[13]
Leia watches from the bay window as the three men leave the senator's apartment for the Jedi Temple. They reach the waiting air car and Anakin and Obi-Wan step inside with a swirl of their cloaks. But Luke turns back to wave.
His cheerful farewell reminds her of leaving Hoth. She can still hear his voice over the communications channel promising to meet them all at the rendezvous: chipper, confident.. comforting... He'd just been released back to active duty when the Empire found them and he'd charged off to lead the Rogues in a defensive dance while the Rebellion evacuated. Luke Skywalker's optimism brought hope to a grim cause. Leia had drawn on memories of that optimism, glad to think of him safe with their friends, while the Falcon limped toward port—any port in a storm—only he'd been studying under the last of the Jedi masters instead. Even with the obvious pleasure Luke takes in the company of Anakin Skywalker, Leia hasn't seen her brother quite so unabashedly happy since and she has a feeling that another Bespin awaits them both.
"I'm sorry," says Padmé, standing with her and watching the Jedi vehicle vanish into the traffic pattern. "About earlier. I shouldn't have pried into your past. I was hot on the scent and the thrill of discovery overruled my better judgment."
"You were curious." Leia can think of a few instances where she's been the one pushing past clear warnings that the other party didn't want to discuss the subject further. She's not going to hold it against the other woman.
"Will you forgive me?"
It's a simple gesture, easily overlooked, but it speaks volumes to Leia. Now that she has had the privilege of getting to know Senator Amidala, the way Padmé considers others feelings over her own is one of the things Leia admires most about the woman's character. "Yes," Leia says, leaving her acceptance full and unconditional.
"Would you rather stay here today?"
No, Leia would not. Left to herself, she would brood. Better to keep busy. She dresses carefully, choosing her gown to compliment Padmé's more ornate attire, and braids and pins her thick brown hair into a crown. With Moteé and Ellé she flanks Padmé and they weave in and out of routine. There's talk of giving the Supreme Chancellor more control of the army, giving him a free hand to direct operations without appealing to the senators for approval. Leia shivers as they walk in the shadow of the enormous statues that overlook the upper corridors of the rotunda. She cannot help but identify these pieces of art as 'Late Republic' instead of 'contemporary' and that as much as anything else depresses her spirits. It has been a long, hard, fight and the spark of hope that flared with Bail Organa's vouching for her and her brother with the fledgling Rebellion seems only a dim memory.
Despite her best efforts, the Empire is a ghostly construct over this reality and it grows more concrete every day.
She'd hoped that she and Luke could change things. Palpatine is one man and surrounded by active, intelligent, thinkers—if only the other members of the Senate would open their eyes and see what they are promoting! But the machinery of state grinds on in blind solidarity, steered by Palpatine through all objections as if they are no more than a dreamer's fancy.
"You are worried about Luke?" Padmé asks.
"Maybe a little," says Leia, forcing a smile. "It's silly—I know. What could happen to him in the Jedi Temple?"
Padmé looks at her gravely, but doesn't rush to defend the order. The reassurance she gives is much more personal. "Anakin won't let anything happen to him."
True. Leia is startled to find that she both believes this and finds it comforting.
Alarms blare, jolting her into the present and warning them to seek a safe place. The guards draw close while Padmé stands in the hall and checks a datapad to see what has occasioned the drill. Captain Typho looks on, disapproving. He'd rather join the crush that has appeared out of offices and conference rooms heading for the emergency exits. The hall empties as suddenly as it filled, leaving them as a small compact group against one of the high inner walls. Padmé bites her lip. "We're under attack."
"Here?" asks Leia. Coruscant has always been dangerous. The attack in the streets was not surprising. But the Emperor kept insurrection far from his person and relied on intimidation and assassination to keep the Senate divided and useless. Discontented splinter groups might make efforts against system alliances but she can't remember the last time the evacuation procedures have been used in the event of anything other than a drill. A viable, concentrated, raid seems as unlikely as green vegetation occurring naturally on Hoth.
Distant blaster fire and the roar of a heavier artillery can be heard turning the senate complex into a battleground. Leia feels an ember of wrath kindling, warming her cheeks and setting her blood alight. She's accused Palpatine of warmongering, of using the fight against the Separatists to his own advantage—what will this attack cost them?
"Here," snaps Captain Typho, rapidly loosing patience with his charges who are still lingering in the open when they could be moving to a more defensible position. "And now, in case you haven't noticed. Close ranks and let's move."
The head of security tosses Leia his second blaster. He remembers how she'd used the weapon in the failed ambush. The blaster is cold and solid in her hands, the ammunition clip charged and ready to spit fire at the ranks of spindly Separatist droids moving in formation through the outer corridors of the Senate. Captain Typho tries to find an exit route but the shortest ways outside are blockaded by workers and droids alike.
They engage in a series of brief clashes as they search for a viable option. Leia makes every shot count—aiming without relying on what her eyes see—and leaves a trail of scrap metal. It is a task as familiar as delivering pretty speeches and has the same hollow accomplishment. Overhead and all around them the towering panels of transparisteel that let in the ever-varied lights of Coruscant are caught in the crossfire. Small cracks appear, spreading out in a spiderweb of distortion and throwing a shadow across the floor. She calls a warning a split second before the panes shatter in an explosion of falling shards.
It is what Leia fears is happening to the Republic. This attack will leave deep scars on the Senate.
Another embattled group of senators repulses a wave of droids. At their head is the clean-cut figure of Senator Organa. Padmé greets Bail, and he is relieved to see her alive and well. "The attack is concentrated on the Supreme Chancellor's chambers."
That is interesting, Leia thinks. She could support the Separatists in that action. If they succeed—
"Unfortunate," says Padmé. "Politically speaking, without the Chancellor there is no one strong enough to keep the Republic from dissolving."
The two groups join forces and the way between them and the office of the Supreme Chancellor is remarkably clear of droids. They hear the clatter of small arms fire mixed with the heavier pulse of artillery and come out into a bigger conflict than they anticipated. The special guard, meant to protect the Chancellor against just such an attack of this, has been overwhelmed. Only a few remain on their feet, defying the press of droids. The Chancellor, looking like a frail old man, stands at his desk, watching the proceedings from inside a small energy shield. The generator is at his feet.
A chill slides down Leia's spine. Palpatine might be frail, but he is not afraid.
They attack the droids from the rear, but reinforcements surround them, calling for the surrender of their weapons.
The office is a wreck. There are no more defensible spots, and Palpatine is urging compliance. "Do not throw away your lives, my friends—"
Leia's blaster splutters, warning that the charge is almost exhausted. The other Naboo are in a similar position. Padmé exchanges a glance with Bail Organa, and his shoulders slump just enough to show that he cannot think of a way out of their bind either. Useless blasters fall to the ground and the group is marched along, the Chancellor and Senators shielded by the bodies of their companions in the center, past scenes of destruction and carnage.
They are halted before a transport where the Separatist Commander looks on. He seems at ease amid the firestorm he has created, looking the prisoners over with a superior gaze. He reminds Leia of Tarkin—if the Moff had been as powerful as Vader. It's not a good combination, and she wonders what had happened to this player on the galactic stage. "Take the Naboo Senator," he orders the droid captaining the squad. "If we are stopped, she will pay the price."
The Chancellor and Padmé are prodded out from the midst of the group with rifle butts. Padmé holds her head high. "You will not get away with this, Dooku—"
He smiles coldly in response, unimpressed.
No, no, no! thinks Leia. Padmé is needed here. Without pausing to fully consider the consequences, she steps forward and shouts. "Wait! I am Senator Amidala."
Every eye turns to her, and Leia meets their gaze, every inch a senator and princess. It is common knowledge that Senator Amidala has hidden herself among her handmaidens before but that she will also not allow them to come to harm if she can prevent it.
Padmé opens her mouth to protest but Leia is already stepping forward to take the position at Palpatine's side. "You have done well," Leia assures her heroine. "Don't worry—the Senate will ransom us."
Padmé would actually try to keep the Chancellor safe. She would see it as her duty no matter how much she disagreed with the man. Leia sees this as an opportunity to rid the galaxy of the Empire once and for all.
Anakin is not yet inextricably meshed in Palpatine's schemes. Luke is with the Jedi; Padmé and Senator Organa remain behind in the Senate Complex where they may not be safe, exactly, but safer—a fine distinction but an important one—and have a fighting chance of survival. Alderaan is still out of the picture. In fact, everything that she cares about or which could be used against her is safely away.
As the transport leaves the atmosphere, Leia wonders if this sense of fierce willingness to take on evil itself is how Luke felt upon entering the Death Star II.