Barriss's blast knocked the wind out of the Sister, but she was used to fighting while not able to breathe. Tyrannus had Force-choked her so many times that she had no problem working without air for a few seconds. Barriss didn't have any rubble to shove over before she took off, but the Sister rose back to her feet only a few seconds after the criminal.
Just as the Sister had hoped, Barriss' outburst had made a decently sized hole in the ceiling of the cell. She jumped through and immediately started moving, knowing exactly what Barriss was going to go for first.
The Republic had foolishly left the twin red lightsabers she had been arrested with intact. The Sister hoped that the Jedi Council had the sense to at least try to advocate for their destruction and that one of the Republic's protocols had prevented it. In any case, that was Barriss's target, and the Sister intended to beat her to it.
It had crossed her mind that the lightsabers were the only weapons at her disposal. All of Ahsoka's weapons had been confiscated at the front desk, and it would take too long to retrieve them. Barriss would be out of the building by the time she made it down to the ground floor, so weaponless it was.
Barriss, still one floor down, was still ripping through the clone troopers that obstructed her path. All of the blaster bolts that fired her way were deflected back at their shooters. All of the traps that they set for her, she overloaded and deactivated. She had run through this plan hundreds of times while she had been held captive, and since Ahsoka hadn't listened to her it was time to put it into action.
Beneath her cool and collected surface, though, her head was throbbing. She was so tired, just from a bit of Force Lightning and one petty little blast. It felt horrible. There was a day where she could have lifted a building out of its foundation, and now she was reduced to this: a weak prisoner on the run for her life.
That must have been why Ahsoka didn't take her seriously. Who would feel anything but pity for such a weakling like her? Barriss had been so happy to see her thriving, and strong, and stubborn as all hell, and courageous, and skilled, and gorgeous. Finally, she had seen who she could become outside of the Jedi's influence. She was truly living the life that Barriss and been seeking: a wholesome, glorious, proud life, but Ahsoka hadn't seen the same in her. All she had seen was a broken, weak, scared little thing in a cage.
She couldn't give up on Ahsoka, not yet. She had to prove everything that she had promised her. Once she became stronger and she found more allies, maybe even followers who would back her up, then Ahsoka would believe her. Once she had Ahsoka's support, then they could begin the end of the Clone War. All of this violence would be over.
Finally, Barriss made it up to the vaults. She had been surprised not to see any Jedi on her way up there, but they would come eventually. Now that she could find her lightsabers, though, she could overpower them. Her golden eyes gleamed. The Dark Side would give her the strength she needed to get past them, maybe even get rid of them. She fiddled with the lock on the vault and followed the singing of the Dark kyber crystals.
She didn't expect to see Dark Ahsoka waiting inside for her. She grinned maliciously at Barriss, who furrowed her brow. "Looking for something?" she taunted, cocking her chin.
This must have been why the Jedi hadn't come after her. They had seen Ahsoka already on her way and decided to let her try to stop Barriss. Furious, she reached out a hand and called her lightsabers to her.
The Sister had expected it, though. Instead of looking confused, she reached up and grabbed one of the curved sabers as it flew over her head. Barriss kept pulling the saber, and therefore the Sister, to herself at full speed, realizing too late what was happening. The Sister yelled and aimed a kick at her, letting go of the lightsaber so her full weight went into the strike. Her foot connected with Barriss's jaw and sent her flying backward.
Barriss managed to roll to her knees and faced Dark Ahsoka, their golden eyes connecting. Simultaneously, they both reached out for the lightsabers, Barriss to grab them and run, and the Sister to keep them away from Barriss. The lightsabers rose and shook, but they didn't move left or right. Barriss and the Sister were too evenly matched.
Switching tactics, the Sister narrowed her concentration to the saber closest to her. If she couldn't keep both lightsabers out of Barriss's hands, then she could at least win one. If Barriss wanted both, she was going to have to take it. If she was willing to leave one behind, then it gave the Sister a weapon. Her full concentration brought the lightsaber to her, and Barriss caught the other.
The Sister winced as soon as the hilt made contact with her skin. The kyber crystals inside were too resonant of Tyrannus for her to be comfortable. The curved metal, the desperation, the malice, all of it the Sister hated, but she also felt a touch of Ventress inside them as well. The hatred had spawned mostly of Tyrannus, and the little bit of Ventress was enough to connect with the Sister. She activated the lightsaber and brandished it, trying not to show her discomfort with the curved hilt.
Barriss activated her own saber as well. "That's not yours," she declared, but the Sister smirked.
"It's not yours, either. These crystals belong to someone else," she reminded her, before lunging to attack. She wasn't going to waste time talking like before. For the first time in the history of the Detention Center, two Dark Side users were dueling in the facility.
This, of course, attracted the attention of almost everyone else in the building. "Lock down!" Master Windu ordered, and who was being followed by Luminara and Yoda. "We do not want Miss Offee to escape!"
Luminara, who was watching the duel with horror, turned to Yoda. "Master, let me go to her, perhaps I can talk her down."
"A wise decision, that is not," Yoda told her, shaking his head.
"She already tried to kill you her cell," agreed Windu resting a hand on her shoulder. "I don't want to find out what will happen now that she has one of her sabers back."
Yoda faced Windu and spoke evenly. "Given her testimony, she has. Time it is for her execution, by any means necessary."
Mace got the message and darted out of the control room, barking into his comlink for the other Jedi to engage. Luminara, however, sank onto a nearby bench and closed her eyes, trying to hold back her emotions.
Seeing her so dejected and beaten tore Yoda apart, but he did not revoke his statement. "Crossed a line, your apprentice has, Luminara. We know not what she will do if allowed to live. It is a risk we cannot take."
"I was so hopeful that Ahsoka could bring out the Light in her," Luminara confessed, her voice cracking. "Instead, Barriss had brought out the Darkness in Ahsoka and herself. I didn't realize."
"None of us did," Yoda assured her, looking back to the security feed. "But come, the time has, for her execution."
Luminara swallowed the gasps that tried to escape her, and nodded, closing her eyes. Better to end this tragedy now, while they still could. She glanced up at the two women dueling, then asked tentatively, "What about Ahsoka? Has she truly fallen to the Dark Side?"
"Fallen?" repeated Yoda, contemplating it. "No, she has not. Believe she has her Darkness under control, I do."
Now that Barriss was drawing power from the Dark Side without reserve, her strength had somewhat returned and her skill was coming back to her. It wasn't like the duel yesterday where Ahsoka could easily overpower her. Then again, the Sister was also drawing from the Dark Side, though in more limited quantities. The duel was really quiet even.
Still, the chances of the Sister knocking Barriss out of the fight without endangering someone else, or hurting Barriss, were slim. Not that the Sister had any reserves about killing Barriss, but the Republic would probably throw a fit if she did it herself. She needed a Jedi, someone who had the authority to kill under Republic law. That limited her options.
During her year on Dromund Kaas, she had studied a few different aspects of the Dark Side in particular. She had learned about Decay, which was the polar opposite of the healing property of the Light Side of the Force. That would definitely kill Barriss, though, as well as raise a few questions for Ahsoka once she got back. That was a no go.
Sith Fire was her specialty, as she had demonstrated while fighting the Jedi. Still, if anyone came into the vicinity and she missed Barriss, she risked frying some poor clone trooper instead, so that was out of the question. She also wasn't keen on using Sith Lightning, as it reminded her too much of Sideous.
Her only other asset was Sith Shadow. It would drape her body in darkness and hide her from public view, other than a shadowy haze in her vicinity. If the Jedi managed to show up, she could use it to her advantage.
Right now, though, she needed to find some Jedi. The Sister had been pushing Barriss around the heart of the building, hoping that the Jedi would be strategic enough to surround them. Thankfully, the clone troopers were staying out of the way, but so was everyone else so far. All the Sister could do was keep moving and maintain her grip on Barriss's second lightsaber.
Anakin had been one of the Jedi that Master Windu had called as backup. He, Obi-Wan, and Depa Billaba were all racing up through the floors, on Windu's call. He was keeping them updated on Barriss's and Ahsoka's position in the building as best as he could, and coordinating them on the best route to intercept.
In his mind, Anakin had been monitoring Ahsoka through their Force bond. He didn't mean to spy on her, but he didn't trust Barriss and he had a bad feeling that something was going to happen. He felt her tense up and get angry, and when Ahsoka started absorbing Barriss's Dark power, he felt the bond weaken and disappear as the Sister took her place. The bond vanished into the same thread that had once tortured Anakin for three months, and he knew something was up. Whatever was supposed to happen hadn't happened, and now they had trouble.
Now, he couldn't connect with Ahsoka or the Sister at all. All he could track was her relative location, which was helpful, but distracting. How were the other Jedi going to respond when they saw the Sister?
Depa split off from Obi-Wan and Anakin to meet up with Windu, and while they got into position. They were planning to trap the women in a central room, on Windu's command. As they pulled their lightsabers off their belts, Mace's voice spoke to them one more time. "Remember, we're just trying to kill Offee. Leave Tano alone, even though she looks a little more evil than normal."
"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" Obi-Wan asked, giving Anakin a confused look. "You didn't mention that before."
"Must have slipped my mind. Tano...got turned to the Dark Side. She took a Lightning hit from Offee, and...well, you'll see when you see."
Obi-Wan's eyes widened and he turned to Anakin. "We don't have a magic blade to turn her back this time. How are we supposed to save her?"
Anakin set his face, and stared at the door they were hiding behind. "We don't have to. I think Ahsoka did it on purpose."
There was no good way to respond to that, so Obi-Wan just faced the door and kept his thoughts to himself. This day just keeps getting better and better.
"On my mark," Windu ordered, and the two Jedi activated their lightsabers. "Go!"
They burst into the room, weapons held out and eyes searching for the others. Barriss and the Sister were still going at it, although Anakin saw what Windu meant. Ahsoka had definitely gone Dark, but she looked like she did on Mortis, not like the Inquisitor. Good thinking, Snips, he thought but didn't say.
The Sister caught Barriss in a saber lock, and she finally looked around and saw the newcomers. In one swift motion, she threw Dark Ahsoka back against a wall and turned to face Windu and Depa. "Come to negotiate, have you?"
"No," Windu corrected her. "By order of the Galactic Republic, you are to be executed, effective immediately."
That shook Barriss. She was expecting more diplomacy, not immediate action. She also couldn't defeat four Jedi, three of which were Masters and the fourth was the Chosen One. She had forgotten about Dark Ahsoka.
Anakin hadn't though. He looked over to where she had been thrown but didn't see her anywhere. She knew the Sister was somewhere over there, but she was hiding or just plain invisible. He kept quiet, hoping to give her an advantage. He had to trust the Sister.
Unfortunately, Depa wasn't quite on the same page. She glared at the Mirialan and asked, "What have you done with Miss Tano?"
"She's fine," Barriss sneered, glancing over in her direction, but not seeing her. "She's-" she hesitated, not understanding what had happened. Where did she go?
"That's not the question," Obi-Wan insisted, misinterpreting Depa. "How did you manage to turn her to the Dark Side?"
Barriss laughed as the Jedi started to close in around her. "Oh, I didn't do that. That was her choice, not mine. It suits her well, don't you think?"
Windu wasn't amused. "We're getting off subject," he reminded her, and he lunged at Barriss. She jumped out of the way and leaped for a window behind him. "No!" he yelled, trying to reach for her, but she was already at the top of her arc. She was going to make it, she was almost free-
-until the Sister materialized out of her shadow and swung at Barriss with her saber. She barely raised her own to parry the strike in time, and it was her turn to fly backward.
Anakin saw what the Sister was doing, and ran to help her. When Barriss hit the ground, he held his lightsaber up to her neck and pinned her down. The Sister grinned as she landed. Ah, good old Skywalker. Surprisingly, she was glad to see him.
Windu approached and brandished his purple lightsaber at Barriss, who was beginning panic on the ground. Was this really it? Was it over, even after everything she had done over the past year just to get here?
Taking on the responsibility of execution himself, Mace hardened his face. At least one of the fallen would be spared. He couldn't stop Ventress or the Inquisitor, but he could stop Offee. He prepared to end it all, while the others watched.
Well, all except for Obi-Wan. Right as Anakin had pinned down Barriss, he felt a familiar, haunting presence behind him. He turned to the same window Barriss had tried to jump out of, and he saw a shadow appear on the glass. Right as Windu began his stabbing motion, Obi-Wan remembered what it was. "Get down!" he yelled at everyone, but too late.
Rockets came crashing into the windows, blowing everyone back except for Barriss, who had been hidden behind Windu. Someone had heard her and come to answer her prayers. As soon as the explosions stopped, she darted up and ran to the window, not caring who was waiting for her on the ship. On the way, she pulled the second red lightsaber to her, which had fallen out of Dark Ahsoka's grip during the blast. She leaped and landed on the ramp to the ship, and she looked back to watch the Jedi's reaction.
The Sister was the first one to recover, but she her head was too dizzy from impact to chase her down. She could only run over to the shattered windows and watch the ship fly off with Barriss on board. The Jedi came up behind her, crowding to catch a glimpse of her rescuers, but the ship was already disappearing from view.
"Great," groaned Anakin, putting his lightsaber back on his belt. "Now we've lost her again, and we have no idea who's helping her."
"I do," Obi-Wan said, and everyone turned to look at him, surprised that his face was paler than it normally was. He answered with only one word, a name:
"Maul."