In 9 BBY, Toa set up camp in the Basalt Rift near Rambler's Reach Outpost on Koboh on her way to see a High Republic structure in a nearby forest. After fighting off beasts with her field journal, she met Jedi Knight Cal Kestis, who alerted her of the Imperial presence in the area and suggested that she head back to the outpost.
During Toa's studies at her academy, where every building was partially suspended with repulsors to give the appearance it was floating, she was drawn to the breadth of knowledge that working in a library gave access to. Over time, however, Toa began yearning for hands-on work in studying galactic history.
Initially, Toa believed life hadn't changed too drastically after the Empire gained power. The laboratories on her homeworld were under military funding, but she noted how things were similar to how they were under the Republic - people went about their lives, sending delegates to the Senate and voting. Eventually, the Empire increased its presence at the academy, dumping credits into research to pressure academics into conforming to Imperial propaganda. Toa saw firsthand that if you didn't play along, you were pushed out in favor of stooges whose work would never stand up under peer review. The Empire also destroyed the area where her Academy was situated, replacing the natural beauty with ferrocrete as part of an Imperial Control Zone. Having witnessed the negative changes, Toa decided to leave her academy.
Her first time traveling beyond the Mid Rim brought her to Koboh which she described as a "trove" and a vibrant world. She was drawn to the many High Republic ruins near the Rambler's Reach Valley. After seeing the ruins first-hand, she admitted that going back to studying in an academy would be hard as she wanted to live and experience history rather than reading about it on a caf-stained terminal. On Koboh, she mused as to whether, in centuries time, a city would be built on the site of Rambler's Reach Outpost, stating even Aldera was just a lumber colony once.
Whilst spending time in Pyloon's Saloon, she saw that people were excited about what Koboh could become and believed it was similar to the kind of optimism that defined the HIgh Republic. Having explored the planet, Toa appreciated Koboh's part in the High Republic, which she described as a time of idealism and growth. She also noted how technology from that era was still being used by 9 BBY. She was excited when Pyloon's began to become popular following Kestis' arrival, calling it the start of something historic.
After meeting Cal Kestis, Toa was introduced by Pyloon's Saloon's bartender droid M-6NK to ZN-A4, "Zee," a droid who had been recently rescued by Kestis and dated back to the High Republic Era. Toa was eager to learn from Zee about the Jedi Order's presence on Koboh. When Zee was taken by the Bedlam Raiders, Toa was particularly concerned, but for more than the knowledge in Zee's databanks. Toa then recounted to Kestis a time an archival droid was destroyed in a power surge, disrupting some of Toa's holo-prints while she was in school.
As the Empire increased its presence on Koboh, Toa's anti-Imperial sentiment grew. She began to fear that the Empire was taking control of Koboh due to the sheer volume of stormtroopers in the Valley. Previously she would have argued that the Republic was as flawed as the Empire in its way - but she concluded they were not the same. She stated that the Republic was a nuisance, whereas the Empire were tyrants and murderers, which made her question whether they actually won the Clone Wars. She wondered whether Ramblers Reach Outpost had a chance to survive against the oppression, but clung to the idea that hope will always remain in those who continue to fight and vowed to not let the Empire destroy Koboh's history.
This viewpoint strengthened her resolve to further investigate the ongoings at her academy. Toa decided to look through the academy's recent records, where she found that in the preceding months, the headmasters had dismissed a dozen more of her close colleagues who hadn't taken too kindly to being dismissed by the Empire. Toa reached out to those friends, and together they planned to push back against Imperial control of the school. The group set up a time and place to meet, and Toa boarded the next hauler off-world to make the meeting.
Toa's proficiency in physics was her main passion and dictated the majority of her decisions. She had a keen interest in the High Republic era and was well-versed in its history. During a conversation with Cal Kestis in Pyloon's Saloon, she regaled him with the story of Sannet Ot'Zien, the Republic ambassador to the Orrik cluster when Starlight Beacon fell, to emphasize a point that history turns on small events with unthinkable consequences, and that she would not give up on the future no matter the past.
Her love for physics would also infiltrate her sense of humour. On various occasions, she made physics-related jokes that would not resonate with the patrons of Pyloon's. However, when she bid farewell to Kestis, he parted ways with her by making an archaeology gag.
Outside of physics, Toa found enjoyment in music, especially Anselmi throat intonations, which could only be performed underwater as it used the low-frequency band as a carrier wave for deep sea telemetry. Toa wanted to decode it in atmosphere for Ashe Javi to play at Pyloon's, though Javi reckoned the customers in the saloon wouldn't appreciate it.