Leia's New Threat
Title: Leia's New Threat
Writer: Laura Loveday
Summary: Two years after ROTJ, and Leia runs for Minister-of-State. When coming back from one of her speeches, she faces an Imperial from the Death Star, one she had escaped from all those years before...
Note: These characters and places belong to George Lucas. I wrote
the story myself, and I am not getting money off this.
~~The cell was small and uncomfortable, and to make matters worse there was an awful smell. I realized the trash compactor was next to me.
'How much worse can this get?' I thought disgustingly.
True, I was not used to this kind of misery because I'm a princess, but I wasn't going to let anyone see me like this. Frightened and hungry. They took away my food because I tried to escape. I had the sweet satisfaction of raising Darth Vader's temper.
They starved me. They tortured me. They blew up my planet.
Alderaanian's are stubborn, I am told. Perhaps they are right, because maybe, just maybe, if I had told them a lie earlier, they would believe me and leave Alderaan alone. Maybe they already had this planned. Maybe they would of killed me if I didn't say Dantooine. Maybe if I had left a day earlier, or a day later...
Too many maybe's, my father would say. He was always right. If only I could run to him for advice now, when I most need it.
How I miss seeing green hills and colorful flowers. The Palace was a place of importance, a place where a queen would feel like a commoner standing next to it.
Alderaan has only been gone for an hour, and already I miss it. When it has gone, for years, will it get worse? If I'm around by then.
While these memories haunt me, Lord Vader comes in with an admiral.
I expect them to taunt me, to torture me, and for once I'm right. A Imperial probe ball floats threatningly behind them, a harsh reminder of what has happened on this battle station.
"We give you one last chance, Your Highness," the admiral growls. I know they went behind Grand Moff Tarkin's back on this order. I also
know Tarkin's type. He will have me executed immediately. Or perhaps he thinks this cruel pain will kill me first.
I look into Admiral Robin's hard hazel eyes, and try to disguise my fear. Her hair is surprisingly a bright shade of red, and for a split second I wonder why she didn't dye it like the others.
The Others.
A good nickname for those heartless beings, who would gladly die for the Emperor at a simple request. Would I die for the Rebellion? Of
course. But the Rebellion would mourn for me, would feel sorrow because of the loss. The Emperor wouldn't care. For them death
doesn't matter at all. It's just what happens to everyone. That is true, but life shouldn't be cut short. That's what I believe, and I know I am right.
The metal door closes shut behind them. Although it is pretty quiet, the hiss echoes in my mind, as it is the only sound other than my screams.~~
When the dream vanished, Leia screamed. The memory of the Death Star was all too clear in her mind. The pain, the torture, everything was
like it had happened only yesterday. She had been right. Six years after the mission, and it had gotten worse.
0400. Three hours before she usually got up, and as usual the apartment building was quiet. The ticking of her clock was the only sound, and the fast beating of her heart made that seem even more tiny.
"Of course I think about it. Of course I can't sleep at night," Leia murmered. "I'm reminded of Alderaan every day." There were paintings
of Alderaan on her walls, and Imperial City closely resembled Aldera, where the Royal Palace had been. It was the most exciting place on the planet. There had even been a university. Leia had been there; she had been the youngest human graduate ever. Her mother had watched when she received her diploma. There were tears glistening in Eloise's eyes and Leia knew she was crying from joy. Her mother had never been more proud at that moment. "You would be proud of me, now, Mother," she whispered. Her election was coming up. She seemed to be going off on speeches endlessly!
She typed her password on a file on her holovid. These were pictures she had kept since her graduation when she was 16. She had been so
young, so full of hopes. Had she acheived them? She hoped so.
Leia stared at one picture that came up. She was 17, and had just been elected Senator. Her white dress made her chestnut hair stand out, and her smile was huge as she stood next to Winter. She had found her best friend on Dathomir, and was grateful.
The next one was a cartoon drawing of her as Darth Vader. Those that had been against her drew it. It really hit the spot now.
Quickly, trying to cover up her own feelings, she skipped to the latest one. Her on New Alderaan, on her vacation. Mon Mothma had let her have some time off to get her mind off Dr Johnson. She didn't know if she could ever get on a ship again. In that picture, she was wearing simple black pants and a purple t-shirt. She hadn't worn something like that since she was a child.
"I better get dressed! I have to meet Luke." she said, wiping unspilled tears from her eyes. It had been months since she had seen her brother.
When she got to the restaurant for breakfast, Luke was already there. He had wisely chosen a table in the corner, hidden from the other people there.
He seemed happy to see her. She briefly wondered when he stopped being a kid. 20? 21? Less than a decade after she had.
"How are things, Leia?" Luke asked earnestly.
"They're... fine."
Luke laughed. "Just fine?"
"You're laughing and smiling...You're scaring me, Luke."
"I'm not that bad. I've been on Dagobah, traveling. No news there. I
did get your message about running for Minister-of-State. How's that going?"
"Oh, I've been making speeches, mostly. I have one this afternoon, in fact."
Luke hesitated for a moment. "I don't know, Leia. I have a bad feeling about this."
"Now how many times have I heard that one?" Leia asked teasingly, ignoring his question. "Han and Chewie will look out for me. They'll be there, too. I can take care of myself."
"All right."
Still, as Luke began talking about his trip to Dagobah, Leia didn't need the Force to realize Luke didn't believe her after all.
Admiral Robin looked around the hideout in satisfaction. When the Death Star II was destroyed, she and and some others started up the base. When it was completed, a total of 964,502 Imperials joined up.
There had been more than a million Imperials on second first Death Star, but not all of them had escaped.
It was located on Teyr, a place where the Fallanassi, a Force-sensitive tribe, had once lived.
Robin walked into her chambers. Her bedroom did not have comfortable surroundings like most people, but looked cold, like her. Throwing
her hat on her bed, she walked to her full-length mirror and admired herself. A strict exercise program in the morning made sure she never gained an ounce, and her long red hair shined. She kept it up severely tight in a bun, so it wouldn't get in her way.
She knew that the other Imperial's had been surprised when they saw she was their leader. The Emperor had been prejudice of women, so
she prided herself often. She knew she had been made Admiral because of her Force skills -she was a Fallanassi herself-, but proved her worth. If only Lord Vader hadn't of been there, she knew she could be his apprentice.
Robin sat down at her small desk and opened some files on her holovid. The Emperor had made sure she had access to everyone's personal files, but the only problem was that she needed a password.
Dr Johnson.
She had heard about him. He had tried to kill Princess Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker. The files were very interesting.
'Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia-- TWINS??!!'
Admiral Robin repeated in shock. 'Plus, they're Vader's children?'
She had heard stories about Leia and Luke- every Imperial had- but never bothered to look up what they looked like or what their background was.
Thoughtfully, she typed in: PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA.
"Password?"
'This should be easy.' Robin thought, a cruel smile on her pretty face. ALDERAAN.
"Wrong."
BAIL ORGANA.
"Thank you."
'Yes!' There were only three pictures, but the second one held her interest. It was a cartoon picture of Leia as Darth Vader. The animated laughed, and then her lightsaber slashed across the screen.
It repeated endlessly, until Robin printed it out and placed it on her own personal file. It could come in handy.
She opened up a paragraph about Leia Organa.
'Running for Minister-of-State, huh? Well, what do you know? I think I may show up for that little speech of hers after all.'
Leia looked at her laid-out speech once more before she stepped out from behind the curtain.
The faces of hundreds of politicians sat in front of her, and she used one of Luke's exercises to calm her nervousness. "Citizens of the New Republic, I thank you for coming here today. As you all know, I am running for Minister-of-State, and I ask for your vote. Refugees of Naboo, I know how much you miss your home planet, and if I am elected into office, I will do what I can to get your planet back." Cheers from refugees rang out, and Leia waited until they had been silenced. She had made sure to include every system from the people in the room, and tried to make it as moving as
possible. It was very long, but when she was almost done, everyone clapping.
She could see her brother's face in the back of the room, and it gave her courage to continue. She named every system and every planet the NRI was present in, and when a group of people's planet came up, they stood and cheered. The politician's usually serious faces seemed to be smiling, and Luke told her through thoughts that
some were crying, too.
When she finished, she walked back stage again. She was aware her face was a bit flushed from all the talking, but no one else seemed to notice.
"That was great, Your Highness!" Winter exclaimed. She was grinning, and she looked like it had been her up there. Han congratulated
Leia, and Chewie roared.
"Well, it was more exciting than regular meetings," Leia said.
She could hear her rival, Fey'lla (as always, they were competition), talking on stage now, and Leia frowned in concentration, trying to listen.
"Don't worry about it. She won't come close to you." Han said.
"We've always been rivals. I don't know how it started, really."
Leia said thoughtfully.
Seeing the press right outside the front entrance, Winter gestured for her to go out the back way. "I think I'll walk by myself," Leia
said, and headed out the door.
No sooner had the door slid shut behind her, than a woman's voice broke into her thoughts.
"Need a ride, Organa?" the woman asked. She motioned to the seat next to her on her landspeeder, a machine not usually used on
Coruscant. Leia could see the back of her head; her hair was a bright shade of red, and it seemed so familiar. The woman turned. Her hazel eyes were blank and empty, as if she could see straight through Leia. That face. She knew she had seen her somewhere.
Somewhere familiar, haunting.
"Who are you?" Leia demanded.
"Look, why don't you sit down. It's cold here, and I have a jacket."
Leia felt weird, as if she was walking on a cloud.
She managed to find the landspeeder, and when she sat down the speeder was locked
shut. The spell was broken, and she tried to knock the other woman out, but something heavy fell on top of her head first, and she lost
conciousness.
Politicians were beginning to walk out the door, gathering their stuff, when Luke got a pounding headache. There was no reason for him to, and he sat down puzzled for a minute. Then he heard his
sister's scream of pain in his head.
'I should of done something to stop Leia from coming tonight.' he thought as he ran past the other humans and aliens to the backstage.
Han, Chewie, and Winter were beginning to open the front door, and he pulled Han back.
"Leia's in trouble," he blurted out. Ash blond hair pushed it's way into his eyes, and he brushed it back.
Han just stared at him for a minute, and gestured for Chewie to help him. "How do you know?"
"I had a headache, and then I heard Leia's scream."
"I thought she went out the backway."
Luke rolled his eyes at him and started towards the back door. "Leia and I have a mind link. I heard her in my head. Now come on, we have
to help her!"
Han picked up his blaster and went outside just to see Leia's bag and a speeder disappear from sight.
"Look's like Leia's on her own." Luke said. He tried to search for
her presence through the Force, but instead there was only blackness, a deep void in her mind.
When Leia finallly came around, she was in a large, gray room that looked like a meeting place or a dining room. The woman with the speeder must of pulled something on her using the Force, yet Leia had no idea how. Only Luke and her that were able to have that ability.
A silver protocol droid stood by the door, and Leia looked down at a lightsaber hanging on her belt.
Was this some kind of test?
A barely visible gas started to come through the vent, and she recognized that it was poisonous.
'Might as well play along,' Leia thought. She pulled the saber off her belt, glancing down at her white dress. Her weapon was a violet color. She held her breath and let the Force help her breathe.
When the doors finally opened, she allowed the droid to go first.
"Oh, excuse me," the droid's voice said.
Leia knew stormtroopers would have to be outside, because they were the only ones able to stand it.
[A Stormtrooper's View]
The other three trooper's and I waited unpatiencely as the slow protocol droid got out of the way. The gas came out in a big cloud, and I wondered why Admiral Robin made four of us go. No one could stand that gas. It was impossible.
Then a narrow, violet light started shining, and I watched in fascination as it came closer and closer. Then a petite woman with long brown hair appeared, and I wondered if this thick helmet was deceiving me.
In one swift movement, the woman killed two men. I was glad my uniform hide my face, because for once my eyes were filled of fear and nervousness.
One trooper fired a couple of shots, but they were blocked with the sword of light. The woman held out one hand, and the man fell backwards and crashed into the hard, metal wall. He wasn't dead, but was knocked unconcious.
I was going to die.
I had the quick thought that perhaps she was a Jedi, like the Emperor or Darth Vader. She had the confidence of Admiral Robin, but when she faced me I saw a sign of something. Regret? A new emotion for me.
I put down my gun. I wouldn't win this fight.
The woman pulled out blaster, and placed it on stun.
Then the electric blue light hit me, and I collapsed.
Leia hated having to kill those two stormtroopers. They were still human, even under all that metal. But it wasn't the time or place for sorrow. Every trooper was exactly like the ones on the Death Star.
She heard Luke calling for her, yet didn't answer back.
She raced down one hallway, and the beeping of every machine that surrounded her almost drove her crazy; she wanted to scream.
Leia recognized a blue botton with the Imperial insignia on it. Hitting it with force, she took a thermal detanator and carefully placed it on her belt.
She flicked her lightsaber back on and ran down the hall. The clanking sound of boots could be heard coming across, and she used a mind trick to make a distracting sound far away.
"Let's check it out," a trooper said eagerly, and his friends scurried away with him. They seemed tooeager to have something to do.
Turning the corner, she saw the long hall where the enemies had run down, and a large door that was locked. It had an old, classic style, a favorite of the Emperor.
Another insignia made the job easier, and Leia began to think this was the eye before the storm.
She was right.
Destroyers rolled in front of her, their sensers picking up where she was and their deflector shields becoming impossible to attack. Fiery red lasers tried to shoot her down, and Leia tried desperately to deflect their shots.
One seemed to diactivate from a virus, but Leia found it hard to defend herself from the remaining. Her lightsaber protected her, yet Leia ran down a narrow passage, trying to lose it.
Then, a shot found her shoulder, and the sharp, burning feeling of pain showed it's deadly claws. Her cry was echoed by the rolling of the droid escaping down the other path.
The passage was dark and dreary looking, as if the Empire wanted to create the feeling of loneliness.
A look of surprise showed on her face as the floor dropped from beneath her, and fell into a place exactly like the one she was just on. Walking a little ways cautiously, she could see a large, tan-colored droid come her way. It reminded her of the holograms she had seen of droids from the Trade Federation. She flipped her way forwards so she was to the back of the droid.
The rest of the path was a series of vents, and Leia was again surprised when she fell through one, landing painfully on her back.
"Identify yourself!" a stormtrooper commanded.
'They need to work on their conversation skills,' Leia thought wryfully, as they began shooting at her. Holding out her hand, she blocked the shots and knocked them against the wall. Standing there, there was a four-way stop, with doors on each side. Without warning, two doors slid open and four troopers entered. She knew it would be impossible without using another mind trick. She was not fully trained as a Jedi.
Under a deep spell, her enemies lowered their blasters and walked down the hallway in front of her.
As she walked into the room to her right, she could see a shield. Deciding it would be a good idea to take care of it, she threw her thermal reacter. The explosion knocked her from the room. Her scream of terror was drowned out by the sound, almost making her go deaf. After all this, would it stilll be too late?
Then it was over. Shaken, and still not trusting her own feet, she walked slowly to the other room, now ready to face any challenge thrown to her.
And it was a good thing she was prepared.
One tie fighter tried to shoot at her, and Leia leaped out of the way. One shot got her dress, but finally gave up and diappeared.
She was at the docking bay.
Hitting another insignia, a blast door opened.
The woman standing there had bright red hair and hazel eyes.
It was her.
"Who are you?" Leia asked.
The woman simply flicked open her lightsaber, which was a color of red, and Leia copied the motion. With a graceful leap, she landed directly in front of her rival and met their weapons together to push Leia back. The brown-headed politician was thrown a distance, and only the railing caught her. "My name is Admiral Robin. And Princess, I believe you've met your match."
Admiral Robin had been surprised when she saw the cameras capturing Leia's fight.
'Never underestimate your enemy,' Robin thought as she fought. Robin was a good six inches taller than Leia, and so she thought the senator wouldn't be as strong. If only Leia had been brought up by her father, she could of been a great person in the Empire and stronger.
They continued the fight, sweating, until Robin thought her arm would fall off from pressure.
Finally, Robin hit Leia's saber with such Force that her competater's weapon flew from her hand, and landed far beyond reach. If Leia tried to grab her saber through the Force, her plan would be discovered quickly. The senator sank up against the wall.
Robin allowed herself a triumphant smile. After all this time, she would have revenge. She could have revenge on the Emperor, for never promoting her further, on Vader, for always being in the spotlight, and Leia herself, for destroying the deflector shield on Endor, that killed millions of troopers two years ago.
She didn't know that while she was thinking, Leia had been eyeing the vase sitting on the desk behind the admiral. It was in Robin's private corridors.
Concentrating, Leia brought the vase up behind her rival and smashed it into Robin's head.
The woman went out, cold, and Leia moved out of the way before the falling red lightsaber landed on top of her. She listened carefully for stormtrooper's, but there were none.
Dragging Admiral Robin behind her, she snuck aboard a ship heading to Coruscant.
~~~~~~EPILOGUE~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leia couldn't imagine a better ending to the day. Right after the news that she won the title Minister-of-State, it was broadcasted that Admiral Robin was being put in jail.
Looking out at the people celebrating at her victory party, she recognized Han. Holding out his hand, she accepted and was pulled out to the dance floor.
END
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