Wartorn

Chapter 27 - A New Era

Author's Note: I can't believe we're almost done with this fic. Lol. I know this is not what some people wanted or liked, but really? I think it's the most realistic outcome. xP

~ Amina Gila

Leia still feels numb with shock the next morning when she hears about an urgent appointment in the Senate. Luke is... she doesn't know what to think of what he said happened. And it's hard to believe that the Jedi were actually going to kill her grandfather.

Was what Anakin told them before leaving for Utapau really true, then? But even if the Jedi were planning to kill him, destroying all of them seems like a slight overreaction. Everyone couldn't have been involved. Right?

She saw how... Dark Luke was, and she didn't like it. He was hurting, but it's reminding her more and more of what happened on Mortis.

They were supposed to stay together, and everything would be fine. They didn't, and now... she has no idea what this has done to her brother, what this will mean for their future.

Palpatine is giving a speech to the Senate about the Jedi's attempt to overthrow him, and she just... can't believe the Jedi would do this. The betrayal is still sharp and cutting, and yet she doesn't know that she can accept that they all needed to be destroyed for that, even if that might be what the law says. Or at least, it's what Palpatine's been given power to do throughout the war.

Bail Organa and Kier show up not long later, joining them in the same pod.

"What's going on?" Kier asks, sliding into the seat next to Leia.

She can't even manage a smile right now, but she's glad he's here.

"The Chancellor has been elaborating on a plot by the Jedi, to overthrow the Senate," Padme replies.

"That's not true!" Bail answers, aghast.

Leia twists around to look at him. "Do you know that?" she asks, honestly.

Surprise flits across his face. "You believe they would do that?"

"Luke told me. He was there. They were going to kill him." She still feels sick hearing about it. She can't believe the Jedi would do that, no matter how much she's always harbored a certain resentment against them.

Kier looks appalled. "Why?"

"We have... picked up a few survivors," Bail answers, slowly, and she can't deny that her heart leaps at the words. Some of them are still alive. Would that make them more of a threat? But... it also means there might be a chance Ahsoka and Obi-Wan are okay. She probably shouldn't ask for any more details here, though. "None of them indicated any knowledge of such a thing. All they mentioned was that the Emperor is a Sith."

"He is, I think," Leia admits.

"Doesn't that make him who the Jedi always said was behind the war?" Kier asks, frowning.

"We don't know that," she points out, "Being a Sith isn't illegal. That doesn't give them any right to take action against him. If they had evidence, why didn't they come to the Senate?"

"That... is a good point," Kier admits.

"The Senate is ineffective as of late," Bail points out, still unhappy.

"I know but I just... I don't know what to think," she confesses.

"The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated," Palpatine's speech goes on, drawing eyes to the front of the room again, "Any collaborators will suffer the same fate. These have been trying times, but we have passed the test and I assure you my resolve has never been stronger."