This story is a challenge to anyone who wants to accept it… But what if Barriss Offee ended up becoming an Orange Lantern? What if instead of using greed to fuel her ring, she fueled it with her own personal desire to protect the innocent? What if she became a full blown hero in the Jedi Order? What if there were OTHERS out there that would help her save the universe from the Blackest Night? Enjoy the one-shot!
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars: The Clone Wars, or the Green Lantern Animated Series!
"That orange light is so beautiful." = Talking
"Why do I feel so greedy all of a sudden?" = Thinking
"Where's my Power Battery?!" = Comm. Link
"It's mine! Mine, I tell you!" = Yelling
"GIMME BACK MY SHINY!" = Power Ring Speech
Chosen by the Orange Ring
As former Padawan Barriss Offee attempted to meditate, she was anything BUT happy at the moment. Not only was she now rotting alone in this prison cell until the Jedi Council decided her fate, but her plan to expose Palpatine for who he really is FAILED! All because of that damn Skywalker! Oh, he and the rest of those Jedi were to blame for this!
"All they care about is violence and appeasing a bunch of corrupt senators! I WASN'T EVEN THE ONE WHO BOMBED THE TEMPLE!" Barriss thought to herself in rage. "If I wasn't stuck in this cell, I'd kill them all myself! All except for Ahsoka, Senator Amidala, and Master Luminara. I could never hate them, no matter how hard I tried. And I suppose I cannot blame Master Skywalker for his actions. After all, he was only defending his Padawan. I'd probably have done the same if I were in his shoes."
The former Padawan was so focused on her mental rant that she completely missed the glowing orange object floating outside the window of her cell. Upon closer inspection, we see that it's a ring that is the color of the purest amber, and filled with great power. It began to speak to itself in a metallic voice as it seemed to observe Barriss.
"SUBJECT HOLDS GREAT AVARICE IN HER BEING. INCONCLUSIVE DATA. FURTHER STUDY REQUIRED."
The ring then flew out of sight in order to continue its study of our story's main protagonist. She had barely managed to catch a quick glimpse of orange light, and narrowed her eyes at the area where the ring once was.
"What was that? Was it perhaps a Sith?"
Barriss was rattled from her thoughts when the shields to her cell were lowered. She looked at the entrance/exit to her confined space to see a Clone Trooper looking at her without an ounce of contempt. She recognized him as Nick due to the Christmas tree shaped scar on the side of his face that he got from a cookie cutter. To this day, no one knows how he got that scar. Not even any of Nick's brothers.
But just because he didn't seem to have any contempt in his facial expression, that didn't mean that she'd trust him. She immediately glared and got in as good of a defensive stance as she could with the suppressor cuffs on her wrists. But Nick just put his hands up to show that he was unarmed.
"Whoa, easy there, kid! I ain't gonna hurt ya!" Nick said. "The fact of the matter is you're sprung. I'm here with a couple of friends of yours to get you checked outta this joint."
The former Padawan rose an eyebrow at this proclamation, until three people she hadn't been expecting walked into view. It was Senator Amidala and Ahsoka!
"Senator, Ahsoka! You got me out of here?! Why?" Barriss asked, thoroughly confused.
"Because we know that you are innocent of these crimes, Barriss." Padmé explained. "We snuck into Tarkin's office and found out that all of the evidence he had used against you and Ahsoka was fabricated! So we brought this matter to the Jedi Council's attention, and cleared your name."
"It's true, Barriss! After the events of that trial, I looked to the Force for answers and it told me that you were being controlled by a Sith and were completely innocent." Ahsoka added. "We presented our findings to the Jedi Council, and they agreed to set you free. But we'll have to go see them before anything else."
Barriss looked away as Nick removed the cuffs from her wrists. As the Padawan thought about the council, she tried to bury her obvious rage. She was having zero luck in doing so, and Ahsoka could sense it.
"Barriss, I understand that you don't trust the Jedi Council. I don't completely trust them anymore myself, but like it or not we need to see them and speak to them about what will happen." Ahsoka said.
"You're right. I don't trust them." Barriss said. "I don't trust the members of the council as far as I can physically throw them!"
The senator and her Togruta companion felt sorry for Barriss. They understood that the girl's trust in the Jedi was shattered and would take a lot of time to repair. If anything, she may end up distancing herself from everyone, even if she was allowed back into the Order. Although the chances of that were slim at best.
Not letting that get the best of them, Padmé handed Barriss some clothes she had brought for the girl to change into. The Clone and the two girls had left to give the former Padawan some privacy so she could change, knowing she'd need to look presentable to the Jedi Council. But before Padmé left, she gave Barriss a little last minute advice.
"Barriss, with the war going on, the council seems to have all but forgotten about love and compassion. You mustn't become like them." Padmé said. "You have a strong fire of compassion burning in your heart! Please, whatever you do, NEVER lose that compassionate fire in your soul! But most importantly, never lose your burning desire to protect those in need!"
And with that, Padmé left Barriss to get changed and, hopefully, reflect on her words.
Barriss looked down as she began to change. The senator's words echoed in her head like one's favorite song might. Padmé was right. She did have a great amount of compassion in her, but that was far outweighed by her own desire to protect the innocent.
"She's right… I can't let these events extinguish my desire to protect others…!" Barriss said in realization.
She looked out the window of what was once her cell, and scowled as her eyes landed on the Jedi Temple. Her desire to protect only grew as she realized one thing. The council no longer had the desire to keep the peace.
"Well I'll change that…!" Barriss muttered before yelling out to the temple. "DO YOU HEAR ME?! NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY OR DO, I WILL PROTECT EVERYONE IN THE GALAXY! CALL ME GREEDY IF YOU MUST, BUT I WILL NOT CHANGE MY MIND! KEEPING THE PEACE OF THE GALAXY IS MY RIGHT! MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE!"
Barriss took a moment to catch her breath, and her eyes soon caught something. It was that orange ring that she caught a glimpse of earlier. And it was now floating right in front of her after slipping through the window's bars.
"BARRISS OFFEE, YOU HAVE A GREAT DESIRE TO PROTECT IN YOUR HEART, AND MUCH AVARICE AS WELL. YOU BELONG TO THE ORANGE LANTERN CORPS."
It slid itself onto Barriss' right hand's middle finger, and her mind suddenly gained new information. She held her arm up and began to recite an oath just as Padmé, Ahsoka, Luminara, Anakin, and Nick walked back in to check on her.
"By burning day or freezing night, I take all strength as is my right. I lay my claim to all in sight! To save all life - THAT IS MY RIGHT!"
Suddenly, Barriss was engulfed in a flash of orange light that was so bright that it forced the viewers to cover their eyes or risk going blind! When the light died down, the eyes of our group of onlookers widened.
Barriss was now decked out in a new costume. She was now wearing a skintight black bodysuit with a rust orange colored armored leotard over it. She was also wearing burnt orange colored boots, and mango orange colored fingerless gloves. She was also wearing an orange mask with white eyeholes that covered her eyes and nose. On her chest was a black circle with the orange ring's mark in the middle.
"Barriss… what happened to you?" Anakin asked.
He was a little more than shocked by this new development, and it showed as he had shock and concern etched all over his face. After learning that Barriss had been controlled by the Sith into committing those crimes, he realized that she was as much a victim as everyone else in this crazy, mixed up series of events. So he accompanied his secret wife and his Padawan to the prison with Master Unduli so that he could apologize.
Boy was he shocked when Barriss transformed. Speaking of whom, she turned around to look at our group of protagonists, and smiled. But it wasn't an evil or devious smile. It was a true, kind smile that showed that she wouldn't harm them.
"I've merely become something new, Master Skywalker." Barriss replied. "A little something called… an Orange Lantern!"
Sorry if you were expecting Master of M'arrillians, but this idea's been in my head for some time now, and I wanted to post it while it was still fresh in my head. Believe me, though, I had a MAJOR hard time deciding which Lantern Ring color to use for this story.
Like I said, this story is an adoptable one-shot. Unless I get enough reviews asking me to continue this story. If you think I should continue this story, please submit a Star Wars: The Clone Wars character and a Lantern color for them to become. (Green Lantern, Red Lantern, Sinestro Corps., etcetera.) Now, I'll work on Master of M'arrillians! And after that, I'll work on an extra long chapter of Avatar of the Omniverse.