Private Ordinary World || Reconstruction

[Jackson Lesan]

Wearing: xxx
Tag: Cortana Jade

Ugh, he wanted his own ship, but his uncle had told him to save for one. It wasn’t like Judah was poor or anything. The man could have given Jax the credits for a brand new Corellian make anything and still be better off than most the Galaxy, and then some. He needed to work for it, sure, and Jackson was often a diligent worker, but just once couldn’t he have something come easy? At least his mentor Romi Jade understood his propensity to be just like a Lesan and let his emotions cloud his thoughts. She had equipped the padawan with ways to cope.

Today would have simply been a nice day to show off a new ship. Traveling from Coruscant to Jakku to transport cargo and supplies was a routine flight, but who he was flying with made all the difference. Cortana Jade was joining him. It had been suggested they work together to help rebuild the Praxeum on Jakku, and Jax was all too eager to comply with that arrangement.

Coruscant was a large place, and the Jedi temple seemingly just as large. It was not often Jax found himself running into the daughter of his mentor. Sure, they knew each other from when he was younger, but their training took them along different paths at times. It was part of life, part of growing older, but Jax was a Lesan so he cherished what connections he could make. There were Jedi who said attachments made the dark side more tempting, or that he may be more susceptible to its siren call. Jax didn’t see it. If anything, in his family, it was their relationships which made them stronger. Justice was the best example, and of course Uncle Judah and Aunt Kat.

“Be careful with that,” Jax called out to the droid which was loading the cargo. “Some of that stuff is really important.”

This was the part of the job he hated the most, supervising droids. Binary had taken him a while to understand, but once he did his knack for hanging around with the mechanics had him tapped for working with droids more often. In this case it was the cargo bay handlers, and they were not always the most gentle.

CRASH​

The sound came from inside the ship’s cargo hold. Jax slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead.

“I told you to be careful!”

He was not one to curse, or overindulge with alcohol, but this particular crew of droids were just about driving him to exactly that. All he could do was hope they would finish soon, and that nothing irreplaceable was damaged or broken. At this rate, Jax could not wait to get to Jakku and just working. He needed something to do to calm him down, so with that thought, he took his cloak off and started loading the cargo himself. He would get it done faster anyway.

 

[Cortana Jade]

CORUSCANT

Amidst the hum of the ship, through sleek, metallic corridors, panels emit a soft yellow glow, casting an otherworldly hue on the surroundings. Within the cavernous hold of a starship, crates and supplies are stacked in orderly rows, awaiting their journey to Jakku. In the ship's cargo hold, Cortana is surrounded by durasteel crates and supplies, conducting a thorough inventory. An astromech droid whirs nearby, its blue and white dome reflecting the ambient lighting.

She stood amidst the organized chaos, focused on a datapad in her hand.

Cortana's voice resonates with a mix of calm confidence and nonchalant wit as she speaks to her mechanical companion. "Alright, R5, you ready for some quality sand time? I heard Jakku has more of it than common sense in a Hutt."

The astromech droid responds with a series of beeps and whistles, its mechanical language a symphony of cooperation.

"You've got that right, buddy. Let's see if we can turn Jakku's sea of sand into a thriving Jedi oasis again."

With her inventory datapad in hand, Cortana begins to conduct a meticulous inspection of the supplies. She records each item with a precise touch, her movements purposeful and efficient.

"Rations—check. Medical supplies—check. Training sabers—check. Because nothing says 'Jedi Enclave' like a well-charged weapon."

The astromech droid beeps in response, its agreement punctuated by a cheerful whirl of its dome.

With the inventory complete, she nods, acknowledging their efforts. Suddenly, a loud crash resonates from a nearby chamber, drawing her attention away from her inventory, and cutting short her relief at the seeming progress they've made.

“I told you to be careful!”

Sighing, her head fell into her palm "Jackson..."

Curious, Cortana set down her datapad and headed towards the source of the noise. She sauntered through the ship's corridors, capturing the mixture of intrigue and nonchalant determination in her expression.

Entering the chamber, she finds a couple of dents and knots, and some content scattered across the floor. Then, she see's Jackson loading cargo himself.

"Someone's in a hurry. Or maybe the droids aren't moving quick enough for ya?" She slowly approach throwing her hands up in confusion, "What was that crash?"

Jackson Lesan

 

[Jackson Lesan]

Wearing: xxx
Tag: Cortana Jade

Crates were strewn all over the open space, and some of them had busted open. That was not ideal. They had been ahead of schedule until this moment, and now Jax was convinced it was going to put them behind. He didn't want to say it out loud, but the padawan was convinced they were going to miss their take off window. With all the activity of an impending war with the Mandalorians, this was not the time to be missing departure times. For all Jackson knew they could be delayed a full rotation if they didn't make it now.

Naturally the commotion drew the attention of Cortana, and she would walk in while he was still in a flustered huff of frustration. Jax was not the easiest to get along with in these moments, so he did his best to calm down before saying anything. The body language expressed by how he was handling the crates was enough of an expression. He did not need to say anything stupid or off the cuff, not now.

"The droids don't seem to know what fragile or be careful means. They're just in here tossing things about like it's all made out of durasteel."

He shrugged and put his hands on his hips as he surveyed how much more of the mess he had to deal with.

"I told the droids to take five and let me finish it. Your inventory counts might be a little off now though."

Which was disappointing. Jackson wasn't just trying to impress Cortana, but he wanted Romi to be proud as well. She had agreed to take him in when other Jedi would not, and he had to show her that was not a mistake. Whether it was a fear of failure or a drive toward excellence was blurry and unclear. Regardless, not doing regular things well bothered Jackson, which was likely because he struggled more than most with learning basic force techniques. He was a slow learner, though he knew once he learned something, he really knew what he was doing.

Jax just continued to work until all the cargo was stacked, and every item accounted for. He looked at the time and shrugged. They still had ten minutes to spare. That made him smile as he looked back to Cortana.

"What do you think? You ready to head out?"

 

[Cortana Jade]

Location: Coruscant
Tag: Jackson Lesan

Mhhnnggg

Her face scrunched up and she dug her forehead into the datapad screen in annoyance -- of course she didn't want to do a recount. As much as she would have liked to slack off and leave it, she knew Romi was a stickler for detail. She'd notice if it things weren't accounted for. Gathering herself, "I'll do a recount once we touch down."

Cortana chuckles, her smirk laced with sympathy. "A true Jedi's work is never appreciated, I guess."

He smiled, and she smiled back, shrugging her shoulder -- what could they do?

"Yeah, let's head out."

But as they share smiles, Cortana noticed something off in Jackson's body language—something she's grown attuned to.

CJ looks at him, her blue eyes holding a hint of contemplation. "You sure you're alright?

She could still see the lingering aura of tension impressed upon him. As annoying as the situation was, she thought it just a simple mishap, it didn't fester too much for her. She figured she'd ask, he seemed frustrated.

 

[Jackson Lesan]

Wearing: xxx
Tag: Cortana Jade

“I know… I’m sorry.”

He could not help the fact they would need to do a count when they landed, again. Well, Cortana would have to do it while Jackson unloaded. They both were well aware of Romi’s attention to detail, and the fact Jax was not as attuned to them as either of the blondes which shared a surname.

Jackson simply shrugged.

“Nor is it ever done.”

They shared a short moment, exchanged smiles, and looked over the cargo bay. It was as good as it was going to be, so it made sense to leave. As far as her prying, Jackson just shrugged. Was he fine? Technically he was, but that did not mean he was okay either. What was he going to do, just try and brush it off? That was exactly what he was going to do.

“Yeah… just tired.”

That was also technically true, but the reason for it was lacking. She did not need to know he was having dreams again, not until he could find time to talk to Romi about them, well… it.

Jackson knew there were certain things that as a Lesan he was going to have a natural bent towards. Judah was strong with many of the mental abilities, and he was known to practice farseeing. For all Jax knew it was simply a new ability manifesting itself. It could also have simply been the other part of being a Lesan, his emotions.

It was no secret most Lesans wore their emotions on their sleeve. To some it came across as a weakness, but Jax had seen how his cousin and his uncle made it a strength. It was a simple matter of remembering to work through the emotion, and use it, rather than letting his emotions control him. That was the part which was easier said than done.

“I just have not been sleeping well, and you know how I handle all that Jedi control their emotions stuff when I am tired.”

Another word might have been cranky, but again, that was not what was really going on.

He kept moving toward the cockpit of the ship. They had to move out or miss their window. It was also his way of avoiding eye contact. Jax knew the minute she caught his eyes she would know he was not being fully honest. It was rare for them to keep secrets, save for the fact Jax was not about to admit to having a small crush. They had trained together enough to be able to read each other. It was pointless to try, but Jax tried to hide the issue anyway.

“You remember to run the pre-flight check?”