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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3575369" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 469: Tokarr“His name is Tokarr Anansin,” Master Ral said in a disturbingly mechanical voice, “He is Miraluka.”    Tobias’ features matched his mindset...confused. They had been permitted aboard the New Republic Mon Calamari Cruiser, Gemstone, which was currently in orbit above Bothawui with a the rest of the gathering fleet. Tobias found it hard to be comfortable aboard the ship as a human, seeing as the Mon Calamari liked to keep it so humid that it almost felt like walking through water.    Deciding it was probably a test of his focus, Tobias tried to ignore it and moved on to the next thing bothering him, “Miraluka?”    Master Ral had probably been expecting that question, as he easily switched into an explanation, “They are less common in the galaxy than even my people. They are a humanoid species but they have no eyes and see directly through the Force itself,” the Omwati Master sighed, “Hundreds of years ago, their species produced some of the greatest Jedi...but they are naturally Force Sensitive and so the Empire...” he trailed off and shook his head, “The Empire murdered thousands of them, blockaded their homeworld and then killed even more. But after the Emperor was killed, the Imperial troops on their planet retreated, pulled back to the Core to defend other worlds.”    At first, Tobias was distracted at the mention of ‘Empire’ and had to remember that Master Ral was speaking of the Galactic Empire and not the Alraxian one. Once he pushed that out of his mind, the rest fell into place easily. It also brought to the forefront a rare mention of Master Ral’s species...of which Tobias knew very little. Apparently they were descended from avians, but that was hard to tell beyond the way Master Ral carried himself. Tobias’ exposure to avian species was the Jendari, who still looked very much like birds and even had wings...but Master Ral looked like a blue-skinned human, though a bit thin and fairly tall for a human. But he had a grace to the way he moved that hinted at a history, somewhere far back in the genetic history. His hair even looked a bit like feathers...sort of...    It struck Tobias that the story of the Miraluka was similar to what he knew of the Omwati. They had, apparently, been a species that had been subjected to near-slavery under the Empire and brought to the brink of extinction. Few survived, and the ones that had mostly remained on their homeworld, too busy with the problems of a near-dead species to worry or care about the rest of the galaxy. Master Ral seemed to be one of the few exceptions.    Tobias glanced ahead of them at the Navy Officer who was leading them to Anansin’s quarters and, deciding the man was far enough ahead of them, looked to Master Ral again and asked quietly, “Why are we meeting with him?”    “Master Skywalker feels its important to keep in contact with all of our Jedi comrades,” Master Ral did not lower his voice, “Some left the order to join the fight more directly, as you know it is our job to protect the people, not fight the war itself. Tokarr was one of them and joined the Navy as soon as the New Republic government declared war.”    “Do you know him?” the question sounded odd after he’d asked it, but Tobias couldn’t help it. Master Ral was speaking in a strange tone about this Jedi.    The Jedi Master nodded as they turned a corner and passed two pilots who nearly ran into Tobias in the process, “He was my first apprentice. He had only been at the Academy for a month before the war broke out and...well, he left at the first early reports, before the New Republic even would admit that the Yuuzhan Vong existed.”    Now Tobias was starting to feel uneasy. There was a tone to Master Ral’s voice that he’d not ever heard before. He actually sounded...worried. For such a calm person, that alone was enough to make Tobias even more worried. This was ignoring the fact that it was Master Ral’s first apprentice they were going to meet. That was information he could have done without. Tobias hadn’t even known, or thought, about that subject before.    The officer leading the way stopped and motion to a door, “Here you are, Master Jedi.”    Master Ral bowed graciously. He was obviously glad to be receiving very good treatment from the New Republic so far...there was no hint of anti-Jedi sentiment in the air at all, only anticipation for what was to come, “Thank you, Lieutenant.”    With a smile and a polite nod, the officer turned and headed back the direction they had come from. It was no surprise that he had other business to attend to...the entire ship was fairly busy from what Tobias could tell.    Reaching to the side of the door, Master Ral hit the small switch to alert the occupant that someone was outside, waiting, and probably annoyed. Tobias had heard those things from the inside before and really hated the buzzing noise they made. At least it would encourage the person to answer so they wouldn’t have to hear it again.    And sure enough, after only a few seconds, the door slid open. Standing there, looking out, if one could look with no eyes, was a human by all respects except for one. He had short, rust-coloured hair and wore a dress uniform that Tobias recognized. It was Starfighter Command...similar to Jyren’s but with a different squadron patch on the shoulder. But the thing that Tobias noticed more than the rest was that he was staring face to face with a piece of cloth wrapped like a headband, except thicker, striped with green and blue, and came all the way down to the bridge of his nose, covering up where eyes normally would have been.    Maybe it was good that they wore a cloth to cover the lack of eyes...Tobias was unnerved enough when Tokarr’s head tilted back slightly in a gesture that would have been more easily identified with surprise if there had been eyes to go along with it, “Master Ral...”    The Jedi Master bowed his head, “It is good to see you again, Tokarr. If you have some time, I would like to—“    Then the door slid shut.    It was Master Ral’s turn to take a step back in surprise, and Tobias did the same. Composing himself quickly, the Jedi Master looked to Tobias and said softly, “We did not part ways on good terms...this is going to be more difficult than I had hoped.”    Tobias managed a nod, “Should I...not be here?”    “No,” Master Ral shook his head and preceded to place his finger on the alert switch next to the door, leaving it there so the buzzing would continue rather than simply pressing it lightly once, “Despite what you might think, I may need your help with this.”    “Really?” Tobias tilted his head in surprise.    The Omwati nodded and a wry smile formed on his face, “Yes. You may have to talk with him...or at least hold him down while I talk.”</blockquote>

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