#leia is a lot like padmé because padmé was partially based off leia

[kaleidoscope1967eyes]

I also have stuff to add about Leia!! if you've ever listened to the 1981 A New Hope Radio Drama, you learn that Leia actually started off a lot like Satine--even though she was always for fighting the Empire, she was a pacifist and was initially completely against killing people because of her deeply entrenched Alderaanian values. It is explicitly stated that her reputation in the galaxy was of an "angel of mercy." While this is a pretty obvious metaphor now, there are so many similarities between Padmé and Leia that are explored, which I ultimately find really interesting because Padmé was merely just a concept at this point in time and not a fully fleshed out character. Leia is kind: she immediately drops everything to help a dying man in need, even though she knows that doing so could very much jeopardize her safety. Leia is diplomatic: she puts up with an absolute scumbag of a man (Lord Tion), even going as far as to listen to him rant about making her his trophy wife, for the sake of gathering intel about a weapon that threatens to--and ultimately does--destroy Alderaan. Leia is emotionally disciplined: while she obviously changes her views on fighting and war, she doesn't let violence force her to abandon her values. She grieves Alderaan with so much sadness and rage, but she knows the effect she has on everyone around her, and she chooses to stay strong and be a reliable leader in a moment of utter chaos and devastation. When Luke is grieving the death of Obi-Wan, instead of saying "my planet was destroyed, my pain is worse!", she empathizes with him and gives him the strength he needs to persevere. She always puts the needs of others before her own--she literally endures indescribable torture at the hands of Darth Vader for the sake of keeping the Rebellion safe--and she is the embodiment of what it means to fight for the greater good.

Okay, the joke is funny sometimes, but the “Luke is a baby uwu who wouldn’t hurt a fly and Leia is so much like Anakin and would have killed Darth Vader instantly with the sheer force of her awesomeness and rage” fanon take irks me sometimes. Like, did Luke going absolutely lava-rage-monster insane on Vader, beating the living daylights out of him, hacking his arm off, and just barely holding himself back from chopping his head off or slashing his breathing apparatus open or sending him plummeting into the chasm below for even mentioning Leia and just barely holding himself back from giving into that darkness mean nothing to you? We all think of Luke as this sage-like bastion of light, which isn’t necessarily incorrect, but I think we all forget how hard-earned that is. The entire point of Luke’s arc in Episodes 5 through 6 is just how easily he could fall to the dark side. Yes, Luke is kind and sees and brings out the light in others like Padme, but he is so much like his father! That’s the whole point! He grew up wanting to escape a desert planet, he’s a mechanic, he’s an incredible pilot, he connects to the Force so easily it’s like breathing, he’s impatient, he’s reckless, he develops attachments too easily and they run too deep. He runs out on his training in Episode 5, and from that point on, he’s standing at a precipice—he could fall so easily. He could fall like Anakin. He saw his own face in Vader’s mask in the cave even before he knew the man was his father—he knows it. He has all that darkness in him, but the difference is that he conquers it. Luke is supposed to be what Anakin could have been if he had not fallen; he is Anakin’s chance at redemption. But ignoring all of this beautiful parallelism between the two for the sake of a “haha baby Luke girlboss Leia” take is a severe disservice to both Luke and Leia’s characters, as well as the main narrative arc of Star Wars as a whole.

[swinfinities]

Long Live the Queen: Part Fourteen

Padmé eased the shuttle out of hyperspace. She, R2-D2, and C-3PO were her only passengers. Far below them lay a whitish orb—the mineral planet Crait. It was a barren wasteland that had been turned into a remote mining outpost, that had later been abandoned and used as a base by one of Bail’s secret rebel cells. That base had been abandoned, too, and now Crait was back to being a barren wasteland. The perfect place for a secret meeting, thought Padmé.

Padmé carefully guided the shuttle towards the coordinates that Mon had given her. With some help from R2, of course. The craft zipped over the featureless, white surface. Nothing but endless blank fields of salt, as far as the eye could see. Padmé wondered for a moment if she hadn’t received the wrong set of coordinates. No, there it is. A dark mountain range appeared on the horizon. As they approached, Padmé could see a gap at the base of one of the mountains—a great chasm carved out of the stone years ago. It was partially covered by a massive, rusting door that was, other than the handful of dusty turrets protruding from the salty plains, the only line of defense against any would-be intruders into the long-forgotten mines.

But there was no one here to guard it now. The whole planet was silent. Padmé eased off the throttle. The shuttle slid gently under the narrow gap beneath the shield door. A small pack of crystal-furred creatures scampered away at the sudden noise of the shuttle’s engines echoing through the man-made cave.

“Watch after the ship, 3PO,” said Padmé as the ship settled down onto the floor of the mine hangar. “R2, you’re with me.”

The mines were drier than bone, and smelled thickly of age. Rusted computer consoles and tangled wires and pipes winding up and through the many tunnels gave the impression that the mines had been abandoned quickly and hastily. The rebels’ operations here hadn’t been extensive—they had used the mines for storage of ships and equipment, and tried to monitor the Empire’s communications throughout the Outer Rim. But Imperial forces had come dangerously close to discovering their outpost, and so were forced to abandon it. At least, that’s how Bail explained it. It had been years since Crait had been left to gather dust once again, before Padmé had begun to get involved with rebel affairs.

The only sounds within the cave was the whistle of wind through the open door and the soft tinkling of the crystalline foxes retreating into their holes. R2 whistled nervously. 

“Do your scanners pick up anything?” Padmé asked. R2 bleeped a reply and turned down into one of the branching tunnels, lined with sparkling, red crystals. The droid led them into an old storage room, still packed with long-forgotten crates of goods.

Something stirred in the shadows. Padmé’s hand went to the blaster at her hip. The shape of two pointed horns appeared from behind a stack of crates. Ahsoka Tano stepped into the dim light.

Padmé breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad you could make it,” said Ahsoka. “I’m sorry for all the cloak and dagger. But people like us… well, let’s just say that there’s a lot of people in the Empire who want to see us dead.”

“No, I understand,” said Padmé. “This place just gives me the creeps. It reminds me too much of the catacombs of Geonosis.”

Ahsoka nodded, not needing to tell her about the horrors that they had both witnessed there, on the planet that had first set the galaxy ablaze in war.

“It’s good to see you again, Padmé,” said Ahsoka. “It’s been too long. I wish we could see each other more often.”

Padmé smiled. “Just like old times. It seemed like the Clone War would never let us stay in one place for more than a day. I guess things haven’t really changed. But at the same time… everything has.”

“So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?” asked Ahsoka.

Padmé sat down on one of the crates. She thought she had prepared for this conversation. Now she wasn’t so sure if she was ready or not.

“Our rebellion has been growing more bold. But so has the Empire. With every small victory we win, the Empire is right behind us to steal it back. With Anakin—sorry, with Darth Vader’s appearances growing more frequent, I can’t help but think that we need to change our strategy if this rebellion has any hope of survival.”

“What do you propose?” said Ahsoka. “And why talk to me alone? Why not to Mon or Bail?”

“Because what I’m thinking isn’t something that they can help us with. This is something that you and I can do. And Luke. And Leia.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that we turn the Emperor’s greatest weapon against him.”

“Surely you don’t mean—”

“I do.”

“Padmé,” Ahsoka said. “I want to see Anakin come back as much as you do. But from everything that we’ve heard, I… I just—”

Her voice trailed off.

“Anakin Skywalker is dead,” said Ahsoka. A tear rolled down her cheek.

“No,” said Padmé. “I can’t believe it. There is good in him. I know it. There has to be. And we are the only ones that can remind him of that.”

“And if you’re wrong?” Ahsoka said gravely. “He will kill you. He will kill your children.”

Padmé paused in silence for a while. “I died fifteen years ago on Mustafar,” she said finally. “I can’t make this choice for you. I won’t make it for my children, either. But I need to face Anakin again. I only ask that you help me get close to him. To give me a chance.”

Ahsoka sighed. “Of course I’ll help you. But I can do more than that. There’s no way I’m letting you face the most dangerous man in the galaxy without some help. I’ll go with you.”

R2 buzzed. His head spun around wildly.

Padmé shot to her feet. She saw Ahsoka reach for her lightsabers.

“What is it, R2?” Padmé asked. The droid whirled around and sped out of the storage room and back towards the main hangar.

Padmé pulled out her comlink. “3PO? What’s going on?”

“Sensors indicate that are several ships approaching from the south,” came the reply. Padmé’s heart stopped.

“Imperial?” she asked.

“Too difficult to tell, m’lady,” 3PO answered. “The sensor signal is having trouble getting through the walls of the mine.”

“Well, let’s hope that works to our advantage,” Padmé said. Shut everything down. Go totally quiet. Get out of there and find somewhere to hide with R2. No more using the comlink. Totally silent, alright? Let’s hope whoever it is leaves us alone without digging too deep.”

“I doubt it’s going to be that easy,” Ahsoka replied. “One of us must have tripped a hidden sensor or something coming in.”

“It could just be a routine patrol,” said Padmé, hopeful.

“Either way, we’re likely in for a fight. You have your blaster?”

Padmé drew her weapon from its holster.

“I think the last time I left home without it, I was still queen of Naboo.”

Ahsoka smiled. “It really is like old times, then.”

“Yes. Except back then, the white armor was on our side.”

“We’d better get hidden,” said Ahsoka, snapping back into battle mode. “I think I saw a control room that overlooks the main chamber. That might make a good sniper nest. I’ll find somewhere to hide in the hangar. The element of surprise will probably be our best weapon.”

“Why don’t we try to shut the blast door?” asked Padmé. 

“That would trap them out, sure,” Padmé replied. “But we’d trap ourselves inside, too.”

“So it looks like we fight,” said Padmé.

“Just like old times.”

*****

Padmé waited silently in the control room, overlooking the thin opening of the blast door and their shuttle, parked in the middle of the hangar. Ahsoka was down there somewhere, waiting to spring on whoever it was that was coming. 

The sunlight streaming under the door was suddenly broken by something approaching. The sound of a ship’s engine rumbled through the air, followed by the scream of Imperial TIE fighters.

Padmé cursed under her breath. She had hoped—foolishly, maybe—that it had just been pirates or smugglers looking for a place to land. At least with them, there might be a chance they could talk their way out of it. But not with Imperials. There was no way that this wasn’t ending with a fight.

More shadows appeared under the door. Long and slender ones. Two… three… five shadows total. The chatter of Imperial stormtroopers echoed around the cave.

Padmé steadied her hand, and focused on her breathing. At least she had the advantage of lighting on her side—she was hidden in shadow while the stormtroopers would be perfectly outlined by the bright sunlight behind them.

The first pair of Imperial boots hit the surface of the deck, followed by the rest. The squad of troopers swept the points of their blasters around, searching for any sign of movement.

Padmé lined up the sights of her weapon. She put her finger on the trigger, but didn’t fire. Not yet. When, though? She could kill one, maybe two. But then her location would be revealed. Should I wait for Ahsoka? 

The stormtroopers noticed Padmé’s shuttle. Two of them followed their commander’s orders and broke off to inspect it. 

She saw more movement down in the hangar. It wasn’t Ahsoka, though. There was a brief glint of light off a metallic dome. 

R2-D2! What are you doing? She wanted to scream. That droid was going to give them away! She ducked back down behind cover and pulled out her comlink. But any words she tried to say were drowned out by an explosion of noise within the hangar. Padmé jumped back up. The shuttle’s engines had been lit, spewing smoke and red-hot exhaust.

Two of the stormtroopers were knocked off their feet. The other three opened fire, throwing a fusillade of blaster fire at the shuttle. The shots popped and pinged off the hull, bursting in showers of sparks.

Padmé realized that the troopers’ backs were turned to her. She lifted her weapon and lined up the sights.

R2, you clever droid, she thought to herself. She took a shot. The stormtrooper commander crumpled to the ground. The troopers to either side of him suddenly turned their attention to their dead commander. Padmé wished she could see the looks on their faces. 

“Contact rear!” one of them shouted, searching for the place where the shot originated. Padmé fired again, dropping another trooper. She fired again. The shot glanced off his shoulder armor. 

“Up there! In the control booth!” a trooper exclaimed. Suddenly, Padmé had three rifles aimed straight at her. She ducked downward just as a dozen blaster bolts buzzed over her head. 

She was pinned, with no way to move. It wouldn’t take long before the troopers found their way to the control booth entrance. They were probably already on their way. Staying low to the floor, Padmé crawled her way over to a rusty computer console covered in a layer of red dust, putting the console between herself and the doorway. She crouched low, holding her weapon high, ready for the stormtroopers to come running around the corner.

Suddenly, the unmistakable snap-hiss of an igniting lightsaber echoed through the mines. The barrage of blaster fire though the window stopped, and a dozen voices started crying out. A low vibration thrummed in the air, buzzing with electric energy and cutting through the screams and bursts of blasters.

Padmé gathered up enough courage to crawl back toward the window, peeking over the console just enough to get a glimpse of the hangar below. The bay was ablaze with light—red streaks of blaster fire from the stormtroopers crissed and crossed every which way around the hangar, bursting in flashes of flame against the walls and floors, filling the air with dust and smoke and ozone. Mixed somewhere in the middle of the crossfire were two blades of blinding white—the lightsabers of Ahsoka Tano. The blades twisted and spun through the air, blocking the laser bolts or cleaving straight through the Imperial soldiers. The former Jedi moved with a grace and precision that, from Padmé’s perspective, could only be described as supernatural. She was so engrossed in the performance that she never even thought to raise her own blaster to help. Only a few minutes later, with a downward slice of one of Ahsoka’s sabers, the last stormtrooper was down. She still stood poised to strike for a few more moments. She checked over her shoulder, making sure that no one was left to shoot at her.

“All clear?” Padmé shouted.

Ahsoka deactivated her lightsabers and returned them to her belt. She waved up at Padmé in the booth. Padmé stood and holstered her weapon before running back down into the hangar bay to join Ahsoka. They both stayed to one side, hiding in the shadows from anyone still inside the Imperial shuttle parked outside. The angular shadows of TIE fighters weaved across the salt flats, in pursuit of Padmé’s shuttle, piloted by R2-D2. The droid was a good pilot, Padmé knew, but she knew that he wouldn’t be able to outmaneuver the TIEs for long in an old, sluggish cargo hauler. 

“Any ideas,” Padmé asked.

“One,” Ahsoka replied. “But I make no promises about it being a good one.”

“Right now, I’m not sure we have the luxury of being picky.”

“Well, these TIEs don’t have hyperdrives, which means there must be some kind of carrier in orbit. Probably just a small one. If can get to my ship, I should be able to outrun the TIEs and head straight for the cruiser. The TIEs, or at least most of them, should be ordered to fall back to defend. That should give R2 enough time to come back and pick you up, and then we can make the jump back to base once you’re in the air. Sound like a plan?”

Padmé nodded, and Ahsoka ran off down one of the corridors. A few moments later, a slender, dagger-shaped shadow joined the TIEs in the sky. The Imperial shuttle raised its ramp and took off into the air after it.

“Heads up,” Padmé said into her comlink. “It looks like the shuttle’s following you.”

“Even better,” Ahsoka said. “Two of the TIEs will need to stay behind as an escort. Imperial protocol. That’s two fewer TIEs shooting at us.”

“R2,” Padmé called again. “Can you swing down to pick me up?” The droid whistled a nervous reply. 

The familiar rumble of the shuttle’s engines started to roar louder and louder. It was coming in fast. Suddenly it was there at the opening of the blast door, the retro-thrusters and repulsorlifts straining to slow it down and keep the ship from slamming into the ground. One of the pursuing TIEs wasn’t so lucky—its starboard wing clipped the ground, snapping the joint free from the cockpit before exploding in a bloom of fire. 

Padmé sprinted toward the open boarding ramp, not even bothering to get all the way inside before she yelled at the droid to take off. She threw herself into the pilot seat, pushing the throttle to its maximum. Alarms blared in her ears. The scanner still showed three TIE fighters in close pursuit. Emerald laser bolts streaked past the forward viewport, occasionally scoring a hit, making the craft shake and shudder and lighting up a whole new set of alarms across the console.

“I’ve got three on my tail. My shields are down to forty percent” Padmé called to Ahsoka. “What’s your status?”

“Just like I guessed. An Imperial light cruiser. I don’t have enough firepower to do much real damage, but I can at least outrun their turbolasers until you get here.”

“If I ever make it there. My port-side engine is about to blow.”

“Just… hold on!” Ahsoka cried back.

If Anakin were here, Padmé thought, he could have out-flown these TIEs in a heartbeat. But she was no Anakin Skywalker. She wasn’t even a descent fighter pilot. She veered to one side and the other, trying desperately to avoid the barrage of laser fire coming from behind. R2 buzzed something about the shields dropping below 25 percent.

“I don’t want to hear it, R2,” she said through clenched teeth. “Get ready, though. I think I have an idea. Get the cannon ready. I’m trusting you to aim. Ready.”

R2 chirped.

“Here goes nothing!” Padmé cried, grabbing the throttle and pulling it all the way back. Her stomach did a flip as the ship started falling, not flying, through the air.

The TIE fighters shot past. One veered suddenly to the right to avoid colliding with the shuttle, but his wingman didn’t veer with him. The two ships collided and disintegrated into fire and ash, peppering the shuttle’s viewport with bits of shrapnel.

“Now, R2!” Padmé ordered.

The droid took control of the shuttles single, low-powered laser cannon and opened fire on the last remaining ship. Even this little cannon was enough to tear through the shield-less TIE’s hull. One of the wings sheared off, sending the ship spiraling out of control. It disappeared out of view, and eventually flickered off of the scanner as it collided with the ground, far below.

Padmé pushed the throttle back forward, and the shuttle started powering upward again towards the blackness of space.

Padmé sat back in her seat and let out a long breath.

“That… went better than expected,” Padmé said.

R2 whistled and bleeped.

“I realize that it was dangerous, but I didn’t see you offering any better ideas,” Padmé replied. “You still there, Ahsoka?”

“Just having the time of my life,” she replied, her voice coming through crackled and full of static. “The coordinates for the jump are ready when you are. Sending them over now.”

A light chirruped on the console of the shuttle. Another screen displayed the hyperspace coordinates. R2 chimed happily.

“Whenever you are,” Padmé replied, “Punch it.”

The pinprick-lights of the stars spread out as the hyperdrive activated, leaving Crait and the Empire light-years behind.