Chapter 14: The Testament of Luminara Unduli

Barriss' eyes widened. On the screen was her former Master, who sat on a chair, looking distant and numb. The image was taken from a slightly lower angle and seemed to be on a desk. Possibly a hidden camera as Luminara never once even glanced in its direction. What was more disturbing, though, was the expression on Luminara's face. She looked...lost...confused...vacant almost. It was an expression Barriss had never seen on her before.

"I just...I don't understand...I've tried to..." she said, at last, her voice slightly tinny on the recording. "I've meditated, I've thought...but nothing..."

"It's all right, Master Unduli," Scorpious' voice came from off-camera, making Barriss jump.

What was he doing there? she thought. Wait...yes, he was a menial at the Temple. He must have been in the psychology team. Then Luminara...went there...? That was what the evidence showed, which puzzled Barriss more.

"This is confidential, you don't have to speak in such ways." Barriss' eyes narrowed. Evidently not...

Luminara looked over, at someone above the camera, presumably Scorpious, her expression pained...but trusting. She looked back down. "I...I can't talk about this...not with any of the other Masters and..." Her composure broke and she put her face in her hands and started to sob.

Barriss stared.

And stared.

She'd never Luminara cry. Didn't even think it was possible. And yet there it was.

This...this must be after the bombing... she thought. Probably after she came to see me and I... She rubbed at her arm, a guilty feeling creeping over her, a tension cramping her stomach. Luminara I didn't...I didn't know... Didn't know what though? That she'd be upset, that she'd affected her like this?

Barriss of all people should have known that an outwardly stoic demeanour could hide a whole range of turmoil.

"It's all right Master Unduli," Scorpious said, voice gentle. "Take all the time you need."

Luminara pulled herself up, taking deep breaths, and then shallowing them out.

"Do you want to talk about it? The bombing? Barriss' confession."

"I...This was a mistake..." Luminara got to her feet. She was trembling slightly. Nervous. "I shouldn't have...thank you for your time." She hurriedly left the room.

The scene changed. The same office, but the camera at a slightly different angle. Luminara was back again.

"You returned," Scorpious' voice. "Why?"

"I've tried...I've tried meditating but it doesn't..." Luminara shook her head. "I need someone to talk to."

"That's why we're here," Scorpoius said, and Barriss could detect the bitter tone in his voice though he tried to mask it. She couldn't help the smirk coming to her face. You're lucky Luminara was distressed or she would have caught that, she thought. Then remembered why her former Master was in distress and her thoughts clamped up. "Shall we start with Barriss and what she did? Do you feel responsible for it?"

"I...to an extent..." Luminara admitted. "I told her that I failed her and meant it, but I'm not sure if she understood what I was saying..."

Barriss furrowed her brow.

"I didn't mean it in...I meant it that...clearly, I wasn't there for her."

Her eyes widened.

"Clearly, through my own behaviour she'd...decided she couldn't confide in me. She couldn't tell me about what she was going through. I failed her."

Barriss stepped forward, raising a hand, wanting to say something. But she couldn't, this had all happened a long time ago. Far too late to do anything about it now.

"Those are natural feelings from Masters when their Padawan's struggle," Scorpious said. "You're not the first one we've had coming in to discuss such issues. Though, I confess, we've not had an instance quite as dramatic as this one."

"No...perhaps not..."

"I seem to recall you saying that you were reluctant to talk to the other Masters though," Scoripious continued. "I confess, I don't see why these feelings would be difficult to bring up with them?"

Luminara was silent a long moment. "I have...always practised a sense of detachment, for Jedi should not show attachment. When Barriss...when she nearly died on Geonosis I talked with Skywalker about how we should learn to let go, to accept our Padawan's joining with the Force. But...inside...I wasn't able to do so..."

Barriss jolted.

"Inwardly, I wanted her to emerge safe. To still be alive. And I...blamed myself. I thought my detachment had led to her suffering longer than was necessary, that if I had not practised that belief then perhaps..." She paused.

Barriss hadn't known. She'd truly believed that her Master had abandoned her, that she was okay with her dying. She'd never known she'd had this conflict. She trembled, wondering just how much else about her Master had passed her by.

"And now..." Luminara continued. "Now, I am again unable to practice it. Barriss has committed a crime, but I find it hard to believe that she did it even when all the evidence is in front of me. And I find it hard to detach myself from it, to think about how I might have...to think..."

"So you can't bring this up with the other Masters out of...pride?" Scorpious probed. Barriss flinched when she heard his voice, having almost forgotten he was part of the video. Then she wanted to hit him for his suggestion, suddenly feeling defensive of her former Master.

"No that's not it," Luminara said. "It's not...it's not the reason why I can't talk with them."

"Then what is?"

Luminara was silent for a long time. She looked around the room, blinking as if trying to work out something to say, some way to phrase things. She let out a shuddering sigh. "I think...I think Barriss might have been right," she whispered, so quiet Barriss wasn't sure she'd heard it.

Then the video screens went dark.

Barriss stared up at them for a long moment. "N-no!" she shouted, stepping forward, holding up her hands. "There must be more!" She pulled back, then, aware of what she'd just said. But she needed to know! Her Master had thought she was right? About what? The Council's corruption, the way the Republic was falling? There must have been more thoughts and she needed to, she had to, she had to know!

She looked around the room. Nothing had changed in it, it was still the same room, but maybe there was something here, some new datadisc she was supposed to find and play.

A blue light cast itself across the floor. Barriss stiffened and then turned around.

The holovideo had started up again, but this time the scene had changed and she let out a small gasp. Luminara was sitting in a prison cell, wearing an orange prison costume, and a grey head covering.

Luminara looked up at the camera and her eyes widened in recognition. "You..." she said.

"Hello, Master Unduli," Scorpious' voice. He must have been wearing the camera on his suit. "Or should it just be Luminara now?"

Luminara glared at him. "I'm not sure I can dictate terms of address in this situation."

Scorpious laughed. "Perhaps not."

"So you became an Inquisitor?"

"It seemed like the best offer. But I'm not interested in detailing my history. Rather, I wondered if we could resume a conversation we began a time ago?"

"What conversation?"

"I'm sure you're aware. Regarding Barriss?"

Barriss' heart thumped.

Luminara flinched. "What relevance does that have?" she said quietly.

"Every relevance," Scorpious insisted. "You are aware of the Grand Inquisitor I'm sure?"

"I have had the dubious pleasure of meeting him."

"Did you know he was inspired by Barriss' words at Ahsoka's trial?"

Barriss flinched from that at the same time Luminara did. "What?" Barriss asked at the same time Luminara did.

"Oh yes," Scorpious replied, as if to both of them. "When he heard her denounce the Jedi and the Republic, he began to wonder about it himself. He also began to realize the corruption that was being witnessed. Began to think about how things could be...improved."

Barriss dropped her head, not sure how to process this news. She'd meant for her words to inspire, of course, to help people see the truth but...but to hear that it had in this way...she wasn't sure what to think about it. How to consider it. She tried to think back on what she'd said, on what her words had been, but they weren't coming to mind, getting lost in the fog of everything that was going on.

Luminara sneered. "And is this an improvement?"

"Don't you think so?" Scorpious said. "The war is over, there is peace in the galaxy at last. Dissident elements, I grant you, but with the Jedi gone and the Republic remoulded...people are moving on. They are happy. No more wars."

Luminara glared at him. Barriss shivered, trembled, could almost hear Scorpious' smile. "Because as you said, Luminara, Barriss was right."

The screen went dark.

Barriss trembled. Had she said something that suggested that...this is what she wanted? That she wanted the Jedi gone the Republic to fall? Yes she'd said it was failing and that needed to be corrected, and the Jedi should be on trial, but that didn't mean they should all be dead. Had it?

No. She hadn't wanted an Empire. She'd wanted peace. An end to the fighting. An end to all the violence, an end to...

She clutched at her head. No, she didn't want, she hadn't meant...

The light flickered back on and her eyes shot up, focusing on the screen.

The prison, again. Luminara again.

"Have you had time to think?" Scorpious' voice, again.

Luminara nodded hesitantly. "I have thought about what we discussed, about what…what Barriss argued. Both at the trial and when I went to see her. And she was right. The corruption in the Republic and the Jedi…we couldn't keep the galaxy safe, no we made it unsafe. The violence and the wars. We were too blind to see it. I was too blind to see it."

Barriss trembled, mouth open. Her Master speaking these words, words she wanted to hear so long ago, hearing them now…it shook her. Terrified her in a way. When she'd acted she'd done so without any clear plan. She had no clue what she wanted next. Was this the logical outcome of what she'd done, of what she'd wanted? Is that what Luminara was saying?

"Then are you ready to accept your responsibilities?" Scorpions asked.

Luminara paused a moment, thinking, and it seemed to Barriss, staring open-mouthed, eyes wide, that in that pause existed all the time in the galaxy.

"I am," Luminara said, standing and holding out her bound hands.

Scorpious gestured and the binder cuffs fell off. With his other hand he held out a lightsaber, hilt enclosed inside a wheel.

"Then welcome to the fold, Inquisitor."

Luminara took the lightsabre and the video screen died and Barriss screamed.

She didn't know how long she was there, kneeling on the floor. It might have been a minute, it might have been a thousand years. She stared vacantly at nothing at all.

Abstractly, she heard the door open. Heard feet descending the stairs and then walking towards her. Felt a hand touch her back.

She looked up and Scorpious was crouching down beside her, a kind smile on his face. "Oh, my dear," he said, with sympathy. "I am so very sorry."

Barriss broke and buried her head on his shoulder and sobbed, as Scorpious enfolded her in his arms.

Hey everyone, and thanks for reading! Apologies for the delay in getting this one out.

The delay was entirely my own fault; basically I never really had a great idea for what Scorpious' plan was going to be here (honestly at one point he was going to have Barriss run the gamut of a series of Saw style games...) other than it involved Luminara in some way shape or form. So I was procrastinating off it hugely (to the point where I started another story over on AO3). But I finally forced myself to get down and write it. I'm honestly not sure how happy I am with it even now, but it did right that Scorpious would target an area where Barriss was always vague (on what exactly she wanted to happen next) as a way of undermining her confidence in herself (not enough to turn her at this stage, but enough to open the door perhaps).

As for what's actually going on here...well, if you want a hint, remember that this is intended to be canon-compliant ;)