This is an AU of the EU series The Black Fleet Crisis, either from Shield of Lies or Tyrant's Test. Warning CHARACTER DEATHS
I was in a rather angsty nasty mood when I wrote this, and it definitely shows.
She would have been moved to joy, but for the fact that at the end of the straight line she had drawn, Leia saw Han's death.
Nil Spaar had savagely beaten Han Solo, bound and defenseless, until he was bleeding freely from his mouth, nose, chest, and calf, and could no longer stand of his own will, even with the support of a wall. Leia had immediately left the conference room; having forced herself to watch all of it, to endure all of it, her face drained of any color and her eyes devoid of any livelihood. She felt like a walking corpse. Forcing herself to hold back the tears, she walked swiftly to her office, locking the door behind her. And then, slumping to the floor, she let them free.
When she declared war on the Koornacht Cluster and on Nil Spaar, he sent another transmission. And this time the end was not the same, the words in the dark growl he issued at the end weren't the same, but the blood was the same.
This time, as he crouched over the broken and bloody body of Han Solo, instead of relaxing the muscles that brought forth his dew claw, he kept them tense. Turning his face towards the camera, he made his message clear.
"I told you to leave Koornacht."
He heaved Han Solo off of the ground and, whipping his dew claw across his neck, completely severed the head of the famous Solo from his body. Turning back to the holo, he stared directly at Leia.
"Now look what you've done."
All eyes were on Leia immediately after the transmission was closed. Her ashen cheeks were flooded with tears, and even the most optimistic in the room lost all hope of coaxing the life back into her eyes. Then she spoke. In the most disheveled broken voice, she spoke.
"Show it. Show it to every New Republic citizen and then some. Then I want to talk to them as well."
She remained silent after that, the tears still rolling down her cheeks with no hopes of lighting up. If anything, her eyes looked duller.
"This is a message from President Leia Organa Solo and the government of the New Republic. The following transmission is entirely not suitable for children of any age and should be removed from any means of watching. The following transmission was received from the infamous Nil Spaar at eleven twenty-three this morning."
The transmission was played and everyone in the conference room watched in disbelief as Leia watched again, her eyes glued to the screen, her gaze unwavering.
Leia swore she felt the entire galaxy gasp at the end.
"The President of the New Republic would now like to speak."
Leia stayed in the chair and the transmitter was brought to her.
"Like the Empire, Nil Spaar is the evil we now face. We will use everything we have to defeat him. For the sake of everyone he has killed, is killing, and will continue to kill unless we destroy him and his kind first. My husband did nothing to this monster, yet he was captured, tortured, and ruthlessly murdered for being affiliated with the New Republic and with me. I am no longer fit to lead this democracy, though how I love it, and I pray deeply that whoever follows in my footsteps will destroy that evil creature."
Everyone in the galaxy was crying by the end of her short speech, even Borsk Fey'lya. Her cold, lifeless eyes had chilled them to the core. The transmitter was still on when an aide burst into the room.
"Madam President, I'm sorry…but I'm afraid that I have some awful news."
"They already killed my husband, what could they do that would be any worse?"
"Nil Spaar, he sent agents, I don't know how…"
"What could they do that would be any worse?"
"They killed your children."
And the galaxy turned upside down.
If anyone could look dead, and manage to still be alive, it was Leia at that very moment. Her soul died with the last four words that aide said. Her eyes went completely and utterly black, not a fleck of deep auburn could be found. The tears had stopped, and if her face could get any whiter, it did. All color drained from her face, and it would never come back. Drayson, Ackbar, Alole, and Benny rushed to her side.
"Princess Leia, please say something."
Her mouth just barely moved and they heard one word.
"No."
The transmitter had somehow been left on in everyone's concern and the galaxy watched to see what would happen to their President.
Benny turned to Drayson and Ackbar and solemnly whispered, "She's dead."
"She's lost the will to live," Ackbar agreed.
"She's dead."
Every soul in the galaxy, except those associated with Nil Spaar of course, was riddled with anger, hatred, agony, sympathy, fear, and the utmost aggression.
A memorial service, led by Luke Skywalker, was held for the five Solo's who had lost their lives in the struggle against Nil Spaar at the war's end. Skywalker himself had almost joined them when he felt the ripples in the Force, which crashed like waves through his being.
She would have been moved to joy, but for the fact that at the end of the straight line she had drawn, Leia saw Han's death. But she never saw her children's, or her own.