Chapter Text
Barriss Offee tried to meditate, tried to find her rhythm. But nothing would come. She couldn’t get comfortable kneeling, nor sitting crossed legged. Her hands would fidget and feel uncomfortable whatever position she put them in. And her breathing was...well the less said about that the better.
She sighed and put her face in her hands. Dressed in her dark violet uniform and long skirt, hair fraying out the back of her head covering, she sat on the only hard bench in the cell facing the forcefield, low red light coming through the grates in the floor. A horrible, enclosed space, though she’d been in worse. At least she wasn’t cold. At least she wasn’t running out of air.
All she was running out of was time. She hadn’t been told yet, but it had been at least a week. It wouldn’t be long now.
“Prisoner R18B97,” the tinny mechanical voice filtered through the comm, making her body stiff. “You have a visitor. Please keep back from the entrance.”
Her heart thumped as she stared at the forcefield. It couldn’t be Luminara could it? Not again. Not after how the last visit had ended, with Luminara trying to coax something out of her and Barriss lapsing into sullen silence when her arguments hadn’t convinced Luminara of anything.
Then she felt the presence. The familiar presence. And her body went rigid.
No... No!
The forcefield disappeared as Ahsoka Tano walked into the cell.
She carried herself casually, wearing her maroon tunic, with the high collar, her lekku sitting comfortably over her shoulders. She stepped into the room and looked at Barriss.
They were silent for a long moment, the only noise the thumping in Barriss’ ears.
“You’re looking well,” Ahsoka said at last.
“T-thank you,” Barriss replied and then winced. “What are you doing here?”
Ahsoka shrugged. “I wanted to see you.” She moved towards the left wall, frowning at the sink. “You know, I think this might be the same cell I was held in.”
“Oh. Right. Seems someone has a sense of poetic irony.” Barriss forced a laugh to cover for the fact that she wanted to vomit.
Ahsoka chuckled. “Yes. Maybe.”
Another silence.
“H-how are things? Outside?” Barriss asked, uncomfortable with the silence.
“Not so bad. The anti-Jedi demonstrations are being taken a bit more seriously. Even the Council is thinking they might have to address some of the concerns.”
“Oh...That’s good...I suppose...”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“But I did mean...more...how you are?”
“Me? Oh, I’m good.” Ahsoka turned around and smiled at her, but the smile was forced. Nervous. Strained. “I was Knighted.”
“Really? That’s wonderful!” Barriss said and meant it even if her voice didn’t quite convey her emotion. “That’s been your dream for so long it’s...I’m very happy for you.”
Ahsoka rubbed at her arms and looked to the side. “Thank you,” she said, quietly.
Barriss stared at her, twisting her hands together. She reached one out, trembling, and moved her fingers in a set of rapid, flicking motions, catching Ahsoka’s eye.
It was the secret language they had, their own version of battle-sign.
It’s okay. I’m prepared.
Ahsoka stared at her. Slowly she shook her head and checked the chronometer in her hand.
“I will not abandon you,” she said.
Barriss’ eyes widened at the declaration.
And the room was suddenly plunged into the darkness.
CC-1010, or Commander Fox, swore for what felt like the hundredth time in the last few minutes. An ion charge, for what else could it have been, had detonated somewhere and had taken out a significant chunk of the Republic Military Base electricals. Including the forcefields around a lot of the prison cells. Swarms of prisoners had raced past, with the clone troopers too disorganized and disorientated to stop all of them, with many darting into the various corridors.
Fox wanted to issue a call, coordinate the troops, and bring in support. But he couldn’t because the damn comms were out as well.
He swore again, reaching under the console to rip panels apart inside the security office, hoping to perhaps hotwire the console to get it back up. He’d sent Trooper C-12357, or Prime, out to try and communicate the situation the old fashioned way but he had no idea how long that would take. And he needed to get control of this situation. Yesterday.
Someone stumbled down the corridor and he raised his blaster, ready to fire.
“Wait!”
He paused and then recognised the Togrutan woman who came towards him, rubbing her montrals. “Commander Tano,” Fox said, putting down the blaster. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Ahsoka replied. “The lights suddenly went out and the forcefield went off.” She shook her head, clearing wooziness. “Commander Fox, Barriss escaped when it happened. She knocked me down.”
Fox’s fist clenched as a cold fury swept through him. That little renegade Jedi was proving to be quite the troublemaker. “Our communications are out,” Fox said. “I have no way of contacting anyone at the moment.”
“Give me my sabres.” Ahsoka held out her hands. “I’ll get after her.”
“Thanks, Commander Tano.” He withdrew her lightsabres from the secure drawer and passed them through the tray at the window. He meant what he said, after the trouble he’d given her last time she didn’t owe helping him out like this. “You get after her.”
Ahsoka grabbed her lightsabres and turned to run.
“And Commander Tano!”
She halted, looked back.
Behind his helmet, Fox’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t worry about bringing her back in one piece.”
Ahsoka looked startled. But then she nodded and started off down the corridor.
Fox turned back to the console and gave it a hopeful kick, and then swore when it didn’t start and bent to grab the wires.
Ahsoka ran down the metallic-grey walled corridor, with the polished dark floor. She swung around to the right to go down another corridor and as she did so she chucked her shoto sabre. “Here you can have the short one,” she said.
Barriss, waiting around the corner, caught it with both hands. “Thank yo--”
Ahsoka slammed her elbow across Barriss’ chest and shoved her back against the wall. She held her main sabre up, the hilt pointing at the Mirialan’s face. “No killing, understand?” she growled, baring her teeth slightly. “Non-lethal deflections only.”
Barriss glared back. She looked about to say something, but then thought better of it, and nodded.
Ahsoka let her go and Barriss rubbed at her chest and stepped back from the wall. She indicated down the corridor with her chin. “Should we go? Before the chaos abates?”
“You run ahead,” Ahsoka said. “I’m ‘chasing’ you, so hopefully that will buy us a bit more time. Do you know the way to the main doors?”
“Yes.”
“Then go, I’ll meet you there. And only use the lightsabre if you have to, otherwise, they’ll know.”
Barriss nodded and then turned and sped down the corridor. Ahsoka waited, holding herself in a ready position to run in case any troopers came by. But after fifteen seconds none had appeared, so she took off, pursuing Barriss towards the front, but making sure her speed was always slightly slower so she wouldn’t catch up.
Barriss sprinted along the corridor. She knew the route, of course. By comparison to a Genosian tunnel system, memorising the whole base’s layout was much easier.
She had to press herself against walls and duck down side corridors a few times. Other prisoners were on the loose and running through the facility, which was keeping the troopers occupied. She hoped that Ahsoka saying she was ‘pursuing’ her would keep them out of her way a little more.
She ducked back against a slight projection off a wall as a prisoner ran past. And then flinched as she heard the harsh sounds of blaster fire and the prisoner’s scream. Lethal blaster fire. The troopers rounded the corner and dragged the body away, heading back where they’d come from. Barriss took a deep breath and exhaled it, bringing her thumping heart under control.
She knew they’d use lethal force, or at least suspected it. Given the way everything was going, everything she’d known. But it still gave her a spike of anxiety to be confronted with it.
Barriss waited until she was sure the clones had disappeared, then she sprinted out through the corridor. She reached the door she needed, hit the panel and it slid apart, leading her into a dark chamber, the walls spotted with hazy white lights that did little to dispel the shadows, leading up to a large triangular blast door. She pressed herself against the wall and peeked out at the corridor and the door. If she could run along there...she could maybe hotwire the doors open. But it was risky. There was no telling when they’d get the comms back online, and they would have surely sent out someone to get help and they could be back any moment.
The door opened behind her and she panicked briefly, hand reaching for the shoto sabre at her belt, but relaxed when she saw Ahsoka running toward her.
“Run into any trouble?” Barriss asked.
“No, all going smoothly. No clone bodies this time.”
Barriss flinched at the jab. Ahsoka seemed to realize what she’d said, as she winced. “Sorry,” she said.
Barriss waved a hand in dismissal. It’s not like it was undeserved... “How are we getting out?” Barriss asked. “Anyone could come through there at any moment.”
“That’s what I’m counting on,” Ahsoka said. Barriss glanced at her. “Last time, I waited for the doors to open and snuck out. There’s a little nook on either side of the door we can hide behind.”
Barriss looked around and saw what she meant. “Okay...on three. One...two...”
The doors opened and Prime came running through, a group of troopers behind him. Barriss ducked back, heart hammering.
“Kriff!” Ahsoka swore under her breath. “If we hide here, wait for them to pass--”
“No, the doors will shut before then, and we can’t wait that long,” Barriss cut in.
“So what do you suggest?”
“Well, you’re pursuing me. So pursue me.”
“Wait--what--”
Before Ahsoka could act, Barriss swung herself around the corridor and charged towards the clones. The troopers skidded to a halt and raised their weapons. “Barriss Offee!” Prime shouted, pulling out his pistol. “You are under arr--”
Without breaking stride, Barriss flung out both her hands and sent a wave through the Force, knocking the clones to the ground. She leapt over them and charged towards the door, which was starting to close. She put on a burst of speed and leapt, twisting her body, so she slotted through the doors before they slammed shut.
She landed in a crouch. In front of her were two large trapezoid structures, with statues of clones around the base, splitting the path in two with a long set of red flags on either side of the path. In the middle was a rectangular block and from the base of it shone up the only light. The blocky, oppressive building was behind her, the whole design of the place with the hazy white lights casting everything into shadow, making her feel small.
She clenched her fist, feeling the anger build in her again. This...this stood for everything that she had grown to despise about the Republic and the Jedi. The dark oppressive discomfort created by the space and buildings, the display of the statues, the use of the lights. It was all deliberate, built into the architecture. How could nobody else see it?
She shook her head. There would be time for fury later. Now she needed to keep her head clear. She ran and ducked behind one of the statues. She couldn’t wait for Ahsoka, she didn’t know exactly what she would be doing. So she needed to think. What would Ahsoka’s plan be?
She turned her head and saw a large wall in the distance, just beyond one of the open spaces. A gunship was rising out of it.
Of course. The transport hub.
She took a deep breath and started her run towards it.
Ahsoka counted to ten and then flipped around the corridor. The clones were on the floor, groaning, raising themselves up. She stopped by the lead clone, kneeling down. “What happened?” she asked, putting on a convincing tone of confusion.
“Barriss...” Prime said, rubbing the back of his helmet. “Seems she’s escaped.”
Ahsoka nodded. “I know, I’m chasing after her.” She looked up. “She must have cleared through the doors.”
“We’ll get on her,” Prime said, rising.
Ahsoka put a hand on his shoulder. “No, let me deal with her. She’s too dangerous. You get back to Fox and get this facility under control.”
“Right.” Prime nodded. That made sense.
“What’s the code for the door?” Ahsoka asked.
“Secure code is upper-right, centre-left, centre-right, centre, bottom right.”
Ahsoka nodded, memorizing it. “And that applies to all doors?”
“In emergencies, yes.”
“Thank you. You get to Fox, I’ll get Barriss.” She leapt over them and ran to the door.
“Happy hunting, Commander Tano!” Prime called.
Ahsoka raised a hand in acknowledgement. She tapped the code onto the door and ran out.
“Come on men, let’s get to Commander Fox and get this situation sorted!” The troopers around him groaned and clambered to their feet and then got themselves organized to run. Prime was about to start when he paused and glanced back. As Commander Tano had run away he could have sworn he only saw her with one lightsabre, but he knew she normally used two...and as Barriss had charged up to him, it looked for all the world like she’d had a sabre strapped to her side...
He shook his head. His imagination, nothing more. He didn’t have time to think about it.
He charged down the corridor, the troops following behind.
Commander Fox let out a shout of success as the consoles came back online. “Good work everyone!” he said to other troopers in the office, who’d made their way in after capturing some of the prisoners. There were still a few outstanding, none more dangerous than Offee, but they were making progress.
“Commander!”
He looked up to see Prime rushing into the room. “I’ve got more troops organized,” he said. “They’re sweeping through the facility. And runners have been sent to another comm tower to put out an alert.”
“Well done Prime,” Fox acknowledged. “We’ve got our comms back up here.”
“Sir, you should know, Offee made it outside.” Fox turned his gaze to him. Prime’s head was down, conveying his disappointment in himself. “She knocked us down and escaped before the door closed. But Commander Tano is in pursuit.”
“Don’t beat yourself up Prime,” Fox consoled. “We know from prior experience how deadly and cunning she can be.” He looked up at the security feeds from the cameras, tapping the buttons to show the outside. “Get the searchlights in operation, and get looking for Offee. Assist Commander Tano in her capture, or kill.”
The cameras picked up the flicker of movement, a set of white and blue montrals.
This he was looking forward to seeing.
The searchlights crossed and hazed across the ground and Barriss did her best to duck and dance around them, without compromising her speed and direction too much. She could feel Ahsoka coming behind her, a little way back, but making progress to catch up with her. She supposed that made sense, there would come a moment when the deception would fail and they should be closer when it happened.
A premonition ran through the Force and Barriss leapt aside, narrowly avoiding a searchlight sweeping the path. More and more of them were coming on, all across the Base, as they searched everywhere for her. She gritted her teeth and continued her run. Her run was becoming more complicated.
She felt the premonition, a tingle at the back of her head, but she was too late reacting as a searchlight snapped on and caught her in the middle of it, raising her arm to ward of the sharp light.
“Got her!” Fox shouted. Prime let out a cheer. “All units, take her down!”
Barriss leapt aside as a blue blaster bolt slammed into the ground near where she’d stood. The clones were firing. With lethal force. At her. More bolts flew in, focused and furious and she ducked and ran and stumbled, trying to avoid them as best she could whilst getting out of the light. But more of the searchlights were converging on her now, and she couldn’t keep avoiding them, couldn’t keep ducking around them--
A screaming prickled at the back of her head--
On instinct she whirled, the shoto sabre snapping into her hand and she ignited it and slapped the incoming blaster bolt away, redirecting it into one of the searchlights which blew out the light disappearing.
The only light cast was the green light of the sabre around Barriss.
She saw Ahsoka skid to a halt, eyes wide.
Hearing the hum in her ears, Barriss finally, consciously, realized what she’d done.
Fox stared at the screen, stunned. All the clones were, it was apparent, as they’d all stopped firing, with Barriss captured on the camera, the green light hazing and haloing around her.
“Where did she get a lightsabre from?” Fox breathed. It wasn’t possible, she didn’t have one on her. Could she have hidden one when she was last here as a security measure? She’d managed to slip into the Base undetected, so it was possible...
“Did Commander Tano have two lightsabres on her when she came here?”
The question from Prime was quiet, almost a whisper. Fox turned to look at him. “Yes, I gave them back to her when...” Fox halted, a sudden terrible thought forming in his mind.
Prime shifted uncomfortably. “When she came past us...she only had one clipped to her belt. And I thought I saw Offee with a sabre at her side as she ran past, but I was sure I was imagining it.”
Fox’s face darkened behind his helmet, a low growl building in his throat. “No. You weren’t.” He turned back to the screen to see that Offee had deactivated her sabre and disappeared into the darkness again. The clones still hadn’t resumed fire, still confused.
Fox leaned forward, planting his fists on the console. “Prime, alert the Jedi Temple,” he said, voice low and dangerous.
“Yes sir!” Prime said, turning the communication hub.
Fox reached out and depressed the comm button. “All units, you are authorised to use lethal force against Offee. And Tano.”
“You should have seen her!” Anakin Skywalker laughed. He lounged in the chair, tousled hair framing his handsome features, the scar over his right eye only seeming to accentuate them. He wore his dark Jedi robes, with his lightsabre resting on the table. Opposite him, his wife Padmé Amidala, dressed in an ornate robe that was more beads than silk which Anakin found beautiful but hard to believe was comfortable, smiled back at him. After the mess with the Temple bombing, and Barriss’ capture, this was the first time he’d managed to sneak away to stay with her in about a week.
So, naturally, there was a lot of catching up to do.
“She was so shocked when I suggested she be Knighted,” Anakin continued. “You’d think I’d told her to charge a battalion of Gundarks. Then after the actual ceremony, her face was covered in tears.” He chuckled and sipped at his drink.
“Ani, don’t tease her,” Padmé said, with a smile and a shake of her head. “She went through so much, of course it was going to overwhelm her.”
“I know, I know. But it’s rare that opportunities come along like this.”
“Is it not the place of the Master to rise above such things?” Padmé teased, with a raised eyebrow.
“Technically we’re now the same rank, so I think I can make use of that loophole.” He grinned.
Padmé threaded her fingers and put her elbows on the table. “It’s strange though,” she said after a moment. “Ahsoka never mentioned that it was Barriss who gave her the tip-off about the weapons factory. If she’d said something, I could have worked it out, or sent you to talk to Barriss instead of you having to chase after Ventress.”
Anakin’s face darkened. “Barriss was her best friend,” he muttered. “It probably never occurred to her that Barriss could betray her, or do something like that. That’s why she fixated on Ventress...”
“I know. But still...”
Anakin waved a hand. “Look don’t get all politician about this. She was scared and a mess and...” Anakin saw the sour look his wife directed at him and swallowed. “Okay, what I meant to say was--”
He was saved by his comm ringing.
He tried to hide his sigh of relief as he picked it up. “Hello?” he asked, and then flinched as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s frustrated voice crackled over the link.
“Anakin! Where the blazes are you?”
Anakin glanced at Padmé, who was looking at him with wide eyes. “Uh...I’m...I’m out...” he said.
“Never mind,” Obi-Wan muttered. “We’ve got a situation. I need you to meet me at the Temple.”
“Why? What’s happening?” Anakin frowned.
“There’s been a breakout at the Republic Military Base.”
“A breakout? Again?” Padmé glanced up at him. “What sort of security do they have at that place?”
“Evidently not good enough. But there are bigger problems. Barriss has escaped.”
Shadows crept over Anakin’s eyes and his fist shook around the comm. The image of the yellow-green Mirialan’s face and her smug smile cast in the glow of Ventress’ red lightsabres came to his mind. “Has she indeed?” he said, voice a low, predator growl. “We’ll have to do something about that...”
“It’s more complicated than that from what’s being reported. It would appear she had some outside help.”
“Help? From who? Ventress?” Anakin asked. He didn’t think it was likely, not after what had happened, but Ventress was a (former) Sith and it was always possible that there was some sort of long game being played that he hadn’t realised.
An uncomfortable silence came over the comm, and he heard the faint sounds of lips opening and closing as Obi-Wan tried to work out how to phrase something. And with that, a sense of dread sank into Anakin, as a horrible thought wandered into his head. “Obi-Wan...” he said, voice measured and quiet, “please tell me you’re not going to say what I think you’re going to say?”
The sound of Obi-Wan sucking his teeth was all the confirmation he needed.
“I’ll be right there,” he said, cutting off the comm and jumping to his feet.
Well, that had torn it.
Ahsoka had known that it would happen sooner or later, but she had hoped they’d be a little closer to the transport hub before it happened. She’d also hoped the clones wouldn’t use lethal force, but that didn’t seem to be happening either.
She ignited her lightsabre as the blaster bolts came at her, slapping the first couple away, directing one into a searchlight and one into the ground, and then flipped the sabre into her more comfortable shien grip, swinging it and knocking the blaster fire into another searchlight.
With the sudden dark, she deactivated the sabre and ran on towards the transport hub, zigging and zagging a little, but taking the most direct line possible and using the Force to increase her speed and keep her stamina up. Ahead she could feel Barriss’ presence, almost at the transport hub.
Fox whirled around. “They’re making for the transport hub!” he shouted. “Shut the doors!”
“Yes sir!” Prime called, tapping at the console. Then he winced. “Uh, sir? I gave Tano the secure codes when I thought she was on our side.”
“Change them then, quickly!”
“Yes sir!”
Fox snatched up his rifle and marched out of the room. He was going to deal with this personally.
The transport hub walls stood fifty metres high, with two watchtowers stationed on either side of the enormous blast door. That was now closing. Barriss put on a burst of speed. She could just make it, she’d just be able to slip through--
Then she slowed, remembering that Ahsoka was behind her and she had no idea if she would know how to get through if the doors closed. The doors slammed shut and Barriss pressed herself back against the wall, keeping out of sight of the watchtowers. She could see small search ships lifting off in the distance, speeding towards them and there were almost certainly troopers on the ground heading in their direction.
She jumped slightly as someone slammed into the wall beside her and careened off it, stumbling towards the door.
“Ahsoka!” Barriss called, running after her.
“It’s all right, I know the code!” Ahsoka slapped the code onto the panel. It blinked red. She cursed and tried again, going slower this time. It blinked red again. “And they’ve changed it!”
“Okay, the hub’s out. What’s plan B?”
Ahsoka shot her a look. “Barriss I barely had a plan A.”
“Right, of course.” Barriss slapped a hand over her face and dragged it down. Among Ahsoka’s many qualities, intensive planning was not one of them, preferring Skywalker’s method of ‘hurl yourself in face first and see what happens.’ She glanced up the wall, calculating the distance combined with gravity, probable wind speeds at the top...
She took a few steps back. “Give me a boost,” she said.
Ahsoka looked at her and then assumed the position, bending her legs and cupping her hands. “Are you sure you can make it?” she asked.
“Reasonably,” Barriss replied, taking a few deep breaths and then another step back. “We’re kind of dead either way though, so no harm in trying.” Barriss took a final exhale and then sprinted forward. She leapt up, landing her foot on Ahsoka’s cupped hands--
And pushed herself up with the Force at the same time as Ahsoka shoved her arms up, pushing Barriss with the Force. Barriss rocketed upwards, squinting against the air as it slapped into her face as the distance closed towards the top, the edge getting closer and closer…
Not fast enough. Gravity was exerting its pull and it was slowing her ascent. She wasn’t going to be able to clear the edge--
As she reached the apex of her flight she stuck out a foot and kicked herself up from the wall, gaining just enough height to slam her upper body over the lip.
“Hey!” the trooper in the watchtower shouted, stepping towards her and raising his rifle.
Barriss let go with her right hand and shoved it out, sending a Force wave smashing into the trooper, knocking him back and out cold. But the recoil from her push made her slip against the edge and she yelled as she swung off, held only by her left hand, the cold wind battering her body. She looked down at the dizzying drop below her and saw Ahsoka, green blade ignited, deflecting blaster fire.
Barriss strained and pulled her body around, slapping her right hand on the edge. She heaved, straining to pull herself up.
I really need to work on my conventional strength...
With a yell she planted her hands flat and pushed with the Force, so she leapt up slightly and landed on the wall.
She staggered at the winds smacking into her, and then got down and flattened herself, reaching down with her hand over the edge. “Ahsoka!” she called.
Thank the Force for the sensitivity of montral hearing as Ahsoka glanced up, nodded and deactivated her sabre at the same time as she crouched and shot herself upwards. She made it about halfway, kicked off the wall for a little extra boost--
Barriss reached out with the Force and caught her and then slung her arm up, throwing the Togrutan the rest of the distance.
Too far, as Ahsoka went sailing over the wall.
“Ah kriff!” Ahsoka swore as she dropped down the other side, her stomach hitting her throat as she picked up terminal velocity, the wall racing past and the ground getting closer.
She threw out her hands, using the recoil from the push to slam herself back into the wall and then she ignited her lightsaber and stabbed it into the wall. The jarring impact nearly ripped the sabre out of her grasp and her shoulder out of its socket, but she held on, gripping the hilt with her other hand. The sabre crackled and sparked as it cut through the wall, slowing her descent.
But not fast enough.
When she was about ten metres out Ahsoka kicked off the wall, deactivated her sabre and pushed out with her hands, using the Force to kill some of her momentum as she came towards the ground. She smacked into it, sprawling and rolling three times before coming to a halt, her lightsabre skidding out of her grip.
She groaned and heaved herself to her hands and knees. She’d definitely bruised something, but at least she hadn’t broken anything. And she hadn’t sliced herself apart with her lightsabre.
Behind her, Barriss hit the ground more gracefully by the same method of using the lightsabre to slow her descent. She ran over to Ahsoka and helped her to her feet.
Ahsoka called her sabre into her hand and looked around the hub. There was a whole array of ships there, from Republic gunships to freighters and even some fighters.
“What are we going for?” Barriss asked voice hurried as she glanced behind them.
Ahsoka scanned the field and then pointed. “That one, the Eta shuttle.” She started running towards it. “Weapons aren’t so great, but they've got good shields and I think we’ll need them more!”
Barriss chased after her, running towards the grey bird-like shuttle with a fin in the middle and its wings folded upright.
Behind them, the door to the transport hub started to grind open.
As soon as the crack was wide enough, Commander Fox shoved through accompanied by the other troopers. The area was dark and he cycled into the helmet's night vision. Scanning the area he caught sight of them heading towards one of the newer Eta-class shuttles, seeing the ramp descend.
“There they are!” he shouted, pointing at them. “Get them!”
The troopers charged forward, firing at the shuttle.
Ahsoka ran up the ramp when it was half-open and chucked her main sabre to Barriss, who ignited it and the shoto as the blue bolts whined in. “Hold them off, I’ll get us started up!” Ahsoka shouted as she ran through the shuttle and threw herself into the pilot seat, flipping the switches. “I really hope this thing is fueled…”
Outside, Barriss whirled the green lightsabers, deflecting all the incoming shots. But there was a problem. The clones had noticed that she wasn’t redirecting the shots back at them and so had picked up their pace, starting to run.
She felt the hum of the shuttle starting up. But it wouldn’t get up in time. She needed to dissuade them, somehow, but non-lethally.
She grit her teeth and when the next bolt came at her, she angled the main sabre as she slapped it at the bolt, sending ricocheting back to pierce Commander Fox’s right knee.
The Commander went down with a shout of pain, and the other clones halted, dispersing and grabbing Fox to drag him aside, moving to laying down suppressing fire rather than targeting Barriss.
Barriss nearly lost her footing as the shuttle juddered beneath her, the repulsors kicking in and lifting the shuttle off the ground. She deactivated the lightsabers and slapped the control panel for the ramp, turning and running to the cockpit, as Ahsoka angled the ship skyward, the wings unfolding and the engines igniting to shove them towards the sky, accelerating faster the closer they got to the edge of the planet’s gravity well.
Barriss slumped into the co-pilot seat.
“Start making the calculations for hyperspace,” Ahsoka said, heaving back on the control yoke and trying to will more power into the engines. She tapped at the controls, setting the deflector shields to the rear.
“Right,” Barriss said, tapping at the navicomputer. “Where are we going?”
“Onderon,” Ahsoka grunted.
“Onderon?” Barriss looked at her, startled.
“Yes, Onderon! Just make the calculations. I want us gone as soon as we clear the gravity well.”
Commander Fox hissed in pain as he grabbed up his comm. “Turrets, fire on the shuttle!” he commanded. “Bring them down!”
The turrets swivelled and green bolts lanced after the shuttle. But they bounced off the deflector shields, the shuttle getting too far away for them to be effective.
Fox growled. “I want gunships after them at once!”
The comm crackled. “Belay that order!” A familiar and angry voice issued over the comm.
Fox flinched, startled. “General Skywalker?” he inquired.
“The Temple received your alert, Commander Fox,” the calmer tone of Obi-Wan Kenobi said. “We’ll take it from here.”
Fox watched as two Jedi starfighters shrieked overhead, before angling up and after the shuttle.
Ahsoka sat back up from where she’d been fussing under the console. “Disabled the transponder,” she announced. “Nearly forgot about that. How are the calculations?”
“Almost there, but we’ve got two fighters incoming!” There was an edge of panic in Barriss voice.
Ahsoka blinked. “Only two? Huh, that’s better than I expected…maybe our luck is holding.”
“Two Jedi fighters.”
Ahsoka winced. “Ah…no prizes for guessing who that is…”
As if on cue, the comm light started blinking.
They stared at it.
“I think they’re hailing us,” Barriss whispered as if worried her voice would carry over the unactivated comm.
Ahsoka shot her a look. “Yes, thank you. I’d worked that one out.” Barriss didn’t react, she just stared at the comm, face pale. Ahsoka sighed and tapped the activation for the comm. “Bantha Delivery!” she said with forced levity. “It may take us a while, but we always get there!”
“Ahsoka!” Anakin’s voice rattled through the comm. “What is going on?!”
“Uh, well, it’s a little complicated…” Ahsoka glanced at Barriss and signed at her. Are the calculations done?
A little more time, Barriss signed back.
“Ahsoka, Commander Fox reported that you were helping Barriss escape,” Anakin continued. “Is that true?”
Ahsoka held a breath for a second. “Yes it’s true,” she said eventually.
“Ahsoka, I don’t know what she’s told you or threatened you with, but you can’t trust her! She’s fallen, she’s--”
“She’s sitting right next to me,” Ahsoka put in.
Barriss looked up, startled. “Uh…h-hello…”
Without missing a beat, Anakin’s voice took on a rumbling growl, and Barriss felt her heart race, hands sweat and she was flung back to the fight at the Temple and the overwhelming fury that had pressed in on her. “Barriss, you reprehensible, disgraceful excuse for a Tusken--!”
“What Anakin is trying to say,” Obi-Wan’s more measured tone cut in, but rather than soothing it produced a spike of annoyance in Ahsoka. “Is that perhaps there’s a way we can resolve this with some civility?”
“Civility? Ha!” Ahsoka couldn’t keep the bitter note from her voice.
“Ahsoka, the Council did you wrong, I know that. The Dark Side has clouded our judgement--”
“That’s your excuse for everything!”
“--and I know you wouldn’t want to see Barriss executed,” Obi-Wan ploughed on. “But there are proper channels to do these things through. Breaking Barriss out won’t help your cause.”
Ahsoka sat back in her chair, eyes narrowing more and more.
“Turn the shuttle around. We’ll support you in making your case.”
“Not sure I will…” Anakin muttered.
“Anakin, that is not helpful.”
Ahsoka’s hands tightened on the controls, her orange skin lightening around her fingers. Next to her, Barriss gestured and she looked over.
Barriss’ face was neutral as if no emotion had ever crossed it. It’s all right Ahsoka, she signed. Thank you for trying. But this isn’t worth it. Turn us around.
Ahsoka turned her gaze back to the front.
“What do you say?” Obi-Wan asked.
“What do I say?” Ahsoka said, her words coming out in a snarl. “You kept very quiet when the Council condemned me Obi-Wan, handing me over to the military for what you knew must be a death sentence.”
“That was wrong, I understand--”
“And you, Anakin. You called Barriss a traitor, among other things.”
“She is a traitor, Ahsoka!” Anakin protested. “You heard her confession.”
Ahsoka leaned towards the comm, ignoring Barriss’ frantic signing. “So tell me, both of you,” Ahsoka hissed. “Why would either of us expect greater leniency this time when you know both of us were involved in the bombing?”
There was a sharp intake of breath from Barriss, then a hissing silence invaded the comm.
“Ahsoka…” Anakin’s voice, slow, bewildered. “What…?”
“C-calculation complete,” Barriss whispered.
Ahsoka gripped the hyperdrive lever and slammed it forward. Outside the stars lengthened and the shuttle shot into hyperspace, vanishing into the stars as if it had never been there.