said, looking to her, concerned. "An ancient empire that built these rings to avoid collapse? An entire prophecy revolving around you saving an entire species? A kid living on a backwater could make a better lie than that!"

Kyra shook her head in disbelief. "Nax, I don't believe it either, but what other explanation is there for everything that's happened to me since we got here? The visions, the memory reading, the sixth sense?" she responded, before looking down at the Twi'lek in the slab. "If this isn't all just some ruse, then maybe she can help us."

Neither of them said anything more as they took the slab back to the bike, mounted it to the side car, and drove back towards the Dropstorm.

As soon as they got back, they both filled Lexi in on what they'd been told by Apprentice. Unsurprisingly, she wasn't buying it either, but Arfive seemed to be taking great interest in the Twi'lek stuck in carbonite. After deciding that they'd rather have their answers now rather than later, they brought the slab to the crew lounge and set it upright. "Unsealing in five." Nax called out as he pressed the button on the side of the slab, deactivating the repulsorlift and sending the slab slamming into the floor, leaning against the wall.

The carbonite began to hiss and squeal as the outline of the Twi'lek started to melt, revealing her light blue skin. Her limbs began to twitch, and once the carbonite was no longer in place, she fell forward. Nax quickly grabbed her and set her straight up on the floor. Consciousness quickly returned to her, but her eyes were still shut. "...I feel… three people. Who are you?" she quietly eked out.

"I'm Nax Strag." Nax introduced, kneeling down to her. "And you are…?" he questioned, keeping the Twi'lek upright.

"I'm… Padawan Sawei Klorr, I..." she stumbled, fighting to stay awake. "I'm sorry, I just… need a moment to adjust." she apologized, before rubbing her eyes until she could see. Once she could, though, she instantly fixated on Kyra. "...You, you're the Dreamer, right?"

Kyra put her hand on her hip. "My name is Kyra, actually, but I keep getting called Dreamer, so yeah, I guess I am." she responded as Sawei got to her feet. "Thing is, I basically don't know a damn thing about what that means, and you're apparently supposed to help me, so, can you?"

Sawei took a moment, and then slowly nodded. "I can, but not today. Carbonite freezing isn't exactly conducive to handling the Force." she said as she ran her hand over her head. "Dunno what that alien told you, but I doubt he made much sense." she continued, flinching briefly as she touched her right lekku. "Speaking of – where are we? This isn't his lab."

Nax gestured to the rest of the room. "You're on my ship, the Coruscanti Knight. It's landed outside the Dropstorm, one of the Venators belonging to -" Nax started.

"The 52nd Helljumper Legion, I know. I'm technically their commander, actually." Sawei interjected, before looking to Kyra. "I'll see what I can do about training once I've got my bearings." she said, and Kyra nodded in acknowledgement.

Maybe Apprentice wasn't as full of bantha dung as Nax had thought.

Sorry for the short chapter, I wanted to get this out in time for Christmas and to get the uploads back on track. That said, next month marks two years of Pulsar Company!

'Til next time.

-Tweak