My Heart Is Nuclear

I have one other ask about this very scenario and I’m not saying Vader killed Kris but I’m also not saying he didn’t. At no point did Leia know that there was a mission that needed a pilot that also had a very high chance of outright failure. And because of that lack of knowledge, she did not recommend Kris for said mission off the books, because again she did not know about this mission. 
 

No one can prove that she had the feeling that Vader would show up and no one can prove that she wrote down what Kris had done and said to her sister on a datachip and then encrypt it before hiding it in Kris’ flight suit. (It was a lucky break that when Kris was shot down, he actually lived through the crash into atmo. Well, he thought it was lucky, at least.)
 

Vader found him, of course, and then he found the chip. The encryption was easy to break and then Kris’ neck was easy to snap. 
 

But no one can prove that Leia had anything to do with it. Why would she ever sabotage her own rebellion like that or have anything to do with someone like Darth Vader, the Emperor’s fist and the thing that tortured her mind to try and peel the location of the rebellion from her? She wouldn’t. 

(This does not make them friends or allies. Leia just figures, if the Emperor can use Vader like a personal murderbot, so can she.)

“Luke, Luke come look at this!” Wedge shouts as he runs toward her, a flimsi held in the hand he has above his head, waving like a flag. Luke looks up from the intelligence report she’s going over - there’s a clear leak somewhere in the lower command of the rebellion and she’s gonna hunt it out if she has to hide in the fucking airducts.
 

Wedge slams down next to her on the bench, swaying close to show off his prize, and it’s really unfair how nice his force presence is - it makes her want to smile and snuggle close, maybe ask Wedge if he wants to take a nap with her, but men have a distressing tendency to take that to mean she wants other things than just cuddling. She’s not sure she could take ruining the friendship they have over such a misunderstanding, so she never actually asks him, but every time he wraps his arm around her shoulder or knocks into her with a smirk she wants so badly to ask him to cuddle with her. It’s unfair.
 

“Where in the norns did you get an Imperial wanted poster for Leia?” Luke asks when she catches sight of the picture of her sister scowling up at her.
 

“That’s the best part - this is your wanted poster!” Wedge announces and flattens the flimsi so she can make out the text. And wouldn’t you know it, the text does in fact read:
 

WANTED: ALIVE

LUKE SKYWALKER, TERRORIST

Wanted for murder, destruction of property, theft of military secrets, wholescale destruction of military property, impersonation of military personnel, kidnapping, trespassing into restricted airspace, and public menacing

REWARD: Three Billion Imperial Credits

The long list is rather impressive, given that most of it is twisted to make her into some kind of monster, but the most baffling thing about the poster is the fact that they have used a very clear photo of Leia, not her. The image of her sister must be from her time in the Senate, because her hair is done up in a complicated braid that circles her head twice and then has the rest of it piled in a bun at her crown, inside the circles. It’s a hairstyle that Luke, who has never had her hair grow beyond her shoulders before cutting it off, would not in a million years be able to wear.
 

It also shows Leia clearly wearing her Senate id tag. It’s pinned to her right lapel, in clear view, with her name and status on it.
 

She looks up at Wedge, whose smile is only growing wider, and then they both burst out laughing.
 

“You-You’re such a good spy the Imps can’t even get a proper photo of you!” Wedge gets out, crying from the laughter as he throws his arm around her to hold himself up. Luke wheezes at the sheer stupidity of that and hits the table a few times, unable to help it.
 

She’s such a bad spy that not only does the entire Empire know her name but she’s been forbidden from so much as touching the files for covert operations because she has no sense of subtle and cannot act to save her life. She can’t even act to save Han’s life and he’s one of her best friends!
 

Leia can go undercover even now, with her sharing the same face as famous Luke Skywalker, because she knows how to act and wear a wig properly - Luke can’t so much as get into Imp space without either her father instantly sensing her and coming in her direction like a rubber band or announcing her presence to put the fear of, well, herself into a battle station full of stormtroopers.
 

She knows, for a fact, that the Empire has security footage of her and yet they put Leia’s picture on this? She’d be offended if not for the fact that she currently can’t breathe from the sheer incompetence of the move.
 

“I-I have to show Han this! I’m dying!” Luke gets out, leaning into Wedge’s shoulder as she tries to calm down enough to grab the flimsi from him and run off to where she knows Han and Chewie are staying.
 

“So secretive!” Wedge gets out and Luke looses it again. 

Right now all I’m thinking of is twin shenanigans. Luke and Leia swapping clothes and playing pranks on everyone. People constantly trying to hand Luke datapads meant for Leia and poor Luke is just like “no, really, i’m not leia”. And the pilots coming up to Leia all “how do I fix xyc?” and Leia is like “I…think do this? I don’t know, ask my sister”
 

Honestly, I can’t imagine a lot would change just because of this. It would be funnier in a lot of places, I def think, but overall I don’t think a lot of it would change? Vader would figure out that Leia is his daughter once he puts a face to “Luke Skywalker” because obvious, but I doubt he’d get a chance to do anything like apologize to her for torturing her for information. 
 

Especially since even if Leia Organa is his biological daughter, she’s not his daughter. She’s Bail’s daughter - she’s not a Skywalker like her sister is and that would matter to Vader. Leia is not a substitute for Luke so just because he realizes that they’re twins; he’d still be hunting for Luke Skywalker, his daughter, because names are important when they’re all you have. 
 

Would he go easier on the Rebels? It’s hard to go easier on them than he was in canon, since he became singularly obsessed with getting Luke Skywalker in his custody and pretty much left the Rebels to the rest of the army. And Sidious wouldn’t bother with Leia for the same reason he doesn’t bother with her in the canon - as far as he knows, she’s not force-sensitive so he can’t use her as a replacement for Vader. 
 

But overall, I think the only thing that this would change in the story would be that instead of having Leia and Luke kiss and then have a “whoops, we’re related!” moment that whole thing wouldn’t happen. Because, yeah, that other girl has your face - pretty obvious that you’re related. I also think they’d do that “let’s see if Han really loves you for your personality or your face” thing and have Luke come onto Han, as Leia, and it almost work only for Han to be like “kid, your sister would kill me if I put my lips anywhere near you. What are you doing??”