Private New Beginnings

[Jax Thio]

Location: Jedi Temple, Naboo
Equipment: Jedi Robes, Jax's Prosthetic Arm, Jax's Third Lightsaber, Marriage Ring to Jairdain
Tag: Meri Vale

Though Jax missed the Jedi Temple back at Coruscant, the one in Naboo didn't seem too shabby. It was too pristine for Jax's taste to the point of sterile, but it was located in a safe environment. It'll be hard for troops to approach the Temple due to it being located in the mountains and anti-air turrets will make landing ships a nightmare. Also, Kyber Crystals were located inside of the Mountain. An easy trek to grab some crystals and mediate whereas before Jax had to travel to Illum to have access to the Lightsaber Crystals. The Jedi Master took in the sights. The Temple was bathed in the Force with life being more vibrant. The Force lived on even after the Jedi fell in Coruscant there is no death after all only the Force.

And it was something Jax constantly had to remind himself of. Even when things were at their bleakest, the Force will always remain a constant. It'll never stop existing for it was life and as long as Jax was in tune with the Force, he will always have hope. "Hope," Jax said approaching the entrance. "Jedi talk about the cycle of life but the only way that we can preserve is through hope."

 

[Meri Vale]

The mountain air felt thinner this high up, cooler, carrying the faint mineral scent of stone and distant water.

Meri stood several paces from the entrance, not close enough to intrude on the Jedi Master's reflection, but not so far that she appeared lost. She had paused midway up the path when she noticed him there, silhouetted against the archway, speaking the word hope as though testing its weight.

She did not interrupt.

Instead, she studied the Temple.

Her attention first moved over the lines of it. The outer terraces followed the natural slope instead of fighting it. The anchoring pylons had been set into existing rock seams rather than drilled straight through them. The structure did not dominate the mountain. It cooperated with it.

That mattered.

She shifted her satchel slightly higher on her shoulder and stepped closer to the carved stone threshold, running her gaze along the edges where tool marks had been softened but not erased. It was new construction compared to Coruscant's Temple, but it did not feel temporary.

It felt adaptive.

When she finally spoke, it was not directly to him, but not entirely to herself either.

"It is positioned well," she said quietly. "Elevation. Natural defenses. Redundant access routes carved into the interior rock." Her eyes traced upward toward the anti-air turrets embedded discreetly into the outer ridges. "It is difficult to approach without being seen."

Only then did she glance briefly in his direction, not with familiarity, but simple acknowledgment of shared space. "The Temple on Coruscant was monumental," she added thoughtfully. "This one is practical."

She stepped across the threshold after a moment, her focus already shifting inward to load distribution, to interior ventilation, to how the corridors might be mapped.

Hope was abstract. Stone was measurable. And measurable things could endure.

Jax Thio