#phow ji

[forcesung]

His hands and fingers were cold, and the twitching had not abated. Paresthesia, most likely, she decided. She pinched back an eyelid, saw that the pupil was contracted. His breathing was rapid and shallow-it seemed obvious that Phow Ji had been hit with a potent neurotoxin of some sort-Paraleptin, perhaps, or Titroxinate. The Separatists had been known to use such biochems, and worse. If something was not done quickly, he would die. There was no time to call for an evac, even if there was an available medlifter, which was problematic. But there was another way to treat him. The Force. Without even stopping to reflect on the irony of it, Barriss knelt beside Ji. She pulled the dart out, then rolled him over and put her hands on his chest. It occurred to her that it would be quite easy to just let the paralysis of his central nervous system do the job that, only a few minutes before, she had been all too willing to take on herself. But that temptation had passed. She was a Jedi healer. Here before her was a life in need of healing. There was no need to make it any more complicated than that. Barriss Offee closed her eyes and opened her heart and mind to the power of the Force.

—Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, Michael Reaves

[forcesung]

Barriss said nothing-she did not trust herself to. Her rage enveloped her like the mud. She trembled under the weight of it. She could feel the dark side surging within her, whispering to her of how good it would feel, how easy it would be to let her rage fuel it and send it ravening for her enemy, to seize her lightsaber, leap after him and bisect him with a single downward slash of the singing energy blade... Phow Ji had no idea how close to dying he was just then. Her rage was such that a flicker of a finger would suffice. He’d never know what hit him-and it would even be justice, in a fashion-was he not, after all, a killer? Yes, he was-but Barriss Offee was not. It was one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but she did it-she resisted the dark side. She lost the battle, but won the war. 

—Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, Michael Reaves

[forcesung]

Barriss couldn’t stop herself. She raised her hand, concentrated, and closed her open fingers into a fist. As Ji took another step, time seemed to slow for Barriss. Ji’s left foot came forward, and as it approached his right, his boot twisted inward, no more than a few degrees - just enough to catch the heel of his forward boot. He tripped. A man of lesser skill would have fallen flat on his face upon the wet ground. And, despite her knowledge that it was wrong, Barriss would have enjoyed that sight. But even as he fell, Ji tucked into an ovoid shape, one arm curving, hand turned inward slightly, so that his motion looked like a deliberate action: he dived, rolled on his arm, shoulder, and back, coming up and turning slightly, a neat gymnastic move that left him standing in balance and facing her. "Careful," she said. "The ground is slippery from the heavy dew." He stood there for a moment, glaring. The sense of menace hung heavy in the air, the currents of it swirling about in the Force like a dark whirlwind. But even as angry as he was, he maintained control. He turned away. Once he was gone, Barriss shook her head at her action. What had she been thinking? One did not use the Force for such childish, trivial things. It was wrong to take such petty action, even against a villain such as Phow Ji. Yes, it could have been an appropriate demonstration, designed to teach, to show that the Force was valid, but she knew this had not been the case. It had been a personal response, driven by anger, and she had known better from the beginning. Great power had to be wielded with great care, and taking an obnoxious character down a level because you thought he deserved it was simply not sufficient justification. It was chasing a fire gnat with a turbolaser. Her Master would have been extremely displeased. She was never going to become a Jedi Knight by behaving thusly. Barriss sighed and went back to her stretches. Her road was hard enough already. Why did she keep strewing boulders in her own path?

—Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, Michael Reaves