Private New Beginnings

[Aveline Cuiléin]

Jasper Kai'el

​

"Yes Master" Blahblahblahdiblah "Of course Master" Aveline's tutor, Master Rane, was being sent off on a secret one-man mission by the New Jedi Order. They had barely been here two weeks and they were already ordering Rane around. The Kel-Dor made sure Aveline didn't feel left out by ordering her around some too. She had hoped for some cool new exercises to do while he was away, instead she'd been given a reading list.

"You'll return to a whole new Padawan. Enlightened even" New temple, new archives, new sources. Snooooze. "Very good. I will contact you when I can. Until then, Force be with you Padawan" the holoprojection of Rane said. "And with you."

"Become familiar with the archives. Study." she mimicked the voice of her master as she tucked away the comm unit into a pocket. "If I don't throw myself off the top of-" she stopped, hearing a sound coming from her pocket. "Padawan?" He hadn't hung up. He always hung up before she could. Kark. "Sorry Master, walked through a tunnel" she quickly reached into her pocket "A tun-" she cut the connection. Kark feth kark. No way in hell was she getting away with that.

Aveline hadn't really realized where she'd been until that moment. Somehow she had wandered off to the temple hangar. Getting used to Coruscant was tricky enough, but this temple was a maze! And a fething huge one. How many Force Sensitives could there be?

Still, exploring the temple sounded way more interesting than death by archive. Definitely more interesting than hearing what Rane had to say about her comments when he returned. So she did just that, and continued wandering about.

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Aveline Cuiléin

Jasper lived in fear of the day that he'd be tasked with going to the archives. Never again, he told himself. To be assigned to such a place was to die a miserable and boring death, buried alive in the expansive hoard of ancient knowledge. The padawan had spent his fair time in the archives looking for his creator. That on it's own was far too much. Unfortunately, when the subject of temporary library aids came up, as some newly documented material was to be sorted this week, someone had brought up his name in suggestion. The padawan assumed that it may have been someone who had caught wind of his waffle-launching shenanigans. But, Jasper figured that to be assigned to the archives, one must be spoken to first. So, in a moment of genius, the duelist simply chose to remain in his ship. If he could wait out the week, perhaps he could avoid being volunteered.

Then, hunger began to set in. He had forgotten to stock his fridge. Jasper knew what the stakes were. It was either he starved, or the powers that be would assign him to the archives for the week. Eventually, his stomach triumphed. Jasper lowered the ramp on the Lonestar 1 and stepped out... immediately tripping on the gap between the ramp and the floor. His cheek planted against the pavement, scattering his tools across the floor. The sound of clattering echoed throughout the hangar. There was no way people hadn't seen him.

Now that he was here, Jasper was beginning to consider choosing the starving option.

 

[Aveline Cuiléin]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Jasper Kai'el

​

A loud noise interrupted her train of thought. Eagerly, she pounced on the chance to explore and perhaps solve a mystery. Someone sneaking about here in the very temple? Juicy.

Aveline rounded the corner in a jog, coming upon her fellow Padawan. She hadn't seen the awkward fall, but there were enough clues to lead her on to the conclusion that he was the source of the racket. Not an infiltrating Sith Lord then. Probably.

"Um... Hi" the curiosity in her tone was palpable. She knew enough not to address him as Master, but beyond that she'd never seem him before. Then again, she was a recent arrival and had not seen most people before.

"You uh... Having fun over there?" She didn't know what else to say really. Feth, was it weird that she'd said anything at all? No, I couldn't have just walked away, that'd be more awkward.

Mind racing for literally anything to latch onto, she noted the scattered assortment of tools. "You a Jedi mechanic?" Oh great, good thing we're done asking stupid question. Idiot, she scorned herself in her mind.

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Aveline Cuiléin

Of course it hadn't taken long for Jasper to be noticed. He had the worst luck ever, at least if what Ara had told him was to be believed. Instead of instant judgement, he found that the individual who had come up to meet him, a fellow padawan, was fumbling over her words. Jasper related to that on a spiritual level. Had he tried to engage in conversation on the other end, he had little doubt that he would have done the exact same thing.

"Yeah, I'm a mechanic," Jasper responded, sitting upright. "N-Not that I can recommend you look into anything I've made, especially recently..."

Well that was certainly a new way he had introduced himself. Suggesting someone look into nothing to was likely to do the exact opposite, and Jasper knew it. Sometimes he was simply incapable of combating how impulsive his speaking really was.

"Anyways..." he deflected as he stood, "Jasper Kai'el. Nice to meet you. Er, sorry bout the racket. I'm... not usually this clumsy."

Great save. No wonder he had trouble making friends.

 

[Aveline Cuiléin]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Jasper Kai'el

​

«What… Have you made recently?» She just had to ask. It was like asking her not to think of a pink bantha. What’re you thinking about right now? That’s right, a pink bantha.

She smiled, tension easing out of her with a friendly chuckle. Not a sneaking Sith Lord then, good. «Aveline Cuilèin. You’re New Jedi Order too, right?» a bit of a stupid question perhaps, given where they were. «I just transferred» she added.

«So, you uh… Do you live here?» Was that a rude question? Hopefully not. Maybe he just liked to come here with his tools and hang, but she could think of ten places more comfortable. Then again, he had said he was a mechanic, so of course he’d be here, duh.

A moment of silence was eaten up by her stomach rumbling. Oh Force, was that as loud as I think it was? «Do we have a Jedi cantina or something? Or what do people do for food around here?» she was still very much the new girl on the block.

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Aveline Cuiléin

«What… Have you made recently?»

"Oh, w-well," Jasper began awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "N-nothing crazy, really. A few things... And also the thing that threw waffles across the hangar yesterday."

The waffle launching robot he had accidentally created was pretty well known about now. Not his first blunder on the technical level, but certainly not something he was happy about. But the alternative was lying, which he sucked at, so... It was very strange, none the less, that there were so many questions that were being asked. Jasper, of course, was far to occupied to ask any questions of his own, but he kept note of it as his fellow padawan continued to speak.

"Er, yeah," he answered when she asked if he lived here. "Well, in my ship I guess, which is the one right behind us, though I'm sure you probably figured that since I fell out of it...." He took a moment to gesture back to the Lonestar 1, his YT-7990 B light freighter. "More space then the dorms. Easier to work and all that..."

Then she asked about dining. Jasper could answer this one pretty easily, which was sort of the thing that made him realize that she was definitely new. The mess hall was the single most important landmark for navigating the temple. To not know was to navigate a maze in a blindfold.

"Yeah, there's the mess hall," the padawan explained. "Not to far from here. I can show you if you want."

This also presented an excuse for him to eat as well.

"Oh, Jasper, by the way," he finally introduced. "I probably should've lead with that."

 

[Aveline Cuiléin]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Jasper Kai'el

​

"That was you?!" Aveline's mouth hung agape. It quickly shifted into laughter. "I heard about that. No wonder you're hiding out here." heard he was still very much the new girl on the block.

"You have your own ship? That's wicked. I've never owned a ship like that before. I've mostly just flown around in an A-Wing, but that was a navy ship., not really mine. And a whole lot smaller" she said with a smile, reminiscing about what felt like another lifetime. She'd have to give up the A-Wing upon leaving, of course.

Aveline nodded her agreement, walking along with Jasper towards the mess hall. That definitely sounded like a place she needed to acquaint herself with. "Nice to meet you, Jasper. And your ship. It looked nice!" she said with a smile. She wanted to compliment him on the ship, in case she'd come across as dismissive of living in the hangar. Didn't want to insult the guy's home, after all.

The halls of the Jedi temple were still a maze to her, and she wasn't sure if they would ever feel like home to her. Perhaps Jasper felt similarly. Suppose Jedi weren't meant to think of the temple as their home to begin with, but most of them had little else, and it was hard to shake that need for somewhere to belong.

Aveline couldn't help herself. "Think they'll serve waffles?"

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Aveline Cuiléin

"That was you?!" Aveline's mouth hung agape. It quickly shifted into laughter. "I heard about that. No wonder you're hiding out here."

"Yeah," Jasper confirmed, cracking an embarrassed smile. "That was me. I'm, uh, not really hiding out though. Sort of." When she mentioned being a pilot as well, his interest was peaked. "I got this one off a gang of pirates, but I've flown all kinds of things. Usually X-Wings though. I'm actually planning on building my own at some point."

A plan that he sort of had in his back pocket. Jasper knew that his freighter wasn't the best in dog fights when it came down to multiple starships. He would have far more use out of a ship like an X-Wing. All he needed to do was lay out the plans to throw one together. Easier said than done, of course, but he liked the challenge.

"Think they'll serve waffles?"

"Alright," he noted, "I see what you did there."

He wasn't upset by it at all. Jasper knew that what he had ended up doing was pretty goofy, and he really didn't much care how people spoke about him these days.

"Well, I guess I should show you the way then if you don't know," Jasper shrugged. "Can't have people getting lost in the temple and starving."

 

[Aveline Cuiléin]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Jasper Kai'el

​

"You fought pirates?" Aveline interrupted, then realizing what she did and gave him an apologetic look, and let him finish.

"Building one?" she said. She couldn't imagine undertaking a task like that herself, but she had no talents for mechanics to begin with. "That's impressive."

"Thanks" Aveline said with a grin, and let him lead the way to the cantina. On the way, the topic drifted back to piloting, which seemed like a common ground.

"I mostly just flew the A-Wing. Felt real smooth. But I always wanted to try the X-wing. I don't know, I think it'd suit me." she nodded respectfully as she passed a group of Jedi in the hallway. Knights? Padawans? She hadn't the foggiest.

"I had to leave the A-Wing behind when I joined up here though. Property of the Silver Navy"

"You always been with the NJO?"

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Aveline Cuiléin

"You always been with the NJO?"

"Pretty much," Jasper answered with a shrug. "Got left on the door step and here I am."

Of course, he was leaving out the complicated deal of being the clone of a dead Jedi master who went crazy and exiled himself, but that wasn't a very important detail, at least one he felt needed to be shared anyways. Her A-Wing had belonged to the Silver Navy... so she was with the Silvers?

"You were with the Silvers I'm guessing?" he asked, based on said statement. "A lot more silvers have been joining up here lately. I dunno much about them other than that they're Jedi. I'm sure they said it in a class, but I never paid attention if they did."

That wasn't something he had ever given much thought to anyways. It was probably for the better, really. All of that stuff hurt his head. Pretty soon they were at the cantina. The lunch rush had long since passed, leaving the tables pretty empty. Jasper was quick to grab his food and secure them a table before continuing their conversation.

"What's the Concord like?" Jasper questioned. "I imagine it's sorta like the NJO just somewhere else, right?"