? - ? - ?

"Very fascinating."

A long worm-like creature of sickly colouration was laid out on a clean table before a pair of surgeons, masked and gloved. The two were Republic personnel, working in a lab, dissecting and studying a peculiar organism that had been the cause of an infestation aboard a Republic medical frigate, the TB-73. They had the honour of slicing it open and reporting their findings, by order of the Supreme Chancellor himself.

A creature of Geonosian origin, dubbed "brainworm" by the staff. True to its name, it was capable of hijacking sentients via entering their nose, mouth or ear — one could shudder to think where else. Upon making contact with the brain, it was able to assume complete control and make the person a slave to the Geonosian hivemind.

It was confirmed that a whole company of clones, Tango Company, had their minds fall victim to these things. All of the mental conditioning the clones underwent from birth was proven to be useless when they had one of these wrapped around their brain, to the point they had even killed their own non-infested brothers and fired upon their Jedi Commanders.

It was only due to the actions of said young Jedi that the whole company had been saved, and the carcasses of the worms collected for study.

One of the surgeons, a dark-skinned older looking Human, was peeling back the worm's sliced middle with forceps, looking into the long stretches of yellowish tissue that held the creature's minimal amount of organs.

"The anatomy of this thing doesn't appear to be too distinct from most worm-like creatures," he noted, as his lighter-skinned younger female Human counterpart recorded the findings. "Yet their functionality is unlike anything I have studied."

It had been confirmed that - when the creature embedded itself around the victim's brain - they were able to establish a direct link with the Geonosian hivemind that completely dictated the individual's thinking and behavior, even lightyears away from Geonosis. For an organic creature to somehow maintain a connection that strong through that amount of distance.. Well, it was no wonder they were tasked with studying it.

When the surgeons were done prodding around the brainworm, they turned their attention to the other side of the room, where a clone was laid down on a separate table. Each surgeon walked to opposite sides of the clone, flanking him. He appeared uneasy, twitching even, but otherwise tried remaining mostly still and compliant.

"CT-9544, yes?" the male surgeon asked, standing over him with his hands behind his back. "But you prefer being called Scythe."

Of course, he already knew the clone's details. He was just simply scoping out his mental state, prodding him with questions to test his mental acuity.

"Y-yes, doctor," he replied with a stutter, a condition he had not been able to control.

Not a promising start.

"I am Doctor Aster, and…" he gestured over to his associate. "This is Doctor Elyne."

The clone had been confirmed to be the one who started the infestation, having brought a sack of eggs aboard his vessel to no one's knowledge, not even his own. For the clone had no recollection of what he had done.

This interaction was merely a test, to see the stability of his mind after contact with the brainworms.

"I'm g-gonna be cleared for d-d-duty again after this, right?" the clone could not help but ask. "I've been c-cooped up in here for t-t-too long."

There was a forced, uncomfortable chuckle on his part but his smile was lost on the doctors who remained completely blank.

"We shall see." the female doctor told him plainly, eyes unmoving from the datapad she held.

The next while was spent testing the clone in many aspects. Reflexes, strength, memory, intelligence.

The results were quite interesting. Eventually the clone was laid flat again, and knocked out with some pretty serious drugs, for he had been noted having trouble sleeping due to "hearing echos."

The truth was, this clone was never going to be seeing combat or any other kind of duty again.

His physical capabilities seemed no worse the wear, of course – but his mind? A different story.

"Subject seems to be suffering major drawbacks after contact with the specimen," Doctor Aster reported as Elyne recorded once more. "Paranoia, trauma, schizophrenia. It is almost as though the brainworm has broken his mind."

And this clone was the most potentially salvageable of all of Tango Company, for the rest were in much worse conditions. Some were even reduced to a vegetative state.

But they all shared one similarity: their minds alone were all that were affected. It seemed the complete overriding of the subject's senses was a parasitic link, that once cut,left said senses incomplete, damaged.

The majority of the brainworms had been frozen to death, for they had a low tolerance for cold hailing from the red-hot planet of Geonosis. Otherwise, some had been sliced in half. But regardless, no live specimens could be secured, especially with the Geonosian Queen who bred them being buried and gone. Working with limited knowledge, it was unlikely the afflicted would ever make a true recovery.

"I suppose we'll have to write this off as all clones within Tango Company to be decommissioned," Aster admitted with a sigh, before turning to Elyne when remembering a curious detail. "Say, the two Jedi aboard the TB-73 during the incident, do we have anything on those?"

He was given a mere shake of the head, his assistant's eyes scanning through her datapad.

"Only regarding Republic property, which is the clones alone," she told him. "Minimal details regarding the two Jedi Commanders aboard the vessel have been shared, it's being considered a Jedi matter."

He nodded, before looking off to notice the time from the digital clock on the wall.

"Probably nothing, then. Say, want to grab lunch?"

She nodded eagerly, and left her datapad on the table as the two surgeons left.

Stretched upon the datapad was a long list of all the clones affected in the brainworm incident, with each of them having their numerous troublesome mental conditions logged. Every single one of them was marked to be decommissioned from duty, with Scythe now the most recent addition to the list.

It was a tragedy that all these clones had to have their brains permanently warped, but they could surely rest easy knowing they would be given the best of care to help them through their ailments. Therapy, medical treatment, support programmes… whatever needed to get them through this. Nothing less for the Republic's finest.

After all, no one deserved to endure having to sort through a broken mind on their own.

19BBY - Coruscant - Final year of The Clone Wars

Barriss' eyelids twitched, slivers of yellow skin struggling to contain the unstable volatile nature hidden her sparkling blue eyes, the core of her being that was buried deep within.

All that surrounded her was death.

Death of her own making.

The fallen Jedi stood frozen in time as people and droids rushed back and forth around her. The sounds of fires raging, bloodied screaming, and metal screeching. She was within the hangar of the Jedi Temple, which had just been bombed. By what and whom, no one here knew. No one but her, for she knew that the explosive nanodroids within the stomach of an Abyssin worker was responsible.

And that she had been the one to detonate him.

It had worked, the plan she had pondered for hours in many sleepless nights. It had finally come to fruition, and so she now stood watching as Jedi, clones and civilian personnel alike did their best to sort through the chaos of destroyed debris, and the scattered parts of Jackar Bowmani.

So, Letta had not failed me.

Or perhaps it was more accurate to say Barriss' ability to do a Jedi mind trick was without question.

Barriss was not sure what she was supposed to feel. Pride? Pleasure? Certainly not, for she knew she wasn't a sadistic monster. Guilt? Regret? Perhaps.

But no matter how she felt, she knew this was a necessary act.

The hangar of the Jedi Temple was an area of great importance. Aside from the obvious that it was where munitions, clones, and transports came and went to deliver Jedi to and from the temple throughout this war, it had a particular importance to Barriss. It was here that she left the temple years ago as a young faithful Jedi to Geonosis for the first time, and it was here that she returned as… lesser.

For others, it would be the place they would last leave the temple alive, and return in a body bag.

She could think of no place of greater importance for targeting. Well, perhaps the High Council chamber, but the idea of bombing all the Jedi's most important masters in one fell swoop was a mere fantasy at best.

For a start, this would do. This would significantly hamper the Jedi's ability to partake in the war for the time being. It would send a message to all that the war had followed them home.

If we're going to get involved in this war, it's only fair that we experience it on our own doorstep for once.

Someone nudged her shoulder, and she turned to see her Selonian Padawan towering over her. "Master, are you alright?" he asked, slightly out of breath after having run over to see the commotion.

She imagined everyone in the temple heard the explosion.

"Y-yes, Zonder," she replied, clearing her throat, before turning again to the display of carnage before them.

Barriss had been lost in her thoughts of hate and anger, now she had to play the part of a concerned Jedi Knight again.

"Have you felt it?" she asked her apprentice, plainly and intentionally vague.

But her Padawan understood her meaning. He nodded his large furred head. "Yes, Master. A shockwave through the Force."

Even without knowing the exact casualties, any Jedi could sense a large immediate loss of life, especially in this temple where many spent their time meditating and balancing themselves. There had to be at least a couple dozen dead, Jedi among them.

In this war, the loss of any Jedi would put a serious dent in the council's war machine. Even one less Jedi Knight or Master meant one less general that could lead a mission, which meant an entire system could go unchallenged without a Jedi to back up the Republic forces. With the Jedi stretched thin enough as it is, Barriss knew that her attack had dealt a serious blow.

And this was just to be the first.

Barriss and Zonder merely stood idly by for a while, watching things play out. Before long, after the flames had been extinguished and the debris scattered, the Jedi medical corps arrived to deliver the dead and injured to the infirmary. One of the stretchers that carried a deceased Jedi came into view to Barriss as it passed, and she gazed upon the individual it carried:

Tutso Mara.

Barriss gazed down with a distraught look as the Mirialan male lay lifeless, scorched burns covering his body, his green skin cooked black. She could sense that he was long gone, his presence in the Force extinguished.

Then she turned her head, trying to not look too upset, closing her eyes and attempting to find her center. But such feelings of grief could not be hidden to her Padawan, who leaned down to inspect her.

"Master?"

Barriss exhaled, before slowly opening her eyes.

"A good friend," she explained, simply.

Her attack may have been thoroughly planned, but one element she could not account for was which Jedi would happen to be present in the hangar when she detonated the bomb.

She did not anticipate that someone close to her could be one of her own victims.

"My apologies, Master," Zonder closed his eyes, as though to share in her grief. "I have not yet experienced such loss, hopefully I never have to, but I am here for you if you need support."

Barriss merely gave him a slight sad smile, before turning to leave.

"Our training is canceled today, Zonder," Barriss told him. "You should instead spend this time to meditate, and reflect upon our fallen."

Barriss spoke the words, in a tone befitting a Jedi's master, but her eyes and face presented nothing but a stone cold look frozen over. She experienced guilt in that moment, for she knew that Luminara would never cancel a session for anything, not even when she suffered injuries on missions, yet here Barriss now was already failing to follow her example with her own student.

And now with Tutso Mara, someone who had been important to her in her learning, who had taken the time in his own hours to teach her the correct forms of her lightsaber training when Luminara wasn't available, who had helped her meditate and find her resolve when she was at her moments of crisis in faith… who had been one of her closest friends since she was a Youngling.

I've murdered him.

The guilt flared up again, and visions of coming clean and confessing what she did appeared before her. The good nature of her being that once existed within Barriss tried to shake sense in her, to cease this madness and do the right thing.

What a Jedi should do.

No… I've come too far, now.

She remembered that none of that mattered anymore. She no longer considered herself a Jedi. Today she claimed the lives of several of her former peers, and she knew that more were yet to come if she wanted to finally put an end to this war machine that had fanned the flames of this war.

There was no point getting caught up in her old loyalties.

After all, it was the Jedi themselves that taught her to forsake attachments in pursuit of righteousness, and she knew that this was the path to just that.

Barriss knew it was likely she would not survive all this for much longer. Whether the war would finally take her, or her traitorous actions would result in her demise. The fallen Jedi had even considered using herself as a means to carry the nanodroids explosives she had grown accustomed to using.

An idea flared within her, as a possibility to deliver a killing blow to the Jedi Council presented itself in her mind. The importance of attacking the council itself was that of utmost importance to her, and something she had pondered on much.

For without its head, the order would be utterly crippled.

But she had to put a pin on that for now. In the meantime, she had to continue to play the role of the model Jedi she had become known to be, and bide her time until another opportunity presented itself to throw a wrench into this corrupted order once again.

For now, she just had to hope this wouldn't somehow be traced back to her. The only link to her that existed now was Letta Tormund, and Barriss knew it was likely she was going to have to silence her.

All I need is time… until I can get an audience with the council.

Because once she did? Nothing else would matter anymore.

Time was all she needed now.

Letta Tormund was dead.

Inevitably, Barriss had to silence her accomplice. She had hoped the Coruscanti citizen would be uncooperative and that the Jedi would not be able to unravel the plot that Barriss had conceived.

But events turned to that of the unexpected.

To Barriss' bewilderment, the Council had employed none other than Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano to investigate the incident. She had always known them to be a crafty, resourceful pair ever since Geonosis. They were practically famous at this point for how often they found victory when all the odds were against them, with all their numerous battles and gained experience throughout this war. An experience that Barriss lacked.

So if there was any Jedi who could possibly discover her role in this, it would be them.

Hundreds of Jedi were away when the bombing occurred… and it happened to be two Jedi I know personally, she thought with grave annoyance.

They had brought Tormund in, and Barriss could not trust the disguise she wore around the woman to be enough to keep her identity secret. She may have never told of her name, but she imagined she would have known enough to point them in a direction that led back to her. After all, how many female Mirialans with a diamond-shaped pattern under their eyes existed?

In retrospect, a form-fitting black outfit was certainly not enough.

And so Tormund was silenced. Barriss had used her newfound power with the Dark Side to reach out and snuff the energy that was her life with pure will alone, deep within a Republic military base while Barriss was nowhere near. In doing so, she believed the trail to her would be cut off.

But instead, it just resulted in yet another complication.

In an amazing case of sheer unfortunate timing, Ahsoka Tano had been giving Tormund an audience the very moment Barriss had deemed it time for her to die. To have a prisoner expire from a collapsed windpipe without a mark on their neck or any other sign of struggle while in the presence of a Jedi, there was only one conclusion you'd reasonably draw.

And so now, it was Ahsoka who was being held in that prison.

Initially, Barriss believed it to be regrettable but convenient that Ahsoka was the primary suspect. It wasn't something she was proud of, to have inadvertently done this to a friend, one who has saved her life no less. But upon further pondering, Barriss found that this would not be enough. Nothing links Ahsoka to the bombing, they won't have the evidence to convict her.

With the Republic now closely involved in the investigation, Barriss had to make sure that Ahsoka's conviction was guaranteed. At least, until she had the opportunity to strike at the Jedi Council itself. Because once she had, everything would fall into place and Ahsoka would no doubt be absolved of these crimes.

But for now… Barriss had to make sure Ahsoka would serve as a solid scapegoat.

Which is why it had to come to this.

Barriss moved like a blur through the Republic Inspectorate HQ, avoiding cameras and not letting any clone get too solid of a look at her. Even with a cloak, the point was not just to disguise herself but to make the evidence against Ahsoka all that stronger.

The door to the security checkpoint that guarded Ahsoka's prison block opened. Barriss moved without pause or a shred of hesitation as she thrashed the clones all over the room, using the Force to knock them unconscious with ease. With a complete lack of mercy in how she moved, it was unlikely that any of them would have understood what hit them. None of them would have even been able to recall what just happened.

And now they all laid unconscious upon the ground, paving the way for the next step in Barriss' plan.

Red energy shields protected the entrance to the prison block, and the checkpoint office itself was guarded with blaster-proof glass. But with the Force, it was easy enough to get past it, taking the keycard from within and slipping it through the slot that the guard would usually use to transfer confiscated equipment. She also took Ahsoka's lightsabers and comlinks, and prepared to set the scene to make Ahsoka look as guilty as possible.

Barriss sighed, and wondered if perhaps this was going too far. This was a certain level of maliciousness she could once never imagined orchestrating, to do this to a friend like Ahsoka.

But then she looked within herself, and let her fear and her anger drive her, the same feelings that had given her heightened power. Upon doing so, Barriss strengthened her resolve again, and she knew this to be right.

The Jedi has taught her for years that something feeling right and something being right are not the same. That one had to distance themselves from their inner desires, and do what was necessary.

Barriss had now come to reject this ideology, and her life had become far simpler for it. No more crisis of faith, no more failed meditations, no more panic attacks late into the night.

She knew that she was not going back.

With newfound resolve, Barriss proceeded.

It was going to be a long night.

"I'm so sorry, Ahsoka."

Barriss exchanged hugs with her Togruta friend as the latter was being escorted by sentinel guards from the temple premises to be turned over to the Republic, having just been stripped of her rank and place within the Jedi Order. Ahsoka could only give her a small sad look before being urged to keep moving with a small nudge of the shoulder, Barriss left behind as the former Padawan was taken away.

I did this.

The reality of Barriss' apology to Ahsoka was that it meant far more than anyone, even Ahsoka herself, realized. It was her apology for inadvertently pinning Tormund's death on her, apology for beating the life out of her in that abandoned warehouse last night, and now her apology for getting her expelled from the only life she ever knew.

What Barriss had done was nothing short of monstrous. The bombing of the temple aside, it felt even less dignified to frame her friend for her own misdeeds. The Mirialan knew she had to at least catch her before she left, knowing it was likely they may never meet again.

By the time Ahsoka is absolved and allowed to return… I'll be gone.

Yes, that was the plan. Ahsoka would take the fall, for now. Just to give Barriss the time she needed to strike at the Jedi Council itself. Once that was over, the evidence would surely fall into place and Ahsoka's charges would be dropped.

As for Barriss herself? Dead. With parts of her, and the parts of the Council, strewn about across the council chambers.

That would be her final act, her vengeance upon them for what they had done to her, and an entire galaxy.

"Barriss?"

Having been lost in thought, allowing her darker thoughts to cloud her mind, Barriss buried them and turned to see her former master. "You're not wearing your hood?" Luminara asked, in a tone befitting of a statement rather than a question.

It suddenly struck Barriss that she had not been wearing it, for some time even. Allowing her hair to be visible. There were no rules against that, of course. It was purely Mirialan custom, a custom that not all of their race even shared.

But it was something that Barriss had felt compelled to partake in since Luminara took her for an apprentice all those years ago. To be standing here, with her brown hair on display, brought her a feeling of shame.

She thought she was past caring what the Jedi thought… but things were always going to be different with Luminara. Her former mentor was more than just a Jedi colleague, she was more like a mother to her.

But Barriss could not dwell on that, else she could compromise the resolve she needed to see her agenda through.

"Oh, uh…" Barriss played it off with a forced, awkward laugh. "I suppose I'm just… trying something new?"

There was a moment of pause. Luminara was unmoving, expression unchanging. Though Luminara could read her like a holobook, Barriss has also spent enough time with her to read her also.

And she felt sadness.

"Something is troubling you, Barriss," she said decisively.

Barriss maintained a balanced shell of composition, even if her center was harder to control.

"Ahsoka has been expelled."

Because of me, she thought.

There was another pause, Luminara then stepping forward.

"Yes. But that is not all."

Barriss was not sure what she could say. Did Luminara sense the darkness within her? The malicious feelings? Had her thoughts betrayed her?

Whatever it was, Luminara only saw fit to merely step forward again, place herself in arms reach of her former apprentice. With her hands each at Barriss' shoulders, their blue eyes met. Like this, there were no secrets. Nothing that could be hidden from each other.

It was as though at that moment, Luminara understood everything there was within Barriss.

"No matter what happens from this point, I know that you will become the greatest Jedi you can be, Barriss." She told her, the affirmation unplagued with doubt. "Never forget that the will of the Force works in mysterious ways… but there are no accidents. No coincidences. Only what must be, and will be."

The esteemed Jedi master then let go over her former Padawan, looked her up and down, and simply turned to leave her. Barriss was left there, speechless. Unsure of what to make of what just transpired.

Does she know? She could only wonder.

It was as though everything there was to know about Barriss had just come clean to her, without even trying. As though her mind had been read, right down to the smallest details.

Barriss placed her hands together and walked in the opposite direction. Her brain was dazzled, piecing together what that brief interaction with Luminara was even supposed to mean.

If Luminara had sensed her darkness, why would she just walk away like she did?

Barriss shouldn't have been surprised. Her master, as much as she respected her, had been the most utterly detached individual she had ever met. The truest example of a Jedi, putting aside her personal desires and feelings in pursuit of following the will of the Force.

And Barriss knew that she could never match the example she set.

It was much later in the day that Barriss had made her retreat into her quarters. It was about this time that Ahsoka would be undergoing a Republic trial, with the real threat of the death penalty facing her. It was another development that Barriss had not foreseen, knowing that the situation was getting out of her control.

This was no doubt the result of letting go of her previously meditative and reflective persona, becoming the more dangerous breed of creature she now was. A being who behaved more on impulse, and wrought more destruction in her wake.

Was it any wonder that Sith Lords were so deadly?

She was assuming the meditative stance of kneeling in front of her shrine, separating herself from the world as though to hide from the consequences of her actions.

Within her mind however was anything but meditative thoughts.

Flashes of what she had done played out in her head. The killing of clones troopers, the moment she detonated that bomb, when she took Ventress' lightsabers from her and used them to attack and incriminate Ahsoka further.

It was surreal to consider how far she had flown off the rails in just the last few days. The influence of the Dark Side had warped her to a degree she could not anticipate. It was easy for her to think that the Jedi figures in her life had exaggerated its influence, but for someone like herself who had once been a passive healer to be driven to such malicious acts… it was clear she had fallen victim to it. Succumbed to her fear and her anger.

And I know I can't go back.

The surge of power within, it was difficult to let go of. The Dark Side had wrapped itself firmly around her soul, and it had no intention of letting go.

She had allowed it to win.

This didn't change her plan, however.

Barriss turned her head over to the urn she kept in the corner of her room, where she had stashed the lightsabers of Asajj Ventress. The weapons, their bled crystals within, sang to her. They connected with the new her in a way her own lightsaber at her altar no longer did.

Every ounce of sense in her would have told her to get rid of them, and yet she could not bring herself to do it. When she wielded those sabers, had those crimson blades before her eyes, she was entranced. Allowed their red illuminating light to fill her blue eyes… and she loved it.

Ugh, I've become so… sickening.

She sighed. Of course, it was too far to come back from this, now.

This place, her home, the Jedi Temple… it was once the only home she ever knew. Now? She would have been glad to see it all torn down.

In the silence and calm, Barriss could feel a shift. A presence of familiar energy. Someone she knew.

And they had come for her.

It was at that moment that Barriss knew that her plots, her ambitions… it was over.

She cleared her throat, and tried to relax her centre. To not allow her thoughts to betray her as they did with Luminara. Exhaling softly, she allowed the appearance of her old self to mask what she now was.

"Enter." She spoke aloud, tipping her head down to her altar.

She heard the door to her room open, and knew that it was Anakin Skywalker who stood there. It could not be more clear to her now what was about to transpire. Feeling the suspicion from within him, and a level of… barely contained rage.

But like her, he too played the part of masking what he was.

"Barriss," he began. "I need to talk to you."