Betrayal (Star Wars Fanfiction)

Aftermath

Chancellor Bail Organa didn't know what had happened.

All around him, loud and angry voices were trying to be louder and angrier than those opposing them. Harsh words were spoken, accusations were thrown across the room and several of the gathered Senators looked as if they were ready to leap out of their pods and throttle someone. The thick atmosphere was so overwhelming, so dark that even those completely devoid of the slightest feeling for the Force shuddered in its choking grasp.

Just a few weeks ago, the devastating war had finally come to an end. The Clone Army had wiped out the remaining droids holding on to war torn worlds whereas the Jedi had found the true culprit, the Sith Lord they'd been searching for ever since the battles had begun. With the discovery of the chips implanted into the clones at an early stage in their lives due to an ARC Trooper named Fives, everything had quickly fallen into place. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker hadn't been easy to convince at first that his friend, Chancellor Palpatine, had in fact started and orchestrated the entire war on both sides. But as Fives had nearly begged him to search his mind for answers-

"Sir, please! I know what I found out! If you don't believe me, search my mind or do some of your Jedi tricks. This war, eveything that's been happening, is all leading up to something that is much bigger than the Jedi or the clones alone and we have to stop it!"

Anakin had relented - and promptly stormed into the Council Chambers, conpletely enraged, to alert the Jedi Masters of their deception by the Sith. It had taken several Masters to beat Sidious after they had confronted him in his office, but after a long and hard battle, it had been Skywalker who had finally struck him down. Thankfully, "only" two Masters had been lost in the fight. But then, the hard part came: After the chips had been deactivated, the clones had been outraged. They would've been used to destroy the people they had fought and formed strong bonds with over the years of that terrible war by the same person who started all the trouble in the first place. Naturally they'd been angry, protectige urges had arisen in pretty much every battalion, especially the 212th, the 501st, the 104th and the 327th. By the time the news reached all Jedi away from Coruscant, the vode had been this close to storm the Senate. However, Master Kenobi had quickly been recalled from Utapau just after Sidious' death to calm the nerves of both the troops and the Senators.

After that, the clones had gone to their barracks, the Jedi had returned to their Temple and now, everyone was unsure how to proceed. What do you do in these first few hours or days after the war is over? Especially after your own leader turned out to be the greatest danger of all? It had been suspiciously quiet in the Senate after a new Chancellor had been elected. Until now.

"How could this have happened?! Why didn't anyone know what was going on?!"

"What if there are more like him? I demand that every Senator proves themselves a trustworthy part of this Republic!"

"The entire war, orchestrated by our own Chancellor! How is that possible?!"

"Why didn't the Jedi do anything?!"

That last call finally brought Bail back to the present and made him raise his voice to divert the attention to himself: "May I ask everyone to please calm themselves and try to focus on the situation at hand without blaming anyone? The war has just ended and I am aware that all of us have questions, questions that we seek answers to, but there is no need to be uncivilized about it."

"Uncivilized?" A female Senator asked curiously. "We're merely discussing what should be done with the the true perpetrators of this whole war, now that it has ended."

"The true perpetrator is dead," Padmé Amidala's strong voice answered. She was holding her head high and was entirely focussed on the other woman who nearly cowered under her fierce gaze. "The Sith Lord was defeated by the Jedi in this very room just a few weeks ago."

"She's not talking about the Sith!" A male Rodian spoke up, voice only barely held back in anger. "She means the Jedi!" He pronounced the word as if it was a terrible curse. "And she is absolutely right! The Sith Lord was able to hide right under the entire Order's nose for years on end while the war tore whole worlds apart and killed millions of people. What other dangers could exist, hiding in high positions while these monks are meditating about their problems? What else might have escaped their so-called Force senses?"

Mon Mothma replied: "It was not only the Jedi the Sith Lord managed to fool, it was the whole Senate as well."

"The Sith are the personal enemies of the Jedi, not the Republic! It is not our responsibility to understand all this Force rubbish!"

"We cannot simply place all the blame on the Jedi, surely you're able to see that-"

It was another one of these moments where Bail wished he was still a senator. That way, he'd be able to support Padmé, Mon, Orn Free Ta, Chuchi and those few other senators who had found friends within the Jedi Order. But with his new position as Chancellor, he was forced to not interfere and let everyone say what they had to say. And now, as a feeling of doubt grew in his chest, he was able to see how few allies the Jedi truly had. Most voices were giving support to the male Rodian, declaring that the Jedi had all but failed in protecting the whole Republic. And not only that, but they laid the blame for the whole war at their feet.

"It's their fault! With their Force nonsense and rivalry with the Sith, they dragged us all into battles that cost millions their lives!"

Riyo Chuchi shook her head: "It's thanks to the Jedi that millions of people survived! They were the ones leading the soldiers on the front lines, often receiving more than just a few bruises. Many of them gave their own lives to save others, particular innocent civilians and their own men."

"That's another matter yet to be discussed: The clones! How dare the Jedi purchase these men to use them for a war they started! They didn't count as more than the slaves on Tatooine and had to endure that treatment for three whole years without anyone giving them a voice! Even now, when they've been given the chance to leave the GAR and have been accepted as Republic citizens, the majority of them have remained here, out of the belief that they must stay loyal to their masters."

"The Jedi are no better than slavers!"

"Warmongers!"

"Criminal scum!"

"Responsible for countless war crimes!"

By now, Bail couldn't begin to understand his fellow Senators' hypocrisy. While the Clones had been granted Republic citizenship as well as individual rights just like any other people, these new laws hadn't been established by the Senate alone. In fact, they'd already been in position due to the Jedi trying to pass them again and again during the war, but most Senators had always refused to grant the soldiers even the tiniest piece of freedom. And now, they acted as if the Jedi had enslaved and used those brave men?

"The Jedi are a clear threat to society! With their ways of kidnapping children, starting wars and enslaving others, they're responsible for nearly causing the fall of this Republic. We must see to it that they never pose such a danger again!"

"Confine them to their Temple!"

"Forbid them from taking part in any Republic matters!"

"EXILE THEM FROM CORUSCANT AND THE REPUBLICAN WORLDS!"

The Senate erupted into an uproar when that last demand was spoken. The voices of any opposition, such as Amidala, were quickly silenced with unimaginable volume. Thousands of Senators made their agreement clear and applauded the one who had first made that call.

"It's impossible to decide something like this in a matter of seconds! I urge you reconsider, the Jedi play a major role in the Republic. They're well-known everywhere and act as keepers of the peace-"

Bail was interrupted by another Senator: "That major part is something we must take away from them!" She was snarling and baring her pointy teeth. "They're too dangerous!"

"We must reach a decision, Chancellor Organa. In the name of the Republic, I demand a vote that determines the Jedi's fate on Coruscant. They either get to stay with new, heavy boundaries or they're exiled from Coruscant. Every single one of them. And if necessary, if they refuse to obey the Senate's word, we'll take other measures to ensure that they do."