A Star Wars Story: She's the same.
intro
What if… Vader thinks that Leia Organa really is too much like Padme Amidala? That maybe she isn't actually a different person… no, the force has a cruel way of reminding him of how weak he was back then. She isn't just similar. She is a reincarnation of his one and only love.
She affects him in the same way.
She Talks and acts the same way.
She's ignorant and hopeful in the Same Way.
She's Caring and loving in the Same Way.
She's come back from the dead for Revenge.
She hates him for murdering her in her past life.
She hates him for taking away her life and their unborn child's life.
She hates everything he's done, Everything he stands for.
He can never love her again.
He can never be close to her again.
He can never tell her the truth, ever.
He can never admit that he's in love again.
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She's The Same
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Chapter 1: The Cruel Reflection.
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From Coruscant, the stars had never appeared dimmer in the sky as they did right then. The days and nights passed by in a blur for the people of Imperial Centre, the over-productive, power-hungry opportunity snatchers. The rich and wealthy buying places for their children or lovers in businesses and elections. The entire hubble of spaceships, common speeders, and passenger couriers littered the sky to such a degree that from further down in the pits of Coruscant one moronic life form that focuses too much on their own imagination, instead of facts available on the Grand (normal) Imperial Schooling Network, might mistake the fast dashing strokes of white lights for stars instead of ships and mundane modes of transportation.
There was one man, (well I say man, but really he should now accept the term of black-hearted Cyborg), that was standing by a huge tree inside the Imperial Palace. (The tree had been constructed to have streams of neon-coloured lights flashing up through its trunk and it responded to sound, just for special effect, No one batted an eye). He was a self-promoted, leading figure of security. He had intended to follow and track down a traitor, chase down some lead to the outer rim sieges, but the Emperor had sensed a disturbance in the force. And he, as was his duty, needed to defend the Emperor against any that might threaten his power.
And so… He was over-looking the grand facade that the wealthy made, how they held themselves, their postures, their hand moments, their acknowledgements of one another; it was all the small things that he had seen before many times in different places with different people. But in spite of it all nothing ever changed. The fundamental always remained the same. No matter how hard you tried to train it out of people. The rich would and could always buy the beautiful, and they would be hung on the arms of the wealthy as tokens of greatness. It all seemed to be an elaborate show to impress anyone who just so happened to be watching them. They were all screaming to be looked at. Look this way. Look at me. See how great I am. Look at my accomplishments.
Vader understood a need and show of strength. In fact he relished it, when it shone from a person with a strong, intelligent mind and an iron will. But more often than not, it glowed out of the faces of those fortunate enough to have the best back posture, crispiest uniform, and shiniest boots. All too often these dim-witted followers were the first to crumble in the first sight of true peril in battle or out there lost to the emptiness of space, but here… well they were kings and queens of the rules of the tongue, the best support goes to the young or old who have the best tactical approach to their future propositions.
This was amounting to a huge day of celebration. On this day… Well, this day was Empire Day. It was imperative that every member of the Imperial Senate and their respective families should come to Coruscant, (now known as 'Imperial Centre') in order to celebrate the founding day of the Empire. It was a chance to be grateful to the benevolent ruler that was the wise and ruthless Emperor.
It was always impressive, awful (moments filled with awe), and wonderful, no matter whom was in charge of the schedule and spectacular spectacles that occurred.
Vader always had mixed feelings about this particular day. It was the visual-virtual birth of the great Darth Vader. He began this day. It was the day he destroyed his old self. He had cast off his pathetic compassion for helpless weaklings, that stupid mentally that he had when he was younger that he had an obligation to help those who could not help themselves. Now, he was free from that mind-set, free from having to please everyone to gain any recognition. Now he and his master were ruling the Galaxy. Well, his master Darth Sidious was… Vader realized now that he wasn't necessarily built for the patience to deal with moronic leaders of sectors, planets, or states, unless that was in getting information from them. He was good at aggressive negotiations, and dealing out the sentence for traitors. But he didn't get the same level of satisfaction that his master received when slowly warping a young woman's or man's mind to tune with his own.
No, Vader was more primal in that sense. He fed off people's fear of him, their pain, their anger, their bitter disappointment and finally their despair when they realized that his mask was the last thing they would ever see. He preferred a simpler means of torture and finally death. Palpatine… well he just didn't like killing his victims. He loved grooming them into poisonous instruments and shadows that echoed his greatness. Vader was a perfect example of the Emperor's patience and grooming abilities.
Vader didn't have any regrets (anymore) over his decision to turn to the dark side. If he had had them, he couldn't remember them, part of his final turn had been so painful and so focused on rage and pain that the force had ripped through him with an overwhelming river of power, and had mutilated his past. It had made him feel like a different person, and new being. Whenever he did try and grasp back a memory, for some mundane reason, there seemed to be a grey haze that surrounded it, as if he was viewing a different person's life through a force inspired vision. It was strange and Vader didn't like it.
But there was one thing that Vader knew he should regret, and that was the state of his body. It was a disgrace that he had allowed himself to be cut and burned in this way. He should have been able to kill the traitorous friend, his old master Kenobi. He should have been able to use the Force as a shield against the great heat that had burned him. And yet, he was also grateful. He had finally been able to cut himself off from everyone else in a way that he'd never been able to do before. It was only him and the Force now, nothing could get near enough to him to warp his mind and change him. He is set in his ways.
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The day festivities and careful introductions carried on and finally the swishing of robes and dashing of smiles and nods of acceptance took second place to the natural beauty that one could behold in the simple act of the sun seemingly ducking behind the glittering durasteel buildings. In the light of the setting sun, golden red beams bounced off the shining towers of Imperial centre making what looked like red sparks of fire reflect off surface after surface as the entire city, transports and people encased in their boxed ships, carried on bustling about. It was breath-takingly beautiful, but one had to occasionally wonder why a city symbolically on fire might appear to be beautiful at all.
Leia Organa was upon the Imperial Justice Court and Legislators Ship, and she, like all the future and current candidates, was being taken on a luxurious tour to the newly built Quarts Palace up in the Northern district. She wasn't sure what she would make of it, and was keen to see what it looked like, but she didn't sit well with the Emperor's overspending on such frivolous things.
The ship was a large and made to show sweet luxury. It had twelve floors with décor from many different planets and anything you could want to feel comfortable. As a politician you could complain all you wanted about the military and the changes the Emperor had made to Old Republic's out-dated laws, but these shows of love and pandering did much to shut the talk of those that said the Emperor didn't care about class and status. It helped to puff up those with delicate egos, and a family lineage to live up too.
Leia had decided to explore the very top of the Star-luxury yacht and found to her surprise that the top was entirely coated in a domed transparisteel, which meant that the entire top half of the ship was an huge ballroom-like metal jungle with the sky to light it up. As she went to the side however she found there were multiple automatic doors that lifted to reveal a balcony that ran around the entire circumference of the ship. It was very beautiful indeed, and Leia was happy for the time being just exploring.
'Beep!' 'Beep!' 'Beep!'
Leia picked up her comlink. "Yes father, Are you lost again?" she said immediately before he could get a comment in.
He didn't rise to the bait. "Leia where are you?"
"Upstairs." She shrugged as she was speaking, hoping the motion would lead to making her voice sound calm and complacent over the audio, and wishing silently that the rushing wind from being outside wouldn't alarm her father. No such luck.
"Leia, what's the sound? You are not outside are you!?"
She took a calming breath. "I have taken a small detour out onto the upper balcony to get a breath of fresh air, but nothing too terrible or serious has happened so you don't need to worry too much on my behalf."
"I told you not to leave the room until I had got back, and to not draw attention to yourself by wondering off alone. How is it you have now done both of those things?"
Leia didn't necessarily roll her eyes but she was pretty close to doing that. "Nothing's happened, and it not like I didn't have my comlink with me."
"That is not the point…. I've told you before…."
Leia made a few nods and sounds of agreement with her father, but for the most part she blocked out the long sentences and the cutting words of discipline. She had gotten used to them and rebelliously thought he had become with age more and more well…. quite paranoid for unnecessary reasons. Sure, she held the same political views as he did, but she wasn't the sort of person who's about to cower in front of people's gazes for wanting to express a different opinion. She valued her father's wisdom, but thought he worried far too much.
"Okay. Okay. Don't overheat my comlink father. I shall be down in just a few minutes. I'm on my way." She shut off the connection before he could get another word in. She had just come up here to clear her head and ready her mind, and she gets chewed out because of that. Really the young just can't do anything right these days.
She folded her arms across her chest brushing her elbows gently keeping out the colder winter breeze. Yes, even a city planet like Coruscant had a winter, especially when you went up into the northern hemisphere. The further north you went the lower the buildings came until they all became long platforms of durasteel, which housed the industrial recreation underneath the long metallic expanse. It went on and on stretching out to the North the outer coating protecting the fires and energy beneath.
She sighed. "Here I go, back into the nest of decaying conversation." She turned on her heal and went back the way she had come. Despite demeaning politics and always cutting into it, it was her life, she loved to talk and she loved to argue her point, and she loved to win.
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Vader hadn't gone into the main conference room with the rest of the senators. He found their talkative company beyond wasteful. And so Vader stood above them on an observation platform that looked over the grand hall beneath him. In his hands he held a data pad and he was reading up on the old senators, the few that had gone missing… the few that seemed to be leaning toward Rebellious sympathies, the radicals, the followers, and new senators. He had been away for so long focusing and meditating on other things he hadn't looked at the changes that had been made.
…..
Alderaan had elected a new representative for the Imperial Senate. Why couldn't they just be placed under the rule of a regional governor he didn't know. ….
Alderaan had millions of refugees from thousands of worlds, but somehow, despite all the odds, the royal family had managed to gain the support of not only their own people and the new ones (so called refugees, more like Rebel sympathisers) coming in. Vader was sceptical to say the least. He was certain it was far more likely that Alderaan was a breeding ground for the famous 'peace talks' and 'humanitarian discussions' that the Organa's were now so famous for holding. It would be all too easy for the weed-like Rebellion to settle its roots into these pandering talks for the weak-minded.
Vader valued strength and there wasn't much that he saw in these rebels of that, a rag-tag collection of people that could hardly be treated as worthy of being a threat, apart from an obstinate strength of will that he took great delight in crushing whenever he could. It was sickening to see anyway. The Rebellion was growing however, and unlike the Emperor he wasn't keen to simply brush it aside. Like the Jedi all traces of resistance must be wiped out if they are to have absolute control.
Vader released his tire eyes from the frown he was making behind his mask. He had once admired the Senator Bail Organa for having a brilliant mind and an attitude of logic and reason, but recently his words and thoughts had been so focused on the tragic lives of the citizens of the Empire that got in the crossfire of Rebel insurgence in their systems. And despite Vader's old respect for the man's value of credits and when and how to spend them efficiently, and all the old man's bills relating to those, he now found him almost worthless in the grand scheme of things. The Prince of Alderaan had done a good thing by stepping down from the position.
Vader tapped the datapad a few times and up popped his successor, his own daughter (What a surprise. Keep it in the family after all). He pulled up the personal, political, and physical details that every higher ranking officer would be able to pluck from the Imperial holoweb, and began to read.
Physical Description: Leia Organa
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Height: 1.5 meters
Mass: 49 kilograms
Hair colour: Dark Brown
Eye Colour: Brown
Skin Colour: Light
Age….. (He didn't bother reading that part)
Personal Injuries:
Scar at the back of the left leg from young Wolf-cat. (Visual Details)
Suffered head injury after 10 meter fall down the cliffs in the same vicinity as the 'Cloudshape Falls' (Visual Details)
Dislocated Shoulder after ….
He read more, but most of the accidents happened before she had turned thirteen. He clicked on a more recent and current picture of the princess.
He was struck with the feeling of acknowledgement. He knew this person already. He had seen her somewhere before hadn't he? He could quite place it, but he was almost certain.
It was probably down to the fact that he had known both her parents and could see them in her, but that wasn't a good enough answer for him really. There was just something interesting about her face that got to him. Maybe it would be worthwhile walking among the senators for a short time. He can then gage their amounts of fear and possibly tell who of them might have a treacherous side to them, not that any of them would come clean. No. Vader knew better. All politicians have something to hide, and everyone who has something to hide is doing so out of fear, and everyone with fear is a future tool.
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End of Chapter 1.