Title: The Path of Most Resistance
Summary: Set a few months after bloodline. Leia has eighteen months left in her term. She's been stymied politically. No one listens to her and she is very frustrated with the way of things.
AN: Absolutely huge spoilers for Bloodline by Claudia Gray. If you haven't read that you will not know who all the characters are here and you will be spoiled. It's a great book though, I highly recommend it. I cover some of the backstory here, and also make mention to some of the major spoilers. You've been warned! The proverb quoted below is actually a quote by Henry Ford.
Leia was sick of the New Republic Senate.
She was done. Things had been going poorly for the legislative body—and the entire New Republic—since Mon Mothma's illness had forced her to step away from public life. Sitting in her office, her thoughts drifted to how things had come to this.
No one had fully realized how much Mon Mothma had held things together as Chancellor until she was gone. Everyone had respected Mon Mothma. She was a force of nature. But since her retirement, partisanship had overtaken the senate. Two factions, the Populists and the Centrists, had arisen.
Things had gone downhill from there remarkably fast. Leia felt this experiment of Democracy had failed totally. Corruption and apathy ruled the day, but in its shadow she feared something far more sinister lurked.
Leia knew there were good people in both parties, but they wouldn't talk to each other. They wouldn't work together. And a democracy where the people didn't talk to each other was doomed to failure.
Centrists were of the belief that the New Republic needed someone in a strong position of leadership to force the system to work. There was merit to this argument. In the current system, nothing got done because the Chancellor was more of a 'first among equals' as opposed to a powerful executive.
However, in Leia's opinion, the galaxy had its fill of powerful executives. That was where the populists came in. They were against a strong leader and centralized power, because of what Palpatine had once done with such a position.
If only people would listen and work together for the common good. If only they would compromise.
Leia had been thinking the same sorts of thoughts months now. She was so tired. Tired of fighting an enormous bureaucracy that was perpetually feeding itself, accomplishing nothing and then congratulating itself for a job well done.
Several months prior, her career had ended, for all intents and purposes. Over three decades of service destroyed in an instant. When the galaxy found out her terrible secret—that her father was Darth Vader.
She was grateful for the New Republic Constitution which protected children from the sins of parents, lest she would have been brought up on war crimes charges faster than she could say not guilty.
She was further angered that in the fallout her mother was overshadowed. Padmè Amidala had been a patriot and a staunch Republican. She had fought hard for the Republic and stood up to then-Chancellor Palpatine as he accrued absolute power. She was a brave woman-with arguably bad taste in men-but she had done what few others would have.
Padme too was in Darth Vader's shadow.
The worst part was Leia understood why people were so leery of her now. Darth Vader had been the villainous face of the Empire. Horrible. Evil. It took Leia years—no, decades—to come to term with her parentage.
That didn't mean she was happy about her treatment though. She had given all of her best years to making democracy and freedom a reality for an entire galaxy. But when the truth about one accident of birth had come to light it was all seemingly for naught.
Leia knew her thoughts were going to a dark place. She had a mission now, and had come to a decision a few nights ago after talking to Han. Her mission had to come first, and she couldn't do that behind a desk, mired in bureaucracy.
There was knock at the door and Greer Sonnel, her aide walked in. Greer had stood by her when most of the galaxy hadn't.
"Your highness, I've just heard back from the Speaker Droid and you've got a quorum to speak to the Senate during tomorrow's session."
"That was easy," Leia said. It had taken considerable political jockeying to achieve the needed quorum last time she spoke before the Senate to discuss her findings on Sibensko. Her findings which showed the galaxy was a much darker place than anyone knew.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this? There's still a chance you could make positive change here in the Senate."
Leia shook her head. "My time here is done. This is the right call. The Resistance is more important, especially since the Senate has not heeded the warnings I've brought back about danger lurking in the Unknown Regions."
After six months, they still didn't even know the name of their enemy. It was well hidden, and with the limited resources at her disposal, she could not do much more than what she was doing. She empathized with what Mon Mothma, her father, and others must have gone through in forming the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
Greer nodded and pressed a few buttons on her datapad which caused Leia's to light up, with the new files added to it. She glanced down and saw that her name was on the top of the speakers at the meeting.
She smiled wryly.
Senator Leia Organa, Princess of Alderaan, would be making headlines one last time.
Leia sat in her pod in the Senate chamber. The meeting was called to order by the Moderator Droid and it announced her. Being one of the few senators that had served since the foundation of the New Republic, she had a great deal of seniority, and thus she was first to speak.
She stood, poised and proud, remembering the lessons her father—Bail Organa—had taught her. She wore the traditional white robes that marked her as the Senator from Alderaan. "Fellow Senators, I stand before you today and again warn you of the dangers skulking in the dark. An enemy lurks in the shadows and we must take action or be destroyed."
Leia paused and glanced around the room. They did not seem to be listening. She let out a breath. She had done all she could here. Her influence utterly spent and her resolve steeled. Any lingering doubts about her actions here were gone. Her eyes stayed on Carise Sindian who glared with loathing up at Leia. The former-Lady Carise's hate caused Leia to smile slightly—Carise deserved much worse than what she got, but stripping her of her royal titles was all Leia could do. For now. Ransom deserved better. Deserved more. Perhaps one day.
"But I will not speak of that today. I have spoken of this threat to many of you privately and will continue to do so going forward. However, I announce today that my time in the Senate is over."
That got their attention. There was murmuring around the chamber. They were listening now. Even one of the camera droids flew a little closer. "Effective immediately I hereby resign from this body. In my leaving I hope that I can offer some thoughts on service. Though we've not always agreed on how to do things, we all must agree that for the New Republic to survive we need to work together." There was another murmur. "I am not just speaking of Populist working with Centrist but also to every New Republic citizen. We must work together to prepare for what will come.
"The most fundamental aspect of our democracy is the people. Not just those we work for, but each other. We represent those self-same people here, and need to lead by example. I implore you not to forget this as time goes forward. Work together, strive, achieve. Look past petty political differences and see the bigger picture.
"Beings suffer on a thousand worlds. Wounds from the Empire and the lawlessness that followed still need healing. That is why you are here. To make the galaxy a better place. Never forget this.
"We still linger in the Empire's shadow. We must fight for the future we want for our children. We must come together or all who have fought and lost so much for freedom will have done so for naught."
Leia paused here, letting her words sink in and thinking of Ben, and the galaxy he might grow old in. "I know that we may not have always agreed, but none can dispute my commitment to a free galaxy. Even as I leave, I will be doing all I can to ensure that this Republic that we all have worked so hard for will endure.
"But it cannot survive if reasonable beings cannot serve together. So take these, my last words to you, an ancient proverb from Alderaan, "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."
With that Leia sat down and another chapter of her life was over. She knew her speech wouldn't change much in this dysfunctional Senate, but it was all she could do.
Leia knew she would be able to do more by working outside of the system. And she had a feeling there would be a lot that needed to be done in the near future. Idly Leia wondered if she and Han would ever get to retire and just fly around the galaxy together. That idea still appealed to her but it always seemed so far off. One day, she promised herself, one day.
For now, she would do what she did best. She would fight. And Force help anyone who stood in her way.