The Last Hope: Part One: Leia's Ascension

By Wildchartermage

AN: Let me know what do you think of this story. I know the last chapter wasn't enough to uhhh…make the story interesting or go ahead. Anyway, read my chappie! Oh! Don't forget, to read my other story The Empress, Jedi, & Sith 1 if you haven't. Just click on my penname link. Sorry I hadn't updated that story for a while, but I just had a whim to do this story. I promise to try to update the other story as soon as I can!

Disclaimer applies.

Question for you:

In the future, if I do not update very much (likely), and when I update, I think when you read a new chapter from me, your memories may be hazy about the previous chapters. So I guess it irritates you that you had to go back and skim through the story to "get" the story before reading a new chapter. (Same thing for me). Tell me:

1) Does the summary of the previous chapter help you? (Or otherwise, I wouldn't put summaries in each chapter).

2) Is any other way I can help you remember the previous chapters better?

Summary of The Last Hope Series: After killing Palaptine, Vader is now the emperor of the Empire and Luke is his heir to the Imperial throne. Rebellion is crushed, but still survives to continue to fight the Empire and its new emperor. Before that, Vader had ensnared Luke to the dark side when he ran away from Tatooine to join the Academy to be a pilot. Since Luke had fallen to the dark side, as Obi-wan and Yoda feared, the galaxy and Rebellion must hope for their last hope: Leia Organa.

Summary of Alderaan's Destruction(last chapter): Leia was on her way to her home world from a field trip in the Imperial Senate. She is a student of the University of Alderaan currently and is not a full-fledged politician yet. Before she knew it, she witnessed the cruel slaughter and genocide of her planet. The first Death Star had obliterated the planet into nothing, and caused to give her a reason to join the Rebellion and fight against the Empire. She wants revenge for Alderaan and her dead family and friends. All of this happened during Palaptine's rule, and Luke had fallen to the dark side already. Luke is known as Prince Vader.

Chapter Two: Flashback

Three months later…

It has been three months since Leia joined the Rebellion, so she can fight against the Empire, and could not let the death of Alderaan be left without justice and in vain.

She didn't have a hard time finding a "recruiting" base, because her father had contacts with people in the Rebellion, which was a no surprise to her. After all those years, she secretly suspected that her father was involved in the Rebellion and the contacts confirmed that. All she had to do to find the contacts is to flip through her father's address book in his Coruscant apartment. Then pick a name that sounds familiar to her in the past life and comlink the person. Then, she's on her way to the Rebellion.

The first three months since she joined had been intense and exhilarating and nerve wrecking for her. But it's all worth it. First, Leia was sent on "mercy" missions to ship "illegal" cargoes or supplies to other bases and men.

The best thing of the missions is that she gets to fly ships, even it's loaded with illegal cargoes. Leia loves to fly ships, like it's in her blood. Whenever she flies, the blood in her veins hummed and sang joyfully.

Then, when she had proved her worth to the Alliance, Leia was sent to more serious and dangerous missions that had to involve her diplomatic and flying skills.

There was one time where Prince Vader nearly caught and sent her to jail when she was one of those "mercy" missions to ship cargoes and meet one of the Alliance's spies. Leia was never sent to meet a spy unless she can be trusted. But she had proved her worth to the Council. Leia and Prince Vader had met face to face, and to this day, she is still kind of confused over her encounter with him.

Leia had to go to one of those Imperial Bases and meet with one of the Alliance's spies in the Empire. She just obtains and passes on the information from the spy to the Council.

It's very risky, because if Leia and the spy were spied on and caught by the Imps, she would be in a jail and executed for treason, while the Alliance would lose a very valuable asset.

When she was flying to the base, a place overrun with stormtroopers and the imperial loyalists, Prince Vader's star destroyer The Interceptor had popped out of nowhere and seemed hot on her tail. There was a verbal warning sent to her, telling her to pull over.

She had to stop her ship and let the stormtroopers investigate her ship, for illegal cargoes may be hidden in it.

Fortunately for her, the cargoes were placed in a new secret compartment that the stormtroopers wouldn't think of looking into it: the 'fresher.

Instead of putting under the floor, which seems too obvious to hide the cargoes, she had to be creative. So, Leia had created a hidden room behind the walls of the 'fresher. After all, no soldiers want to hang around in the bathroom and look at a person's personal items.

Throughout the process of being questioned by the stormtroopers, Leia had kept her face calm and herself poised and dignified with a bearing of a royal. She had prepared for this happenstance many months ago, so she wouldn't panic and give away herself.

"Who are you?"

"What is your business here?"

"Why are you heading to Aurora's Base?"

Those questions were fired at her rapidly, hoping to catch her off-guard. This is one of the tactics used by questioners, in order to catch them off-guard and send them into panic mode where they think they must be able answer them quickly. And leave the possibility of a slip-up from the person.

This didn't work on her anyway. Leia was trained better than that, and she recognized the tactic being used on her.

"I am Princess Leia Organa, the royal heir to the dead throne of Alderaan. I am heading to Aurora's Base because I am visiting one of my friends, an Alderaannian, " replied Leia calmly.

But she fired a question back at them, " What business you have in my ship? What is the meaning of this?"

One of the stormtroopers started to reply back, but he was interrupted by a dark and silky voice, " That will be all. I will explain to the princess myself. Dismissed."

The stormtroopers went rigid, saluted, and took place by a wall.

Prince Vader was standing by the door entrance. He was dressed in black from head to toe. Obviously some clothes the best money can buy. He looked very handsome, tall, and blond with cool deep blue eyes that showed no emotion. But when Leia met his eyes, his eyes began to flicker, as if he recognized her, but they had never met each other before.

Leia should be trembling or be scared of him, for that she heard some gut wrenching stories about him from her comrades.

But strangely, she does not feel any fear of him. Instead, completeness and a sense of security and safety engulfed her. That feeling didn't happen out of nowhere, but it just appeared when Leia and Prince Vader met face-to-face.

Disturbingly, Prince Vader felt the same way. He had never felt this way before, not since he was on Tatooine living with his aunt and uncle.

He thought it was strange; he didn't know how to explain it, but when he meets his father, Lord Vader, again, Prince Vader will ask him about the strange feelings he felt. Maybe it's one of the things from the Force. Maybe his father knows something about it.

Prince Vader strode up to her confidently with an air of authority and power. Then gave her a short and formal bow and introduced himself, " Princess Leia Organa, I am Prince Vader, third in command and heir to the Imperial throne. I apologize for this disturbance. We received reports about you and, ah, your activities around the galaxy."

Prince Vader did not use "Your Highness", because, technically, they are equal in rank where they are a prince and princess. If a duke and another duke address each other, they do not use "my lord" or such thing when addressing each other; instead they address each other by their full title and name as Prince Vader did to show their respect and courtesy.

Leia gave him a short and formal bow too and replied, " Apology accepted. I have heard about you on the Holonet for a while. It was a quite sudden appearance for us. What activities did I do around the galaxy?"

"Ah well, yes. I know my appearance was sudden, but I was not revealed until the Emperor decided the time is right for me to make my appearance to the public," then Prince Vader quickly changed the topic to Leia's activities, for he doesn't like to talk much about himself and his…. past. "I've had reports that you were transporting goods to planets around the galaxy. Most unlike activity for a princess, isn't it?"

Leia detected a subtle threat from his tone and question, if she answered the question wrong, or if the prince does not like the sound of her answer. She'll be stamped as a rebel, whisked off to a jail, and await execution for treason whether she's a princess or not. She better act fast and answer right if she were get her skin out of this increasingly dangerous situation alive.

She straightened and composed herself before answering smoothly, " Why, I'm just only transporting goods for the remaining Alderaanians, since that planet was long gone. They have no home and are refugees; so as their princess, I must do my duty to my people. Now, is that what a princess would do?"

Prince Vader felt a moment of sadness and loss for the death of a great civilization. He, like his father, never liked the "technological terror" where a civilization could be obliterated with a push of a button. He could sympathize with her for the loss of her planet. If it were his home planet, no matter how much he hated it, were gone, he'll be sad. However, he does not show this on his face.

Since the princess's answer seemed to placate the prince, because he looked at her again and softly said, " Very well, I apologize for the disturbance again. Do as you should to your people."

Leia nodded her head and said, " Thank you, Prince Vader. It's been a pleasure meeting you."

"You too, " replied the prince. Then, he formally bowed to her again, for Leia is a princess and should be treated thus.

He sharply turned around to leave the ship. And stormtroopers marched after him. That was the end of the encounter between Luke and Leia. Both of them thought they probably wouldn't see each other again for a long time. But, little they did know, they will meet each other again months later.

AN: Let me know what you think of this sorta flashback chapter. And I hope you like it, and I really enjoyed writing this series. AND don't forget to answer the questions at the beginning of this chapter! I just want to enhance your experience in reading this story, and help you to remember it! I mean, I never saw any of other fics doing summaries except taking an excerpt from the previous chapter, and I thought that was quite effective. Should I do that? Let me know, please: