The Dark Times.

Chapter 1

Characters: Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee, Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker

Genre: Angst/Tragedy

Kashyyk. The war was over and the Jedi felt it but unfortunately for them they were the last piece to get rid of. Everyone was deceived in believing that the Chancellor was a benevolent dictator; on the contrary he was quite the opposite. But then again, what do you expect from a Dark Lord of the Sith?

Master Luminara Unduli realized that guns were pointed at her and right now was protecting herself with her lightsaber. It was very helpful for her to be one of the few Jedi to use Soresu fighting form and be proficient in it, which in the current situation was quite helpful. Luminara was deflecting the bolts and did not quite know what to do next.

"Troopers, stand down!" She commanded. But the clones did not reply and that meant only one thing- they were ordered to destroy all Jedi by the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Luminara was deflecting the shots but also she was slowly retreating towards one of the Jedi Star fighters. She could feel that at least two Jedi, who were also on Kashyyk survived, who were Yoda and Quinlan Vos but she had no time to look for them. She knew that they were accomplished masters and they could defend themselves, but her help was needed somewhere else.

"Barriss" thought Luminara. The Jedi Master has already trained young Offee towards the Knighthood but their bond was still strong although not as strong as Obi Wan and Anakin's one. She knew where her former Padawan was and flew towards Felucia.

During the flight Luminara Unduli sensed as many Jedi, one by one screamed. But then it got very quiet and that meant only one thing- the tragic end of the Jedi Order. The Mirilian Jedi was felt very sad since she lost so many friends; so many Jedi just became one with the Force.

The Jedi reached Felucia relatively quickly and flew towards the planetary surface. She hid her ship and sneaked to the camp where she knew Barriss was located. She was surprised but she sensed her apprentice being alive and that puzzled her. So many Jedi were dead but her former apprentice was not? Something was out of the place.

Luminara used her Jedi bond to find the precise location of her former Padawan and was quite surprised to find her sitting in her tent, quietly meditating. What puzzled her more was that a large number of clones were in the camp as well and they did not attempt to kill her. Luminara soon sneaked past the security post and got into the tent where Barriss was meditating.

"Master, you are all right!"

"Barriss, how did you survive?"

"The clones did not kill me. During the battle I was in the healing tent doing my job in saving lives of clones. Then they received the order to kill Jedi, they decided to spare me, since I was healing them, besides, they did not consider a healer to be a great threat."

"Let's go, we need to get out from this planet."

The two Jedi jumped from the tent and escaped the camp. As they were about to reach the Jedi Star fighter, it exploded. Luminara understood that they were found out but what was odd that they were not pursued by clones.

The two Jedi did not know what to do so they assembled a camp. They told eachother about their recent adventures and unfortunately about Jedi downfall. Luminara learned that her fellow Jedi Aayla Secura got shot down by clones.

Next morning the Jedi woke up and sensed a strange presence close by. It was the Dark Side and they did not like it. It was clear that a Sith was close and soon they were to fight for their lives. The two ladies looked around and saw a tall figure, dressed all in black, with a cape and a helmet looking at them. By then it was clear that he was a Sith, since they could sense so much darkness in him. However, something about him seemed familiar although they did not know his identity.

"I was wondering when you two would wake up. I could kill you right here while you were sleeping but that would not be fun. I wanted to have a duel since that is a better way to defeat your prey"

"Who are you, Sith? It is obviously that you are not Count Dooku and not Ventress either"

"You are correct in that. Dooku died and I am the new Sith Apprentice."

"Well, could you then tell us who you are before you kill us?" asked Barriss

"I thought you would recognize your former colleague. If my memory does not fail me, we fought together against Separatists on Geonosis campaign amongst other ones"

"That is not sufficient, sith lord. The first battle of Geonosis had two hundred Jedi involved in"

"O, I am not talking about the First Battle of Geonosis"

Barriss suddenly understood who stood in front of her and cried. She could not believe that HE turned, of all the people.

"Anakin"

"That name has no meaning to me anymore. I am Darth Vader now, the Jedi Destroyer. The Jedi betrayed the Republic and now you will die as well"

The women activated their lightsabers and jumped at Vader. He activated his lightsaber and the three began a fight. To Barriss's surprise, it seemed that Vader was toying with her since she was clearly no match for him even when they were Padawans.

The fight continued. Vader Force pushed Barriss away and now the two Mirilian Jedi were not fighting in a synchronized way. Vader concentrated on Luminara and really gave into his anger. The attacks became more energetic and powerful and it really did not help to Luminara that Vader used Djem So style with occasional elements of Juyo. Yes, she was a practioner of Soresu style of fighting but Vader was just too intense. And, Luminara was not Obi Wan; she could not last against Vader for much longer.

The Jedi Master started tiring and Vader noticed that. He started fighting even stronger since he knew that the battle would be soon over. After a couple of hits, Vader stabbed Luminara in the stomach. The Jedi fell on the ground.

Luminara's breathing got heavier and she knew that it was not a matter of minutes before she became one with the Force. She looked at Vader with a disappointed look.

"Anakin, you were meant to be our savior, look what you have become"

"I realized that Jedi were plotting against the Republic and it was their time to get destroyed."

Luminara did not say anything; she did not want to lose all her strength while arguing to that monster. She remembered all her friends and at least smiled upon a thought that soon she would join her friends. She died peacefully in a couple of minutes.

Barriss finally stood up since before she got knocked out pretty badly. But she was not hurt. Barriss jumped at Vader and he attacked her with his lightsaber. Barriss then realized that her weapon got cut into and she knew that she could not fight Vader anymore.

"Kill me, Anakin, I am defenseless, what are you waiting for?"

"I will not kill you. Once you were very close to me and I am not able to kill you"

"I was close to you too. I loved you even though it was against the code"

"I could never return any feeling to you, Barriss. I always loved only one woman and that was the dear Senator"

"So why would you not kill me?"

"I liked you and you were close to me but my heart always was and will belong to one person. However, there are people who I don't want to see dead and you are one of them. The other one is currently missing although I know that Snips cannot be dead. I would have felt it"

"So what will happen to me now?"

"You will be working as a healer in one of Coruscant's hospitals. You would not do any Jedi activity besides healing. The other choice is that you will be my apprentice"

"I will never be you apprentice, Vader. You broke my heart and I will never forgive you"

Barriss quietly cried as the two went towards Vader's personal shuttle. She became just another of his slaves, and would spend the rest of her life in the hospital. The only comforting thought for her was that she would return to her duty as a healer. Quietly, she repeated her words "I will never forgive you, Anakin". From now on, Barriss Offee would leave a life of misery with a broken heart.