Chapter 27 – Training with friends

I finally finished this chapter. Take busy workdays, a vacation and a bad case of writer's block and it'll take a lot longer than you want it to.

Just for those wondering, this story, like my Ahsoka story, will continue for a long time. However, I might not make as many chapters for Barriss. I'll leave a little explanation for this at the bottom of the chapter.

For now, Barriss is back on Coruscant and looks through her finds at the seminar with Master Che. After that, she joins Nyla and her friends for some training.

Hope you enjoy.

;-

"Well, Master Che? What do you think?" Barriss Offee asked the head of the Order's Circle of Healers.

She had returned to Coruscant in the late afternoon the day before. She had spent the rest of the day with her Master, discussing her journey to Naboo with her, as well as her meeting Ahsoka there. They had done some meditating together, followed by more practice in dual-wielding. While she was getting better at it, Barriss knew it would probably take her months, if not years to reach her friend's level of skill.

During the day, she had also made an appointment with Master Vokara Che for the next day, so they could look over her findings from the seminar. She had found the experience enlightening, so she hoped that Master Che would think the same.

Right now they were looking at the new scanners that she had purchased. They had run a few scans with them as well as their old scanners, so they could effectively compare the results with real medical situations.

"Hmm," Master Che mused over the results for a moment. "This new model does indeed offer some better results with its scans. There are some slight changes to the interface that'll take a bit of getting used to, but overall I'd say they're a pretty good improvement." She smiled and turned to look at Barriss. "I think you made an excellent choice in purchasing these scanners. I'll have a few other healers look at them as well and see what they think. After that, we might replace all of our scanners with the new model."

Barriss smiled at hearing that. "Thank you Master, I'm glad you feel the same way," she replied. "It should make it easier to determine what kind of treatment our patients might need. Being able to save time with that could make quite the difference."

"Yes, you're right," Master Che said. "Sometimes the first hours are the most critical ones. Saving time with the diagnosis can aid us greatly." She put the scanner down and walked up next to Barriss. "We received word that the Bacta tank you ordered should arrive in three days. After it's installed, we can take a look at that as well."

"All right, Master," Barriss replied. She checked the time. "If it's alright with you Master, then I'd like to take my leave now. Nyla wanted to try some light training now that she's allowed to again and Naria and Alyva asked me to join them."

"Ah yes, Padawan Sonter," Master Che replied. "Yes, I think we're done here for now, so you can go and join them. Make sure to keep a little eye on her though. While she did pass her physical tests and so we allowed her to do some light training again, I have a little suspicion that she might try to overdo it a little after being inactive for so long."

Barriss laughed a bit. "Yes, that does sound like something she might do. Don't worry Master, I'll watch her," she said with a smile. She bid her goodbyes and made her way to the training room where she was going to meet Nyla and her friends.

;-

"Can we get started now?" Nyla asked with a slightly frustrated sigh. The healers had finally allowed her to do some training again, so she had asked Naria and Alyva to join her for some practice almost instantly. But to her slight annoyance, her friends didn't want to start yet.

Naria couldn't help but smirk a bit at her friend's tone. "Just a moment Nyla," she replied. "We asked Barriss to join us as well. She should be here soon."

That little news brought a smile to Nyla's face. "Alright, that sounds like a good reason to wait," she said. "It will be nice to finally do something with her instead of always lying in bed when she's around."

Both Naria and Alyva both laughed a bit at her words. "Just be sure you don't overdo it then, otherwise the healers will put you back to bedrest," Alyva teased her friend. Nyla glared at her friend as was about to reply when a chime sounded and the door opened.

Barriss walked into the room and smiled at her friends. "Hello everyone, how are you doing?" she asked as she walked up to them.

"Barriss, good to see you," Naria replied. "We're all doing fine, how about you? How was your trip to Naboo?"

"It was a nice trip, I quite enjoyed it," she told her friends. "I was able to learn some new things and I found some new medical instruments that we can make great use of in the Halls of Healing."

"Sounds like it was a successful journey," Alyva said. "Did you already share them with the other healers?"

Barriss nodded. "Yes, I had a meeting with Master Che just before I came here," she replied. "She seemed to like the new scanners I brought with me. She's going to look them over with a few other healers as well. And in a couple of days the new bacta tank should be delivered and we'll take a look at that as well."

She looked at Nyla. "Now, how about we get to some training?" she asked her friend.

"Yes, that sounds great," Nyla replied excitedly. "I've been doing nothing for far too long." She eagerly called a training saber to her hand and ignited the bright green blade. "Who wants to go first?"

Her friends couldn't help but smirk at her enthusiasm. "Alright, I'll go first," Naria said as she drew her own lightsaber and lowered the blade's intensity. She ignited the green blade and assumed a defensive stance. "Whenever you're ready, just be sure to take it easy."

"Naria's right, Nyla," Barriss added. "You just got out of the Halls of Healing, if you overdo it, the healers won't allow you to practice again until you're fully recovered." A look of shock briefly appeared on Nyla's face before she nodded. "Just start slowly, then work up from that."

Nyla turned back to Naria and moved to an attack stance. She couldn't help but smile. It had been quite some time since she had held a lightsaber. She just hoped that the Healers would fully clear her soon so that she could travel to Ilum to rebuild her lightsaber. It was lost during that whole mess on Felucia, perhaps taken by that base commander as a prize or something. She didn't want to think of that now though, so she turned her attention back to Naria.

She took a deep breath and focused herself. She stood in front of Naria and swung her saber. Naria blocked it easily, because she swung a lot slower than she normally would. Nyla decided to follow Barriss' advice and start out slowly. She continued her attacks, moving through the combos she practiced with her late Master.

They continued for several minutes, Nyla moving a bit faster with every repeat of her swings. They repeated the motions once more before they stopped.

"Looking good Nyla," Alyva commented as she walked up to her friend. "Looks like you haven't gotten rusty in your attacks, but let's see how you do on the defensive, shall we?" With that, she turned down her own blade's intensity and ignited the blue blade. She gave her friend a challenging smirk and moved to an attack position.

Naria shook her head and she deactivated her weapon and stepped off the training mat, joining Barriss at the side of the room. At the same time, Nyla smiled at Alyva and moved into a defensive stance.

Barriss could sense both their enthusiasm and decided to speak up before they started. "Alyva, remember to go easy at first," she told her. "Nyla isn't at her full strength, so don't attack all out."

Alyva nodded at her and turned her attention back to Nyla. Just like her friend had done, she started her attack out slowly, not using her full power. Nyla was able to block her attack, so she continued into a combo of attacks, but made sure not to overdo it.

Pleased that her friend was holding up so well after being out of action for so long, Alyva moved back to her opening attack stance, making her intent to strike a little harder clear to Nyla. She understood and nodded, shifting into a defensive stance again. Alyva struck again, with more force this time, but at the same time looking carefully at her friend's reaction.

They repeated this process multiple times, Alyva increasing her strength each time. They kept this up for several minutes as well, until Alyva noticed Nyla stagger when she blocked another blow. With Barriss' earlier warning still in her mind, she decided now would be a good time to stop. She moved back to a neutral stance and deactivated her lightsaber. Panting slightly, Nyla did the same.

Barriss studied Nyla as she placed the training saber back at the racks. She still looked alright and quite a lot happier than she's been in the weeks before, despite being a little tired. "Well done Nyla, it looks like you're recovering nicely," she told her friend with a smile. "If you keep up your rest, I'm sure you'll be back to your full strength in no time."

Nyla walked towards her with a smile. "Thanks Barriss, I'm really glad to hear that," she replied eagerly. "I can hardly wait." She looked back at her other two friends. "Thanks as well girls, for helping me out."

Naria and Alyva smiled. "Of course Nyla, that's what friends are for," Naria replied. "We'll help you as much as we can."

"It's really good to see you up and moving again," Alyva said. "You'll be back to your old self in no time, I'm sure of it."

Barriss couldn't help but smile as she sensed Nyla's emotions. Considering the condition she had found the Twi'lek in, it was really good to see her like this again. She was certain that once she recovered, Nyla would probably find a new master quite quickly. Once she rebuild her lightsaber and finished her training, Barriss was sure that she was going to be a strong Jedi Knight.

Having her friends here in this private training room suddenly gave her an idea. The thought did make her a little nervous. "Hey guys, I was wondering, could you maybe help me out with something?" she asked them.

They were a bit surprised by her question, but smiled nonetheless. "Of course Barriss," Alyva replied. "What is it?"

"Would you both be willing to spar with me for a bit?" she asked them. "There is something I've been meaning to try out." She drew her lightsaber, as well as calling a training saber to her other hand, much to the surprise of her friends.

"I didn't know you dual-wielded?" Nyla asked a bit surprised. "Since when have you been practicing?"

Barriss sighed a bit. "Well, at first I didn't. I just studied my Master's form," she replied. "But after that whole bombing incident…" she paused a moment. "I saw the recording of 'my' fight with Anakin. It left me quite confused as to how 'I' did that. Then later, during the battle of Kiros, I somehow used dual wielding techniques on instinct after James was shot." She shrugged. "Somehow, I'm able to dual-wield now. I have no idea what that Sith did to me, but I decided to use those abilities for good now."

It was pretty clear to her that her friends were somewhat shocked by what she just said. "H-he gave you the ability to dual-wield?" Naria asked slowly, unsure what to make of it. "I had no idea such a thing was possible."

"Neither did I," Barriss replied. "I tried to look it up in the Archives, maybe looking at places I shouldn't have been, but I found nothing, except for some very dark and perverse things." She looked at the two lightsabers in her hands. "I discussed it with Master Unduli. I suspect that that Sith wanted to make me into some kind of assassin, but I'm going to use those abilities as a Jedi."

"I see, but…" Alyva began. "Somehow getting skills by being controlled or whatever, that sounds frightening to me. Are you feeling alright, Barriss?" she asked with concern.

Barriss smiled at her friends and nodded. "Yes, don't worry, I'm fine," she replied. "I'll admit, it did scare me at first. I had no idea what happened to me or how it would affect me, but Master Unduli told me that she could sense any darkness in me, even when we practiced, so I'm pretty grateful for that."

Nyla nodded as well. "That's good to hear," she replied. "So you can really dual-wield now?"

Barriss nodded again. "I wouldn't exactly call myself an expert yet, but I definitely have some grasp of the basics," she replied. "Which is why I was hoping if you two wanted to have a quick sparring match so I can try it out a bit more myself."

Naria and Alyva both smiled. "Sure, that sounds interesting," Alyva said as she drew her saber again.

Naria drew her lightsaber as well. "I've never had much success with dual-wielding when I tried it myself, so I'd like to see what you can do as well," she said as she ignited her blade. Barriss ignited both of her sabers as Alyva activated hers. She moved to a defensive stance and waited for them to strike.

Alyva struck first, coming in with a fast sweep on her left. Barriss blocked it with her second blade, before striking back with her main saber. Alyva blocked her attack and Naria took the opportunity to strike next. Barriss saw it coming and moved quickly, spinning around to block her strike with her main saber, before quickly bring her offhand saber around again to intercept Alyva's next attack.

Startled by the sudden attack, Alyva jumped back and avoided the strike. Barriss decided to press her advantage and followed after her, trying a few of the new dual lightsaber techniques she had been practicing to knock her lightsaber out of her hand. Alyva struggled against her attack, she had not been prepared for such an assault. Barriss was obviously a lot more skilled with this than she herself thought.

Sensing Naria coming up behind her, she quit her attack on Alyva and moved to block her strike. She caught her strike with her main saber and then quickly swung her offhand saber to block Alyva's incoming attack. The two of them were attacking together now, forcing Barriss to go fully on the defensive.

With the two lightsabers in her hands, Barriss found that she was able to keep up with their simultaneous attack, at least for now. She swung her lightsabers in a defensive pattern, countering their strikes.

Alyva and Naria launched a powerful combination of double attacks against Barriss. It was pretty clear to her that the two of them had practiced this routine of double attacks before, it made for a powerful and difficult to resist attack. She was certain that she wouldn't be able to withstand it with just one lightsaber. With her dual blades however, she was able to keep up with them, at least for now.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before Barriss had used all of the defensive combo's that she knew. After that, Naria was quickly able to see a pattern in her moves. Alyva landed another strong blow. Using that to her advantage, Naria swiftly moved in with a disarming slash at Barriss' offhand saber.

The sudden attack caught Barriss off guard and the second saber was knocked from her hand. She blocked Alyva's next attack and jumped back quickly, giving the signal to end the spar. Naria and Alyva both nodded and moved to a neutral stance, both putting their lightsabers away. Barriss did the same and walked up to them.

"That was pretty impressive Barriss," Nyla said as she joined them. "Naria and Alyva form a powerful duo, but you stood up to them really well."

Alyva laughed a bit. "She's right, you're a lot better than I thought," she said as she walked up to Barriss. "You're better than you give yourself credit for."

Barriss smiled as well. "Thanks guys, this was great practice," she replied. "Once I get some more practice in, I might build a second lightsaber. That way I will be able to dual wield should the need arise."

"Sounds like a good plan Barriss," Naria said. "Now then, let's get you back to your room Nyla. We'll join you again the next time."

Nyla frowned a bit. "Oh, alright then. Let's go back," she replied slightly annoyed. "I just hope they'll let me out soon."

"Don't worry Nyla, I'm sure it won't be that much longer," Barriss replied as they left the room.

;-

That's the end of this chapter.

Alright, so as I said above, I'm not sure how much chapters Barriss will get in comparison to Ahsoka. I don't have that many ideas for Barriss at the moment, for this time in my story. After the time skip I have planned, more will happen for Barriss.

That said, I do have something else planned for her what will lead to two, perhaps three chapters before the time skip. However, before that, I will need to advance Ahsoka's story first.

The next chapter will be for Ahsoka again. She'll be arriving back on Shili after her vacation with Lux. Everyone will be busy with the planning for Marina's wedding. Later on, Ahsoka will also decide to take Aisha somewhere.

Until next time.