The Lady Pellaeon

A Star Wars fanfiction by Andrew J. Talon

DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan-based work of prose. Star Wars is the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. and Disney. Please support the official release.

Set in BBY 17, or two years after Revenge of the Sith

Fear had been an ever present foe from the moment she was taken to the Jedi Temple. She'd learned, over time, how to keep her fear at bay. How to master it. She thought it was something she had conquered. She thought it was something she could handle.

Luminara Unduli, Jedi Master, was wrong. She was completely wrong. Fear was her life now. Fear set her heart beating hard and fast. Fear drove her from alley to alley in the depths of Coruscant. Fear was every single clone trooper she had trusted now hunting her down.

Yet fear would not win the day. Not if she could help it. She had one friend in the rich quarters of Republic Center-Now Imperial Center, not that Luminara would call it that. One friend still alive.

She climbed up a maintenance lift shaft of the starscraper, slowly ascending in the darkness. Luminara paused every now and again, reaching out through the Force as discretely as she could. No interest in her, no knowledge that she was there. The cold metal walls remained a sanctuary.

Fear was there, but she could handle it. She found a panel on the inside of the shaft, and gently removed it with just a Force pull. She crawled through the hole, and carefully slid the panel back into place. The apartment was dark, and Luminara walked through it silently. She stayed away from the windows.

"Jakker? Jakker, where are you?" Luminara whispered as the lights from the air traffic shone faintly from the windows.

The Force screamed, and Luminara ignited her lightsaber just in time to block a red blade. The tall form of a Pau'an loomed into view, his red lightsaber glowing hotly in the darkness.

"Senator Jakker-Sun has been taken into protective custody, as it was feared he would be assassinated by a Jedi exactly two years after the destruction of their Order," he said with a sickly parody of a friendly smile. Luminara's face screwed up in pain.

"Oh no," she breathed, recognizing the face. The Inquisitor threw her with a Force Push into the wall, and she slammed against it hard. She fell, but managed to throw a table back at him. The Inquisitor dodged this as it smashed through the glass behind them. He accelerated to try and cut Luminara down. The Jedi Master parried his strikes, but his fury was pushing her back. Luminara gave ground, getting her back to the window… And then flung herself out. She fell for a footbridge, managing to land roughly. Ignoring the gasps of the citizens, she sped for the next building. She could sense more interest towards her, more eyes and thoughts towards a Jedi. The Inquisitor's thoughts were harder to find, but he was closing in. She knew it.

She could sense… Something familiar? Someone else? Was it the Inquisitor? No… It was nearer. It was-!

Blaster fire struck just behind and around her, a shot hitting her side. She gasped in pain, and leaped off the walkway. She used the Force to guide herself down, gliding for the next, nearby starscraper. She landed on a balcony, rolling into a heap. The pain pounded through her body, but Luminara kept going. She opened the door to the apartment, and hobbled her way into the anteroom. She sensed the familiarity again, and looked up. Her eyes widened as the blaster pointed in her face, and the one holding it.

"Barriss?"

It was her. Her hair was longer and elegantly coiffed, she was dressed like an upper class Imperial lady, and her facial markings were altered but there was no mistaking who she was. Her presence in the Force was strange, almost muted. Her free hand was resting on her belly, which was rounded from pregnancy. On that free hand was a wedding band, shining dimly in the lights of the apartment.

Barriss shook just a little, but stayed steady. Yet the conflict was obvious in her eyes, in her body. Luminara took in her former apprentice, studying her. The only sounds were their breathing and the sirens of the patrol speeders.

Finally, Luminara found words: A question she had to ask.

"Bariss... Does he know?"

Barriss started, and stared in shock. She bit her lower lip, and nodded to her old master.

"...Yes."

Luminara nodded. She sucked in a deep breath. She could sense the Inquisitor closing in. She couldn't run. She couldn't fight. Not with Barriss here. Not with her child. So, just one more question to ask.

"...Are you happy?"

Barriss looked and felt guilty. Yet she managed to nod.

"Absolutely," she admitted.

Luminara looked on, closed her eyes and nodded in acceptance.

"Very well..."

The roar of repulsorlifts filled the room as a speeder pulled up to the apartment, shining lights through the windows. Framed by the lights was the Inquisitor, his eyes locked on them. Luminara looked back at the Inquisitor, and back at her former apprentice. She gave Barriss a sad smile.

"You'll forgive me one day."

"Wha-?" Barriss asked, but Luminara seized her. Barriss struggled, trying to get away. Luminara reached out through the Force, and found the trigger of the blaster. She commanded it to close.

The blaster erupted, multiple shots piercing her body. Through her stomach, and her chest. The pain was brief, as everything went numb. She vaguely felt herself fall onto the floor, and saw the cool whites and grays of the ceiling. Barriss's face filled her darkening vision, tears falling from her eyes. She was angry, she was shocked, she was terrified and grief stricken…

But she was safe.

Luminara Unduli closed her eyes, giving her life up to the Force… With a smile and without an ounce of fear.

The Imperial police gave her warm caff and a blanket, and took her away to her kitchen. She sat at the table and stared at the cup, answering their questions in a lifeless, droid like tone. The investigators cleaned up the living room.

Finally, the investigators were done. One, a polite young man, gave her a small smile.

"It's all right. The Jedi… She can't harm you anymore. You did the right thing," he reassured her. Barriss continued to stare at the mug, the smile on her mentor's face burned into her mind. "My lady? Are you all right?"

Barriss slowly looked up at him. She looked to the living room. Where her mentor, the closest thing she had had to a mother, lay under a sheet. Laid dead. By her own hand.

She looked back at the caff.

"I will be all right," she said softly. She rested her hand on her belly. "We'll be all right."

The investigator nodded, frowning. He offered a comforting, if awkward, pat on her shoulder. "Your husband has been informed. He should be home soon."

Barriss nodded again. "Thank you…" She stared back out at the living room. She saw the body of her master, encased in a metal box, being escorted out by the tall Inquisitor. He paid her no mind, not a hint of suspicion in him. She watched them board the speeder with the body of her mentor, the doors shutting tightly on them. The speeder pulled away. Barriss looked back down at her caff, shaking as the tears began to fall again. She rested her hand on her belly, and felt the tiny life underneath her fingers.

"Thank you," she whispered bitterly.

I'm building a new canon for Star Wars that combines the best of the Disney with the best of Legends. This is just one of several stories I plan to fill out the universe. If you'd like to join in, look me up on Spacebattles. I'd love to have you aboard.