Betrayal (Star Wars Fanfiction)

Ilum

"It's good to know at least that we won't be the only ones down on that ghastly cold ice planet. Surely most of the Jedi are already waiting for us," Obi-Wan answered, trying to sound somewhat lighthearted. "I just hope that the men back on Coruscant aren't getting into any trouble with the Senate now."

It was all Anakin could do not to suddenly crash his fighter. The men! The losses of several Jedi weighed heavily on his mind and heart, but he hadn't yet allowed himself to think about what fate awaited his men and all the other clones who had aided them in their hasty escape. Surely the Senate wouldn't blame them for everything that had transpired, would it?

"I didn't mean to make you even more worried, Anakin," his master quickly interrupted his thoughts. "I'm quite certain that no harm will come to them. They're an excellent opportunity for the Senate to implement further propaganda against us and will provide the means to continue the anti-Jedi policy that lovely senator has strengthened."

To hear that made the young knight even angrier: Rex, Fives, Echo and all the others, they had just been declared free of all this political nonsense. They should've been given ships to explore a peaceful galaxy with or, at the very least, some sort of compensation for the three brutal years – instead, they'd been dragged even deeper into all the bureaucracy and the corruption the Senate seethed off. Once again, they were treated as prized objects – only this time, it wasn't look at those clones, they were created for nothing but war and shall serve the Republic until their dying breath, alright, thank you, now off with you, go fight droids or something, but rather do you see these poor men who were used and mistreated by the Jedi Order, they deserve justice just as our Republic does!

Neither of these sounded particularly nice or respectful in Anakin's opinion, but, according to Senator Hyrlell, what did he know? He was nothing but a lousy Jedi after all. Speaking of that Rodian...

"That senator worries me," he muttered, reaching for the controls as Artoo signaled that they'd leave hyperspace soon. "He's very driven to get rid of us, but I'd like to know what his reason is."

"He's certainly not to be underestimated," Obi-Wan sighed in agreement, "perhaps the Senate has not been as throughout in its hunt for Sidious' supporters and allies as we thought."

Anakin couldn't help but snort at that, closing his eyes for a moment to chase his exhaustion away: "I wouldn't be surprised. While I was fighting Hyrlell, my Force connection was already significantly weakened, but the things I could still sense..." He broke off and pressed two buttons, Artoo beeping excitedly as the yellow and black starfighter shot out of hyperspace. The bright bluish-white, icy snowball that was Ilum was right in front of him and he could spot several other ships, both starfighters and larger transports, slowly flying towards the surface. Next to him, another fighter, this one colored red and white, appeared and Obi-Wan's tired, but frankly relieved face greeted him from the cockpit. Arfour was beeping something, probably talking to Artoo as the two Jedi greeted each other, happy to see the other safe.

"What did you sense then?" the Jedi Master asked, steering his ship towards the familiar planet, Anakin doing the same.

The younger man didn't reply for a few seconds, before he fixed Ilum with a resigned look and sighed: "I sensed the Dark Side."

Anakin's starfighter had barely touched the ground when he jumped out of the cockpit. He'd put on his thick coat right before the landing, but the harsh coldness of Ilum's frozen surface nevertheless managed to slow him down for a few seconds, before he shook out of it and headed towards the gathering of a large group of people, all wearing some sort of winter coat along with scarves, hats and gloves.

His eyes were already scanning the crowd, recognizing worried faces lighting up when they spotted him, but he barely heard their greetings over his heartbeat ringing in his ears.