Saga The Journal of Jax Pavan [DDC 2014] Complete!

Author's Note: This takes place around 19 BBY…but since the Battle of Yavin didn't happen yet, I am not sure how I should indicate dates for this time period. If anybody knows the answer please let me know. Thanks! Jax Pavan is a canon character from the Saga era books: the Coruscant Nights Trilogy and The Last Jedi.


SPOILER ALERT: This Dear Diary Challenge will give away the endings to those four books listed above!


Cover Art by AG88.


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My name is Jax Pavan and I am possibly the last of the Jedi.

I have never been one to keep a journal, but my friend Den Dhur, a Sullustan journalist I befriended during my travels, suggested I keep a diary. According to him, if I were truly the last of my kind, it is my duty to record my recollections. Otherwise, it would be an immeasurable loss to the galaxy if all the knowledge of the Jedi were extinguished during my lifetime.

Although writing does not come easy for me, I know Den is right. Emperor Palpatine has gone to great lengths to blot out the very existence of the Jedi Order. First he issued the infamous Order 66, which resulted in what many now call ‘Flame Night’—the mass slaughter of Jedi. The Jedi Knights on the battlefield were slain by their own troops. Those Jedi remaining in the Jedi Temple were set siege by a battalion of clone troopers. Everybody within was slaughtered to include Padawan younglings and even babies slumbering within Temple crèche. How any sentient being could put a blasterbolt through a newborn’s chest is beyond my comprehension.

Unfortunately, Emperor Palpatine was just getting started. He undoubtedly killed a great majority of the Jedi the first day, and then the clean up operations began. Coruscant, or as it is renamed now—Imperial Center, became home to a secret Imperial Intelligence division. The men and women within this shadowy bureaucracy were Force-sensitive agents…darkside adepts called Inquisitors. These sinister sycophants, under the control of Darth Vader, were tasked with the duty of hunting down, interrogating, torturing and then killing any surviving Jedi.

These red robed killers were extremely well trained in the Force and the use of the lightsaber, which made me wonder how long the once seemingly benevolent and respected Chancellor Palpatine had planned his government takeover. Was he responsible for the creation of the clone army? Who trained these inquisitors prior to Flame Night? I don’t know the answer to these questions, only that the extent of the Emperor’s machinations must be staggering.

I had the unhappy opportunity to visit the remains of the burnt out Jedi Temple months after it was destroyed. The clone troopers did a thorough job when it came to destroying the library and all records residing within.


Den might be right. The knowledge within my head might be all that remains of my beloved Jedi Order.

 

Great start. I feel Jax's sorrow and resolve very clearly.

 

I love the Coruscant Nights books; Jax and co. need more attention. Keep it up.

 

Great start and I will follow him

 

This is one of my favourties so far and I look forward to reading the next update.

 

Thanks. I couldn't imagine how awful it must be for him. Yoda went off to Dagobah and Kenobi went to Tatooine. Jax is actually fighting against the new Imperial order. He isn't hiding out on some rim world planet, but spent most of time on Coruscant trying to avoid Inquisitors and Darth Vader.

Thanks! Hopefully I will do the characters justice.

Thank you. That is much appreciated.

Thanks. I hope there are more books in the future with this character.

Thanks everybody for reading!

 

Jax Pavan is cool! Some inquistors and I-5 action soon? Well done

 

We will definitely see I-5, Den, Sacha and Magash. I'm sure there will be Inquisitors. I sort of dread writing them though since my strong suit is not action scenes.

Thanks for reading.

 

SPOILER ALERT: This fanfic deals with situations occurring in the canon novel: The Last Jedi.

Thanks everybody for reading. If you haven't read Coruscant Nights I,II, & III and The Last Jedi I would recommend the books. I thought the first book where all the characters are introduced was slow reading but after the first novel I really liked the characters and quickly purchased the remaining trilogy. The Last Jedi came out in 2013. I know it is sometimes hard to read about characters that were not in the movies, but the author does a great job getting you to like his original characters. There are moments in the books where you see characters from the movies such as Darth Vader, Palpatine and Captain Typho.

Hopefully anybody who hasn't read the books can still enjoy this journal. The first few posts will be introducing the characters and the situation they are facing.

Edit: I want to thank aalagartassle, Space_Wolf, Revanfan1, earlybird-obi-wan and Nyota's Heart for reading and taking the time to review.

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Entry 2

Today was difficult…but all days are difficult now…some are just less stressful than others.

This morning my ship, a Helix-class light interceptor christened Laranth, touched down at Mountain Home—a secret resistance outpost established by the Antarian Rangers on the planet Toprawa. The Rangers are a paramilitary force established hundreds of years ago to assist the Jedi Order. The Jedi are all but gone, but the Rangers continue to fight the good fight and now strive to overthrow the newly established and despotic Imperial regime.

Toprawa is a beautiful forested planet in the Kalamith sector of the Outer Rim Territories. As I walked down the boarding ramp of the ship onto the docking pad I breathed in the planet’s aromatic pine air as bittersweet memories flooded over me. I sadly remembered the last time I was here with my best friend and companion, Laranth Tarak.

Force, I miss Laranth!

Laranth was somebody I knew in my youth at the Temple; she was a green skinned, emerald eyed Twi’lek who eventually left the Jedi Order to join the Gray Paladins—a Force-using sect who embraced the minimal dependency on the Force and the utilization of any conventional weapon, not just the lightsaber, to achieve their goals.

I lost track of her after she joined the Gray Paladins, but I saw her briefly when I fled the Temple district on Flame Night. A few months later we were reunited deep within in the Black Pit slums on Coruscant. She obviously had seen some fierce fighting since our last encounter. Her left lekku was shortened by a blasterbolt and her face was crisscrossed with a thin, white web of scar tissue. Her face was marked by combat, but it in no way distracted from her beauty and despite her stoic and stern expression she reserved for most of the galaxy, I knew she wasn’t an emotionless or cold person. Buried deep within, her soul glowed with the lightside of the Force. She hid her feelings well but I knew she was a deeply passionate woman and I was extremely lucky to be the recipient of her affection…even if it was for a short time. She was a special person…and I loved her dearly.

I sighed deeply as I remembered the last time we were together on this planet. Laranth expressed a desire to stay on Toprawa. She practically begged me to put down roots among the towering forests on Mountain Home. She didn’t want to return to Coruscant where she felt the walls were closing in on her, on us, like a giant trap. She tried to convince me that we could make a home here, search for other Jedi and work with the Rangers to overthrow the Empire.

I had to admit I was tempted. Toprawa was so different from the world-city of Coruscant. Here I could feel the wind on my face, the dirt under my feet and the fragrant scents of grass and pine needles wafting over from the surrounding forest.

Unfortunately I turned her down and instead appealed to her sense of duty to Whiplash the Coruscanti based resistance movement of which we were members. “It’s not about what we want, Laranth,” I had told her. “It’s about what the galaxy needs.”

I should have listened to her. It was a trap. The Force was whispering to her the truth…the danger, but I ignored her…and now she’s dead having sacrificed her life to save mine along with the crew of the Far Ranger. All that remained of her was a ship named after my lost love and the small Miisai tree she had given me as a gift.

I was standing at the base of the boarding ramp lost in thought and feeling sorry for myself when my Sullustan friend, Den Dhur, pulled me out of my disheartened musings.

“Is something wrong?”

I looked down at the diminutive alien and gave him a forced smile. I knew he was worried about me since my last mission. I had reluctantly embraced the darkside knowledge from a Sith Holocron in order to rescue the Cerean leader of Whiplash, Thi Xon Yimmon, from the clutches of Darth Vader and his Imperial Inquisitors. I was successful…not as a direct result of my darkside knowledge, but mainly due to the help I received from my unwaveringly loyal comrades— Antarian Ranger Sacha Swiftbird, Den Dhur and I-5YQ my self-aware droid friend.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I said to Den as I tapped a finger against my temple. “All that dark Sith knowledge has been purged from my mind. I promise not to go rogue on you.”

Den gave me a look that I interpreted as the Sullustan equivalent of uncertainty before it quickly disappeared and was replaced by a smile. “Good.” He looked back at the ship. “What do we do now?”

I shrugged. “We get Yimmon to the Ranger leadership, contact Whiplash, and wait to see how we proceed from here.”

Den nodded and then looked down to the ground hesitantly. “Are we going back to Coruscant?”

I shook my head. “I…I’d rather not. Laranth was right when she told me the Imperials on Coruscant where learning how we worked, how we moved. Maybe it is best to stay away from the Empire’s stronghold and build up the resistance from outside its reach. Perhaps I can find fellow Jedi who escaped like I did…or train new Jedi recruits.”

A slight smile crossed Den’s face. “Is that why you sent a message to the Dathomir Singing Mountain Clan?”

Through the Force I could feel silent amusement emanating from my friend as if he was ruminating over some private joke. “Yeah,” I said cautiously. “I sent a message to Magash the Zabrak woman.”

I’ve been to Dathomir twice in the last few months. Once was to search for answers on how to access the dark knowledge within Darth Ramage’s Sith Holocron and the second time was to get that dark festering knowledge out of my head. Luckily, Augwynne Djo, the elder leader of the Singing Mountain Clan of Dathomiri Witches knew how to purge Sith information from my memories. During my time with the witches I met a human-Zabrak hybrid female named Magash Drashi who expressed a keen interest in learning more about the Jedi and the galaxy outside of Dathomir. On the way back to Toprawa, and after some thought, I decided to invite Magash to join me to train in the ways of the Force.

“I met Magash while there.” Den smirked. “So it looks like you might have two young female padawans…that is if you plan on training Sacha. She is Force-sensitive, isn’t she? She did kill the Inquisitor with a lightsaber.”

I nodded in thought. Sacha Swiftbird was an attractive human female in her twenties. She once was a successful Pod Racer until an unfortunate racing accident took her eye and with it her profession. It was a great loss to the Pod Racing community, but a boon to the Antarian Rangers. Even with a cybernetic prosthetic eye Sacha was one of the best pilots I've ever met. She was also a good ground fighter as an unfortunate Sith Inquisitor discovered during our last mission. "Killing somebody with a lightsaber doesn’t mean you're Force sensitive,” I told Den. “But, yes, I sense the Force potential within her.”

Den gave out a slight snort. “Well, this should be interesting.”

My brow furrowed. “How so?”

Den looked back up the ramp making sure nobody was listening. “After dropping you off with the Clan leader the rest of the gang was brought to the village for lunch. When Magash saw Sacha…well, lets just say if looks could kill Sacha would be in intensive care.”

I shook my head in confusion. I spent most of my time on Dathomir under the care of Augwynne Djo while the rest my party enjoyed the hospitality of the Clan. “What happened between Sacha and Magash?”

Den was now chuckling out loud. “Nothing…violent. There was just some friction between the two women. Magash straight out asked Sacha if she was your new 'mate'.”

“What?!” I said in shock. I was surprised that Sacha didn’t mention any of this on the way back from Dathomir. “What did Sacha say?”

Den’s grin grew wider. “I think Sacha was a little…put off by the witch’s forceful personality because she put on her best sardonic grin and said, ‘No…not yet’ and then walked off leaving Magash looking somewhat perturbed.”

“She didn’t,” I said while slapping the palm of my hand to my forehead. I’m positive Sacha was joking, but I’m also absolutely certain that Magash wouldn’t understand or appreciate Sacha’s sarcastic and sometimes flirtatious sense of humor.

“She did,” Den assured me. “Magash appeared very interested in you…as does Sacha.”

“Great.” I brought my hand to squeeze the bridge of my nose in frustration. “You’re right. Training those two is going to be interesting.”

 

I liked the banter between Den and Jax. LOL Sacha and Magash - rivals for his attention, that will definitely make things interesting. Enjoyed very much the details of the Laranth/Jax history. What a beautiful world Toprawa is and a refreshing & safe haven to boot.

 

A nice update and I love your descriptions. I have yet to read the four books and am enjoying this diary.
I hope he will stay safe

 

I need to read Coruscant Nights II and III. It has been quite a while since I read any Star Wars EU novels. (I lost the enthusiasm for them with the Swarm War Trilogy and Legacy of the Force. (Though the Shadows of Mindor was a huge disappointment as well). Book I wasn't so bad, so I will read II and III before going on with this just so that things make more sense (and those books have been left on my shelf unread for too long (an habit I need to get out of!).

 

It's nice to see Jax & company, since they're one of the most interesting of the less-known EU casts. And yay that it's a continuation from The Last Jedi, since that will bring us into new territory.

Sacha and Magash, hmm. I'm curious as to how that will turn out.

(some spoilers for Coruscant Nights 3)

Spoiler: SPOILS!

The whole Dejah vs. Laranth issue led to a bit of a disaster (well, for Dejah, anyway.) That was kind of disappointing. Mind you, I liked Laranth better, but wish that if they were going to make Dejah an antagonist they would have made her a little bit smarter about it. Anyway, for the sake of these two, I hope they work things out like reasonable people instead of, well, you know. Glomping the villains and semi-accidentally blowing themselves to pieces because of The Sparkly. Nice work, Dejah. Way to be.

 

Thanks. It was sad what happened with Laranth and Jax. They just started to get warm fuzzy feelings for each other at the end of Coruscant Nights III, but the start of their romance happened sometime between Coruscant Nights III and The Last Jedi. And, unfortunately, their love story is cut short not too far into the last novel. This would be comparable to having the book VOTF, but no Union comic and then you get to Survivor's Quest and Mara's dead after page 50--without giving the readers one ounce of mushy romance! Instead you have the Force push the Mara and Luke into each other's arms and then the next thing you know their love is consummated 'off screen', and then she's dead. It would infuriate fans.

The only good thing about not allowing the fans to bask in the warm glow of Jax and Laranth's love, is it would make her death even more painful for the reader. We are only given a hint of the depth of their love before it is torn asunder.

I am sure he will not suffer much in any story I write. I don't like killing off characters. I leave that to the profic writers.

The Swarm War Trilogy could have been better without the CREEPY factor cranked up to cringe. I think we could have survived without visualizing Jaina at the Dawn Rumble…which I believe is an insect version of an orgy. Really? Did we actually have to go there?

I would say read the books before this journal since we don't want to spoil anything for you. Thanks for reading though!!

I am not sure how to proceed with Sacha and Magash. Rest assured the storyline will not have to be published as a bonus chapter over at the Adult Fanfiction website…although I can think of a whole host of erotic plot bunnies for the two ladies and Jax!

Don't worry, I put out traps for those oversexed rabbits. This is going to be clean and child friendly.

(some spoilers for Coruscant Nights 3)

Spoiler: Spoilers

I know! I thought Dejah was a plant from the beginning or she was captured and persuaded to assist Vader. The fact that she was addicted to the intense sensations of the Force I found strange and not enough to betray her friends unless she exhibited withdraw pains. It just seemed to come out of the blue without much foreshadowing. Her running up to Vader in a haze of Force induced ecstasy was a bit much.

Her explanation was like something you would hear on Jerry Springer.

Dejah: "You didn't put out for me Jax, so I found a man who would. He's tall, dark and menacing and his Force ability is much larger than yours!"

Jax: "It's not the size of the Force connection, but how you use it!"

Dejah: "Well, you never were able to perform in that department…at least when it came to me! So I found a man who can give me what you couldn't!"

Audience: Owwwwwch…you've been pwn'd!"

Jerry Springer: "Jax…Darth Vader is NOT your father."

Jax: "Huh?"

Thanks everybody for reading!

 

Thanks Nyota's Heart, Kahara, Space_Wolf, earlybird-obi-wan for reading. I also want to thank Revanfan1 for looking over my chapters to make sure I keep things in character. The first few posts are dedicated to introducing the characters before I send them out on adventures.

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Entry 3

I sent a message to Pol Haus and Sheel Mafeen, the two surviving Whiplash council members on Coruscant, letting them know Yimmon was rescued. I also told them I no longer believed it wise for me to be on Coruscant. The Emperor was making his home at Imperial Center and therefore so did Darth Vader. I straight out told them that I think Vader could sense me whenever I'm near, making me more of a liability than anything else on the city world.

What I didn’t tell them was why I thought Darth Vader could sense me. I am now positive Vader was once my old acquaintance, Anakin Skywalker. Previously I believed Lord Vader hunted me strictly to obtain the Force-enhancing bota extract that came into my possession. It was when Darth Vader demanded that I return a Pyronium Crystal to him that I recognized his true identity. Only Anakin Skywalker knew about the crystal...because it was Anakin who gave it to me for safekeeping in the first place.

Because of our past association, I am certain Vader has my Force signature memorized. I think I got past him once before on Coruscant only because he thought I was dead. He won’t make that same mistake twice. Unless he has my cold lifeless body to ground under his heel he will always assume I’m alive…and he will never stop looking for me. His search is now driven by revenge. Vengeance is fueled by anger and hatred…something that appears to be in an endless supply to the Dark Lord.

No, it is best that I don’t return to Coruscant, at least not now when everybody within the Empire was looking to capture or kill me.

I returned to my ship, Laranth, to see what my friends were up to. The transport was quiet and I thought it empty until I heard some movement in the ‘fresher. The door was open so I walked to the entrance expecting to find Den brushing his teeth or washing his dewflaps or whatever morning hygiene rituals Sullustan’s partake in.

I startled when I found a human male in the ‘fresher applying make up to his face. “Good morning Jax,” came the familiar voice of I-Five.

I’m slowly getting used to the idea of having I-Five in the chassis of a BB-4000 HRD human-replicant droid, but it is a bit overwhelming at times. First I had to become accustomed to dealing with a sentient droid. Now that he had a humanoid body, I know I’ll constantly have to remind myself that he’s not actually human.

I looked at him slack jawed for a moment. “What are you doing?”

An eerily human looking head turned toward me while holding up a bottle of flesh-colored makeup, the type women use to even out their facial appearance. He raised a dark brown eyebrow and smiled. “Sacha loaned me some cosmetics; I am doing a little touch up work.”

I let out a deep laugh, surprising myself. It felt good to laugh again. “Do you have a big date?”

I-Five kept his facial features even, not giving away any internal thoughts. “In fact I do have a big date. I downloaded some sub-programing to allow me to fully comprehend human facial expressions and behavior and it had most unexpected side effect. I am now filled with a desire to act human. And one thing humans do on a regular basis is maintain proper hygiene and grooming so that they may successfully undergo humanoid pre-copulation dating rituals.”

I stared at him for a long moment speechless. “What? Who are you dating?” I couldn’t believe I was actually asking him that, but a few years ago if somebody told me I would have a self-aware droid friend, I wouldn’t have believed that either.

I-Five appeared to have a glitch in his cybernetic mouth regulators because for a split second I was certain he smirked. “Why she’s a lovely D9-2E cleaning droid tasked to do litter and trash removal. It is rumored that trashbots have a tendency to be somewhat uninhibited. ” He drew out that last word for emphasis, then looked at me with the most serious expression. “I do need your advice though. How should I respond if she asks me if her new coat of metallic gray paint makes her chassis look big?”

I made exasperated snort when I realized he was joking with me. “You had me going for a moment, I-Five.” I started laughing and realized I was having trouble stopping once it started. I leaned against the doorjamb while trying to catch my breath. “Really, what are you doing?”

I-Five turned back to the mirror and dabbed some cover-up cream under his eyes. “I am attempting to circumvent Eerie Coulee Disorder—the sense of unease manifested by most humans or near-humans when they encounter a droid that looks fairly human, but not entirely so. Some scientists believe subtle, but atypical, droid facial expressions are the cause. This may be partially true, but even deactivated HRD units can elicit an adverse reaction from humans. Therefore, my theory is humans perceived the smooth and even skin tone of the synthflesh as unnatural. Therefore, by creating a flawed and uneven skin shading I believe I can avoid triggering a sense of repugnance in most humans.” He finished dabbing the make-up on his face and turned toward me. “There, do I now illicit a positive or adverse response from you?”

I bit down on my lower lip trying not to laugh. “Are you asking me if I find you attractive?”

The corner of I-Five’s mouth turned down in a perfect expression of annoyance. “No, I am asking if you are experiencing a sense of unease from me.”

I chuckled. “I am now that you are hitting up on me.”

I-Five gave a very human sigh as he pushed his way past me.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

He stopped and turned. “I am going to talk to Sacha and ask her how she perceives me.”

A wide grin spread across my face. “Can I come with you? I want to see how she reacts to that question.”

I-Five rolled his bronzed colored eyes until his gaze locked onto the ceiling of the ship. “Now I know why humans do this particular ocular gesture. It allows them to remove their gaze from the object of their frustration so they can fully contemplate the merits of strangling their antagonist.”

“I see the new body did nothing to quell you sarcastic sense of humor.”

“That is true. I am going to take your advice though and not ask Sacha that particular question. I don’t want her to believe she has two handsome suitors vying for her affections.”

My brow furrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

His expression became blank and impossible to read before a small, disarming smile crossed his face along with a small shrug of his shoulders. “I was attempting humor. I meant nothing by that comment, but jest.” He looked at his hands. “I wonder if Geri can retrofit my lasers back into these droid hands?” He shook his head as if answering his own question. “I supposed that would take away from the realism of this humanoid form.” He looked back up to me and pointed to his face. “Perhaps he could install the lasers within the clear duraplast optical orbs of this droid body giving me lasers for eyes. Then I would truly have a withering gaze.”

I barely heard I-Five prattling on; I was too distracted by his earlier comment. I wanted to ask him what he really meant with that Sacha comment. It might have been a joke. I-Five did have his creative dampeners disabled by my father decades ago and was more than capable of jest, but this was the second time somebody mentioned a romantic tie between me and Sacha.

Did I do something to give her the impression that I’m interested in a relationship? I hoped not because I have no desire for any future romantic entanglements. I’m still reeling over the loss of Laranth. The pain is so deep and agonizing that I may never want to risk my heart again. Were I-Five and Den putting ideas into her head? If so, I had to put a stop to that. When I pulled myself out of my musings long enough to question I-Five about the situation… he was already gone.

“Great,” I grumbled as I went to my cabin knowing I needed to meditate over this situation. I picked up the potted Miisai tree Laranth had given me off the cabin’s lone table and placed it gently on the deck. I sat down cross-legged facing the miniature tree and dropped into a deep calming trance. As I tenderly stroked the feathery boughs of the centuries-old tree I could feel the Force flowing through the roots and branches…and for the thousandth time in the last few months I wished I could reach out to Laranth, just to touch her spirit once, but I knew that was foolish. I could inadvertently draw Vader to the planet…and I also knew it was unnecessary. Laranth was here with me. She was one with the Force and flowed through all living things. There was no need to reach out for something that lived within your heart and soul.

I closed my eyes, relaxed and listened to the Force.

 

Meanwhile, across the street from me someone is calling the zoo to ask if they've counted the hyenas lately. There's this cackling noise somewhere in the neighborhood, you see...

The more serious ending with Jax's meditation was also good. The pet tree! I really liked how they tracked the progress of that throughout the book, since it was an interesting way to portray the grieving process. It's neat that you're keeping with that and we get to see a little more change coming about. He's just that little bit more accepting of the past, though still not ready to move on. Really, it's only been a short time here, so that absolutely makes sense. I mean, in real life people sometimes take years to deal with such things and some never do start another relationship.

Anyway, great chapter.

 

Love his interaction with I-five. That droid is cool

 

I like! I-5! I think a DDC from his perspective would be nonstop funny. It might even be snarkier than R2's! And that's saying something! On Sacha, I wonder if she is just hoping Jax is interested or if he's giving confused signals? I can totally understand his absolute response to having a relationship. It's way! too soon!

 

Thanks! I think as time goes on he will realize his life did not end with Laranth's death. He is a young man in his early twenties. He has a lot of life ahead of him.

I found him annoying at first because I had trouble accepting a sentient droid. Now I am getting used to him talking back and joking.

That would be cool, but I don't think I have it in me to write two journals.

Thanks everybody for reading.

AG88 made some cover art for this story.



Sorry that we don't have Den or I-Five. I sort of wanted a sexy cover. That is supposed to be Sacha and Magash with Jax in between. I wasn't sure what color Magash's skin was or if she had hair. So it is a guess that she was a red skinned Zabrak with hair.

 

Awesome cover.

 

Thanks! Sacha looks a little overheated as she opens up her coat. lol!

Thanks Revanfan1, Nyota's Heart, earlybird-obi-wan, and Kahara for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it. So far I have introduced Den, I-Five and now it is Sacha's turn. Then I will get to Magash before they go off on some adventure. Any suggestions would be welcome. I am trying to think of cameos. At this time Luke and Leia are babies, but Han is a teenager somewhere. Maybe we can see him, Mon Mothma or some other familiar Saga era person who was old enough to be fighting the Empire. I know that the Death Star is just starting to be constructed over the prison planet Despayre. I am not sure where the second Death Star was being built. Wookiees are being enslaved to work on the battle stations. I need to figure out what is going on between 17 BBY and around 15 BBY when this Journal will take place.

Thanks again for reading!!!
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Entry 4

Later that day Sacha Swiftbird came to the ship to see me. “Jax?” she called down the corridor.

As I exited my cabin to greet her an inexplicit feeling of bashfulness flooded over me. I know it’s an unreasonable response, but I don’t want to give Sacha the continued impression that I am interested in a relationship…if that's what actually she believes.

I’m not saying she isn’t beautiful. She is an attractive young woman with a petite build and a stunning head of jet-black hair with silver highlights. Her cybernetic eye mimics her organic pale grey eye nicely with the only lingering aftereffect of her accident is a slight scarring around the eyelid. Any man would be proud to have her as a romantic partner…any man who didn’t have his heart crushed by the loss of his mate that is.

“I’m here,” I called out to her.

She sauntered towards me wearing a form fitting flight suit and a huge smile on her face. “Since you decided to stay on planet, I was told to assign you billets.”

I looked at her and then back to my ship’s cabin. “I’d thought I would just live on the ship.”

She shook her head. “No good. The Rangers are on a strict budget and it costs more to maintain power to the living section of a ship and do ‘fresher waste removal than it is to have a person live in the barracks. Besides, you don’t want to be stuck using a sonic shower when you can have a long hot shower under running water. Some of the larger rooms even have a bath.”

“What about Den and I-Five? Will they room with me?”

She gave a shrug of a shoulder. “The rooms are for single occupants, but I suppose I-Five won’t need a bunk…so he can be with you or Den. As long as there are empty rooms he can probably have a place of his own if he wants.”

“Have you seen them?”

She pointed in the direction of the mechanic repair shop. “I think they’re with our mech-tech Geri. I saw I-Five earlier when he returned my…when he returned some items I lent him. He said he was thinking of some modifications.”

I suppressed a smile. Sacha didn’t want to tell me she lent I-Five her make-up. “Okay, I think I’ll talk to them first to get their opinion on the room arrangements.”

She nodded. “Sure. There are a lot of empty rooms in my building. Perhaps it’s best that we stick close to each other,” she said softly before she gave me what I considered a come-hither smile.

“Why uh…why is that?” I managed to croak out without sounding too much like a nervous prepubescent boy.

Her smile faded and I could see disappointment in her eyes. “I thought our group made a good team—you, me, Den and I-Five.” She averted her eyes and I could sense her discomfort. “We flew to Kantaros, a closed system and Imperial stronghold, rescued the Whiplash leader, killed the Inquisitor that’s been hunting you down doggedly, faced off with Darth Vader and escaped to tell the tale.” She abruptly turned away to hide her distress. “I’m sorry. I didn’t consider you wouldn’t want to keep me as your pilot and engineer.”

The anguish in her voice made me truly realize the cowardliness of my behavior. I was pushing away a good friend and comrade, a person who jeopardized her life to save mine, just because I was afraid of growing close. I was so fearful of experiencing future emotionally pain that I was willing to hurt her instead. I stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. “We do make a great team.”

She shook her head woefully. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m getting so emotional over nothing.”

I took a deep breath and let it out. “Sacha, it’s not nothing. Somehow I’ve given you the impression that I don’t want you around and that’s not true. I couldn’t think of any other person I would want piloting the Laranth more than you. You’re an amazing individual.”

She snuffled and drew a hand over her face. “Thanks.”

My hand remained on her shoulder as I guided her off the ship. “Come on, we can go find Den and I-Five and discuss the room arrangements.”

I could feel her spirits lift as we moved down the boarding ramp. I dropped my hand from her shoulder and gave her a furtive glance. “I was impressed with the way you handled the lightsaber. I sense Force potential within you. Would you consider training with me?”

She stopped and turned, looking shocked. “Jedi training?”

I nodded. “If that interests you.”

A wide smile crossed across her face. “I would love to.”

I smiled. “Good.” We began walking again, making our way to the repair building where the Rodian teenager Geri was probably working on some type of modification for I-Five.

She glanced over and gave me a knowing look. “Does this mean I’ll have to call you Master?”

There was no mistaking the teasing inflection in her voice. I laughed and shook my head. “I was only a Jedi Knight for a few months before Flame Night. I’m not even close to a Master’s skill level. I would prefer you simply addressed me as Jax…your friend.”

“Okay Jax,” she said, her eyes bright with mischief. “That sounds like fun. I know I’ll enjoy being under your tutelage.”

This time her voice took on a definite flirtatious undertone. I kept facing forward, but I could feel her eyes watching me, searching for a response to her obviously seductive innuendos. I could feel a blush cross my face, but I remained silent as we walked to the Geri’s repair shop.

Once there we found Geri, I-Five and Den in the middle of a very animated and erudite discussion concerning droid sentience programming as compared to disabling a droid’s creative dampeners and allowing it to ‘evolve’ emotionally over the decades. According to I-Five the second option was the only true way to enlightenment. In his opinion, any sentience programing that immediately allowed a droid to become self-aware was still programing…albeit very advanced programing…but still programing.

I really couldn’t argue with I-Five’s conviction. He was not programed to be self-aware. It developed through the years while living with my father and then later with Den. I also knew my friendship with I-Five was not a product of ingenious programming. He was the real thing and the evidence of a slight Force signature within the droid—something that should be absolutely impossible—was more than enough proof that he was much more than a mere droid.

I didn’t want to break up their scholarly debate, so we all agreed to meet later for lunch to discuss where we would live.

 

Loved the sparks and honest friendship between Jax and Sacha. I think cameos by Mon Mothma, or Han would be cool. Yoda is also a possibility or you could come up with other Jedi-in-hiding. Or delve into the Correllian offshoots.

 

Love to see Jax and Sacha together. And more Jedi? There are Corellian Jedi too who were quite independent from the Coruscant temple

 

Sacha isn't exactly being subtle, is she?

 

... and laughing again. Yeah Jax, I think she likes you. A little.

It's nice to see the mechanic Geri (I'd forgotten him since reading) and the others, and that they still have the side plot about droid sentience. That was one of the weirder things in the books, but very interesting since it rarely crops up in Star Wars.