Chapter 7 – Calm before the Storm
Text written "like this" means that people are speaking in Basic. Text written /like this/ means that people are speaking in Togruti. I hope that this doesn't make things too difficult to read.
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Luminara looked around their base. They had been able to make planetfall and had established a good base from which to launch their assault. In a few hours' time they would begin their assault, just as the sun would begin to set. This would allow Barriss and her troops to sneak in the base under the cover of dusk.
Their forces were preparing the attack now. The troopers were moving their equipment and finishing all of the preparations. "Generals, we may have a problem." Commander Bly said as he walked up to Masters Unduli and Secura. "What do you mean Commander?" Aayla Secura asked. "An unidentified ship just dropped out of hyperspace and it's making its way to our base." He replied. Aayla looked at Luminara. "Have you received any form of communication Commander?" Luminara asked. Bly nodded. "We asked for identification and received the code for 'outside assistance'." He replied "Alright then, let's find out what we have here." Aayla said. Luminara nodded and activated her comlink. "Barriss, come to our location right now." She spoke in her comlink. "Yes Master, is something wrong?" Barriss' reply came. "There is an unidentified ship approaching." Luminara explained. "I see Master. I'm on my way." Barriss answered as the transmission ended. "Commander, sent them clearance for the landing site B." Aayla told Bly. "Yes General." He replied.
Barriss arrived at their location and they went to the landing site. After a short moment the ship landed. Luminara, Barriss and Aayla prepared themselves to meet whoever was aboard the ship. Their troopers took positions along the area where the ramp would be lowered. They made sure that they were ready to act if necessary.
The ramp lowered and several people walked down. They were Togruta, eight males and four females, all wearing a form of dark green armour. It was obvious that they were soldiers of a sort, extremely well-trained soldiers at that. All three Jedi looked in shock and surprise at the teenage Togruta following the soldiers. "It's Ahsoka…" Barriss said softly. Both masters just looked in slight shock as Ahsoka walked down the ramp and walked up to them with one of the soldiers. The rest of the troopers stood by in attention next to the ramp.
"Hello Master Secura, Master Unduli, Padawan Offee." Ahsoka said as she reached them. "Ahsoka, what are you doing here?" Luminara asked confused. Ahsoka smiled. "I can ask you the same thing." Aayla smiled as well. "Very well then, we are here to rescue a group of Senators and their staff that were captured by the Separatists." She replied. "And you?" she asked. "Among the captives is the princess of Shili, Zaa Vashee. I am here with the H'Raani M'Kai at the request of the king to rescue his daughter." Ahsoka explained. Luminara and Aayla looked at each other. "And how were you planning to do this?" Luminara asked. "By joining Barriss and her team as they infiltrate the base." Ahsoka replied. As she said that all three Jedi looked shocked. "How do you know that?" Luminara asked surprised with the fact that Ahsoka knew of their plan. Ahsoka chuckled a bit. "The Force showed me a vision of what's going to happen. That's how I know." She explained. "I see…" Aayla said. "Alright then, your help is greatly appreciated. Come on, we'll inform you of our plan of attack." She said with a smile. Ahsoka nodded and gestured at the Tograta besides her. "This is Shaden Zadane, the leader of the H'Raani M'Kai." He gave them a short salute before turning to the other Togruta. /We will discuss the strategies with the Jedi, all of you get ready for combat./ The group of soldiers saluted in return and began to unload some gear from their ship.
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Barriss sat silently on a crate next to her tent. She had deliberately stepped back a bit during the briefing. Ahsoka's appearance She still wasn't really sure how Ahsoka would react to her presence. After a moment of doubt she decided to go and talk to Ahsoka. Seeing as they were going to fight side by side during this mission it wouldn't do them any good if they were distracted by their emotions.
She made their way to the ship Ahsoka and the other Togruta came with. Barriss spotted Ahsoka sitting on the ramp with the one she called Shaden. They were talking in Togruti so she couldn't understand what they were saying. It looked like they were finished talking so she walked up to her.
Barriss noticed Ahsoka's smile fade and Shaden got up and went back inside the ship. "H-hello Ahsoka." Barriss said when she reached her. "Hello Barriss, how've you been?" Ahsoka asked. "Alright, I guess…" She replied softly. "And you?" Ahsoka shrugged. "Pretty good I'd say." she replied. Barriss gulped nervously. "Ahsoka, I… uhm…" she began. Ahsoka interrupted her. "Barriss don't. What happened in the past is in the past. You weren't responsible for your actions." She smiled. "You're still my friend, aren't you?" Ahsoka asked. Barriss felt immensely relieved and a warm smile spread across her face. "Oh Ahsoka." She said softly. "Yes, I'm still your friend." Ahsoka's face lit up as well. "Come here." She said as she got up, holding out her arms. Barriss moved closer and Ahsoka pulled her into a hug. After a short moment they parted, both smiling widely. Ahsoka looked down. "I see that you got your lightsaber back." She said. Barriss nodded. "Yes I got your letter, I couldn't believe that you had already forgiven me." She replied. Barriss looked down and noticed that Ahsoka also had her lightsaber back. "Ahsoka, how did you get your lightsaber back?" she asked confused. Ahsoka chuckled for a moment at Barriss' confused expression. "Rex found it among the rubble in that factory. He gave it to Anakin and Anakin gave it to Lux. I'm not sure how he figured out that Lux knew where I was, but I'm really glad to have my lightsaber back." She explained. Barriss rubbed the back of her head nervously. "I sorta gave Anakin the idea that Lux might know where you were." She gave Ahsoka a cheeky smile. "I remembered the way you talked about him before." She said in a teasing voice. Ahsoka's lekku darkened visibly. Ahsoka playfully punched Barriss' arm before they both sat down on the ramp.
"So Barriss, we have some time left before the attack." Ahsoka began. "So, what have you been up to these past few weeks?" she asked. Barriss sighed. "I've mostly been busy trying to recover from having the Dark Side take me over. It's been difficult, but I'm managing." She replied. "A lot of people are still wary of me and I'm under constant observation by the Council. I've been asked to teach the younglings about the dangers of the Dark Side and I've done so for some time. After that I went to train a bit but a group of angry padawans beat me up." Ahsoka gasped. "What?" Barriss nodded. "Luckily, and somewhat creepily, Master Windu was watching me. He stopped them from doing serious damage to me." She explained. Ahsoka raised one of her eyebrow markings. "So Master Windu was watching you while you were training and probably longer… That's kinda creepy…" she said in a suspicious tone of voice. They both laughed for a moment. "You're right, it is rather creepy." Barriss said as she stopped laughing. "Nevertheless, I'm still in one piece because of it. When I recovered from that mess, Master Luminara and I went to Ryloth to help rebuilding the planet. It was a very welcome change from all of the endless fighting." She shrugged. "Then this happened and we're regrettably forced to fight again." Barriss finished her tale. Ahsoka nodded thoughtfully. "It seems that no one can escape the fighting during this war." She said with a hint of regret in her voice. Barriss nodded as well.
Barriss looked at Ahsoka. "And what about you Ahsoka? What have you been up to?" she asked curiously. Ahsoka smiled. "Well, your suspicion about Lux was right." She admitted with a slight blush in her lekku. "Oh?" Barriss replied cheekily. "When I left Coruscant I went to visit Lux on Onderon, hoping he would help me. I stayed with him for a while, I really enjoyed being with him. But, he had to return to Coruscant and I just couldn't go with him. So, Lux helped me with finding a different solution, I did something I was curious about for a long time." She explained. Barriss nodded for her to continue. Ahsoka smiled. "I went home." She said. Barriss' face turned to shock. "You mean…?" Ahsoka nodded. "I went back to Shili. Back to my family." "Wow…" Barriss replied softly. "That's quite something." Because of the rules of no attachment, no Jedi knew about their families. Every youngling in the Temple had a period of extreme curiosity of course, but they didn't act on it. "You're definitely right about that." Ahsoka said. "I can't really explain the feelings of happiness I've felt when I was reunited with them. Being back with my parents, my sisters and meeting my little niece, it's been great." Ahsoka explained. Barriss smiled, she could just sense the happiness emanating from Ahsoka. "Some time after returning home, I had that vision of these events. I offered my help to the king and queen of Shili and now here I am." Ahsoka finished her story. Barriss looked in surprise at Ahsoka. "Being reunited with your family, I don't even think that I can imagine that." She said softly. Ahsoka nodded. "Believe me, it was a very big change for me, going from a Jedi's life to, well, normal family life. However, I don't regret it at all." She said with a smile.
After sharing their stories with each other they continued to talk for a little while. They then parted ways to ready their troops for the attack. Barriss went to gather her troops while Ahsoka and the warriors she had brought with her readied all of their equipment.
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Barriss approached the part of the base where her team had gathered. When she appeared they all stood in attention. "Alright men, this is it." She told their troops. "In a short moment Ahsoka and her troops will join us here. Then we will proceed to the point from where we will depart for our mission. When Generals Unduli and Secura give the signal, we will make our way to the base and evacuate the hostages." She turned to her troops. "Any questions?" A simultaneous "Sir, no Sir!" came from her team. Barriss nodded. "Good, at ease men. We'll wait for Ahsoka's team to arrive."
After a few minutes Ahsoka arrived with her warriors. Barriss stared in surprise at her friend. She was wearing the same type of forest-green armour as the Togruta she was with. "Those guys don't look like amateurs to me." Longshot commented to his brothers. "Yeah, no kidding." Shrap replied.
Ahsoka walked up to Barriss. "You ready for this Barriss?" she asked. Barriss nodded. "Yes, I'm prepared. How about you? You look more than ready." She replied as she gestured at the armour. Ahsoka smiled. "It was a little gift from Shaden and the others. Now then, shall we get this over with?" Barriss nodded. "Alright, let's go." She replied.
Barriss signaled her men and Ahsoka did the same. The group of twenty-six set out towards the designated departure point. As they moved out, so did the main army of Master Unduli and Master Secura.
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"Barriss, are you and Ahsoka in position?" Luminara's voice was heard through Barriss' comlink. "Yes Master, we are ready to begin." Barriss replied. "Good, our attack will commence in ten minutes. After the battle starts, wait five minutes. Then, begin making your way to the base. Infiltrate it and rescue the hostages." Luminara's voice said again. "Understood Master." Barriss replied again. "Alright, then may the Force be with us." Luminara said as she ended the transmission.
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That's it for these two chapters. Up next, the battle and the rescue.
Both chapters will start with a 'general' opening. I'll tell things from the same third-person type of view as I've written before. After that, the rest of the chapters will be written from either Barriss' of Ahsoka's point of view, depending on the story. This first person type of view will be a new thing for me, so it might take me a bit longer to write. I do know how I want everything to go, but putting everything 'on paper' is a whole other thing.
I think (hope) that I can finish these chapters by the end of next week/start of the weekend.
Until next time.