Amongst the chaos that enveloped the entire planet, for the most part, the groups escape went largely unnoticed. That is, until another pair of gunships were in pursuit. Of course, they couldn't just leave Coruscant in the gunship as it wasn't designed for prolonged spaceflight. They had to dump the ship somewhere and procure another vessel to get off world, to do this, they needed to crash the gunship to give the illusion that they had died.
Brytt, Barriss, Slick and Cayde had all jumped onto a nearby rooftop, hiding behind a large vent system out of view of their chasers. As Tanuk aimed for a largely empty area below, Fon flew up to the cockpit using his Jetpack to grab the Gungan and leave the gunship at the last second. The explosion created a large display of light and smoke which masked their escape. The duo then met up with the rest of the newly formed crew.
"Weesa need a new ship" Tanuk said anxiously, eager to fly again.
"I agree. We need a way off planet but we can't up and steal a ship without painting a bigger target on our backs. First things first, we need cloaks, something to disguise ourselves" Barriss explained.
Fon stepped back. "Then this is where I'm going to leave you all. You have my thanks for saving my life, however, I have a higher calling, to my people. Whatever your fate has in store for you, I know that it doesn't intertwine with my own, I must return to Mandalore. I'll make my own way home. Farewell" and with that, Fon Ordera was gone. Flying down into the underbelly of the metal world.
Lost for words, Cayde just stood there for a moment before finally saying something. "Not gonna lie, I was hoping he'd stick around to help a little more… what about the rest of you? Are you going to leave?"
Brytt stepped forward. "Hmm, nah. Not yet, cyborg. My best bet is to group with you until I can get to Lijuter."
Slick followed up "I need to figure out what's wrong with my brothers. I thought they were enslaved before, but those two guards, it's like they were in a trance. I need to find a way to help them and I can't do that from here. If you'll have me, sir, I'll follow you." He looked at Barriss when he said "Sir"
"Tanuk?" Cayde asked, trying to get a read on the Gungan.
"Tatooine" Was all the cyclops said before turning to his new allies. "Weesa need to be goin to Tatooine if weesa gonna get away from dis bombad mess"
Barriss finally spoke "Then that's the plan." She looked at the group of four. "I'm with you. I need to lay low, to meditate, but I can't do that until we're safe."
"Weesa still needs to get off dis bombad planet. What do weesa do?" Tanuk followed up.
All convicts paused, trying to quickly think of a way off world without leaving a trace. "We could buy a ship?" Slick offered. "But we'd need funds to actually do that"
Cayde looked over at the clone, it wasn't a terrible idea aside from the obvious. Luckily, he had a solution. "I can buy a ship"
Barriss widened her eyes slightly. "You can afford that?"
"No… not with what I have right now, but I can trade. Come on, we need to find a bar"
79's was the last establishment one would think to go when every clone on the planet is looking for them. But the way Slick figured, they were brainwashed to do their new job of hunting the Jedi. They wouldn't have the freedom to stop for a drink. Slick however waited outside, a cloak covering his armor and a hood hiding his face while the rest entered.
It was strange to see this bar absolutely packed with aliens and non-clones when the soldiers were gone, it shows deep down that they were never really welcome. Barriss frowned at that, she found it unfortunate that the Republic hate those who fight for them. She had her views on the Jedi and the GAR, but at the end of the day, they were still fighting to keep the Republic from crumbling and these people couldn't appreciate that. Had she been wrong to assume everything was so black and white when she fell?
A pair of Duros males wearing matching uniforms of cargo pilots sat at the bar and ordered their drinks. Cayde watched and approached them. Barriss, Tanuk and Brytt stayed spread apart in different corners of the bar, keeping an eye out for trouble while their warden negotiated. A few minutes pass and all they could see was him showing the blue pair a hologram of something, followed by a handshake and a quick exchange of what looked to be keys. A subtle wink to the group was all they needed to follow Cayde out.
Slick turned to the group. "Did you get it?" he whispered.
Cayde held up his cybernetic hand to produce a hologram. "A Y2K Corellian light freighter, The Silver Lining. Oddly fitting, if you ask me" He said with a smug smile.
"It's a little small" Was all Brytt could say.
Cayde decided to humour the Houk "Oh, it's tiny. It's only really designed for emergency runs for rare medical supplies. But it has a hyper drive which is all we need to get to Tatooine. Come on, it's in dock 4 on level 1311"
"Meesa know the way" Tanuk announced as he began to lead the group.
Slick and Brytt followed close behind while Barriss lightly grabbed the officer by his metal arm. "Cayde, how did you afford that?"
"Simple, I gave them an apartment" He said.
"But the Republic will look for you there! And those Duros will just tell you the ship they gave you!"
Cayde looked up gleefully "Hmm, you're right. But we'll be long gone by then. And that apartment? It was Pryde's" He laughed.
Barriss was still confused "B-but the keys you gave! What were they?"
Now in hysterics, he explained "Those were for a speeder that I totaled last year, I kept the keys! Pryde will be too busy looking for us that he won't even think to go home until we're long gone"
Barriss now folded her arms "Those Duros gave you their ship and this is how you repay them?"
The laughing stopped, his face went from gleeful to stern in a second. "Look, right now, the Republic as we know it is changing. We need to leave. You may not like how I got us that ship, but the point is I got it. We can get away from here and figure out our next move. Okay?"
The Mirialan took a deep breath. "You're right… We need to leave. Just let me handle things like that from now on." And with that, she and Cayde followed the others.
The five fugitives made their way onto the freighter. It was as small as expected, two seats in the cockpit, one in front of the other and an incredibly small cargo hold that the group had finally managed to take a break in. Tanuk immediately jumped into the cockpit. "Strap in. Weesa goin Tatooine"
As the ship made its way into the sky traffic lanes, a light on the console blinked. They were given clearance to depart Coruscant. The codes on this freighter were good. Almost immediately upon exiting the atmosphere, the one eyed Gungan plotted a course and engaged the hyper drive.
The crew were silent for the most part. Catching up on much needed sleep seemed to be on everyone's mind. There were some basic ration packs in one of the small cargo containers that everyone had devoured before their slumber, even Tanuk joined them after putting the ship on autopilot. As everyone slept, Barriss remained awake. Still trying to meditate and draw upon the living force.
Nothing.
It was as she feared. Her decent into darkness has fractured her connection to the force as she knew it. Her Jedi healing abilities were lost to her, something she was proficient in back at the temple, now gone. A thousand thoughts rushed through her head as she brought her hands up to wrap around her skull.
Why is this happening?Why can't I sense anyone?Why can't I sense Luminara?What is a Jedi without the force?Do I still get to call myself a Jedi?Do I deserve that title?Who am I?
"Hey"
All thoughts were silenced when Barriss looked up to see Tanuk sitting across from her.
"Youssa havin bombad head thoughts?" he asked as if concerned, reaching out a container of what she assumed to be water.
Not to appear rude, she took the flask and nodded before taking a sip. Thankfully, it was just water and not alcohol. With the day she's had, that would be the last thing she needed. "Thank you" she finally said before continuing.
"I just get caught up in my own thoughts sometimes. My master would say 'trust the force, young one' and for the most part it worked, but right now I don't think the force trusts in me" She felt a mixture of both relief and defeat upon admitting her theory.
"Master? Youssa was a slave too?" the Gungan quizzed? He had a look in his eye which could easily be confused for desperation, but that wasn't it, not quite. Barriss studied the man. She could see that he was desperate. Desperate for some sort of kinship through tragedy.
"No. No… A Jedi's master is their teacher" She looked at him, now concerned. "Were you?..." She trailed off.
There was a long pause. Tanuk's only eye narrowing its gaze into the eyes of the fallen Jedi before him before relaxing his eyelids. "When meesa just a boy, went up to the surface land. Meesa wanted to explore and bring big treasures for meesa papi. But de Naboo took meesa, sold meesa to de bombad Hutt clans. Meesa have had many masters. All gone now though. Meesa killed them."
Appreciation was not an emotion so easily portrayed without words, but Tanuk could see that Barriss was thankful she told her his story. "To a degree, I understand why you did what you did. We were always told that revenge is not the Jedi way. That we must be better than our emotions… but it's hard, you know? During the war, I lost troopers under my command, I grew close to them, many of those clones were people I would have happily called my friends. When they die, I want to use all of my power to make sure that the people who hurt them can never hurt anyone else again… but I don't, it's not the Jedi way. Honestly, after every battle I began to lose hope that it would ever be over, but now that Dooku is dead, the war must be close to ending. So maybe it's time to hope again. Hope that somehow, the galaxy will be brought back into balance, hope for myself as a Jedi, hope for you"
That last part made Tanuk's eye widen. "Meesa?"
Barriss smiled. "Even you, a notorious criminal, have proven to show even the slightest moment of compassion when you offered me this" She held up the flask. "You flew us to safety, you're still doing that now. You could have taken the ship for yourself, but you didn't. There is hope for you to be better and I'm not giving up on you. Can you please not give up on yourself? If not for me then for you? To prove to yourself that you are more than what the Naboo and the Hutts made you"
A small tear welled up in Tanuk's eye. No one had ever spoken to him like a person before. It was always slave, Gungan, one eye, monster, idiot, flippers. This new companion he found himself traveling with had shown him compassion. "… Meesa try"
And with that, the Gungan walked back to the cockpit. In that moment, Barriss gasped upon instinct.
Compassion.
The compassion she had shown to Tanuk, the wisdom in her understanding of his situation, the hope she had for him. This was the way of the Jedi. The Jedi Order she grew up to idolise, not the Order she was drawn into by war. A feeling of weightlessness enveloped her body before her mind felt heavy with a singular thought.
"Binks" She breathed.
Whatever the force had planned for her, Representative Jar Jar Binks was the next destination. And although she wasn't sure how, it may just be through the link of species, Tanuk was the key to reach him. Barriss smiled as she began to feel like herself again, reaching out her hand, aiming at the stun baton Cayde had lent her and focused. She closed her eyes "I am one with the force and the force is with me"
The baton lifted and flew to her hand, her uncontrollable smile impossible to hide. She placed the baton onto her belt and sat down in the copilots chair behind Tanuk as they dropped out of hyperspace over Tatooine.