Chapter 10 – Confusion and Fear

I was thinking about my story Gift of Light when a nice idea for it popped into my head. Now there's a new chapter. Funny how that goes.

Hope you enjoy.

;-

She eyed the clothes hanging on the racks outside the store. She really didn't want to do this, but she didn't have much of a choice. She couldn't keep wearing this. People would recognize it way too quickly and that would lead to a lot of trouble very fast. She looked around, there were barely any people around. She waited until the couple close by turned around the corner, then quickly moved.

The workers in the store were busy with their customers, so she was able to grab some new clothes and run off before she was noticed. She hated that she had to do this, but her options were limited. She felt guilty as she ran through the small alleys of this part of the Coruscant Underworld to get away further. Eventually, she found herself in an abandoned neighborhood.

She looked around and stretched out with the Force. There was no one here and more importantly, she couldn't sense any trace of her many pursuers. With a bit of a relieved sigh, she started checking the area. This old neighborhood looked like no one had been here for at least a dozen years, perhaps longer, there were so many lost and forgotten areas on Coruscant several levels underneath its surface.

After looking around for a couple of minutes, she settled on a smaller building in a side street. It looked relatively intact and dry, plus the windows were still whole, yet very dirty, but that only meant that no one would be able to see inside.

She carefully opened the door and went inside. The place looked alright, just dusty and worn down, but that was fine. The living room was still furnished. With a heavy sigh, she placed the stolen clothes on the small table and sat down on the couch, some dust floating around due to the sudden movement. Satisfied that she was now safe for a moment, Barriss Offee finally relaxed a bit.

She was so lost. She had no idea what was going on anymore. At one moment, it had been a normal mission. She had just finished talking to her Master over the holocom and spent some time meditating. She had gone out to discuss the next stage of their operation with her troops and then nothing. Her mind was blank after that. There were no memories, nothing.

Her next conscious thought was waking up in crashed transport on Coruscant. Needless to say, she was immensely confused. To add even more to the confusion, and terror, it was a prison transport. Even worse, she was the prisoner being transported. Seeing the prison uniform on her person was a bizarre and unnatural shock. The Force restraining cuffs on her wrists were malfunctioning. Unsure of what was going on, she had quickly used the Force to rip them off in reflex.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out. "Offee is loose! Get her!"

She looked to the side and saw several clone troopers. Clone troopers that were readying their blasters, aiming at her! "What…?!" she tried to speak, but then had to quickly duck to avoid a bolt that would have taken her head off. Survival instincts honed in the war kicked in and she rushed to get away. She got out the ruined transport and quickly ran, relying on the Force to dodge the bolts flying towards her. She had no idea what was going on, but she wasn't going to suddenly attack these clones.

There was a sensation in the Force, telling her to leap of the edge of the level she was on, so she did. After falling for an uncertain number of levels, she landed carefully with the Force. Some people were staring at her in shock. They certainly weren't expecting someone to suddenly land in the middle of the street. The surprise and shock of these people quickly transitioned into rage, fear and anger as they seemed to recognize her. Uncertain of what was happening and afraid, she quickly ran away. Clone troopers in speeders suddenly flew after her, trying to take her down, so she had escaped into some smaller alleyways. A large cloth that was hanging outside a building served as a makeshift robe to hide the very recognizable prison uniform and she finally had a moment to catch her breath.

She ripped off some pieces of the outer layer of the prisoner's uniform in an attempt to conceal herself a bit more underneath the improvised robe. She paid special care to insure that her face was covered. With that completed, she quietly moved away from the area. She hoped to try and find a way to safely contact her master to find out just what in the Force was going on.

She didn't have to wait that long. After reaching a slightly busier street, she quickly got some answers on the holoscreens in the street. The familiar sound of an emergency broadcast sounded through the street.

"This is an emergency broadcast for everyone on Coruscant. Moments ago, the traitor and terrorist Barriss Offee escaped from her imprisonment. Coruscant Security urges everyone to be careful and report any sightings of the prisoner to the authorities."

She was horrified. Her? A traitor? A terrorist? She watched the broadcast, trying to find out just what they were talking about. The more she saw, the more horrified she had become.

The Jedi Temple had been bombed?

Ahsoka was blamed for it, hunted down, captured, expelled from the Jedi Order and then sentenced and executed by the Senate?!

After that, a new investigation had revealed that Ahsoka had been innocent all along and she had been killed unjustly.

If things hadn't been worse enough, the reporters then named her as the one responsible for the bombing. The mastermind that had killed Jedi, clone troopers and innocent civilians alike. The monster that had framed her best friend and got her executed.

A state of shock had overtaken her then. The screen had changed to a scene in a courtroom where she had given a strange speech, denouncing the corruption of the Jedi Order before she was sentenced to life in prison.

She had no idea what was happening anymore. She had no memory of any of this happening. She also had no time to figure out more as some people began pointing at her. She quickly made herself scarce from the area.

Barriss took a deep breath and looked through the clothes she had stolen, to see what she could make from them. She tried to make sense of everything. She had no memory since talking to her Master, but somehow she had caused a massive terrorist attack on her home and was responsible for the death of her best friend. She had no idea how any of this was possible, but it was obvious that she had no friends on Coruscant. She had to find a way to get away from this planet and then try to get some answers.

Having made something suitable to wear from the stolen clothes that would also help her mask her identity, she changed into them. She would look into changing her tattoos later, for now she needed some rest. She made her way through the house to see if the bedrooms were still somewhat intact.

;-

Barriss cried out in pain and held her head as the pain burst through her mind. She had never felt anything as agonizing as this. It felt like her head was splitting open. Like something was clawing inside her brain, trying to get out through her skull. She tried to use the Force to rid herself of this pain, but could barely even touch It.

After several horrible minutes, the pain thankfully subsided. She laid on the bed, unable to move for a bit as she struggled to recover. Once she felt a little better, she got out of the bed. She didn't know what brought on this terrible headache, but she couldn't afford to dwell on it now. She had to get off the planet. If everyone truly believed that she was responsible for everything, if she really was responsible, then everyone was after her.

If she stayed on Coruscant, then not only would the clones be after her, every single Jedi on the world would too. Seeing as the clones immediately opened fire on her, she doubted that she would have any chance to survive an encounter with anyone. She just had to get away from here and try to get some answers.

The bathroom of the house still had some old bits of make-up left from whoever had lived here. She wiped the mirror clean and took some of the darker face paint. As much as she didn't want too, she would have to change her tattoos. They would make her too easy to identify. As proud of them as she was, she would have to hide them now. With a shaky breath, she moved the brush to her face.

;-

Barriss carefully walked in the shadows surrounding this smaller spaceport. Earlier, some pickpocket had tried to rob her, but she had swiftly turned the tides on him without him realizing who she was. The credits that he had on him had helped her improve her disguise somewhat. The clones wouldn't be able to identify her on sight now. With better make-up and a new change of clothes, she looked like a completely different person. These clothes were different than her usual attire and showed more skin than she usually showed. It made her feel somewhat uncomfortable, but at least she was a bit safer now.

She was also grateful for the lessons that her Master had given her in masking her Force signature. It really helped now. From what she had seen on the holoscreens, there were a lot of Jedi out over Coruscant to locate her. The thought that her fellow Jedi were hunting her made her feel very cold. It all felt like such a horrible nightmare, but it didn't seem that she was going to wake up.

Security at this spaceport was tighter than usual, but at least it seemed like there were no other Jedi around. That at least gave her a little advantage. All she had to do was figure out which ship she could sneak aboard on. The destination didn't really concern her, as long as she got off the planet. Whatever ship was the first to depart, she would try to get onboard it.

She relied on the Force, very slightly tapping into It so that the Jedi wouldn't pick up on her whereabouts. She slowly tracked around the spaceport until she came across something.

A short distance away a Togruta male was arguing with a few of the spaceport personnel. Apparently he and his crew were scheduled to depart in thirty minutes and they intended to depart on time. She couldn't get the whole conversation, but there was something about supplies that were needed, so they weren't going to depart any later.

She could hear her name being mentioned as well. Was there some kind of lockdown on the spaceports? Personnel with life form scanners approached their ship to check it out. After about ten minutes, their scans were done and the crew was given their permission to depart.

"Now I just need to time this right," Barriss thought as she watched the spaceport personnel leave. The crew of the ship was loading up the last of their cargo and prepping everything for departure. After everything was done, the crew boarded. Relying on a flicker felt through the Force, Barriss quickly ran up and boarded the ship.

The ship had a fairly large cargo bay, so she hid herself away in a small corner behind some equipment that seemingly hadn't been used in a bit. She stretched out with the Force a bit. The crew hadn't picked up on her sudden boarding and it didn't seem like any of the spaceport personnel had either.

After several tense minutes, the ship departed, easing her worries quite a bit. Now to just keep herself hidden from the crew and she could disappear on whatever planet they were headed to. She made sure that her hiding spot was secure. That someone entering the cargo bay wouldn't accidentally see her. Then she was clutching her head as another agonizing pain suddenly ripped through her mind.

She desperately called on the Force to quell the pain. It proved nearly impossible with the pain shooting through her head. She tried to direct all of the healing energy she could muster to whatever was causing the pain. Whatever it was seemed to fade again and it was all she knew as her world turned dark.

;-

A rumbling woke her up. Unsure of what was going on, she momentarily panicked. How long had she been out? What was going on? She quickly centered herself and listened.

The engines of the ship were shutting down. That meant that they were landed. She would have to pay attention now and get out quickly and quietly.

She stretched out with the Force. It proved to be with her, thankfully. She found the locations of the crew and others outside. The ramp lowered and some of the crew disembarked. She waited for the right time, then quickly excited the ship. She hid behind some large crates and surveyed the area. No one had spotted her. She waited for a few minutes until the right opportunity to leave presented itself. When the Force alerted her, she quickly left.

;-

Shili, royal palace

Captain Cregan Hardin walked off the transport that had come to pick him up. He spotted the queen and the senator and made his way towards them. He didn't have anything special to report about their journey. There was just the news they had heard on Coruscant.

"My queen, senator," he greeted them as he bowed.

"Welcome back captain. How did the journey go?" Queen Ahsoka asked him with a smile.

"It went well milady. Standard trip, nothing special about it," he replied. "We almost had some delay on Coruscant because of a situation there."

Senator T'Rani Corso frowned a bit. "Did something happen to your crew captain?" she asked slightly concerned. "That planet can be very dangerous."

"No, we're all fine senator. We just heard some unexpected news," he answered. He looked at queen Ahsoka, unsure of how she would react. "They weren't giving out much details about it, but apparently Barriss Offee escaped from prison."

Ahsoka's eyes widened in surprise. That definitely wasn't what she expected to hear. The Force stirred. Something strange was going on. She closed her eyes and concentrated, listening to what It had to tell her.

Senator Corso, captain Hardin and several of the guards looked at her. They had seen her do this before, calling on the mysterious Force to gain insights in whatever was going on. A frown spread on her face.

"Milady, is something wrong?" T'Rani asked her.

Ahsoka withdrew herself from the Force. "She's on Shili," she replied, shocking everyone around her.

"She's what?" Commander Shaden Zadane asked. Worry filled him. Barriss Offee was the one responsible for the Temple bombing and their young queen's death on Coruscant.

Ahsoka looked at the captain. "She came with you. She snuck aboard on Coruscant."

Captain Cregan looked at her in surprise. "Then she must have snuck onboard right before we took off. Coruscant security scanned our ship before we were allowed to leave."

Ahsoka closed her eyes again and concentrated on the Force. There was something off about this whole situation. The Force was definitely trying to tell her something.

"Milady?" Shaden asked her. "What do you want us to do? Offee might pose a great danger to our people. Considering all that happened on Coruscant, I don't think we can let her roam around unchecked."

Ahsoka opened her eyes and turned to face him. "Commander, please assemble a team of your best warriors. I will coordinate from here and lead you to her location." She paused. "Shaden, something is strange. I want you to bring her in. Please try to avoid hurting her if you can."

Shaden studied her a moment. "Ahsoka, are you sure she won't pose a danger to our people?"

Ahsoka thought it over a moment. "No, I don't believe so," she replied. "I sense something in the Force and I don't know what it is, but I intend to find out. I feel that there may be more to the Temple bombing than we now know."

Shaden nodded. "I trust your judgment Ahsoka. We'll do our best to bring her in unharmed." He gave a quick bow and took his leave, taking out his commlink to gather a team of warriors.

;-

Barriss Offee walked through the streets of the city. "Corvala, I believe it was called. Why Shili, of all places?" she wondered somberly. Her disguise was still intact and news of her escape seemed to have not yet spread here, so there weren't any active armies hunting for her. Still, she kept to the smaller and quieter streets.

Still, being on Shili made her feel awful. The home planet of her friend Ahsoka, who had suffered and died for whatever it was that had happened to her. She felt horrible about it. Ahsoka had always been such a good and supportive friend to her, even when she felt that she wasn't able to return those feelings to her, withdrawn as she was.

"At least she's free of the war. I hope she's at peace," Barriss thought. Ahsoka never complained about the war and the Jedi's role in it, but she knew that her Togruta friend had suffered. She cared for her troops and on some missions, the 501st had suffered such great losses. It had hit her hard and she had tried her best to help her when she could.

Despite her worries and fears, some determination trickled into her mind as well. She didn't know what had happened, but she was going to find out. She owed it to Ahsoka to discover the truth, for both of them.

She just hoped that she would have the chance to do so. The clones she had encountered on Coruscant hadn't hesitated a moment to use deadly force against her. Every single clone would be looking out for her now. If the news spread, then all sorts of bounty hunters might come after her as well. Many of them seemed to have a sick lust for hunting and killing Jedi. They would definitely not pass up on a chance to legally kill a Jedi. The thought of such types coming after her made her shiver, despite the warm climate of Shili.

She prayed that if she was found, it would be a Jedi who found her. Hopefully her own Master, if possible. Master Unduli would know what to do in this situation. She stopped in the small alley that she was walking through. "Maybe I can find some way to contact her. I don't think I can risk using the Force to contact her. The others could sense that as well." She was considering her options when the Force suddenly sparked.

She quickly looked around. At the end of the alley in front of her, four armed Togruta stood. She felt she already knew the answer, but looked behind her anyway. Four more Togruta stood there. She swallowed nervously. From both sides, two of the Togruta carrying melee weapons started to walk up to her. The others carrying blasters moved to their sides, covering them effectively. She doubted that she would be able to get away from them, especially without a lightsaber to deflect blaster bolts. She just had to hope that they wouldn't execute her straight away.

"Raise your hands, slowly," the large male in front of her ordered.

Barriss swallowed nervously. This male carried a large battle-axe that could easily cleave her in two without any effort. She nodded carefully and slowly raised her hands. She moved slowly and showed them that she had no weapons or anything, hoping that it would help her situation slightly. Then she grabbed her head and sunk to her knees as another searing pain attack shot through her head.

The group of Togruta backed up slightly, weapons drawn and ready to use them. Barriss couldn't even make them out if she tried. Her vision was blurry as her head felt like it was going to break to pieces. She was screaming, but she barely heard it. "Please… please, knock me out. It hurts, I can't," she managed to stutter out.

The blurs of the Togruta in front of her moved. Then she saw the blue flash of a stun bolt and her world went dark again.

;-

Barriss woke up feeling a little groggy. The side effects of being stunned, she knew that well. She noticed quite quickly that there were very sturdy looking cuffs on her wrist, that were chained to the bedpost of the bed she was lying on. The chain was long enough that she had some space to move, but it worried her a little nevertheless. Several 'stories' of being chained on a bed didn't end too well. She would know, having treated several people in the past that had suffered such nightmares.

She looked around the room. To her surprise, she wasn't in a prison cell, but in what appeared to be some kind of bedroom. It was well furnished and looked pleasant. It certainly was more luxurious than other places where she usually stayed as a Jedi. The spacious windows did have active ray shields in front of them and the doors looked too sturdy to break through without some kind of weapon. She didn't doubt that they were code locked.

Trying to do anything though might incur the wrath of her captors, so she decided against any actions that might unnerve them. She decided to wait until they came to do, whatever it was they were planning. She moved to a meditation position and tried to calm herself. All she could do was wait.

After about thirty minutes she could sense some movement right outside one of the doors. Several people were waiting outside, obviously preparing to enter. She took a deep breath and made sure her hands were visible, just in case. The door unlocked and three Togruta walked in.

She studied the three Togruta for a moment. They were armed and looked like very seasoned fighters. Their armor was familiar. "Royal guards." She recognized it now from her studies in the Temple. These were Togruta royal guards, some of the best fighters on Shili.

One of them looked to the open door. "My queen," he said as he nodded.

Barriss swallowed nervously as a young woman walked in, who obviously was the queen of Shili, judging from his words and her appearance. She turned towards her and shock overtook her. She'd recognize that face anywhere. "Ahsoka? Is that really you?" she asked softly.

Ahsoka nodded. "Yes Barriss, it's me," she replied calmly. Her face betrayed no emotion. Trying to get a read on her in the Force proved impossible. Her presence felt so different, yet much stronger.

"They said you died…" Barriss said, voice quiet and shaky. She wasn't sure what to think or feel right now.

Ahsoka's gaze turned a bit fiercer. "I did die," she replied. "The Council couldn't be bothered to listen to me for a minute. They expelled me. The Republic couldn't be bothered to investigate anything or listen to me. They sentenced me to death. I was placed in death row, left to count down the minutes and then they killed me." She paused a moment. "Yet the Force had other plans, as should be obvious. Now, I think you owe me some answers. Don't you, Barriss?"

Her tone and the feelings coming from the guards made it clear what kind of situation she was in. Barriss took a nervous breath. "Ahsoka, please, I don't know what's happening…"

Something flashed in Ahsoka's eyes. "I suggest you come with something better than that." Her voice had a hostile tone in it.

Fear overtook her. "It's the truth! Ahsoka, I swear! I don't know," she said hastily. "The last thing I remember is talking to Master Unduli and then going to meet my troops. Next thing I know I'm in a crashed prison transport. Before I can find out what happened, clones tried to kill me. I barely got away from them." She took a shaky breath. "On the news… They said that I had done such terrible things and that you had paid for it. I… I just… I don't know what's going on anymore. Please…"

Ahsoka studied her for a moment. She could feel the Force pulse through the room as Ahsoka focused on her. Her presence was overwhelming. Barriss did her best to focus and control her mental shields. She tried her best to let Ahsoka into her mind, hoping that her best friend would see that she was telling the truth.

Ahsoka sighed and the pressure in the room relaxed. She signaled the guards and they put away their weapons. "That gives us some answers, but also more questions…" she said slowly.

Barriss was lost at this point. "Ahsoka… Please tell me, did those horrible things really happen?" she asked with a trembling voice.

"Yes Barriss, I'm afraid so," Ahsoka replied as she walked a bit closer. "The Temple was bombed. A lot of people died. I was framed for it and executed. Then it was revealed that I had been innocent all along. You were found out, captured and sentenced to life in prison. It sounds like a nightmare, but it is the harsh reality."

"But… How…" Barriss said softly as she looked at her friend. "I… I'm missing weeks in my memory. I don't…" She shook her head.

Ahsoka said something in Togruti to one of the guards and he handed her a datapad. "I believe that this might explain that." She opened up something on the datapad and handed it to Barriss.

Barriss took it and looked at the screen. It took her a moment to realize just what it was that she was looking at. Cold terror clutched at her heart.

"The Temple bombing was done by a woman called Letta Turmond. She had secretly fed her husband, a Temple worker, Nano droids, effectively turning him into a living bomb," Ahsoka explained. "When my guards brought you in and told me about your strange headache and request to be knocked out, something felt very wrong to me. I had the doctors perform a medical scan on you."

Ahsoka gestured at the datapad. "You can see the results. There are Nano droids in your central nervous system. I can feel the stench of the Dark Side coming from them. Someone has been using you like a puppet. They made you do those horrible things, deal a terrible blow to the Jedi and kill me." She paused a moment. "I don't know why you were on that transport, but something obviously went wrong. Perhaps whoever was responsible wanted to take you somewhere else to do more awful things. I believe that when the transport crashed, you must have hit your head, causing those Nano droids to malfunction, freeing your mind again. When Gaven stunned you, they seemed to have shut down completely."

Barriss let the datapad fall to the bed. Her hands were trembling as she tried to take in everything that Ahsoka had just told her. It all sounded like a horrible nightmare, darker than anything she could have imagined, but it had really happened. "W-what now…?" she asked.

Ahsoka gave a short wave with her right hand. Barriss startled as the cuffs released from her wrists. Confused, she looked at Ahsoka. "You were an innocent victim in all of this Barriss, just like I was. You just rest for now. We'll look into a way to get those Nano droids out of you. You'll be safe here on Shili."

Barriss looked at her friend. Ahsoka gave her a reassuring smile. "Ahsoka, thank you," she said softly.

"Don't mention it Barriss," Ahsoka replied. "I'll leave one of my guards outside the door. If you need something, let them now. I'll ask the palace staff to check on you later as well. There's a fully equipped refresher through the other door, should you want to use it. I have a number of matters I need to discuss with Senator T'Rani, so I'll come to see how you're doing later, okay?"

"Y-yeah, okay," Barriss said, still in some shock. Ahsoka gave her another smile before she turned back to her guards. She told them something in Togruti. They nodded back and signaled something over a commlink. A moment later the ray shields at the windows deactivated and Ahsoka left the room with the guards. Barriss stared at the door for several minutes after her friend left.

She glanced at the datapad lying next to her on the bed. The scan results of her head still horrified her. She turned the screen off, not wanting to dwell on it any longer for now.

At least she was safe now. She had escaped to Shili without anyone on Coruscant noticing and it seemed that Ahsoka definitely wasn't going to let any of them know she was here. With her not having to worry about her safety for a moment, her mind finally caught on to something else.

"Wait, Ahsoka is queen?!" she thought in stunned surprise. It just hit her. Her old friend went from somehow surviving her execution to being queen of her home planet. She really wondered what the story behind that was. Perhaps Ahsoka would be willing to share it later.

It at least meant that she was really safe. After the chaos from Coruscant it felt a little difficult to believe. She felt a lot of tension leave her body. She got up from the bed and headed towards the refresher. She'd hopefully feel a bit more like herself again after some time to relax.

;-

That's the end of this chapter.

I like Barriss so I decided to bring her into this story. It'll add two chapters and perhaps some interesting scenes later in the story. There will be shocked reactions to Ahsoka somehow being alive. Seeing Barriss with her will just add more to that shock.

I'll continue with revising my older chapters again and I think I'll also work on the next chapter for this story. Ahsoka and Barriss will discuss everything that happened on Shili to make Ahsoka queen.

Until next time.