[Niall Organa]

While there hadn't yet been any sign of a Mandalorian attack, Niall knew that one could come at any time. And so, as he so often did, he was checking on his equipment.

Standing over one of the equipment benches, Niall meticulously examined his blaster pistol, disassembling it and checking it piece by piece. His hands had a bit of grease on them, but his appearance was otherwise as meticulous as ever, dressed in his Republic uniform.

[Jax Dolross]

Jax poked his head out of the Midnight scanning the flight deck as he walked down the ramp his hands in the pockets of his dark pants his leather Jacket open over a white tank top. He had gotten back from the mess not too long ago after teaching princess sparkles a bit of gambling, she had taken to it faster than he had thought.

As he reached the bottom of the ramp he say Niall at a work bench and headed towards the captain "Hey there Captain as diligent as ever I can see." he said with a smirk and a nod towards the man's work.

[Niall Organa]

Hearing the familiar voice, Niall glanced over, his lips quirking almost into a smile. "Jax. I hope you've been well." He said, his tone friendly.

"Hmmm." He looked back towards his pistol, sweeping his hand over it. "I suppose so. I do this every day. It's rather like putting in my time at the gym." He looked back towards Jax. "Do you have a similar ritual?"

[Jax Dolross]

Jax shrugged "not too much to complain about I suppose, the downtime stuck on the Valiant Star can be a bit dull but in a war dull tends to be better than exciting."

"I keep my weapons clean and operational I clean them every day I use them or once a week whichever is more frequent."

[Niall Organa]

Niall gave him a nod. "Good man. And entirely what I expected. One doesn't get through the Republic Military without learning how to take care of your gear, at the very least."

He paused a few moments, reassembling his pistol. Flipping it in his hand, he held it out to Jax, grip first. "An X-30 Lancer." Niall said. "I've had it modified for my use. The grip may feel a little funny to you. The Jedi Padawan Baesal performed some additional tweaks to it." His lips quirked. "She's quite the genius. Have you met her? Besides at the staff meeting?"

[Jax Dolross]

Jax felt it and nodded "yeah those custom grips, good for making sure other people leave your weapon alone bad if you need someone else to use it in a pinch." jax leveled the blaster in a safe direction looking down the sights he lowered it and spun it a bit "seems like a good tool."

he set the blaster down on the table Niall had been using and drew his own "mines a bit more of a special job I bought it from Jo while we were in Utan Mil looks like it used to be a regular pistol but the deveronian or whoever he bought it from added some serious features to it. it can auto fire being the most distinct, it also is made from some really superior components." he flipped it around and handed it to Niall "much like yours mine has a custom grip as well and Baesal did all the work on it for me as well. I ran into her one day and heard she was a good mechanic had her take a crack at it now this thing packs one hell of a punch almost like having a small repeater on my hip."

[Niall Organa]

Niall took the pistol as Jax handed it to him. Just as Jax had done, he raised it, checking its sights, testing it's weight. "My word." He said, his lips twisting. He handed it back to Jax. "This is quite an impressive piece of equipment. Jo is... an interesting fellow, isn't he? I purchased a rather fine uniform and cape set from him, myself." His lips quirked again. "Did you get a free curry with your purchase?"

He smiled. "If Baesal was impressed, that's really saying something." He sighed. "There are a lot of people that have mixed feelings about the Jedi. I've always respected them. Admired them, perhaps. Wondered what it would be like, to feel the Force."

[Jax Dolross]

Jax smiled "No I got a goat." he said his voice totally sincere "But yes it is a very solid piece of equipment, sometime at a range I'll show you what she can do. Thinking of a good name gor her one she cam ewith was "The last Word" which isn't too bad but I might find a better one."

Jax made small thinking sounds at Niall's next statement "Well I mean growing up on Coruscant its hard to avoid the jedi they are quite populous I've had a few run ins with them mostly good, a couple less than enjoyable. They aren't so different from you and me they just got access to this mystic space power. Still flawed though I've seen them be cruel, fall to their baser instincts. The force is interesting and maybe if I could feel it I would think differently about it but since I can't I just respect it as a powerful tool."

[Niall Organa]

"A... goat?" Niall said blinking. "Do you still have it? Is it on your ship?" He shook his head in mild disbelief.

"Hmmm..." He said. Carefully, he re-holstered his blaster. "I've had a few Jedi who have been very dear friends of mine. I think the question has been on my mind often. Ever since I was a child, in fact." He chewed his lip for a few moments, his gaze distant, before refocusing on Jax. "What does Azura say about it?"

[Jax Dolross]

Jax grinned at Niall "Yeah I've got him a little living space in the cargo hold since we're cargo light right now."

Jax shrugged "Not much, she doesn't really talk about it much and I don't press her. She might talk to you about it if you ask her but I don't think its stuff she enjoys talking about much." he gave the man an apologetic smile "Sorry I can't be of more use in that regard. What is it about them that you find so interesting?"

[Niall Organa]

Niall was silent for a few moments, his expression difficult to read. "My best friend became a Jedi. She was taken when we were both very young. I was eight, and she was six. Ever since that happened, it was something I wondered from time to time. If I'd been able to feel the Force, maybe I'd have gone too." Niall sighed, his gaze going distant

Another few moments passed, and Niall shook his head. "Now I suppose it's more just a fancy of mine. Lingering childhood habit." He chuckled softly. "Surely you have something like that?"

[Jax Dolross]

"Hmm yeah its a pretty common story, are you still friends with her? Young friendships like that would be tough to maintain in that scenario younglings usually arent given much free time."

Jax grinned back at Niall "Already did it, I always looked up to my brother growing up he was 10 years older than me, a huge gap I know, but he was a fighter pilot in the republic military for about six years, Lieutenant Commander Rexlian Dolross KIA in a skirmish with the sith." Jax's smile was slightly tinged with sadness but it was the sadness of a very old wound that had healed as much as it could "ever since I was 10 its what I wanted to do."

[Niall Organa]

"I am, in fact." Niall sighed. "More or less. For many years, I scarcely saw her at all. We reconnected about two years ago. I've seen her..." He sighed again, "-a few times since then." Not nearly enough. And the future was looking very, very uncertain.

Niall listened, smiling at Jax's story. "I see. So you might say flying is in your blood, then. Were your parents pilots, by any chance?"

[Jax Dolross]

Jax shrugged a bit "sure I guess you could, but no neither of my parents had anything to do with the military or flying. I mean my dad knew how to fly a ship but he was no master pilot or anything. No my parents actually forbade me from joining up, I ran away from home to enlist parents didn't take that too well. Haven't had a meaningful conversation with them since I left home almost 13 years ago."

[Niall Organa]

"Ah." Niall smiled sadly. "My parents were not pleased with my choice of career either. But they do support me. Even if they've been trying to get me to retire for years."

"So..." He regarded Jax thoughtfully. "Have you considered what comes next for you? After all of this?" He waved a hand around.

[Jax Dolross]

Jax leaned back against the table "Well I have some things left to take care of but I think the play after this is to settle down, go legit, set up a business maybe. Still travel the galaxy but have a place to call home would be nice. Haven't had that in a while." he looks at Niall "How abbot you? I assume staying in the military, moving onto the next cause?"

[Niall Organa]

"Hmmm." Niall considered this. "Well, as it happens, my first stop after this is Alderaan. There's some things that I need to do. And I'd like to see about lending my influence towards rebuilding Bankor. The people here need our help."

He gave Jax a wry smile. "Have you ever thought about Alderaan? It's a great place for people looking to try something new."

Niall's datapad beeped. He pulled it out, his eyes widening for a moment as he saw the screen. He put it away again without any further comment.

[Jax Dolross]

"Hmmm perhaps, though I want to try and smooth things out with my parents and maybe try and build something on Coruscant it is where I am from after all. I understand it, know how it works. Alderaan would be a now playing field but I'll keep it in mind."

Jax noted the captain's reaction. "Something important?"

[Niall Organa]

"Mmm." Niall acknowledged. "I've spent some time on Coruscant. It's a fine place. But I really think you should give Alderaan a try." He smiled. "Once you've seen your parents. That's actually my first stop." He looked thoughtful. "Or perhaps my second. We'll see." He cleared his throat. "In any case, if you do come to Alderaan, shoot me a message. If I'm there, I'll show you around."

Niall's chin tilted up. "Nothing important." He said blandly. "Just a personal matter. I'll attend to it later." Personal indeed...

[Jax Dolross]

Jax laughed a little "well perhaps when you're done with military life you can work for Alderaans tourism department. I'll likely stop by at some point, as long as you can offer me a place to crash while I'm there." He said smirking.

Jax didn't believe the topic was as unimportant as Niall was playing it but it wasn't his place to push into his personal matters. "Niall you listened to me when I dumped on you, i hope you know I would do the same for you if you need it." Jax said his tone sober and his features sincere.

[Niall Organa]

Niall laughed softly. "Actually, that's quite nearly my plan. Once I'm done with military life, I expect to be going into politics. And there's a certain overlap between that and tourism."

"As for crashing with me..." Niall chuckled. "Well, just so long as you keep Azura from breaking everything."

At the offer, Niall hesitated a moment. "You're a good guy, Jax. I appreciate that." He shook his head, smiling. "But it's no great matter. A bit of personal turmoil is all. Nothing that can't wait until the war's over."

[Jax Dolross]

Jax smiled "You'll be good for that, just make sure you keep that face pretty it really draws together your boy scout image. Don't worry too much about Azura she doesn't usually break things and I'd have to screw up real good to make her that mad."

Jax shrugged still smiling "Hey personal turmoil is as bad as any other, I won't press into your business just letting you know my ear is open and my liquor cabinet is stocked should you ever need it."

[Niall Organa]

Again, Niall laughed softly. "Well, I'll do my best. My worst scar doesn't usually show, and it's become rather nice looking actually. I believe I told you about that one."

He nodded slowly, his expression growing more serious. "Azura... really cares for you a great deal, I've noticed." He said. "I assume whatever plans you have going forward include her?"

Again, Niall nodded. "That's a kind offer." Niall said. "Thank you. Perhaps some time I'll take you up on that." His lips quirked. "It would be a bit of a story. Romance, you know. So often fraught."

[Jax Dolross]

Jax nodded "they do indeed, one of the reasons I'm going to visit home is to introduce her to my family. I want them back in my life and if I'm settling down I want all my important people to know eachother."

Then his face broke out into a grin "We'll that particular kind of issue I am well versed in. I won't say I'm good at giving advice in that regard but I can tell you some stories. You know a twilek I was seeing tried to blow my hotel room up once? That's a good one."

[Niall Organa]

Niall smiled, openly and honestly. "That's good." He gave the man a friendly clap on the shoulder.

"Oh?" Niall chuckled. Crossing his arms, he leaned back casually against the workbench he'd been using. "Well, that's certainly a way to make me feel better about my troubles. No one's tried to blow me up. Well, not romantically, anyway. We are fighting a war." He looked at Jax, his eyebrows going up. "So what happened?"