Star Wars The Triumphant Return Part 6

    Barriss paced around her cabin angrily. Could it be true? Was Ahsoka really captured by this Seventh Sister Inquisitor? She wasted no time. Immediately, she packed her WESTAR-35  blaster in her holster and her hid her lightsaber under her robes. She even went back to wearing her hood to conceal her identity upon arrival to Lothal. As she paced around madly in her cabin, her Dathomirian apprentice knocked on her cabin door to resume the Jedi training she had missed. “Zonia”, shouted Barriss, “right now is not a good time. Please check back with me later”. “Barriss”, said Zonia, “can you please let me in? I sense something is out of place”. Barriss knew she couldn’t lie to Zonia. Her powers and abilities had grown so much by this point, that she could sense when something was out of place. “I need to go on an errand”, Barriss told Zonia as she was opening the door, “And I need to go alone”. “Alone?”, asked Zonia, “What did Ahsoka say? Is she in trouble?”. Barriss thought long and hard about what to tell her. But her quick glance away from Zonia said it all. “Barriss?”, said Zonia, “can I go with you?”. Barriss almost stuttered for a second. She knew that the Seventh Sister clearly demanded that she take Zonia with her. “No”, said Barriss, “I’m going to the Lothal System, I need you to stay here on Miranda”. “No!”, shouted Zonia, “I’m coming with you!”. Barriss looked at Zonia in a clearly annoyed manner. She was in no mood to argue with her student. “You’re not coming with me”, Barriss told Zonia, “now go back to the woods and practice with your bow. This is not up for debate”. Zonia turned around angrily and stormed out of the ship and into the woods. She could sense that Ahsoka was in trouble, but couldn’t do anything about it. She felt so angry from being so helpless, that she ignited her lightsaber and started swinging it angrily at one of the trees and using her force abilities to make rocks fly through the air. Until a voice shouting her name calmed her down. “Zonia!”, Jaspar cried out. Immediately, Zonia felt a little more calm, but still very angry. “What’s wrong?” asked Jaspar as he tried to reach for her wrists, trying to convince her to deactivate her lightsaber. But she didn’t respond. She just looked up to him in anger, and finally relented, and collapsed into his arms in tears, with her lightsaber lying on the ground deactivated. “Ahsoka”, said Zonia as she cuddled with Jaspar, “they took her. She needs my help, and Barriss won’t let me go”. At that moment, an X-wing flew out of the Trailblazer, being piloted by none other than Barriss. Zonia and Jaspar looked up and saw her as she took off into hyperspace, bound for the Lothal System. Immediately, Zonia got herself together and went back into the trailblazer. “Where are you going?”, asked Jaspar. “To the Lothal System”, said Zonia, “I sense the Empire has a trap waiting for Barriss and I’m not going to let her get killed”. “Zonia”, said Jaspar, “knowing Barriss, she’ll probably tell your captain to not let you anywhere near the fighters or the cockpit of the Trailblazer”. Zonia smiled. “Then I guess we’ll have to try something crazy and stupid”, said Zonia as she mounted a speeder bike. “Not without me, you’re not!”. Immediately, the two rode into Corinth to see if they could barter for a ride off Miranda and into Lothal. But as soon as they saw the outskirts of Corinth, An Imperial walker stopped them before they could get into town. The entire space port of Corinth had been seized by the Empire, and all unauthorized travel off world was restricted. “I have an idea”, said Jaspar. As they circled around Corinth, they made their way to an Imperial airfield, and a row of newly arrived TIE-advanced fighters sitting near the middle of the airfield. Zonia smiled when she saw a TIE prepped and ready to fly. “You’re not really thinking about it, are you?” Jaspar asked Zonia. “We have to”, said Zonia, “Let’s go”. But before Zonia could take off, Jaspar grabbed her by the shoulder. “Get down”, said Jaspar in a quiet voice. “Over there, by the offices, see her?”, Jaspar asked Zonia as he handed her his binoculars. Zonia looked through the binoculars and knew all too well who she was seeing: It was the Mirandan Sister Inquisitor. “We have to get to those ships”, said Zonia. “Not us”, said Jaspar, “just you. I think I can distract her while you make your way into one of those TIEs”. “Are you crazy?” Zonia asked Jaspar. “Maybe”, said Jaspar, “so are we in or not?”. “Fine”, Zonia said as she got her lightsaber ready.
    
    As Zonia snuck her way into the Imperial air field, Jaspar used his boomerang to try to knock out the Mirandan sister, but instead knocked out the ISB agent who was walking next to her. When the Mirandan Sister turned around, she saw Jaspar with his swords drawn, ready to duel. The Mirandan Sister did not say a word. She simply activated her gyroscopic lightsaber and charged at Jaspar. While Jaspar distracted the Mirandan Sister, Zonia made her way into one of the TIE-advanced fighters and started it up. From the control tower, the ISB agents in command immediately started ordering their stormtroopers to focus their attention on that fighter and not let it escape. As the stormtroopers began to fire on the TIE fighter, Zonia worked to get its engines started up. Soon enough, the engines were online and the TIE fighter lifted off the ground, all while Jaspar smiled and the Mirandan Sister looked to the TIE fighter in anger. As Jaspar and the Mirandan Sister fought, Zonia plugged in the hyperspace coordinates in the TIE’s Nava computer and took off, on course for the Lothal System.

    As Zonia took off into hyperspace, Barriss’ X-wing fighter slowed down and came into orbit over Lothal. Barriss looked to the planet in awe. It was still a remote world, but not as remote as Miranda, and still as negatively affected by the Empire as Miranda. As Barriss landed her ship on the outskirts of Capitol City, she started up her holo-transmitter to try to contact Ahsoka, or whoever answered in her place. “Fulcrum”, said Barriss, “This is Wild Card, come in”. There was no response. “Fulcrum, this is Wild Card, come in”. “I see you got my message”, said the Seventh Sister, “Have you and your Padawan arrived at Lothal yet?”. “We’re at Lothal”, said Barriss, “Now what do you want from us?”. “Patience”, said the Seventh Sister, “you’ll know soon enough”. “I don’t have time for games”, said Barriss. “Well”, said the Seventh Sister, “unless you want your friend’s head on a pike, I suggest you play, and follow my rules without question”. Barriss could still sense that so much was out of place. “I’m listening”, said Barriss, “where do you want us to go?”. “Meet me at the old communications tower, just outside of the city”. Barriss shut off her commlink and immediately rode out to the old communications tower. As she arrived, she looked around. She had expected to see a large tower standing in the middle of the plains, but instead, only saw its ruins. As if it had been blown up. As she walked around, she could immediately sense a dark presence approaching. As the dark presence grew stronger and stronger, she immediately grabbed her blaster and kept her lightsaber hidden away. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an unknown force force-pushed her into the wall, knocking her blaster out of her hand and nearly knocking her out cold, as she struggled back up, she saw a woman in black uniform and armor, with an imperial insignia on her shoulder and a faceplate and helmet covering her head. “I thought I told you to bring your Padawan”, said the mysterious figure, “Where is she?!”. Barriss looked up to the mysterious presence and took her lightsaber out from her robes. “This battle is between you and me”, said Barriss, “You must be the Seventh Sister”. The Seventh Sister pulled back her face plate and smiled at Barriss. Barriss was shocked to see another Mirialan standing before her. A vision of what she could’ve been. “Very perceptive of you” said the Seventh Sister. “Ahsoka is not here”, said Barriss, “you’re lying. I would’ve sensed if she was captured or not. You just stole her commlink!”. “Then why bother to come all the way out here?” asked the Seventh Sister as she unhooked her Gyroscopic lightsaber from her belt. “So we can have one less inquisitor to worry about”, said Barriss. Seventh Sister just smiled at Barriss again. “I can see you’ve truly given yourself over to the dark side”, said the Seventh Sister, “I can feel your hatred”. Barriss smiled at the Seventh Sister. “Not quite”, Barriss told her as she ignited her purple bladed lightsaber. Seventh Sister looked to Barriss’ lightsaber in greed. She knew that lightsabers like hers were rare, and Jedi that can tap into the dark side without surrendering themselves over to it, even more so. “We shall see” the Seventh Sister responded. Right away, the Seventh Sister ignited her lightsaber and charged at Barriss. Barriss kept her Mirialan opponent away at a safe distance. “I know why you wanted my Padawan”, said Barriss, “you want to turn her over to the dark side!”. The Seventh Sister just laughed at hearing Barriss say that. “How perceptive of you”, she said, “Perhaps it is I who should teach her”. Barriss just angrily force pushed her away. “Not on your life” said Barriss angrily. As the Seventh Sister lunged back at Barriss, she started up the gyroscopic motion of her lightsaber and kept forcing her to step back. As Barriss stepped back, the Seventh Sister increased the strength and frequency of her strikes. Finally, Barriss stepped back enough that she could extend her hand and force-push the Seventh Sister into a wall, disarming her. “You can’t beat me”, said Barriss. The Seventh Sister looked up to Barriss and laughed while she was lying on the ground. “Silly Jedi”, said the Seventh Sister, “It is you who is already beaten”. Suddenly out of nowhere, a pair of ID9 Seeker droids flew at Barriss and wrapped themselves around her feet, unleashing painful electric shocks in the process. As Barriss force pushed the droids off her feet, the Seventh Sister got back to her feet and recovered her lightsaber, and then charged back at Barriss. As Barriss struggled to overcome the pain left from the droids, she turned her attention back at the Seventh Sister and struggled to keep up with her ferocious attacks. Suddenly, one of the Seeker droids came back at Barriss, and shocked her once again. As Barriss screamed in pain, trying to destroy the droid with her lightsaber, the Seventh Sister found an opening, and made Barriss pay for it. In one swift move, the Seventh Sister struck her lightsaber into Barriss’ leg, impaling her. As Barriss cried out in pain, the Seventh Sister force-pushed her into a wall, knocking her out, and sending her now deactivated lightsaber flying through the air, landing nearby in the soft Lothal grass. The Seventh Sister smiled as she saw her prize lying in the grass. She wanted to not only keep it as a trophy to ascend to the position of Grand Inquisitor, she also wanted to kill Barriss with it. As she extended her hand to pick it up through the force, the lightsaber flew through the air, but instead of flying into the Seventh Sister’s hand, it flew right past her and into Zonia’s hand, who had just landed on Lothal and arrived just in time. The Seventh Sister looked to her new opponent and laughed. “Well, well”, said the Seventh Sister, “if it isn’t the little traitor. We’ve been waiting for you Thirteenth Sister”. Zonia didn’t say a word. She stood still looking across to the Seventh Sister, with her Master’s lightsaber in one hand, and her curved, green bladed lightsaber in the other. “That is no longer my name”, said Zonia. The Seventh Sister looked across to Zonia in anger. She knew that she had defected from the Empire. “Zonia”, she told her, “my name is Zonia”. “I don’t care what your name is”, said the Seventh Sister, “that lightsaber you took belongs to me now!”. “You want it? Then come and get it”, she told her as she ignited both lightsabers in her hands.

    As Zonia assumed a defensive position, The Seventh Sister charged at Zonia and unleashed all her fury. As Zonia struggled to keep up with her attacks, she kept stepping back. It wasn’t long before the Seventh Sister started up the gyroscopic motion of her lightsaber, which was more than enough to unnerve Zonia. As Zonia stepped back to avoid the lethal spinning blades, the Seventh Sister lifted her weapon overhead and swung it down hard onto Zonia’s blades with her full fury. Their lightsabers clashed so hard, that sparks shot out from their weapons. As their blades locked on to each other, the Seventh Sister pressed down on her weapon, inching her deadly blades closer and closer towards Zonia until finally, one of the blades started sinking into her shoulder. As she screamed out in pain, she ducked and rolled out of the way as the Seventh Sister brought down her lightsaber all the way to the ground. When she struggled back up, the Seventh Sister simply laughed. “Is that all you can do?” she asked Zonia while looking at her burning wound on her shoulder, “do you really think you can beat me?”. Zonia didn’t respond. She simply stood her ground with both of her lightsabers in a defensive stance. “Maybe I should just leave you alone with your master”, said the Seventh Sister, “perhaps it is you who can disappoint her to death”. Zonia finally couldn’t take it anymore. She charged at the seventh sister, unleashing her full fury against her. But the Mirialan inquisitor simply kept up with her Dathomirian opponent’s attacks. But as Zonia’s attacks started to grow faster and faster, she tapped into her dark side. Not submitting herself to it, but tapping into it. Just as Barriss had taught her to do. Finally, the Seventh Sister began to step back to avoid Zonia’s increasingly aggressive strikes. She even called in her Seeker droids to help her. But as the Seeker droids got near Zonia, she simply impaled the droids while they were still behind her, without even looking at them. When the Seventh Sister started up the gyroscopic motion of her lightsaber, Zonia stepped back and extended her hand, force pushing the Seventh Sister a good distance away from her. As the Seventh Sister struggled back to her feet, Zonia force-jumped and flew towards the inquisitor, with their lightsabers clashing hard upon contact. While their blades continued to clash, Zonia found an opening, and dragged Barriss’ lightsaber into the Seventh Sister’s armor, burning the imperial insignia on her shoulder, as well as her flesh underneath. The Seventh Sister screamed in pain as the purple blade burned her shoulder, and effectively erased the Imperial insignia she was fighting for. When she saw that the symbol she fought for was removed in such an insulting manner, she raised her lightsaber over her head and charged at Zonia. But as the Seventh Sister prepared to strike down Zonia, Zonia simply held her hands over her head and grabbed her opponent’s lightsaber by the hilt. As the Seventh Sister struggled to free her weapon from her opponent’s grip, Zonia grabbed the lightsaber and threw it away: leaving the Seventh Sister completely disarmed. As the Seventh Sister looked to Zonia in shock, Zonia brought down her lightsabers onto her opponent. Grazing her in the arms and legs, and finally, impaled her in the waist. As the Seventh Sister collapsed to the ground in pain, Zonia pointed her lightsabers towards her. As green and purple blades shined on the Seventh Sister’s neck, Zonia prepared to make her kill, but before she could do anything, a voice stopped her. “Zonia!”, Barriss cried out as she struggled to stand on her injured leg, “don’t. Please don’t!”. “Do it”, said the Seventh Sister, “I can feel your anger. Strike me down and complete your submission to the dark side”. As Zonia looked to the Seventh Sister in anger, a single tear rolled down her cheek. “Zonia, please don’t do it”, Barriss begged her apprentice. “Barriss”, said Zonia, “do you know what she’s done. All the pain and suffering she has caused? She deserves to die!”. “That may be”, said Barriss, “but if you strike her down in anger, you’ll be no better than she is”. Zonia closed her eyes, and finally relented. She removed the lightsabers from the Seventh Sister’s neck, and deactivated them. As Zonia handed Barriss her lightsaber back, the Seventh Sister laughed. Barriss and Zonia looked to each other in confusion. What could possibly be so funny? “Now that I have you both”, said the Seventh Sister, “I can now spring my trap”. Suddenly out of the darkness and wreckage of the communication tower, three more inquisitors stepped out and started up the gyroscopic motion of their lightsabers as they surrounded Barriss and Zonia. As Barriss and Zonia were surrounded by spinning crimson blades, Barriss tried to think up ideas. “It looks like you are the ones who are beaten”, said the Seventh Sister. “Not this time!” shouted a mysterious voice coming from speeder bikes. “It’s Ezra!” Zonia shouted. Within moments, Ezra and his master Kanan Jarrus jumped from their speeder bikes and engaged the inquisitors. Barriss and Zonia used this moment to their advantage and engaged the inquisitors that surrounded them. As Barriss and Kanan made the inquisitors focus their attention on them, Ezra and Zonia force pushed them into the wall, knocking out some and discombobulating the others. As the Seventh Sister was joined by the other inquisitors, they prepared to charge again. “Forget it Inquisitor!” Barriss shouted out, “It’s Over!”. But before the Seventh Sister could say or do anything else, reinforcements arrived, in the form of two Imperial light cruisers. As the four Jedi stood their ground, the inquisitors once again attacked. As the Seventh Sister focused her attacks on Barriss and Zonia, she began to taunt them. “You have lost”, she told them, “if you surrender, Lord Vader may grant you a quick death”. But they were not distraught. As they continued to clash, Barriss and Zonia struggled to keep up against the new inquisitors with the injuries they sustained. As the clashing of lightsabers continued, the Imperial light cruisers began to open fire on the Jedi, hoping to box them in. But almost as soon as all hope was lost, two CR90 corvettes came out of hyperspace and began to open fire on the Imperial Cruisers. The two Correllian blockade runners also came accompanied with a few X-wing and A-wing fighters. When one of them landed nearby the skirmish, the four of them were in shock by who they saw step out: It was Ahsoka Tano. The Seventh Sister knew all too well who she was, and immediately assumed a defensive position. Right away, Barriss joined her friend by her side and focused their attention against the Seventh Sister. Finally, the inquisitors couldn’t take it anymore and they began to retreat, having lost their advantage of fear and their trust in the Seventh Sister’s ability to lead them. While the other inquisitors retreated, Barriss and Ahsoka focused all their attention on the Seventh Sister. As the Mirialan Inquisitor began to step further and further back, Barriss tapped into her dark side and began to increase the power and frequency of her strikes, while Ahsoka white blades prevented the inquisitor from starting up the lightsaber’s gyroscopic motions. It wasn’t long before the Seventh Sister finally couldn’t take it anymore and she finally jumped on board her TIE-advanced fighter as it flew overhead. As she force-jumped on her ship, Ahsoka extended her hand and grabbed her comm-link back, so she couldn’t use it against them again.

    As the inquisitors and the other Imperials at last started to withdraw, the five rebels looked to the Imperial cruisers and TIE fighters that were flying away. But knew they couldn’t stay for long. It was only a question of when Imperial Reinforcements would arrive. “It sure is nice to see another Jedi and her Padawan still around”, Kanan said to Barriss, “I’m Specter 1, Kanan”. “I’m Barr-“, Barriss stopped almost immediately. She didn’t know if he would trust her if he knew about the role she played in the bombing of the Jedi Temple years earlier. “I’m Wild Card”, said Barriss, “this is my Padawan, Zonia Landala. I think that trap that inquisitor tried to pull was meant for you, not us”. “Well, we sure are grateful you three came alone” said Kanan. As Kanan departed with Barriss and Ahsoka, Zonia and Ezra said good bye once again as each departed for their respective ships.

    Zonia went into a quiet chamber to meditate on what had just happened after climbing on board Ahsoka’s ship, on route to back to Miranda. As she sat in meditation, she slowed down her breathing and meditated deep into the force. She tried to sit as tranquil as possible. It had been a while since she got a chance to meditate. But after seeing how her powers were growing, it was definitely the wisest thing she could do at the moment. So her growing powers didn’t put at risk of falling into the dark side. She had expected to remain tranquil and serene while she was meditating. But that was not what had happened. As she meditated deeper and deeper into the force, she began to see images of things she could not understand. Of things she had never seen. Could it be she was having a vision? She didn’t know. As she sat quietly in the small chamber, she saw herself appear on a strange planet. The planet looked like it was covered in a large city, almost as if it were Coruscaunt. But it wasn’t the Coruscaunt she was familiar with. Instead of seeing tall building glowing brilliantly with lights, she saw the many skyscrapers and monuments covered in weeds, with vines scaling up the walls, and trees growing on the roof tops and in the streets. It was clear that the city, wherever it was, was abandoned. As she walked slowly down the street, she felt the wind blow her hair across her face. Not long afterwards, the wind changed direction. When she turned around and saw to where the wind was blowing, she saw a mysterious figure standing in the middle of the street. As she looked the mysterious figure, she saw as he lifted his hood. But what astonished her was how he did it. From looking at one of his hands, he was clearly human. But his other hand was robotic. As she saw him lift his veil, she at last saw his face. He looked to be about her age. But before she could inquire any further at the mysterious figure before her, she suddenly was transported to another world. A world she has never seen before, and unlike any she had ever visited. It looked as if though she was in a forest. A very dark forest. It resembled the dark forest from Dathomir, but it was still very different. Instead of a warm temperate climate, it was cold, with snow on the ground. As she walked around and wrapped her arms around her chest to cover herself from the cold, she saw another mysterious figure ahead of her. But it wasn’t a figure like any she had seen before. There was a darkness about her, but something very familiar. But as she got closer, she at last saw who she was. She was seeing herself. She was seeing an adult version of herself. As the young Dathomirian saw the older, adult version of herself, another figure caught her attention. But this figure was once again different, unlike any she had seen before. But as soon as she saw more and more of him, she felt colder and colder. The dark side was strong with him. When he turned around, she was struck with fear by what she saw. He was wearing a dark cloak with a black hood over his head. His face was even more terrifying. Instead of seeing his face, she saw only a black mask in his place. With only a small opening where his eyes would be and a few grooves directly over that. As she saw the terrifying presence before her, the ignition of a lightsaber suddenly caught her attention. When she turned around, she saw herself, her adult self, stand in a defensive position with her green lightsaber ignited, with a serious, yet emotionless, expression on her face. But when she turned around, she saw the mysterious figure do the same, and he ignited his lightsaber in turn. But instead of seeing a lightsaber with one blade, she saw a lightsaber with three blades. A long, primary crimson-colored blade spring out of the hilt, followed by two smaller blades spring out from the side. As soon as both had their lightsabers at the ready, they charged at each other. But at the moment when their blades made contact, everything went black for Zonia. She couldn’t see where she was, or what was around her. Everything went black. All she could see and feel was darkness. But as dark as that mysterious figure was, she sensed an even dark presence come near her.

“There has been an awakening, have you felt it?”

    Those were the words the dark presence spoke. Finally, Zonia couldn’t take it anymore and she stepped out of her trance. As she stumbled out of the meditation chamber, she saw Barriss and Ahsoka sitting in the Galley, relaxed and talking like friends always do. She saw that Barriss finally put a bandage around her leg and she watched as a Medical droid administered anti-biotics and anesthesia to help her cope with the pain. “Zonia”, Barriss cried out softly, “do you need something for your injuries as well?”. Zonia didn’t respond. Both her Master and Ahsoka were blissfully unaware of the dark vision she just had. “Zonia?”, asked Ahsoka, “are you OK?”. Zonia gripped her wrist as she struggled to find the words. “I’m fine, and yes. I could use something please. My arm really hurts” she said gripping her arm in pain. Right away, she sat in the booth right next to Barriss. As the Medical droid began to tend to Zonia’s wound, she went into deep thought about the dark vision she had encountered. What was it about? What did it mean? And who were the dark and mysterious figures she encountered? She had no words, she simply sat on that booth in deep thought while Barriss and Ahsoka continued to talk.