NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 4102239" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 571: When I Grow Up...The Jedi Headquarters reminded Tobias of the Palace on Alraxia. It was big, white, and boring. Of course, the Palace could talk, but Tobias wasn’t really sure if that was a point for or against it. Despite the fact that the building was mostly devoid of Jedi, he’d done at least some exploring just to see what he could see. Mostly, it seemed that the building was filled with mostly-empty rooms of various shapes and sizes that probably served as meditation chambers. There were, of course, more ‘normal’ things such as a comm center, a large mess area, one full level that consisted entirely of living quarters, a hangar with only a few ships inside, and then a large atrium that eventually led out to the rest of the planet.    Before leaving the Headquarters, however, Tobias decided that it might not be the best of ideas to present himself as a Jedi to the rest of Coruscant. The general sentiment in the galaxy was not exactly positive towards Jedi, and the last thing he needed was to get into trouble with the very people he was supposed to be protecting. Though it was unlikely anything bad would really happen, Tobias wasn’t about to tempt fate. If there was one thing he’d learned in the past few months, it was to prepare for the worst, hope for something terrible, and then be glad when everything ended up just mildly annoying.    With that in mind, Tobias dug though his small pack of very few belongings for a change of clothes. Not that he ever dressed in the typical Jedi robes, or anything that would actually identify him as a Jedi. He did, however, wear clothes that, while loose fitting, did nothing to conceal the lightsaber at his belt. Tobias knew that he could just go without the lightsaber, but something about that didn’t feel right. Instead, he simply grabbed a jacket that was about a size too big and morphed human. With that done, and after adjusting his belt to slide the lightsaber clip farther to his right side, Tobias was glad to discover that it was impossible to see the weapon with a casual glance.    After a short glance in a mirror to make sure it was definitely hidden, Tobias smiled to himself and headed back to explore Coruscant, herself. Even though all he’d done was to put on a bigger jacket and morph human, he felt like he was actually in disguise. Of course, to the rest of the galaxy, he probably was. Most species couldn’t be other species. Tobias still didn’t really think about that as if it was something amazing.    So he left the Jedi Headquarters to the walkways of Coruscant, amazed that such an overpopulated, technologically insane planet actually had walkways between the buildings in addition to the countless number of skylanes where airspeeders flew past above, below, and next to. There were countless numbers of beings everywhere, and even more speeders and ships in the sky above. More than half of the species he saw, Tobias couldn’t identify. Sure, there were Humans, Bothans, Twi’lek, Duros, Mon Calamari, Quarren, Ithorians, and others that he recognized, but then there were...others. Some of them barely even making an attempt at being humanoid. Being a good, intelligent person, however, Tobias didn’t stare at any of them, simply made a note of the interesting creatures and continued on.    The main walkway that left the Jedi Headquarters looked to eventually make its way to a building so massive in comparison to everything else that it could have easily been mistaken as a mountain. But it wasn’t a mountain. It was the one landmark Tobias knew of thanks to Jyren. It was the Imperial Palace, the former seat of the Galactic Empire and, currently, home to the New Republic government and various apartments for the senators and dignitaries. Where all the buildings around it were huge spires in the sky, they all paled in comparison to that mountain of durasteel.    That, however amazing it was, was not at all the kind of place Tobias wanted to end up. Something about another Palace just unnerved him. So, instead of continuing along the walkway, Tobias eyed a section of it that went down to a level below. Stairs. Actual stairs on Coruscant. Something about that just made him smile.    A level down, the world somehow changed. Where above was mostly empty of anything but high end apartments, business officers, and other boring places that he would have been impossibly out of place in, Tobias found that just one level below took him to a place that was much more...real. It wasn’t seedy or dangerous or anything like that, but Tobias did notice that most of the people seemed to be wearing clothes that didn’t look like were just bought minutes earlier. To one side of the walkway was the same skylanes as before, but on the other were much different buildings than above. Though they were technically the same exact buildings, the interiors did not house offices, but nightclubs, stores that looked to sell anything they could get their hands on, various restaurants specializing in every kind of food Tobias could think of, and then, to top it all off, a few signs pointing to back alleys that looked to house the requisite seedy taverns. With all of that so far up on Coruscant, Tobias was almost afraid to think about what the lower levels might house.    Though he was interested in pretty much everything he saw, Tobias ended up just standing by the railing watching the speeders go by. He might have actually gone into some of the places, but the problem of a lack of credits was forefront in Tobias’ mind. For so many years, he’d never even thought about money and now, here he was actually finding that it would be useful.    Oh well.    A smile on his face, Tobias found he didn’t really care that much. Here he was, standing on Coruscant, the heart of the galaxy, a lightsaber at his belt and actually training to be a Jedi Knight. This was his dream. Tobias had spent nearly all of his childhood hoping for this day. The road to this point wasn’t exactly what he’d hoped for, but that didn’t change the fact that he was there. He was there, watching airspeeders fly by and seeing things most Alraxians couldn’t even dream of. And he was going to be a Jedi. The only thing that was missing was Jyren, but oddly enough, Tobias for the first time found himself accepting that it was okay. It was okay because Jyren was there, as he was the one who’d given Tobias that inspiration in the first place.    After a few minutes of just standing there, leaning on the railing and looking off into the valleys between the monolithic buildings, Tobias noticed something odd. All around him, he could feel the various beings in the Force. There were so many that, through the Force, the entire world around Tobias felt like a bright candle. It was like Yavin IV, except that there were no trees and he was surrounded by towers of unliving metal...yet there were so many living things that he could barely tell the difference. But there, not far from him and in the midst of it all, Tobias could feel something else. It was vaguely familiar, but that wasn’t what was odd about it. In the sea of bright, glowing lives in the Force, this one was somehow outshining all of the rest.    Identifying the direction of this bright feeling in the Force, Tobias looked off to his left and into the crowd of people. Even with the Force helping him to pick through the vast number of beings, it was impossible for Tobias to actually find what he was looking for. With a bit more concentration, he probably could find the source of it, but that wasn’t necessary.    A few short moments after he’d started looking for its source, Tobias saw a familiar face break through the crowd. Upon seeing Anakin Solo, Tobias realized he should have been able to identify that feeling right away. He resonated in the Force unlike anyone Tobias had ever seen, even Master Ral. The last time Tobias had seen him, they’d been at the Academy a long time before anyone even considered the fact that the Vong would attack there. It seemed like a lifetime ago, as Tobias had just started his training back them. Maybe it was a lifetime ago...    “Glad to see you made it,” Anakin said as he reached Tobias, stopping next to him and idly leaning on the same railing.    “You, too,” Tobias knew what that was reference to, so he didn’t bother adding anymore detail beyond that. Of course, there was an obvious question, “Were you following me?”    The dark-haired young man shook his head, “Not exactly. Not here for long, either. But thought I felt someone familiar and figured I’d give it a look.”    For some reason, that got a smile onto Tobias’ face, “So you just got back from that hell on Yavin and you’re off again?”    Anakin shrugged and idly waved his hand, “Can’t sit around long with this war.”    That was true. It also made Tobias wonder how long he and Master Ral were going to stay on Coruscant. But putting that out of his mind for the moment, he decided to pose a different question to the young human, “Just before the attack, I remember hearing you actually flew through that blockade and came down to help the rest of the students out.”    After nodding, Anakin told Tobias what had happened. Apparently, he’d actually ‘borrowed’ the X-Wing from Coruscant because no one else was going to do anything about it. The New Republic was staying out, and Anakin sure as hell wasn’t going to just sit around while the Academy was invaded. So he’d run the blockade, done his best to protect the younger students, and then found himself stuck on the planet. In the time while Tobias and Master Ral were carefully hiding away, Anakin was actually working with a Shamed Yuuzhan Vong warrior to find his friend who they had captured. That, alone, was amazing to Tobias. A Vong helping Anakin. A Vong that had died helping Anakin. And as Tobias and Master Ral made their escape thanks to Horus and Varis, Anakin and his friend escaped on the Star Destroyer, Errant Venture.    While Tobias was hiding in a hole, Anakin was being a hero.    Sensing something wrong, Anakin asked Tobias what had happened to him. Explaining those events just felt pathetic. Nothing he’d done was heroic, just survival. But Anakin, apparently, didn’t agree.    “You couldn’t take on the whole landing party yourself,” Anakin said simply, now looking off to the skylanes next to them.    Tobias, though, directed a rather critical gaze at the human, “You did.”    Pale blue eyes glanced over to Tobias for a moment before turning back to look at the passing airspeeders, “I wasn’t about to leave a friend behind.”    Somehow, that was enough. It was the strength in Anakin’s voice that really got the message across. This young man was a hero. He couldn’t have been twenty standard years old and he was a hero. Not only that, but somehow, it didn’t seem to phase him one bit. Tobias stood next to a human that was the embodiment of everything he wanted to be. Everything that was right about being a Jedi.    That was when Anakin did something else that surprised Tobias. He turned away from the skylane and put on a unique looking smile before nodding at Tobias and saying, “You look like you’ve had your share of adventures, too.”    Was it that obvious?    Maybe it was. So much had happened between the last time he’d seen Anakin and standing there on Coruscant next to him that Tobias probably did look completely different. Just like Tobias could see something new in Anakin, Anakin probably saw something else in Tobias. Something that was still just growing, but was definitely starting to slowly. He was, after all, standing on Coruscant, a Jedi student, and speaking with a fellow Jedi Knight that was everything Tobias wanted to be. Everything that, for the first time in his life, Tobias realized might be within his grasp.    This feeling only grew as Tobias found himself talking with Anakin about both of their exploits since they had last met. For every amazing moment that Tobias experienced, Anakin has five more. And yet there was somehow not a divide between them. Almost everything they had done put them on opposite ends of the galaxy...except for one event. They had both experienced Fondor. Where Tobias had been in the thick of the battle on an actual Yuuzhan Vong ship, Anakin had been on Centerpoint Station at Corellia...he had nearly fired the weapon, only to stop and watch his uncle fire it blindly and kill so many of their own allies in the process. Seeing this hero standing next to him, feeling regret that it wasn’t him that had fired the weapon, Tobias started to also understand the weight of everything on Anakin’s shoulders.     Could Tobias really be like Anakin?    Could he step up to the front lines of this horrible war again and again and again?    Jyren had. Marix had, too. Tobias wanted to be able to do that, and though he was starting to accept the possibility that he really could be something more than just another Jedi, he actually unsure if he could put himself in the line of fire over and over. His heart wanted to, but Tobias knew that he couldn’t...not yet. Anakin Solo was more than half his age, but Tobias had only a fraction of his training, experience, and strength. Anakin was a hero in every sense of the word, while Tobias was just barely beginning to understand what that actually meant.    But it was one step closer.    It was one small advance towards Tobias truly becoming what he wanted and knew he was capable of.    And it was good to know that if he ever needed help along the way, there were Jedi out there like Anakin Solo to show Tobias what he was really aiming for.</blockquote>

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