Thanks for the responses.
1. Wow. Stats like that on my Ventress...try as I might I can't squeeze out those kinds of mods. I guess I have to call it a day on that front.
2. Yes I did read the descriptions, I do know as well that her leadership supposedly prevents crits on toons that have prot up although I can't confirm if T6 Padme has a zeta. That's why I took extra care to set everything up such that she had as little prot up stacks as possible - mostly none - before I dared to take her on. My posted results were with these in mind, plus it was with crit which (should) mean she didn't have prot up at all.
I dunno about whether the match seems the same for me as with everyone; the threads here are filled with horror RNG stories and other unexplainable phenomenon too. It could just be me but I doubt it: as compared to Chewie (which I 7*) and Threepio (which I 6*) this event feels very...wrong in comparison.