Jaden took his time contemplating the answer to that, his mind still entangled in Taataani's earlier proclamation. Perhaps it had taken him a day to wrap his head around how General Meorrrei would run her war; but it was a day spent in hyperspace with nothing else to contemplate, and a day that followed weeks of deliberation and consideration within himself. He had considered what his place might be; what void the Resistance might have within it's leadership that he would be capable of filling.

It all circled around to a simple, familiar realisation: there was nothing special about Jaden Luka; nothing especially remarkable. He had been a scout trooper, once, but not a particularly good one. He had been a fighter pilot for a time, and while skilled he had still only been one of a multitude among the Rogues and the Valkyries. By the time he had become a Captain, and a General, he had become an old relic; his rank was earned by longevity as much as anything else, an old Commander aboard an old ship out on the Republic frontier. He was no Jan Dodonna. He was no Gial Ackbar. He was no Reshmar, no Starborn, no Vansen Tyree. He was no war hero; just a soldier, trapped in a perpetual loop of doing his utmost to adapt to whatever situation he found himself in.

A day to see that things were done differently? Absolutely. But how long would it take him to adapt into what the Resistance needed him to be? Was there even enough youth left in him for such a transformation to be possible any more?

Taataani's question wrenched Jaden from his thoughts with all the force of an Interdictor's gravity wells. "Old?" he echoed, offering a subtle shake of his head. "Not the adjective I would use. But I have seen you this burdened before."

His shoulders sagged a little as he allowed himself to delve into those memories. "At the funeral. The point when you stood and faced the prospect of a future without him. You looked as if the weight of the galaxy was on your shoulders, and yet there was so much determination in your eyes. You have made sorrow and loss into an enemy, and I think that's a war you have been waging for a lot longer than I realise."

"Now, though?" A small hint of a smile graced his lips; more an expression of support than anything positive. "You're only carrying the weight of the Republic, and the First Order is a far less fearsome enemy. This is a blue milk run of a war by comparison. I'm only here so I can absorb some of the glory second-hand from your inevitable victory."

That was a lie, of course. Jaden would have taken on a Death Star in an escape pod, if that was what it took to stand beside family.