He said his piece. Then he stared a fixed point in space somewhere near Luminara's collarbone, with an expression like he was bearing the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders, and froze that way, flickering and insubstantial.

Luminara found herself no more able to move than him.

The world seemed to shake on its moorings, tilting dizzily into a terrible event horizon, a black hole from which there could be no escape. Grievous' death, the Chosen One's expulsion, the decision to keep fighting and Obi-Wan's subsequent apostasy: all of it made her wonder some truly horrible things, about the Jedi and the Republic and, by extension, herself. Luminara was a Jedi. She had never known anything different. The Order was her life, her past and future, the one defining thing that she had always stood for. If, somehow, the Order had placed itself on the wrong side of this titanic conflict, or done wrong by entering it in the first place...

No. Luminara had to believe that the Republic was still viable, that the Supreme Chancellor was the good man he'd always appeared to be, that what she was fighting for was right. Right by the galaxy, right by the Force. There was no way she could go on otherwise.

I'm sorry, Obi-Wan, she mouthed silently as she powered down the comlink.

Barriss Offee believed. In her tent across the footpath from Luminara's, she heard, and she listened, and she believed with such an awful certainty that it drove her to her feet, head getting caught in the canvas roof, 'saber hilt in her hand before she even realized she'd reached for it.

Barriss couldn't say when she'd started having doubts about the war, about the Jedi, about her very state of existence. Maybe it had been Ralltiir, when Obi-Wan left. Maybe it had been Umbara. Maybe Geonosis. Maybe even as far back as Ilum, when she found her first lightsaber crystal and saw visions of herself like a cruel goddess, leading hundreds of thousands of men to their deaths. She couldn't say what she would've done if Master Luminara hadn't convinced her not to seek out Letta Turmond. She couldn't say why, on the day of her Knighting some three months ago, she had looked at her severed Padawan braid and felt more revulsion than pride.

All she knew was that Obi-Wan was right, and no matter how misguided the Jedi were, they didn't deserve to die. Not while there was Light in them yet.

Barriss crawled out the mouth of the tent and made straight for her former Master's tent across the way. When Barriss barged unceremoniously in, Luminara looked up, then said without preamble, "You realize that there must be some mistake."

Barriss ground her teeth. "No, Master, all due respect but there isn't. We should've all seen this coming months, no, years ago. It's what I've been trying to tell you since Master Kenobi left, since Master Skywalker got kicked out and Ahsoka went with him, since-"

Luminara raised a hand to halt her former apprentice's tirade before it got loud enough for the entire camp to hear, then said, "Barriss, I know how you feel about all this, but you're letting your emotions blind you to the truth. What does the Force tell you?"

"Nothing at all, and that's just the problem! The shroud of the Dark Side covers everything. Sometimes it's so bad I can hardly sense five meters in front of my face, hardly get out of bed for the anger and despair on my shoulders. Why do you not see it?!"

"I do see it, Barriss. We all do. But–"

"Then why is there nothing being done about it?! That's exactly what Master Kenobi's trying to do, you realize that, right? He's figured it out, he's figured it all out, and now he's trying to get us off our stiff arrogant backsides and into the proper fight for once!"

"Barriss!" Luminara's face radiated shocked affront, but underneath was something deeper, more visceral. "You don't know what you're saying, you – he – it's crazy. The war is crazy, but this is crazier. We have to – we have to fight, we have to believe in the Republic, because anything else – anything else – is –"

Unthinkable. Barriss could see the word die on Luminara's tongue. She could see the crushing weight of fear in Luminara's eyes, the way she held her body so stiff and clenched her spine looked in danger of snapping, the lines on her face that suddenly made her look twenty years older. The fear filtered across the remnants of their old Master/Padawan bond, making Barriss wonder which was worse: the stoic Luminara denying the truth even when it was shoved in her face, or this new Luminara, who had seen the truth and accepted it only for it to shake her to her core. 

AHHHHHHH

*screams* 

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

You.Play.Hopscotch.To!

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Admin are we allowed to post usernames?

Here's the first bit of my Fanfic. 

The reek of Hutt assaults my nostrils as I’m pushed into the dingy throne room. The acrid smoke makes my eyes water while the raucous music makes my eardrums ring. I’ve battled Rancors and Wookies, met many of the most foul crime lords of the Galaxy, and Jabba’s throne room is the place I hate the most. My chains rattle and clank as I’m forced into a kneeling position before him, and I grimace as he sticks his slimy face right in front of mine. He laughs, and his fat rolls upon fat rolls jiggle in a slow cascade. He starts to talk in Huttese, and his silver protocol droid translates for him.

“Jabba is pleased that the inferior human defeated the beast. Jabba has prepared a worthy adversary for the human female. Jabba wishes to celebrate her insignificant victory. The protocol droid sounds terrified. Celebrations at Jabba’s palace often lead to destruction of furniture, or in many cases, droids. The speech was just like Jabba. Insulting me as well as giving little bits of praise. They heave me to my feet, and plull me out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blaster shots fly across a sparse room. A man falls, struck in the chest from a bright blue bolt. A woman crawls across the floor to to him, and a shot hits her in her back. She slumps atop the man, and the blaster bolts stop. A boy of about seventeen runs into the room, and stops as he sees two mercenaries. He slowly raises his hands to his head, as a younger girl is pulled from the second room, and shoved towards the boy. The thugs grab the two, and pull them out the door.