Back in the Game (COMPLETE)

9.9.6

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.