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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3538491" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 461: Surprise VisitTobias ducked.    A rock flew over his head from behind, then stopped a meter in front of him at roughly eye level. He then glanced to where Master Ral stood near the tree line to see the Omwati had a smile on his face, “Well done, Tobias.”    They were outside in the large open area before the trees of the jungle took over the Great Temple. There were various other apprentices in different training exercises all around, and, thankfully, the sky was clear save for the usual orange mass that was the gas giant, Yavin. It had been a long hour of dodging debris, but Tobias had gotten the hang of it. He was finally getting good at letting the Force alert him to danger.    Taking a few steps over to him, Master Ral picked the rock out of the air where it hung and then looked to Tobias, “I see you don’t have any bruises.”    He did, however, take a few hits. Tobias nodded, “I...remorphed them as I went. They were easy.”    The Jedi Master leveled a critical look on his apprentice, “Are you sure you can handle that?”    Tobias managed to nod, though there wasn’t a lot of confidence on his face, “I have to. It is...who I am. If I am going to succeed as a Jedi, I have to be an Alraxian, too.”    “You still have a long way to go in your training, Tobias. However, you are already starting to understand that being a Jedi is more than combat. I am proud of you,” Master Ral put a hand on Tobias’ shoulder and smiled, “Eventually, we will find a way to teach you control.”    The smile hinted to Tobias something about that comment, and through the Force, he confirmed it. To show he understood, Tobias laughed and nodded, “You are in a good mood today, Master.”    A sound above them caught their attention. Ships arriving was really nothing new, but most of them were freighters or other transports coming and going. The sound they could hear, though, was very distinct. And, looking up, the shape of an X-Wing could be seen careening down towards the Temple.    While Tobias was no expert on all of the Jedi in the Order, he did know that very few flew X-Wings. Suddenly curious, he turned to Master Ral, “Who is that?”    The Omwati was also looking up, studying the shape of the ship as it came down closer into view. The underside of the starfighter was scorched and it was obvious the poor ship had been through its fair share of fights. But there were no identifying marks on it. As the sound of the ship grew louder and it came in over the trees, a few of the younger students moved from the center of the clearing so as not to be run over as the starfighter landed in the hangar.    “I do not recognize it,” Master Ral said as the starfighter made its slow entrance into the hangar.    Tobias was curious. He wanted to go see who it was, having a feeling that it was someone important. He’d yet to meet Master Skywalker, not to mention seeing the leader of the Order.    Noticing this interest that Tobias had, Master Ral motioned towards the hangar, “Let us go see.”    A grin on his face, Tobias headed to the hangar with his Master. With the X-Wing now having set down off to the side, the usual activity was returning to the area that had been quickly cleared for it to make its landing. Catching sight of the broad shouldered, Master Solusar heading towards the X-Wing from another direction, Tobias got even more curious.    The Jedi Master also noticed he and Master Ral, stopping to wait for them to get close enough before saying, “Just the person I was hoping to find.”    “Huh?” Tobias then realized that Master Solusar was looking at him, not the Omwati next to him.    “Come on,” the human didn’t give any more clues as to what that meant, and Tobias looked to Master Ral...finding no help from him, either. So, he just fell into step, heading over to the X-Wing, which had its canopy open now and the pilot was climbing out.    The pilot, orange flightsuit and all, dropped to the hangar deck just as they approached. Tobias noticed that the helmet had an odd shape...two large sections at the top. He then realized that there were two, blue tails coming out from it. A Twi’lek. A blue skinned Twi’lek that was just a bit shorter than he was and taking of her helmet with a smile on her face.    “Heya, Toby,” Rea let the then glanced up and, before the canopy could close, tossed the helmet back into the cockpit.    Tobias just stared. Jyren’s former wingmate, Rea, was the very last person he’d expected to climb out of that ship. He was, therefore, completely lost as to what to say.    Master Solusar seemed to notice this, and added in a little explanation, “Apparently, your friend here came to check up on how you were doing, Tobias.”    “Huh...?” Toby looked to the Jedi Master with a confused look, then back to the Twi’lek, who was grinning at him, “Check up on how I’m doing?”    She shrugged, “Captain...your father wanted me to look after you. I got a little bit of leave and decided to keep my word.”    “Oh,” was the best Tobias could manage. He wasn’t good with people at all. People as friendly as Rea was didn’t help things, either. He’d technically only met her once before, but she seemed like the kind of person who was pretty much always in a good mood. Not to mention that she seemed to enjoy watching him in these confused states.    “You said there was something else,” Master Solusar cut in, his voice a bit more serious now.    The happy look on Rea’s face quickly washed away and she nodded, “It’s a long flight out here from the Core. Had to take the long way to avoid the Vong...and I got some updates on the progress of the war.”    “From your tone, I do not expect that you have good news,” that was Master Ral, who was standing back being his usual calm, collected, and quiet self.    Rea shook her head, sending one of her lekku off her shoulder and behind her, “There’s a rumour that the higher ups are trying to confirm...that the Hutts have signed a treaty with the Vong,” she paused a moment to let that sink in, as the implications of what that meant would have been obvious to anyone but Toby, “Gyndine has been attacked, too, and it looks like it’s a setup for an assault on Bothawui or Corellia.”    Tobias recognized those last two planets and understood what that meant. Still, he kept silent, unsure of what to say about it. Master Solusar, though, seemed to have gone over this quickly, “The New Republic is preparing a defense fleet, of course.”    Rea bit her lip. After a moment, she sighed and shrugged again, “I was ordered to report to Bothawui in two days. I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, as I know some idiot higher ups don’t trust the Jedi for whatever reason, but they’re setting up a trap at Corellia. Lure them in, use the Centerpoint station to create a gravity well and hold the Vong there, and then jump in the fleet from Bothawui.”    The tall, human Jedi Master nodded. He obviously understood the anti-Jedi sentiment that was growing, though Tobias could tell he was glad that some still trusted them. Master Solusar then turned to look to Master Ral, “Have you ever been to Bothawui, Corentan?”    There was an implication in that question that Tobias didn’t miss. He didn’t get a chance to say anything, though, before Master Ral nodded, “About a year ago, yes. I must say, though, I was in a rush and did not have a chance to enjoy the planet.”    “Well, then maybe its time you got back,” Master Solusar smiled, bowed to them, then headed off.    Master Ral then turned to the Twi’lek who was standing there looking surprised and, at the same time, quite pleased, “I apologize. I am Corentan Ral. Though it seems you already know Tobias.”    Rea smiled and nodded her head, “Rea’tin Lor. I am glad to see that this kid’s in good hands.”    “Thank you,” Master Ral bowed, then said to both of them, “I must arrange for a transport. Be ready to leave as soon as possible, Tobias.”    Before he could react, Master Ral left.    Tobias watched the Jedi Master walk off, then turned to stare blankly at Rea, “What...what just happened?”    For a moment, she just grinned at him. But then, Rea burst into laughter. Tobias just stood there completely lost before she finally calmed herself down enough to put a hand on his shoulder, turn him around, and push him forward, “Looks like you’re coming to Bothawui,” she patted him gently, then added, “How about you show me where to get some actual food around here and I’ll try to walk you through all of that.”</blockquote>

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