"Jar Jar Binks is a childish clown, but he is also the purest and most innocent soul in politics. He represents the last breath of the Republic."
-Pollux Hax, "A List of Notable Imperial Senators and Their Biographies"
The Tale of Jar Jar Binks, or the Politician's Tale
ORDER 67 Part I
There are many breeds of silences, some tranquil and pleasant, some disturbing and eerie, some lonely. Here in the vast hallways and corridors and rooms of the Imperial Executive Building, the silence was the kind one finds in a city after an evacuation. It was an odd silence, and it felt out of place, as if there had been noises and ruckus and music not too long ago, but then it all vanished at once, leaving behind a cold draft and an awakeness to time's passing. It was a nostalgic silence, and memories seemed to flow in it like black mottled leaves down a chilled and gurgling stream.
Jar Jar Binks was a member of the Imperial Senate, representing the planet Naboo, and he was being escorted down the many and perfectly straight halls and amidst the sad and sterile quiet. Two clones walked in line beside him, guns in their hand, and their armored feet made a rhythmic clatter.
The Emperor had remodeled the Imperial Executive Building to resemble the great palaces of Naboo. The windows were tall and narrow, and the stone tiles were regal and patterned, and the curtains were silk, and the pillars were abundant. The daylight shone through the windows as beams of amber-colored fog, and dust particles wafted through it like particles in the sea, and the light burned on the tiles in bright warm rectangles. And along the walls were statues of Imperial heroes: politicians, military, scientists and the like. And the statues were all of red marble.
Despite the red marble statues, and despite the sad silence and the clones marching beside him, Jar Jar remembered home and for a brief moment thought of Naboo, of its emerald plains and whooshing seas, and he remembered when the men in white armor invaded the city and overran it. The Republic had become an Empire, and now the Imperial armies came rushing in, and the flags that flew were no longer Naboo's but the Emperor's.
Suddenly Jar Jar was in the halls of the Theed Palace on Naboo. He had been speaking with the Queen, and they watched together from the window as Imperial soldiers swarmed the steps outside and breeched the palace doors.
"This is it," said the Queen coolly. "They're inside now."
Jar Jar put a hand gently on her back. "Meesa has known Palpatine for a very, very long time, your highness, and meesa know heesa won't hurt you," he said, and he said it exactly like that, word for word.
And the Queen nodded and smiled. Jar Jar still remembered that smile. It was sad, adn the Queen's eyes had a look to them, a look of knowing she would die, even when Jar Jar didn't think she would. She was executed the next day, to squash any hope or inspiration for an uprising. Her body was cremated and buried on Coruscant.
"Heesa won't hurt you. Meesa promis," Jar Jar said, and he said it aloud.
The clones turned and looked at Jar Jar. The Gungan snapped back to cold alertness. Suddenly he was back on Coruscant, in the vast and empty halls and among the red marble statues, and the two clones stood beside him watching.
"Sorry. Thinking aloud," the Gungan said.
Jar Jar and the clones continued their walk, and meanwhile Jar Jar watched their shadows move across the sunlit patches on the tiles. At last they reached a pair of looming doors. The doors were of red-colored wood, and on the door frame were carved little roses and leafy vines, and on each of the doors themselves was an engraving of a Krayt dragon. There were no door knobs. Only a Force user could open the twin doors, Jar Jar figured.
One of the clones knocked on the door, then stepped back in line with Jar Jar and the other clone. The doors swung open smoothly and noiselessly, without so much as a single creak. And inside, at the far end of the room, the Emperor sat, cloaked in black, and scribbling something onto a page. Behind him, just to the side, stood his secretary Sly Moore.
The Emperor glanced up from the page and casually set down his fountain pen. The pen was silver with a slender golden ring wrapped around its middle.
"Ah, Senator Binks. A pleasure, my old friend."
"Likewise. Yoosa- You summoned me," said Jar Jar, resisting the urge to wince. He had been trying to lose his Gungan vernacular for some time now, and it hadn't been coming easy, and he still slipped back into it now and then.
"I did. It's about the vote tonight."
"I see."
The Imperial Senate was only a formality at this point, to give the allusion of choice and representation for the people living on the thousand planets of the Empire. The Emperor's word was not only final but holy. He permitted votes for small and uninteresting things, but it was he who decided on the large issues and on the issues that mattered to him. But tonight was unusual because it was tonight that the Imperial Senate would vote on something big. The Imperial Senate would be voting on whether or not to replace the clone army with human citizens of the Empire.
"Senator," the Emperor began, "what do you think of the vote tonight?"
"I expect a high turnout, especially since the senators are so divided. Half feel the cloning program is too expensive and that allowing citizens to join the military will boost patriotism. And half feel the clones are superior since they are bred specifically for war and trained since birth. I suspect the vote will end in favor of replacing the clones, though."
"Clones have become quite unpopular, I should think."
"People don't trust them."
"And what is your opinion?"
"Meesa-" said Jar Jar, and correcting himself continued: "I think that if we end the cloning program and pay cheap salaries to enlisted men instead, we will have to invest more in gear, weapons, and spacecraft to make up for the loss of clone expertise."
The Emperor didn't respond but considered what Jar Jar was saying.
"Both the military budget and the size of our armies will remain astronomic, no matter what happens. Nothing will change much," Jar Jar added.
"It sounds as if you think this vote to be unimportant."
It was true. Jar Jar thought that if the vote was actually important, there wouldn't be a vote, and the Emperor would decide. But he couldn't say that and so he answered: "Forgive my seeming indifference. I go to so many of these votes that I just think of this one as just another check-yes-or-no slip. It's just another day in the office for me."
The Emperor nodded, smiling a little. "I suppose that's fair." He then looked at the two clones. "Leave us," he said. He glanced at his secretary and added, "You too, Miss Moore." Everyone cleared, and it was just Binks and the Emperor now.
"I wonder what the clones think of possibly being replaced," the Emperor mused.
"They're mindless droids. I doubt they care much at all."
"They might care, but they're disciplined. They won't dare say anything openly."
"Maybe."
"Senator Binks, I have a favor to ask of you," the Emperor said.
"Ask away.
"I happen to agree with you. Tonight's vote could complete alter our military, but in the ultimate panorama of things it won't really change much. I don't care which way you vote."
"Yes sir."
"What I need from you is to give a little announcement. You said it yourself: there wil be a high turnout tonight. I need you to speak with as many senators as possible to hear. I need you to say a Jedi attempted to assassinate you."
"To lie, then."
"It has been seven years since Order Sixty Six. People are growing tired of Jedi hunting and anti-Jedi propaganda. To put it simply, people are exhausted from hating."
"But people will never trust Jedi again, your highness. Your propaganda has won out."
"You're right. The damage has already been done, and the public will forever hold a prejudice and skepticism towards Jedi. But we are at the last stretch of this Purge, and I need the public to have full fervor towards the destruction of the Jedi. And I need you to rekindle that fervor, Senator Binks. People trust you, and if they hear that the most innocent person in the Empire was almost murdered by a Jedi, they'll want to beat any last Jedi dead in the streets."
"But your highness, even if I could lie to the Senate - and I'm not sure that I could - I'm a poor speaker. The Senate won't take anyone seriously who accidently speaks in yoosas and heesas and sheesas. They've never taken me seriously."
"But they will. You don't realize what you mean to the Empire, but I assure you: you mean a great deal."
"Thank you, your highness."
"Please. It's Sheev. It's always been Sheev, Jar Jar."
"Thank you, Sheev."
"Now go. I don't expect poetry, but I expect a good story."
"Meesa will try."
Jar Jar Binks spent the rest of that afternoon in his room, staring at the wall, the ceiling, the window, and finally at a dresser mirror. He had aged quite a bit since he was first appointed senator. It was still his face he saw in the mirror, just older, and maybe a little sadder.
He thought about what the Emperor had asked of him, and he knew he couldn't lie to the Senate. And as he stared at his aged reflection, he thought about the friends he had outlived. He thought about Obi-Wan, who had disappeared and mostly likely perished during Order 66. He thought about Padmé and Quigon. He even thought about Anakin, yes even him, that little boy from Tatooine. And Jar Jar knew he couldn't lie, out of respect to the memories of his friends. And that's all they were: the shadows of memory. And though the lingering chords that bound him to them were very much real, their shadows were not. They were continually on his mind, and they continued to influence his life, but they were only alive and physical in the past and no more. Just shadows, Jar Jar reminded himself, and he thought the shadows felt more real than the mirror in front of him.
And night finally came, and gradually the lights of the planet-wide city flickered on, until the whole world seemed to scream with light like a molten star.
The Senate Arena wasn't just packed, it was full to nearly every last seat. Senators from every all across the Empire, from the galaxy's core to its outer rim, chattered or were bustling to their seats. There hadn't been a turnout like this since the day the Republic had been voted into an Empire and Palpatine applauded into unlimited power.
Jar Jar sat on a hovering platform next to Sly Moore and the Emperor himself. Mas Amedda, the blue Chagrian who was Grand Vizier to the Imperial Senate, was in the center of the arena, spouting anti-Jedi sentiments and praises to the Emperor. But then some senators in the pews hushed and looked in a direction, and they started whispering until the whispers became contagious and everyone was either hushed or whispering and gazing in that same direction. Mas Amedda stopped his spieling midsentence to what everyone was staring at, and Jar Jar looked too. Darth Vader was standing high up in one of the spectator pews. His arms were crossed as he looked downward at the Senate proceedings. To everyone below, he looked like an ominous shadow.
"Ah. Lord Vader. Welcome," Mas Amedda said with a little uncertainty. The shadow didn't answer, and so the Grand Vizier continued: "The Senate is now in session. Tonight is a major vote, and we are all excited."
The entire arena roared, and senators shook their fists and chanted and yelled. The senators were energized like starving carnivorous fish. They don't realize a much larger fish has already devoured them, Jar Jar thought. As for Vader being there, it made sense, since this wasn't just a historic vote but one that would determine the future of his military. Depending on the outcome, he would either be leading Kaminoan clones or enlisted humans.
Mas Amedda at last motioned to call for order. "Calm yourselves," he barked. "Calm yourselves. Tonight is a historic vote, but let us begin with the preliminary procedures, starting with the anthem. Let us all stand."
Everyone in the Senate Arena, even the Emperor and his secretary, stood, and they sang the Galactic Imperial anthem, "Glory, Our Emperor and Imperial Peace." And Mas Amedda ran through the procedures as quickly as he could, and finally it was near time for the vote.
"And now," Amedda said, "before we begin this vote, we will have senators take the floor and speak on their opposing views. Does anyone have anything they wish to say before we begin?"
This was Jar Jar's opportunity. For a brief moment he hesitated, and he cast his eyes down nervously. His whole life he had only ever wanted acceptance, and for a brief time he had that and more. He had friends who loved him, and even though they were all gone now, just memories he carried, their love remained as true as the blood in his veins and the thousands of senators surrounding him. Suddenly Jar Jar felt a fire burn in him, and his face hardened.
"Grand Vizier, may I take the floor? I wish to make a declaration, though it is unrelated to the vote."
"You have motion to speak, Senator Binks," said Amedda.
Jar Jar bowed respectfully. He rose to his feet, and his hovering platform drifted to the center of the arena. The aliens and humans from every known rock and speck and star from space watched him intently. The Emperor had his hands clasped together and waited patiently.
Jar Jar looked at the Naboo pew, where he normally stood and where Padmé Amidala used to stand. The pew was now empty, and the sight of it made his breathing and heartbeat unsteady, and he felt a burning rise in his chest and in his eyes. He then looked at the shadow high up in the spectator pews, the shadow that had once been Anakin Skywalker. But that wasn't Anakin, not really. The man named Darth Vader was only a ghost.
Jar Jar took a deep breath and steadied himself. He nodded to the empty chair where Padmé once sat, as if she was there watching and waiting to listen, and then he began.
"Seven years ago, liberty died. It died because we killed it. And tonight I expect I will die too, for what I am about to say. But I have a things weighing heavily on my heart, and my must say them."
And Jar Jar Binks, Senator of Naboo, spoke eloquently and powerfully that night. It would be remembered as one of the great speeches of Coruscanti politics, and never did he falter in his speech, nor did he once say meesa. The speech wasn't long, and when he finished, all were silent, and the Emperor seethed secretly but said nothing. Jar Jar defied the Emperor, and he would die for it. For he decried the hunting of Jedi, many of whom had given their lives to save Coruscant when General Grievous had invaded the planet's atmosphere. Jar Jar explained how the Emperor had lied and manipulated his way to power, and how the Senate had been reduced to a meaningless ritual in the process. And he recounted Vader's murdering of children, calling it the foundation on which the Empire had been built, and he looked at Vader as he said it.
And when he finished, he left the Senate Arena, and he walked tall and solemn. And all who saw him were reminded of Jedi from an age long passed, when the Republic was young, and when countless stars still filled Coruscant's night sky, for there was still green on the earth.