Princess Leia Organa used her position in the Imperial Senate to benefit the growing
Rebel Alliance. Her consular vessel, which was afforded diplomatic immunity due to her ambassadorial status, frequently ran mercy missions as cover for assignments to aid Alliance efforts. Leia's starship could circumvent Imperial blockades due to its protected status. Such immunity did not extend to intercepting Alliance transmissions, Leia discovered, as
Darth Vader's
Star Destroyer crippled her blockade runner high over
Tatooine.
Imperial troops boarded the vessel, searching for stolen technical data beamed to the ship by Rebel spies. Though Vader's troops were unable to find the datatapes, they nonetheless took Leia captured and destroyed her ship. Officially, Leia's ship was caught in an asteroid storm and all aboard were killed, though when Leia was eventually liberated from Imperial detention, the truth became known.