Private Breaking Dawn

[Jasper Kai'el]

Corellian Space
Tags: Iris Arani

​

The Lonestar 1 zipped through hyperspace, off to another intergalactic destination. A regular routine for Jasper at this point, but this was a far different occasion, one that had taken up an entire years worth of paperwork and behind the scenes planning. He had gotten pretty scruffy in that time, so he decided to at least het his hair cut and trim his face a little before departure. After all, he had something very important to show a good friend of his.

"Uh, thanks for coming on such short notice, Iris," Jasper apologized from the pilot's seat. "I know you probably have a decent amount on your plate, what with teaching and shadowing and all."

He was positively boiling over with excitement now. There was no way he could keep deflecting any more. Iris could probably tell that something was up anyways, so he should probably just get on with it.

"So... this isn't exactly a typical mission," the knight explained. "In fact, I don't think I'd call it that at all, though I figured you could probably already tell that something was up... Sorry for being misleading, but this is something that's still kind of on the down-low." He paused for a moment, scratching the back of his head. "I've been meaning to catch up with you and share what I've been doin, so I figured I'd do both at the same time. Oh, I think we're here."

Jasper's freighter slipped out of hyperspace, a looming shadow casting down from above in the distance. Very soon, a large vessel came into view...

​

"Welcome to the Dawnbreaker," he began. "It used to be an Old Republic warship. I've been out here overseeing it as it's been refit as a relief vessel."

It was the vessel of the next era. A sun that would break the dawn of the post Maw galaxy. This would be the New Jedi Order's platform off which reconstruction would launch. He didn't say that, but he thought it, which was dramatic enough in his head.

"Uh, y-yeah," Jasper frowned awkwardly. "That's it."

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris stared out the view point for the most part. Her gaze was distant. Same with her mind, really. With everything she was trying to do, she was just.. Overwhelmed. Even neglecting Zoar , as much as she hated it. Maybe she wasn't cut out to be the master of someone with everything else she was trying to do. She probably needed to have a conversation with him, soon. Though right now it seemed like she wasn't the only one doing too much and keeping secrets.

A brow raised as she glanced towards Jasper.

"Not a mission?" Well, look at him, pulling one over on her. She chuckled softly before glancing towards the ship as they dropped out.

".. Wait that's it? .. Okay. Why are we here then..? What do you need me for? I'm not a mechanic."

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Corellian Space
Tags: Iris Arani

​

"I know you aren't a mechanic," Jasper assured her. "This is about something different."

There was so much to talk about... where did he even begin?

"War with the Maw is coming to an end," the knight stated confidently. "I... think that the writing on the wall is pretty clear. Even if nobody else is talking about it. We're due a visit to Exegol soon... Everyone seems so consumed in preparing for the final battle that nobody's stopped to think about what happens afterwards. You know how I get when I start thinking. The problem's been eating away at the back of my mind for years now. I could just never find a way to address it."

Not until now. Jasper had always thought that his place for leadership would be on the battlefield. Maybe it still was, to an extent, but he was starting to realize that the force was calling him somewhere else.

"I'm calling it the Shield Core," Jasper told her. "Master Noble and the rest of the council are already aware of it. It's going to be a volunteer based, Jedi reconstructive initiative. The natural next step for us after the Maw, I think. I... can't do it on my own. I want- No, I need your help. I need a Chief Healer. You're... one of my closest friends. I wouldn't trust anyone else with the position."

They had always reaffirmed mutual support between them when they had first become knights. That they were all that was left of a lop-sided generation, all that the generation below them had to look up to. For Jasper, that was finally coming into practice. He only hoped that his friend could be there with him.

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked slowly. The final battle? She hadn't even thought about it. The end of the war that'd consumed.. All of her life. She was older than the war, but as far back as she could remember this was her fight. Why she was so often broken and bruised. And not only was it ending, but people were already getting ready to move on. She hadn't even thought about it ending. Just the day to day, trying to help the Alliance and protect those she could with her own hands.

"I-"

She wasn't sure how to answer. There was so much to just suddenly think about. Chief Healer? Iris set her jaw as she looked back out the viewport. Leaned her chin in her hand.

"Do I need to answer now?"

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Corellian Space
Tags: Iris Arani

​

"Do I need to answer now?"

"Of course not," Jasper told her, giving a reassuring smile. "I did sorta ask out of the blue. P-probably should've eased it in before hand, but my lips were tied. Take all the time you need."

Jasper understood her hold up well. There was a lot to think of, and Iris had gone through more than most of their generation. Body malformation, Sith alchemy and tormenting, personal betrayal on a number of occasions... Even as mutilated as his body was and afflicted as his mind had been, he doubted that he could have an experience equal to that of hers. At least he could understand, to a degree, that she had much to reflect on. It was hard to think of the future when you only knew one constant, after all. Maybe then Jasper's foresight was simply a testament to their different experiences.

"Well, I guess you can't really get a good idea of what's on the thing from out here," the knight chuckled.

He grabbed hold of the Lonestar 1's controls, bringing the ship into the Dawnbreaker's hangar. Rather than being flooded with starfighters, it's attack vessels were sparse, the majority of the capital ship's hangar space being that of transport shuttles. Already, even before deployment, personnel were preparing nonperishable supplies for their first relief act. Jasper stood, making his way over and lowering the freighter's lift door.

"Come on. There's a fair bit I wanna show you."

 

[Iris Arani]

"You should work on that stutter. If you're going to lead a group of people like this."

That was an easier subject to jump to. She offered a brief smile, at least to show she was only teasing. Somewhat. These were people going into the remnants of the Maw's terror to help rebuild. They'd still be seeing horrors of all kinds. She followed after him once the ship landed, rubbing at the back of her neck. Over the long healed scars. Was it okay to do things peacefully? For her to stop fighting?

It had to be okay, right?

Her thoughts still weren't in order, but she nodded. She could at least look.

"Lead on, then."

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Corellian Space
Tags: Iris Arani

​

"Hey, I'm getting better," Jasper protested with a shrug, managing a smile. "I'm not exactly fumbling over my words anymore."

She was right though. He needed to work on that, which he had been admittedly. It was just taking some work. They stepped out, beginning to make their way across the hangar.

"I guess the hangar is pretty self explanatory," he began. "Transports for travel to planetary surfaces and what not, with a few fighters for defense. A lot of the focus is gonna be on mobility. Getting Jedi and resources around efficiently and all. I wanted to make sure as much as physically possible was able to be transported off the Dawnbreaker if need be. We're already staging for our first deployment, though admittedly that's gonna be a ways out..."

His thoughts were cut off by the arrival of his companion droid, Pyf.

"Miss Arani," the droid greeted before turning to Jasper. "The ship's AI is online now. She'd like to have a word with you."

"Thanks," Jasper nodded. "Uh... where's Phyla?"

"The garden, I believe," Pyf answered. "Shall I go check on her?"

"Yeah, do that, please," the knight asked, before turning to Iris. "Right... I've, uh, had a lot happen in the past year... I met someone on Denon. You're old CorpSec contact, actually, Marissa Shoda . She told me you investigated something together. I can't remember what though... Anyways, we're currently jointly taking care of a shard that I saved from some smugglers. That's the Phyla you just heard about, who is... somewhere. Maybe we should share what we've been up to afterwards..."

For the sake of time at least. They still had a ship to tour.

"I guess you'll probably be most interested in starting with the medical wing," he reasoned.

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked slowly. Then pouted. Like full on pouted. It was the most emotion she'd actually shown.. Ever, in front of him.

"You've gotten yourself a girlfriend, and a kid, and a ship, and a job, and a purpose, all since you've been knighted? Like, what the hell man? You're making all the rest of us look.. Just look terrible!"

She huffed in annoyance, crossing her arms over her chest. Letting herself actually just pout for the time being. There'd be a couple seconds of that awkward silence before she nodded.

".. Let's go to the medical wing, yeah."

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Corellian Space
Tags: Iris Arani

​

"Like, what the hell man? You're making all the rest of us look.. Just look terrible!"

"I-I, uh," Jasper began, now red in the face.

He felt terrible. He hadn't meant to come off as more put together. Jasper knew all to well that wasn't the case. There were so many ways in which he was out of his depth. The last thing he wanted to do was gloat.

"Jeez," he finally shuddered, "I-I didn't mean to... I-I mean, I was kinda just talking off the cuff and..." He stopped, taking a moment to breath before hanging his head a little. "I'm sorry. I don't wanna come off as more put together than everyone else. I really have no clue what I'm doing. Things sorta just... happened. Maybe I'm trying to be more than I really am."

Jasper sighed. It was like he was a boy again, laying in a Coruscant alleyway all bloody and battered. Iris certainly new how to put him on the spot... though strangely something was different. She seemed so much more expressive than she had then. Things were probably just as complicated for her as they were for him. He couldn't really blame her for being upset.

"Right..." he finally agreed. "The medical wing."

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris paused again. Turned to look at him. Frowned. Again they were in this weird moment of having no real idea how to actually talk. They were really some of the worst. She stood there awkwardly rubbing at the back of her neck, trying to figure out something better to say than what she did. Nothing really came to mind, so she just followe. Medical wing. They could figure out how to talk later. Better to not dwell on it right now, hopefully.

"How long have you been working on this?"

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Corellian Space
Tags: Iris Arani

​

"How long have you been working on this?"

Oh god. She didn't say anything. That meant that he had just made the situation much worse, right? That's usually what that meant.

"A year, officially," Jasper told her. "But it's been... well, in the back of my head for a while Since Panatha..."

Jasper paused in his tracks, recalling back to that day. He was a padawan then...

"I was there with Silas," he explained. "We were the last shuttle off before... before it was drained. Entirely. A billion souls screaming out in agony before being silenced all at once. In an instant. Panatha became a lifeless rock before our eyes."

The knight let out a deep sigh. That should have never happened. Nobody should have let that happen. But it did, and the Maw was eager to do it. No doubt thousands would be born already as refugees from this point on, children of the lucky few who made it off. And the Eternal Empire pretty much in shambles now, it's old territory struggling to put itself back together. The Maw broke it, and now nobody was fixing it.

"We can't do this forever," Jasper stated. "Run off into the darkness and wage war for all eternity. People are getting left behind in the wake of it all... We'll lose ourselves."

Well, he had to address the awkwardness now, didn't he. He had taken a moment to think it over anyways.

"Sorry for overreacting," he apologized. "I know you probably didn't mean anything by it. I just... I worry about what I say a lot these days. I... don't wanna be alone again."

Not after finally finding people who accepted him.

 

[Iris Arani]

Oh. Being quiet seemed to have the opposite effect she was going for. She frowned a little, glancing back towards him. Listening, respectfully. At least until the end. At that she reached up and just gently chopped his forehead.

"Stop. We're both clearly terrible at talking, but you're never going to be alone. Not here. You're too much of a good leader and a good person. .. So just- I dunno. Stop feeling like you owe me an apology or that you don't deserve any of this. You put in the work, you did great. I'm just annoyed I haven't done more myself."

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Corellian Space
Tags: Iris Arani

​

Jasper winced ever so slightly when Iris reached up and chopped at his forehead. It didn't hurt, of course. It just slightly startled him.

"I... yeah," he finally sighed. "You're right. I suck at talking. We suck at talking..."

He stopped for a moment to reflect on what she had said. It was... more reassuring than he had been expecting. Or maybe he just had no expectations in the first place. He felt weird about it, but not in a bad way. More the fuzzy way. The kind that could make you cry in the right situation. He didn't cry, but he certainly thought about it. There was something about hearing that he had done good that really resonated with him, like a child receiving the affection of an older sibling for the first time. Maybe he had known what it was like to have siblings before Jalen had stumbled into his life and he had just never realized it.

"...Thank you," Jasper said with a wobbly smile. "It... means a lot to me to hear that... You're a good person, Iris. I'm glad we met. I... don't think I'd be here otherwise..."

Jasper stood there awkwardly for a moment. Man, he really did suck at this.

"Would hugging ruin the moment?" he asked in earnest. "I don't usually have talks like this with people, so I probably don't know, but it feels like a hug moment." Jasper paused for briefly before becoming more flustered. "A-actually, now that I say it out loud it sounds kinda stupid. We should probably finish getting to the medical wing."

Yeah, that was a better idea.

 

[Iris Arani]

"You're still the same kid crying at knightings deep down, huh?"

Iris gave an actual smile this time before stepping past him, nodding her head. Should they hug? She wasn't sure. Hugging wasn't something she really did much, now that she thought about it. Physical contact, interaction, it was rare.

"Show me the medical wing."

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Corellian Space
Tags: Iris Arani

​

"You're still the same kid crying at knightings deep down, huh?"

"You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?" Jasper remarked, finally cracking a smile.

It helped that she had smiled too. Genuinely. Iris was never one for much expression, so it was notable. Nice, even. He wished that she did so more often. It was a start, anyways. The offer for a hug was thankfully ignored for the continuation of the tour that had gotten completely derailed by how terrible they both were at social interaction. It wasn't long before they had arrived. There were rows of emergency rooms, filled with equipment that was in the process of being organized. Med Units, Intensive care pods, bacta tanks... All, for the most part, completely mobile, capable of being dragged out into the field at a moment's notice if need be.

"Sorry bout the mess," the knight apologized. "A lot of this stuff just came in. The idea is that we can wheel stuff out into the field when we need to, so I hope this wing of the ship isn't ever too crowded, but I wanted hospital space on board just in case. I guess it's a glorified storage area for the most part."

A storage area that could save lives, mind you, but that was neither here nor there.

"It will probably see the most use if we ever need to evacuate refugees," Jasper explained. "There's emergency living quarters for civilians. Y'know, in case the worst happens."

They both knew what the worst was. Tython, Panatha, Csilla, and countless others just to name a few. Planets reduces to either shells of their former selves or an asteroid belt in the worst cases. It wasn't something that Jasper wished for, but he had to be prepared for such an event.