Private Bookends

[Toby Perris]

THE WEIGHT OF REALITY

JEDI ARCHIVES
NEW JEDI ORDER TEMPLE
CORUSCANT
Silas Westgard

Tobias Perris stared up at the rows upon rows brimming with knowledge, the waver in his lips a miniature war he struggled in against his own worries. The Archives had become his greatest haunt in the slowly increasing collection of months since he had become a Padawan Learner in earnest - he could be found here with more frequency than his own assigned quarters - with nearly every moment of every opportunity that wasn't consumed by training, missions, or other pursuits with his peers spent in the studious pursuit of knowledge. He had been awoken here more than a few times, having nodded off amongst his selected readings; now this oasis, like the entirety of the world that it called home, was under threat.

His mouth resolved into a frown, and he turned away, padding over to a window to peer over the vast cityscape, an ecumenopolis that billions called home. It was hard not to feel selfish, and guilty for it in the face of that fact. What was he even doing, fretting over that which breathed no air, and felt nothing, with so many lives at stake? What could he even do, in either case?

Toby dropped his forehead against the pane of transparisteel, followed by a hand splayed against that same cool window, overrun by the hard feel of these two things that tugged at his feelings and conscience. The Masters at The Saber had explained to him soberly that this path would be difficult when he was simply an older child, a curious seeker, but difficulty and challenge were never things the teen had shied away from. They had followed that up in tandem with another undeniable fact: this was a path he would not be walking alone.

Then, as if on cue, his comm started to jitter a pattern of vibrations in a pocket of his trousers just as he released a heavy sigh. The young Corellian lifted his head from the window and glanced down towards his hand as it emerged from the pocket, not yet cued enough to the quirks of the Force to see the timing as anything other than coincidence. Toby blinked, his eyes going wide upon seeing the contents of the name display; he was quick to straighten himself out and shuffle himself out of the quiet sanctuary of the Archives before he answered the call.

He brought the device to his ear as he continued to walk, putting further distance between himself and that silent domain. “Oh, ah, Master Westgard--” he cleared his throat, “--uh, hi! Sorry, had to get out of the Archives before I answered,” that was self-explanatory; he scratched the back of his neck, suddenly feeling a bit awkward with his thoughts and heart still very much mired in the troubles of the present, “what, ah, what’s up?”

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Coruscant
Objective: Prepare for a mission
Tag: Toby Perris

There had been rumblings in the past few days of the Sith getting involved in shady deals in the lower levels of Coruscant. However, there had been little evidence of such things going on up until now. Agents dispatched to gain information on these reports had come back with data on the sith trying to swing high profile gangs to their cause and a possible meeting which could prove to be deal breakers in their future relationship.

Considering they were at their doorstep, they had every right to take this seriously.

The only issue in Silas's case was that he needed a partner for this assignment. Many of the experienced Jedi were out preparing for the possible invasion of Coruscant already, which left only padawans to choose from. Many of them were not ready for such a task just yet, but there was one that he had heard about who was coincidently on Coruscant. Toby had been regarded by knights and masters as being a promising student, so if anything he was going to be one of the best he could get.

Leaning up against a shuttle in the temple hanger, Silas brought the comms to his ear and tried to get in touch with the padawan to see if he could meet last minute. For a moment, it didn't look like he was going to pick up. Although, just when he was going to cancel his call Toby finally picked up "Oh, there you are. I thought you would never answer" he said with a brief chuckle "Don't worry about it, I'm happy you answered in the first place."

"By any chance would you be able to make it down to the hanger in the next few minutes? I'll explain the details when you arrive but I think it will be something you'll greatly benefit from. "
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