On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter XXXI

"Is this Valkyrie?" Vader asked. He had just ended his call with the twins, and it had become obvious that if they were to have a decent strategy with Vader included, he would need to try to see if Valkyrie could find somewhere that he could help. The entirety of the plan greatly depended on stealth, one of the few things Vader wasn't particularly good at.

"Who wants to know?" The voice was feminine, identical to the voice from the recording Luna had sent him, as was the holo symbol that was being projected.

It was Valkyrie. It seemed the comm codes Leia had given him were still good. Now all he had to do was hope that Valkyrie was separated enough from High Command to be unaware of quick changes and that she had never met him.

"There is going to be an attack on a high security base Commander Skywalker will be leading. High Command has assigned me to assist and said you would know where I would be best placed for the current plan."

"....Very funny Lord Vader, but we both know you haven't been in contact with Rebel High Command. You got Eclipse's message."

Vader blinked. Valkyrie.... Luna.... She knew.... "What?"

"I've met your apprentice's acquaintance. Anything to do with Commander Skywalker or Princess Leia, she requested me to keep tabs on for her. I assume she's the one who told you, and then you found a way to get this number. I must say, never in my wildest dreams had I thought you would come to me."

"Where is she?" Vader demanded.

"Eclipse? Even if I knew, I wouldn't say."

He made a sound of frustration.

"If that's all—" Valkyrie began, her tone implying that she was more than ready to cut the channel.

"No," Vader growled, cutting her off. "You made the plan for the attack. How best can I help without giving it away?"

"You're Darth Vader. Surely, you can figure that one out yourself."

"Stealth and Sith do not mix well."

"I believe that rule only applies to you," Valkyrie muttered so low Vader almost missed it before her voice returned to its normal volume. "I see your point. Unfortunately, I don't have any ideas besides stealth...."

"None?"

"Well...." Valkyrie dropped off before sighing. "Alright, you know what? I'm pretty sure Eclipse is planning to make an appearance on this particular mission as well to help with hacking into the facility. I can get word to her to assist with the sneaking in part for you, assuming you can get planetside without tripping any alarms, and after you could cause a distraction—that's the one thing Command refused to give them."

"She is?"

"Believe me, no one was happy with High Command, her least of all considering how dangerous it was. She ended up contacting you because of it after all. Only reason Fulcrum and I aren't assisting is because we've been forbidden to. Apparently they don't want all of their eggs in one basket."

How reassuring, she only contacts me when she's desperate. "Would I be able to meet up with her?"

"What do you think?"

"I'm asking you."

"Lord Vader, I'm sure you of all people would know where you stand with her. She was your apprentice after all."

"....You're close to her," Vader stated after a moment, needing to take a half second to recover from Valkyrie's statement, the past tense. "How is she?"

"Why do you care?" Her voice sounded curious though cautious.

"I don't." It was a response that left his lips on auto pilot.

It was a lie.

"Then why the hell did you even bother to ask?" Valkyrie asked, sounding angry. Vader didn't have a chance to respond before the comm disconnected.

The Sith Lord sat in silence for what felt like hours, rolling over the Rebel Warrior's words in his mind. Slowly but surely, he could feel a crushing weight begin to lift off of his shoulders, like a sun's rays peeking through thunderstorm cover.

There was a chance, a slim one, but a chance for him to see Luna again—perhaps even speak with her. Talk things out.

Slim as it may be, it was a chance.

But what would he even say?

Vader eventually stood, walking through the numerous halls before eventually stepping into the hanger bay. He tried to walk past the ships on the left side without looking at them, though he did not succeed—eyes automatically running over Luna's abandoned collection and sending pricks of pain through his heart.

She would come back eventually, for her ships if nothing else. The Sith supposed he could take some comfort in that.

Vader finally arrived at his destination, located on the right though it did not belong there: the Lunar Shadow. It had been over a year since he had last taken it into space—one tended to be careful when trying to hide the existence of a ship from the galaxy. He would have to do some tests to ensure the systems were running properly and that nothing had happened while the Shadow had been in storage before taking it anywhere, but this would be his ticket to the base. Perhaps his ticket for tracking down it's owner.

It was Luna's ship, though she did not know it—Vader had designed it with her in mind as the ship's sole purpose had been transport for him as he secretly searched for her. He had even thought about letting her keep it once he had finally located her—Luna would have needed a ship after all, and an untraceable one for someone like her, someone who needed to disappear, would have been perfect.

Of course those plans had fallen through the moment she'd been unfrozen.

Hopefully, the plans Vader would iron out while checking on the ship's condition would be more successful.