Princess Leia 3 is the third of five issues of the Marvel comic book series Star Wars: Princess Leia. The issue, written by Mark Waid with art by Terry Dodson, was released on April 29, 2015.
The issue sees Princess Leia Organa and Rebel pilot Evaan Verlaine continuing their mission to rescue the survivors of the doomed planet Alderaan. Their mission leads them to a collective of Alderaanians on the volcanic world of Sullust—with the Galactic Empire in hot pursuit.
The pleasure yacht Lord Junn orbits the Outer Rim world of Sullust. Aboard the ship, Tace corresponds via hologram with her sister Tula, who reassures the latter that she should be grateful for serving alongside Princess Leia Organa. The two sisters vow to meet again.
Tula tells the Imperial Commander Dreed that the Princess has found an Alderaanian enclave in a cave system of the Mayjein Eruption on the planet Alderaan. While Dreed is pleased at Tula's ability to manipulate her sister, he still questions her loyalty since Tula still loves her sister.
At the Alderaan Enclave, the Preserver Jora Astane is alerted to a breach in auxiliary hatch three by Covis. Presenting a datapad, Covis alerts the Preserver to the arrival of Princess Leia. The Preserver orders her men to dispatch a rifle squad.
Meanwhile, the local Sullustan guide Nien Nunb tells Princess Leia and Evaan Verlaine that the local Alderaanians on Sullust have gone insane. Verlaine translates that the Alderaanian enclave have cut off contact with anyone outside the enclave. Using resources pooled from smuggling, the Alderaanians had bought the land.
The three are ambushed by several armed guards but Leia, Verlaine, and C-3PO quickly disarm them in hand-to-hand combat. Leia tells the disarmed guards to get up and that she will be entering the compound not as their prisoner but as their Princess. Leia, her companions, and the guards enter the Alderaan Enclave where they are greeted by Preserver Jora Astane.
Leia tells a skeptical Jora that she has come to evacuate the survivors of Alderaan aboard the pleasure ship Lord Junn. As proof, Leia asks Jora to allow R2-D2 to upload its coordinates. Jora reluctantly allows and tells Covis to mine every scrap of data from that ship including weapons profile, navigation history, and transmissions. Verlaine responds by telling Jora to trust the Princess.
Jora introduces his guest to the Eyewell, the heart of their surveillance operation in the Sullust system. When Leia asks what Jora's enclave were doing on Sullustan, the Preserver claims they were providing cultural services like food, education, and arts. However, Leia calls her group out for smuggling. Jora retorts by asking which is more shameful: breaking Imperial laws or making them?
Verlaine chastises Jora's group for treating Alderaan's traditions and arts as commodities. The Preserver tells Leia to control her "pet". Leia tells Verlaine not to provoke tem because they are fellow Alderaanians. The Eyewell picks up a transmission from the Lord Junn that they have discovered a traitor aboard. Believing that Leia and Verlaine are Imperial spies, the Preserver orders her men to shoot them.
Amidst a gun battle and skirmish, Leia manages to send a transmission to the Lord Junn telling them to jump to lightspeed. However, Uwa Pareece refuses to abandon Leia and Verlaine. At that point, the Lord Junns sensors picks up an Imperial Sentinel-class landing craft. With the help of R2-D2, Leia and Verlaine managed to escape the armed guards by fleeing down a manhole that leads to a former waterway populated by the rockrenders.
While Leia is despondent and questions herself, Verlaine tells the Princess not to blame herself. At that moment, R2-D2 rushes away. Though Verlaine thinks the astromech droid has abandoned them, Leia reassures the pilot that R2-D2 has a plan. While the smugglers battle stormtroopers above, R2-D2 arrives in a speeder with rockrenders in pursuit. R2-D2 herds the rockrenders through the tunnel leading back to the Alderaan Enclave.
The rockrenders attack the stormtroopers, intending to consume their armor, which is made from dense minerals. With the help of Leia, Verlaine, and the rockrenders, Jora's Enclave gain the upper hand. Meanwhile, Commander Dreed learns about the loss of his platoon but decides not to dispatch reinforcements so that he can find out where the Princess is heading and teach the Empire a "thing or two about combat."
Leia finds Jora tending to a fallen comrade. To Leia's surprise and delight, Jora tells her followers to kneel before their Princess. Jora apologizes for repaying Leia's good faith with suspicion. However, Leia thanks her for being on alert since they have a spy to catch.
- UPC 759606081424; April 29, 2015; Marvel Comics
- Star Wars: Princess Leia
- Star Wars: Heroes For a New Hope
- The Marvel Art of Star Wars