Hi again everyone. Apologies for the late update, life's just been too busy at the moment for me to find the time to write. I'm still fully committed to this story, but, as I previously mentioned, I've just moved into a new house, so that's been really demanded.
I'm not entirely thrilled with how this chapter turned out, but I'm just pleased to finally get it done!
Enjoy!
The journey to the surface had been far from a smooth one. Barriss was forced repeatedly to rub her eyes clear from droplets of sweat that trickled down from her forehead and blurred her vision. With the shuttle's hydraulics having taken severe damage, the mental endurance she'd had to maintain with now unresponsive controls and a violently shuddering yoke was prodigious! For her to safely navigate the stricken shuttle through the battle that was raging across the skies of Pantora demonstrated some tremendous piloting skills. Although, the whole way down, she knew that the trickiest part would be to perform a successful crash landing on very unforgiving terrain. She had doubts whether they would even walk away in one piece were they to survive.
On top of all this, there remained one distressing detail at the forefront of her mind. That being her still unconscious friend buckled in the co-pilot seat. How she so desperately wanted to rush to her Ahsoka's side and tend to her injuries, but she knew she couldn't risk breaking her concentration away for even a second until they were on the ground.
She owed so much to Ahsoka. The pair of them had been virtually inseparable since they first met on Geonosis. All the battles they had fought alongside one another had only deepened their friendship the more perilous they had been. Furthermore, there was a particular experience that she often avoided talking or even thinking about. The events that had unfolded onboard TB-73 would haunt her until the day she died. The parasite that infected her brain during that terrifying flight had left her a prisoner in her own body. No matter how hard she tried to fight her invader's control, she was forced to watch helplessly through her own eyes as she'd swung her lightsaber at Ahsoka, threatening to strike down her best friend in cold blood. That short time the brain worm had seized control of her body, all she could think about was the likely consequence that her actions would eventually bring. Her demise. She wouldn't have blamed Ahsoka for killing her in self-defence. In fact, those seconds the power of speech was momentarily returned to her; she'd pleaded for just that. To end the pain that the parasite was inflicting on her, to prevent another innocent soul from suffering the same fate as she believed she would. But, most of all, to protect her best friend. She couldn't allow Ahsoka to die at her hands! However, it was a final plea Ahsoka had refused. Timing her attack with extraordinary precision, the girl had given a quick swing of her lightsaber when the parasite showed itself again. Within that instant, Barriss felt her body returned to her. She was finally free! Freezing cold and unconscious, but very much alive!
Ahsoka had saved her, and now Barriss's time had come to do the same for her friend.
Glancing away from the unconscious Togruta, Barriss inspected the shuttle's damaged instruments. With the remainder of its power about to die, the ship was currently stuck in a straight dive. The altimeter showed that they were falling at a rapid speed. Following the further punishment their shuttle had taken as they entered Pantora's atmosphere, Barriss had decided then and there that a standard landing would be impossible. Barely any of the controls seemed to be responding, and she was only just managing to hold the shuttle steady. Even a crash landing could be considered suicide by this point.
She would be forced to land the shuttle without any assistance from the thrusters or stabilisers. If the shuttle was travelling slowly enough, and if she positioned the pitch correctly, then she hoped that the pair of them may have a chance of walking away from the crash. However, it was a risky manoeuvre, and she knew the result would be fatal if she pitched the shuttle incorrectly by even an inch.
Nevertheless, there was one fortunate element that acted in the girls benefit. Having visited Pantora many times before, Barriss knew the moon's surface very well. It was mostly flat and was full of dangerous marshlands. While there still stood a good chance that their shuttle could sink after landing were she to set it down in the wrong place, the impact might at least be soft enough to minimise the risk of the shuttle breaking apart.
With the speed of their descent increasing by the second, it didn't take long for the shuttle to break through the lowest layer of clouds. With the ground rushing towards them at an alarming speed, Barriss knew she would have to make a decision in regards to a landing spot fast. Powering down the throttle, she grunted through gritted teeth as her muscles strained to pull the shuttle's nose up and out of direct line with the ground. While she had wanted to reduce the throttle at a higher altitude, she'd been flying long enough to know that the risks of such an action would be too great, especially in a damaged ship. While slowing the throttle meant she might regain a minimal level of control, she knew that it could cause the shuttle to stall were it done at a higher altitude. And with her already fighting the pull of gravity, that was not a scenario she was willing to put to the test. However, with them now at a lower altitude, she hoped she could stabilise their descent into a glide, then she may be able to slow the ship adequately for landing.
The battle against the controls was a fierce one. Nevertheless, within a short time, Barriss had successfully managed to level the shuttle out from the dive at around five hundred feet. At last, she could pause long enough to take a full breath. As the ship's airspeed began to slow down, she could feel her heartbeat slow with it. From here on, she could focus on holding the yoke steady and gradually lowering their altitude. For the moment, everything seemed to be under control.
Suddenly, there was a crackle from the console in front of her, which was followed by a blinding burst of sparks from a number of instruments. Furthermore, Barriss began to cough as a thick mist of smoke began to seep through any available openings across the console. It felt as though the air had been ripped from her lungs as the air grew thinner. As more and more smoke billowed into the room, every breath she took left a dry pain in her throat. Although her biggest concern, apart from throbbing lungs and stinging eyes, was how impaired her view of the outside horizon now was. Within seconds, the danger they were already in had escalated beyond her comprehension. With what would likely be merely minutes before they ran out of altitude, Barriss could feel the temptation to panic beginning to set in once again.
Knowing that it wouldn't take long for the both of them to succumb to smoke inhalation, Barriss momentarily considered forcing the shuttle's nose down once again and losing whatever altitude was left before her vision was gone completely. Taking a quick glance to her side, she saw that Ahsoka was gradually becoming nothing more but a hazy silhouette through the smoke.
Although her fright was progressively overwhelming, Barriss could feel her body growing weaker and weaker. As her brain was further starved of oxygen, her arms began to feel heavy, and her grip was beginning to noticeably loosen on the yoke.
She couldn't allow sleep to take hold of her. While her thought process was indeed now weary, she knew that were she to lose focus, she would not be waking up again!
Barris shook her head and forced herself to sit up straight. She had to stay awake, no matter what. Although, as the smoke thickened, her view outside grew fainter. She began to think that by this point it wouldn't make a lot of difference whether she were conscious or not. Every breath she took left her throat feeling agonisingly raw. She didn't want to believe it. After everything Ahsoka and her had been through during this war. All the enemies they had faced; all the lives they had saved, and this was how their journey together was going to end? The both of them killed in a crash after she had been blinded by smoke! It couldn't end like this!
Suddenly, and from what seemed like the intervention of a divine presence in the force, Barriss reminded herself to remain calm and trust her own capabilities. Something Master Luminara had taught her in the early stages of her training was that a Jedi wouldn't always be able to rely on their eyesight to guide them through to safety. It was a lesson that she was at first reluctant to believe held any plausibility. However, once she understood that a Padawan would likely be staring death in the face at the most unexpected of times, she learnt to respect the value of Luminara's teachings. This was one moment that she couldn't allow her self-doubt to quash her training.
Closing her eyes, Barriss continued to breathe steadily and allowed her muscles to relax. While it took a lot of focus to divert her contraction away from a natural survival mechanism such as fear, she managed to gradually bring her pounding heartbeat to a more comfortable pace. Their survival depended on her remaining calm, after all.
Her skin began to feel numb, and she could no longer smell the scalding fumes of the smoke. No longer did she feel the need to waste her strength moving her arms or legs. Even the gentle weight of her robes that had been noticeable while she'd been sitting in her chair seemed to have disappeared. Something else had taken control of her actions. She instead felt like a passenger.
Barriss was broken from her trance when a violent impact vibrated loudly throughout the very framework of the shuttle. It shook forcefully and nearly ripped Barriss's firm grip away from the yoke. The fact that they seemed to still be intact, and weight felt as if it were being transitioned from one side of the room to the other as the shuddering continued, indicated to her that the ship was sliding across the ground. She managed to maintain her hold on the yoke until the shuttle apparently came to rest, and there was, at last, silence.
For a moment, she could only sit there in disbelief. Minutes ago she had been close to giving up, believing her connection with the force to be too weak to guide them to safety. Yet, here they were, alive and intact!. Nevertheless, she remained aware that the danger wasn't over yet. Amidst the thick fog that was polluting the room, she was certain there was a detectable scent of fuel underneath the choking heat that blistered her airways. Every breath she took, the pain intensified. They had to get out of there, and fast!
Unbuckling her seatbelt, Barriss rushed over to a still unconscious Ahsoka. She reached for her friend's seatbelt and swiftly repeated the action. The Togruta fell forward into the haze, but Barriss's reactions were quick enough to catch her before she could go too far.
Her biggest relief yet came when she could feel the rhythmic motion of Ahsoka's chest and stomach against her, showing that she was at least still breathing. The notion shook her, but she'd have been lying if she denied fearing her friend's demise during the crash following the injury she'd already sustained. At least with the comfort of knowing that Ahsoka hadn't been hurt any worse, Barriss knew that there was a more urgent obstacle they had to overcome: getting out of the shuttle before they both succumb to smoke inhalation.
Placing Ahsoka's arm around her shoulder, Barriss let out a grunt as she hoisted the girl to her feet. The weight of her unconscious friend almost toppled her balance before she managed to steady her footing. Then, the two set off into the smoke, Barriss relying on her memory of the room's layout to find the door. With her breathing heavily restricted, every step she took left her feeling as though her weakened legs could give way. Regardless, she forced herself to press on.
With the power having short circuited in the crash, Barriss decided that she couldn't waste time looking for the emergency controls that would open the door manually. Moreover, with her walking blindly through the smoke, finding them would be a near impossible task. Instead, she removed her hand from under Ahsoka's arm and extended it out in front of herself. Feeling confident of the door's location ahead of them, she gave a sharp flick of her wrist and used the force to pull it open. The screech of the jammed mechanism indicated her success.
Barriss felt for the wall as she dragged her friend through the door, hoping that she might soon recognise something that would help her pinpoint where they were standing and how far the nearest door to the outside might be.
Then she noticed something bright flickering amidst the darkness ahead of them. Upon getting closer, she realised that she was staring down the corridor that led to the ramp they'd entered the ship up, and there were flames blocking their way that towered high enough to touch the ceiling. There was no way Ahsoka and her could escape that way without being burnt alive.
Thinking fast, Barriss remembered that there was still another way out. When entering the shuttle before they left Coruscant, she recalled sighting a narrow docking airlock a short distance from the cockpit. Though finding it would mean backtracking on the progress they'd already made. Furthermore, she didn't know how she could be certain that they'd found it. Given that she could barely even see her hands, she realised that they likely had one chance at this. If they got lost in the smoke, then their fate was sealed. Coughing violently, she turned the both of them around and hauled Ahsoka back towards the cockpit.
As the temperature continued to rise, it felt as if the smoke was beginning to scald her face and hands. Even the moisture in her eyes was beginning to sting. While her robes might have offered her a little protection, that didn't assist in controlling her skyrocketing body temperature. Strands of veins scattered throughout her system were throbbing violently as her heart tried to cope with the stress it was undertaking.
A hand outstretched, Barriss felt desperately for the airlock. Although she was beginning to struggle supporting Ahsoka's weight, she forced herself to continue. Suddenly, her hand touched something. Brushing her fingertips side to side, she was overwhelmed to feel the layout of the control panel beside the door. The requirement for isolated emergency circuits had been made mandatory during the Clone Wars. It was intended to offer a means of escape if all other power on the ship had died.
In her disorientated state, Barriss was relying on muscle memory to program the door's release sequence. After activating the system, she noticed a faint glow of the button's lights through her restricted vision. Without wasting another second, she set about opening the door. A rhythmic tune of beeps played as she pressed each button. To her relief, a short hiss and shudder followed a few seconds later, and the airlock slid open. Hurrying the both of them into the compact space, she quickly activated the secondary release mechanism. The door opened, and her eyesight went white. She squinted as her effected vision tried to adjust to the intensity of the sunlight.
Nevertheless, she could at last inhale a lungful of fresh air. To feel clean oxygen rushing through her airways was an ecstasy that could only be understood after having been starved of it for some time.
While her eyesight was gradually becoming much clearer, the clearest details Barriss could now see were her hands in front of herself. She didn't know where they'd landed or how far they had to fall from the airlock to reach the ground. Regardless, there was only one direction they could go now, so they would have to take a chance. Taking a deep breath, Barriss closed her eyes and tucked her arm under Ahsoka's side to keep a tight hold on her. Then, following a small leap, the pair of them fell from the ship and out into the unknown. Their descent was short, but Barriss surmised they must have fallen from a moderate height as the inevitable impact with the soggy ground was hard enough to break the two of them apart. Having lost her grip on Ahsoka, she'd proceeded to lose her footing and was sent rolling on her side. Her head felt dizzy upon finally coming to a stop.
A chill enveloped her fingers after placing her hands against the damp soil so that she could lift her front from the ground. Sitting herself down and huddling her legs up against her chest, she rubbed a sleeve against her eyes to remove a buildup of moisture and dirt. There was also no withholding an unexpected coughing fit now that her strained lungs were at last clearing themselves of smoke.
Once she'd brought the coughing down to a manageable level, it was then that Barriss remembered that she hadn't exited the ship alone. Her eyesight almost completely restored; she frantically glanced around the crash site for Ahsoka.
It didn't take her long to spot her friend. Ahsoka was lying amidst wreckage and churned up ground with her back facing Barriss, and she still wasn't moving. Her clothes were blackened and burnt from the intense heat, and Barriss could see areas of exposed skin that were raw and blistered.
"Ahsoka!" she cried.
Rushing over to the limb body, she grabbed the Togruta's shoulder and pulled her onto her back. To her relief, she was still breathing. Nevertheless, while they had been lucky to survive, Barriss knew that with a war raging across Pantora, the smoke billowing from their shuttle would be likely to receive attention from the invading forces. Plus, with their shuttle destroyed, Ahsoka badly injured, and with no way of sending out a distress call, even with their comlinks, they were weak and defenceless against a vast enemy. Barriss realised that they needed to get away from the crash site fast. She had to find a place where they could take shelter and plan their next moves. Although her uppermost priority would be tending to her friend's wounds when she had the chance.
Kneeling down, she again tucked an arm under Ahsoka's side and took hold of a limp arm over her shoulder. She didn't know how far she would likely need to drag the unconscious girl before she'd find a suitable place to hide. But, as they'd already come this far, there was no way she was going to give up now.
"Hang in there, Ahsoka. We're getting out of here," she reassured, not caring whether or not the Togruta heard her.
Her sensations returning to her; the first thing Ahsoka noticed was the chill of the damp soil behind her neck. Protruding stones were also pressing sharply against her flesh, resulting in her muscles and joints feeling particularly stiff. These aspects confused her, as the last place she remembered being was in the cockpit of the shuttle as Barriss and her gazed upon a war-torn Pantora. What might have occurred while she'd been unconscious scared her.
With her body curving upwards gently upon a small embankment, she lifted her head and glanced downwards in a hope of maybe understanding a little better how she'd ended in the position she had. From her neck down to her waist, she saw a soft, dark material had been draped over her, entrapping her body warmth, which had now adjusted to a comfortably neutral level.
Groaning softly, Ahsoka slowly opened her eyes. The sight that awaited her was the last thing she could have expected. She was lying in a wide hole. It looked about five feet deep and about ten feet wide. From the charred pieces of shrapnel embedded into the walls, she recognised this environment to be a blast crater. Covering the top of the hole was a flat piece of metal, which had been carefully dug into the dirt around the edges to make sure it held in place.
Straight ahead of her, lying with her back to her, was Barriss. There was a small glint of daylight glowing at the edge of the crater from where the improvised cover had been left slightly open. Barriss, who was peeking through this gap, seemed to be guarding their shelter and had not yet heard her friend stir. It didn't take long for Ahsoka to realise that she could also see Barriss's hair, a remarkably rare sight as it was tradition for Mirialans to keep their hair hidden. Putting two and two together, it struck her that the blanket covering her was in fact Barriss's short cloak and hood. It was extraordinary. Never before had she seen Barriss without her hood.
"Barriss?" Ahsoka mumbled, having finally found the strength to speak. "What happened?"
Quickly spinning her head around, Barriss's eyes grew wide, and she crawled away from the opening to kneel by Ahsoka's side.
"Ahsoka! Thank goodness you're okay! I was so worried! How're you feeling?"
"I'm . . . fine, I think. It'll take more than a shuttle crash to kill me, you know that," Ahsoka chuckled. "Although, I guess, from the looks of things, I owe everything to you this time, Barriss. What, in the galaxies, happened after I got knocked out? Last thing I remember was those fighters on our tail."
"Our shuttle was practically dead. I had no choice but to take us down to the surface. If we'd stayed up there any longer, we'd have ended up as space junk! By some miracle, I managed to land the ship in one piece. However, it burst into flames not long after landing. You couldn't imagine how hard it was to get us out of there before the smoke would have finished us off!"
Ahsoka was shocked. "So . . . you dragged me out of there? In the middle of an inferno?"
Barriss nodded slowly and looked away from her friend. "It all happened so fast. The smoke had blinded me before we'd even touched the ground, so you can imagine the difficulty I had trying to get us both out of there after the crash. But, regardless, there was no way I was just going to sit there and let us die."
Ahsoka could detect subtle hints of trauma through her friend's demeanour. Barriss's hands were shaking slightly, and the tone of her voice was detached. Furthermore, the burn marks on her robes signified what a narrow escape they'd had.
She didn't quite know what to say. "Barriss . . . I . . ."
"Wait, please, let me finish. I need to tell you something. I'm afraid neither of us got away unscathed, as you can probably see," Barriss interrupted, having noticed where Ahsoka was looking. "However, there was little I could do to prevent you from suffering the worst injuries. I'm ever so sorry, Ahsoka."
"Wait, what?" Ahsoka shifted and tried to lift the cloak from her chest. If her burns really were that bad, then she wanted to see them for herself. But, before she could remove the cloak, Barriss reached forward and took hold of her hands.
"Wait! It's okay! Don't get yourself worked up. You're still weak. I hadn't finished," she said, carefully removing Ahsoka's hands from where she'd gripped the cloak and laying them back down by her side. "I've already tended to your wounds. The worst of them are dealt with. However, there was only so much I could do before I felt faint. You may need to rely on the natural healing process for the rest."
Upon such a confession, Ahsoka began to notice the hints of fatigue underneath Barriss's eyes. After all the time she'd spent with her friend, she'd only seen Barriss looking as depleted as this after having healed someone with the force. That could only mean . . .
"Barriss, you didn't . . . but how much it drains out of you. If I was as burnt as you say . . ."
"I couldn't bear to think of the pain you'd have been in when you came around had I just sat there and done nothing. Yes, it took a lot of energy out of me to heal you. But that's why I've spent so much time honing my skills as a force healer. I'll be fine in a little while. I just need to rest."
It had been a long time since the Togruta had found herself at a loss for words. "Barriss . . . thank you . . . I."
"It was no trouble, Ahsoka. Please don't worry about it. What's done is done," said Barriss dismissively, giving a wave of her hand. "It's more important that you rest for a bit and get your strength back. I'd say we're okay to hide here a while longer, but I don't think it's wise to stay here indefinitely. While I can't see any droids yet, who knows where they may advance to as time goes on? We don't want to risk becoming sitting targets."
Ahsoka tried to shuffle herself a little higher up the short slope of the crater so that she could sit up straighter. "I just need a little longer. My legs are feeling kind of weak, but I don't think it'll be too long until I can stand. Though it seems you'd thought everything through when you made this shelter, Barriss."
"With all the ships fighting above us, finding a missile crater was no trouble. It seemed an ideal place to hide," the Mirialan answered. "I took a piece of debris from our shuttle to cover the top. With the protection it's given, I've spent some time assessing the landscape, and from what I can see, I believe the nearest settlement is a little over two miles away. I think that's where we should head next."
"Are you sure there aren't any droid forces in sight?" asked Ahsoka.
Barriss shook her head. "I've not taken my eyes off it. I haven't seen anyone going in or out yet. Although I don't think it'll be too long until the Separatists may move in. A place like that would pose as a suitable outpost to help bolster their advances. I just hope that the civilians there have fled. I dread to think what the droids would do to them if they moved in."
"I want to say that should get moving to intercept any attack. However, I guess since it's just the two of us stranded here and no help inbound, we need to tread more carefully this time," said Ahsoka.
"Absolutely, we could be easily overwhelmed by reinforcements. We shouldn't underestimate what resources the Separatists have thrown into this war," agreed Barriss. "But I believe our chances might be higher if we both had our weapons." On cue, she reached to her belt and retrieved Ahsoka's lightsaber. "You're lucky it stayed clipped to your belt after the crash. I thought I'd keep it safe until you woke up," she said, handing the weapon over to a beaming Ahsoka.
"Thank goodness I didn't lose it. Anakin would have killed me otherwise! You're a lifesaver, thanks, Barriss," chuckled Ahsoka, reattaching it to her belt. "Though let's just hope that the droids kill us instead!"
Barriss huddled her legs up against her chest and sighed. "They might just succeed if we give ourselves away. Given the enormity of their forces and that we currently have no way of contacting the Jedi Council, we probably can't even afford to be seen. Like I said before, I think the wisest move we can make next is to try and reach that small settlement. At least we'd have more places to conceal ourselves."
"You're probably right, and with those jammers surrounding Pantora, I reckon we're going to be on our own for quite a while. Our best bet is to probably try and reach the capital. I mean, with all the reinforcements the clankers are delivering to the surface, I guess it's safe to assume that the Assembly building must still be under Pantoran control. That's probably one of the only places we can be of any assistance," said Ahsoka.
"If any of them are still standing," replied Barriss.
"They must be! At least we wouldn't be fighting alone if they were."
"Do you believe Papanoida would have been able to hold out this long?"
"Have you met the guy? He's not a leader who'll give up easy. Knowing him, he'll stand his ground against an enemy until he's killed. Either way, it's not going to do us any good just sitting here and hoping that the Council eventually gets suspicious and sends help. We need to do something!"
"And we will. Although, if things go wrong, at least we'll have died trying to protect Pantora and its people. Whatever happens, I'm with you every step of the way, Ahsoka," Barriss said firmly.
Well, that's a wrap! I promise I'll work as hard as I can to get the next chapter out much sooner this time.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time.