Visiting your young captive

In an instant, you find yourself standing before the sealed hatch of Barriss' room. You can feel the Padawan meditating within, and you wonder if she had followed your suggestion. Without knocking, you open the hatch and enter her room.

You find Barriss with her back turned to you, her heavier outer cloak discarded which leaves her in her more formfitting black robes. Her shoulder-length raven hair shined brightly now that it was exposed to the light. She levitated in a seated position with her legs crossed and various items floating around her. You can feel small waves of **** energy rolling from her body, signifying her latent potential as a Jedi. She would make an excellent apprentice. You merely needed the right leverage.

"Having fun?" you ask as you lean against the frame of the hatch.

"Meditation is not a game for having fun," she lectures you as she floats back down to the floor. "But to answer your question, no I am not. You're keeping me prisoner here."

"Consider it insurance," you retort smoothly. "I can't have you leading the Republic to my front door."

"That sounds like something an enemy of the Republic would say," she contests as she stands and turns to face you.

You can feel the bite of superiority in her tone and it grinds at your patience. You decide to change the subject.

"Semantics my dear. Have you followed my advice since the last time we spoke?"

"To an extent," she answers as she crosses her arms. "The Republic is spread thin. They need all the aid from the Jedi that they can get, and when they come for me you will answer for your crimes."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," you counter candidly. "No one has any idea where you are, Padawan. You disappeared without a trace from a chaotic battle that ignited the largest war in this galaxy's history for nearly three thousand years. Officially, you will be considered missing in action. As for your Master, she will do her best to search for you through the **** but will ultimately fail. The Dark Side sits heavily upon your Order like a shroud, and you have no idea it's there."

"I don't believe you," she states with a chin held high. "And I will be your prisoner no longer."

Without warning Barriss unleashes a powerful telekinetic blast upon you, strong enough to send you skidding across the floor and into the hallway. You conclude that her meditation exercise wasn't just a means of clearing her mind but strengthening her connection with the **** in preparation for an escape attempt. You let out a light grunt of discomfort as you impact against the wall, but before you can climb back to your feet, you feel a tug on one of your lightsabers; it crosses the gap between you into Barriss' waiting hand. Its blue blade ignites with a snap hiss and she holds it in an aggressive stance before her; Form IV Ataru. She intended to fight her way out, but her choice in forms bewildered you.

Master Luminara was a practitioner of Form III, one of the best in the Jedi Order in fact, and you had fully expected her Padawan to fight similarly. Instead here she was slipping into a far more aggressive stance that went against her Master's teachings. Perhaps Barriss had trained in numerous different forms before settling on Form III? A question for later.

With a frown, you ignite your remaining lightsaber, a ruby-red in color and hold it aside to your flank in the Form II opening; Makashi. You decided this would be a good moment to test her skills in battle. Her eyes narrow as you challenge her with a weapon of the Sith, now fully convinced of your non-existent allegiance to the Dark Side.

She moves first, swiftly closing the distance and bringing her saber down upon you in a wide arc. You spin out of danger and backpedal, allowing her to press into the offensive. It becomes abundantly clear to you that she's put more time into Ataru than she ever had with Soresu like in Canon. Barriss barrels into you with wide arcing swings, somersaults, spins, and cartwheels, displaying hard practiced acrobatics. She struck savagely against you, fighting more like a Sith than a Jedi. Your frown deepens as you feel her slip into the Dark Side.

"You're walking a dangerous line, young Jedi," you calmly warn her as you parry another lunge.

"Don't seek to lecture me, Sith," she hisses back.

Anger bubbles up beneath the agitated surface of her mind, her strikes growing more powerful accordingly. No wonder she ended up turning to the Dark Side as she seemed to be slipping alarmingly fast. Regardless, you can already see the tell-tale signs of fatigue setting in; the heavier breathing, the minute slips in precision. Her initial skill is impressive, but she clearly lacks the conditioning needed to use Ataru in prolonged combat. You would let her continue a bit longer before putting an end to your duel.

By now she had pushed you to the Observation Deck, the scene eerily similar to the climactic final duel between Revan and Malak. Barriss was visibly huffing with lethargy as much of her energy had been wasted leading up to this point. You can also see a sliver of despair settling in her eyes, hindsight lecturing her for confronting you rather than fleeing when she made the initial opening.

"Are you beginning to see the error of your ways, Barriss?" you ask, lightly jabbing at her.

"I have to defeat you," she answers while panting heavily. "I can't let you attack the Republic or the Jedi Order, Sith."

"How many times must I say it? I'm not a Sith," you repeat with irritation. "Right now, the only one drawing upon the Dark Side is you."

"Liar!" she screams.

She desperately swings against your guard, her control slipping further by the second. Her willingness to fight you was amusing at first, but now you felt the farce had persisted long enough. With a twisting of your wrist, you wrestle the saber from her hands then follow up with a knee to her stomach. She hits the floor gasping in pain, her body curling in on itself.

"That's quite enough. You won't win here," you state.

"Kill me then," she wheezes. "I have failed my Master and the Order."

"No I don't think so," you say with a shrug as you deactivate your lightsabers and return them to your belt.

"I... I don't understand," she says uncertainly, her surprise growing even more as you sit down beside her. "You fight like a Sith, you act like a Sith. You're certainly no Jedi. Just what are you?"

"There's more to the **** than just Light and Dark. This is no fault of yours as the Jedi teachings, like the Sith's, are fundamentally flawed. To limit yourself to either **** is akin to shooting yourself in the foot," you explain patiently. "Jedi and Sith are constantly battling each other because they defy the most natural of all states of the ****. Can you guess what that is?"

Barriss relaxes ever so slightly as she realizes that her life is no longer in danger, provided she didn't lash out at you again. She thinks carefully on your question while you wait for an answer.

"Is it... balance?" she finally says with hesitance.

"Your insight serves you well," you praise. "The **** itself cares little for the whims of its acolytes. Like nature it will always seek equilibrium, perfect balance between Light and Dark as it should be. When the Sith rise in power, the Jedi grow to strike them down. When the Jedi rise in power, the Sith return to deliver the same. It is a constant never-ending struggle, and the cycle we're currently in is just the latest of many with one of your Jedi Knights serving as its catalyst."

"Anakin Skywalker..." Barriss murmurs as she casts her gaze downwards. "But... if the Prophecy is true and he is to bring the **** into balance, then..."

Her eyes widen as realization dawns upon her.

"He'll betray the Jedi Order," you confirm. "The **** will not fall into balance if the Jedi prevail. Anakin will fall to the Dark Side, betray your Order, kill its members, and in turn betray and kill his Sith Master. The **** will find a way to balance itself one way or another."

Barriss looks upon you with pleading eyes.

"Please... let me go back. Let me save my friends and my master. There must be something I can do to save them, anything!" she begs.

"The Future is always in motion," you state plainly. "Often times, the actions we take to prevent possible outcomes will ironically lead to those very same outcomes. Anakin himself will fall prey to this if he continues his current path. There is however one way that will aid you best, but it isn't perfect as those you rescue will still have their own choices to make. Also, as you are now you're not strong enough to make it reality."

"What must I do?" she asks resolutely, her mind settled.

"That you renounce the ways of the Jedi Order. To serve only the Light goes directly against the Will of the ****. If you're able to reverse the damage that the Jedi have done to you, then you will be able to guide others along the same path and thus save them from the inevitable culling. Fortunately for you, I am equipped to teach you such things."

Acceptance settles over Barriss Offee as she shifts into a kneeling position in front of you.

"I pledge myself to you, my Master. Please, teach me your ways."

You smile a satisfied smile. Barriss Offee is now your new apprentice.