The flickering image of Obi Wan was visibly shaken despite his vow to restrain his emotion lest he fall to the dark side. "He's killed the younglings," Obi Wan said solemnly.
The few Senators left sympathetic to the cause of the Republic dealt with their conflicting emotions in silence. Among them was Senator Jar Jar Binks from Naboo. Nervously, he realized that all of this was his fault.
Senator Binks had gained his office after the previous Senator, Amidala, had to go into hiding. It was a sign of good faith. His people, the Gungans, represented half of the population on his planet. They were the hidden population. While the Naboo were visible to the galaxy at large with their stunning architectural marvels, the Gungans were content to remain in the dark, unseen depths of the ocean.
It was a great honor, then, when Jar Jar was chosen to represent the entire planet. His people were no longer ignored and trivialized. They were now the face of the galactic community. He accepted the job proudly.
It didn't take him long to realize that the other Senators saw him as a joke. Maybe it was his speech pattern? At least the Gungans made an attempt to speak the common language! There were plenty of races that adamantly refused to speak anything but their native tongue. He imagined that his looks were part of it, too. To off-worlders, the Gungans looked comical and silly. He internalized these struggles; the way to win over the other Senators was through friendliness.
He was wrong. Jar Jar was no politician like Boss Nass. He conveyed no innate authority. He may even have refused the office, if he hadn't been personally asked by Padme Amidala. She was do true and sincere, and he would never have done anything to disappoint her. If only she hadn't fallen in love with another man, and if romancing between species were not so taboo...
When he saw the other Senators make mocking gestures his way or imitating his strange way of talking, his heart sank a little. It was hard to put on a brave face when feeling that the entire Senate was rooting against you.
When one of his old friends, Chancellor Palpatine, asked him to endorse the vote for instituting emergency powers, he truly believed in the cause. He had been at ground zero when a war broke out on his planet. He never wanted to see others suffer as his own people did during the Trade Embargo. When it was revealed that the conspiracy was larger than originally suspected, he gave the decision no second thought.
He was no natural speaker, but committed to writing a speech to curry support for the Chancellor. Later, some would claim he was guilted into his role. Nothing could be farther from the truth. He stumbled over a few words, still nervous, but his points were resolute. He painted a picture of his own experience, of a planet where ecological scars had yet to heal, where several died when the Federation blockaded supplies. He spoke of the total and utter dominance of a planet from an outsider, unsafe even to the races who had chosen to remain outside the conflict. If anything had won the Senate that day, it was his unflaggingly honest conviction.
He was wrong. So very wrong.
A few days after the attack on the Jedi Temple, Senator Binks gained special access to what remained of the Jedi Order on Coruscant. The halls, once vibrant and full of young pupils, were now empty, haunted corridors. Each step created an echo that seemed unending.
The people of the Republic had always been a little on edge with the Jedi practice of recruiting warriors at a very young age. "Child soldiers" was the popular refrain. They were not much less than brainwashed robots, they thought. Jar Jar had seen differently. He'd seen a young slave boy with dreams and ambitions take the steps to become a Jedi Knight.
That same boy, though, had slaughtered all these children. He'd seen the security videos. He saw Annakin Skywalker. When he marched through the temple, he moved with no pity, striking down child after child after child. Over there, thought Jar Jar, he had decapitated the young Fenella Druce. She was but fifteen.
Jar Jar entered the library. The security videos showed that this is where Annakin had severed first the hands and the head of the old librarian. Why would he do this? She was no warrior like the rest. She only tended to the records. Administrative work. And yet Annakin handled her as brutally as a butcher to a slab of bantha.
If only they'd left Annakin on Tatooine. This would have been prevented.
If only he'd never accepted the position as Senator. This would have been prevented.
If only he had never given that damn speech.
If only he'd stopped her from stowing aboard the ship to meet him...
... she would still be alive.
They would all be alive. But there was so much blood. So much blood.
Jar Jar Binks fell to his knees. He pounded his fists to the floor. Tears welled in his strange eyes.
"Meesa did this," he sobbed. "Meesa killed them."