So far I'd say you're doing well. Phoenix is a good faction, but you will need Captain Rex to make them viable, since he's not accelerated yet he's a slow farm and there's no problem waiting several months till he becomes more accessible (if you do farm him early you won't regret it he completely transforms the squad).
The empire is an excellent early team and Mara Jade with Palpatine are well worth the resources.
You're Geos will be important one day to collect Wat Tambor and their ships are typically considered one of the best early ship grinds. A note on ships you'll want to get a head start on these early and especially dark side ships like the Geos. Dark side ships are used for the ability mat ship challenge which will eventually reward you zetas, so don't sleep on ships.
As for what to farm there's not really a right or wrong way to go about it, just depends on what you want. There are plenty of farming guides on YouTube to give you an idea of where to go but in the end it's about what you want to do to have fun. The best thing to do is to turn to the journey. You're already going for Padme who is an excellent early to mid game legendary.
I'd say start collecting strong but accessible legendaries first like Padme, CLS (Commander Luke), Darth or Jedi Revan. Don't forget to take time to build up their teams and other non legendary teams along the way. But pick a long term goal to have in mind and slowly work towards like a GL (they often require you to farm specific legendary characters along the way anyway) or a ship like executor or profundity. If you're not sure what GL I'd suggest Jedi Master Luke, Jabba or Leia since they share similar requirements and are easily (for GLs) farmed one after another.
Okay that was a little long. Anyway the big thing is to have fun whatever path you choose. Don't just listen to some random guy on the forums like me though, check out some of the great swgoh players on YouTube there's a wealth of game knowledge there. Good luck.
