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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3554560" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 464: ChoicesIt felt like it had been years since Tobias had seen hyperspace. But now he sat in a small shuttle next to Master Ral, staring out at the swirling, blue tunnel that seemed surprisingly unique every single time. Somewhere out there, not far from them, was Rea in her X-Wing. They had left Yavin IV not an hour earlier, heading for Bothawui to meet with the fleet that was, apparently, gathering there.    But something about that was bothering Tobias.    “You should rest,” Master Ral said quietly. Tobias turned to see that the Omwati Jedi Master had his eyes closed and, to everything he could tell, was asleep. But the latter was obviously not true. Sometimes Toby wondered if it was the fact that Ral was a Jedi Master or an Omwati that made him so hard to read. At first, he’d assumed it was the Omwati end of things, but the more he got to know the man, the more he started to think it was part of being a Jedi.    “Something is troubling you,” the Jedi Master said in the same voice, but this time opened his eyes.    Though there was no spoken question, Tobias could feel one being implied. He nodded and then did the intelligent thing and got straight to the point, “Master, what are we doing?”    Master Ral shifted slightly in his seat, adjusting the heavy robe he wore and then said in a matter-of-fact way, “To assist the New Republic.”    “Yes, but...” Toby sighed, knowing he should have expected this to be harder than just asking a rather vague question and getting the answer he wanted. So, after thinking it over quickly, he attempted a more direct approach, “We aren’t part of the military, though...and...isn’t this a Navy operation? What good are we to that?”    Tobias had a feeling that Master Ral knew what he was asking the first time. However, with this more specific question, the Jedi Master outwardly acknowledged the question’s depth, “You know there are Jedi among the fleet. They feel divided between Jedi and military allegiances. Despite this, they are Jedi. We are going to meet with one such Jedi that is stationed aboard one of the ships currently waiting at Bothawui. Beyond that, the Force will guide us.”    “But...” this next part Tobias was almost afraid to say. But when he noticed a change in his Master’s expression that showed a detection of this fear, Tobias quickly just said it, “But don’t they blame Jedi for Ithor? For...for not doing what they think we should be doing? For every little thing anyone can?”    A solemn expression passed over the blue face of his Master, who slowly nodded, “Times are tense, Tobias. You know that people will panic in times like these...as we were once protectors of the galaxy, we are an easy target for blame. But this does not mean we cannot help. Nor does it mean that the military will not accept our assistance.”    Tobias sighed, still not understanding, “But they hate us.”    “They do not understand us,” Master Ral corrected in his usual calm voice, “But how they feel towards us does not change what we must do...only how we go about it. If the commander aboard the fleet does not wish for our help or for us to board his ships to meet with our Jedi friend, then we will find more indirect ways to assist him...and we shall meet with our friend on the surface of the planet before the fleet leaves.”    It was hard to fight that. There was something disturbingly reasonable there. The logic was simple, but it made perfect sense. Still, it amazed Tobias that despite the current anti-Jedi bent that the galaxy, and the New Republic’s government, seemed to be taking, that the Jedi were willingly throwing themselves into the fight. He was unsure whether he could do that without the push from someone like Master Ral. Maybe that was why he was still an apprentice. Probably at least one part of that, at least, though he doubted that was the only reason.    Then an odd thought popped into Tobias’ mind. He started to find himself wanting to be back on Yavin IV. At least there he knew what to expect...mostly. But now he was heading into an unknown. Master Ral wouldn’t take him if he wasn’t ready, but that didn’t change how Tobias felt. He still lacked so many things that he knew a Jedi needed. And now he was going out to the rest of the war-torn galaxy, to a battle fleet preparing an ambush of the Yuuzhan Vong. Nothing like that had been tried so far, to his knowledge.    “Master,” he found himself speaking as the thoughts trailed off, “What do you...what do you feel about this?”    Not how. What.    Master Ral shifted again to regard Tobias. He understood the question well enough, and after a moment of considering, said softly, “I believe that we are coming upon a very important moment in this war. I cannot say for who or what that means at all...but what happens here will change the war.”    Tobias bit his lower lip, “The last person to say something like that was my father. And then...then the Vong attacked our home and he went and gave his life to protect our home.”    “He saw a point in the Force that he had to act on,” Master Ral answered, drawing on the various things that Toby had told him and what sounded like his own interpretation of things, “You know that the Force calls to us. If we follow its guidance, we will usually find ourselves at a point where we must make a choice. Sometimes these choices are small, but that is rare. If you are calm and at peace, you can discern what the Force requires of you...” he paused a moment, then brought it to the more sensitive subject, “Your father had to decide what to do when he found himself at a critical point that the Force had guided him to. He did what he did because he felt it was what the Force was telling him. It does not mean the choice was easy, but the important thing in those moments is to trust the Force and to trust yourself.”    Tobias managed a slow nod, trying to ignore the sharp pain that this discussion had brought about in him. It was his own fault, but that didn’t change the fact that it had reopened a still fresh wound. He could see Jyren’s face as Marix was dragging him out. As he was screaming and clawing at her. And Jyren looked like Tobias had never seen him. There was a pain clearly visible, but at the same time, something oddly calm there. He knew the choice he had made. He could have walked away and left with them as Tobias had wanted, but he didn’t. Jyren stayed and made sure that the Alraxian Empire was safe.    “I don’t ever want to have to make a choice like that,” Tobias said quietly, more to himself than to his Master.    But Master Ral heard him, “Some of us never have to. But we must learn to listen to the Force and understand it so that if that day ever comes...we do the right thing.”</blockquote>

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