On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter LXXVIII

"I don't sense Luna anymore," Luke noted a moment after the pair had turned down a long corridor. They were deep into the Sith Temple now, deeper that Vader had ever been before. The Sith's son was right, of course, Luna had cut herself from the Force, though it had taken her much longer than the Dark Lord had expected for her to notice their presence. It did not sit well with him.

But that meant they were a lot closer to her last location which meant that it would be easier to catch up.

The Sith Lord led them through a grand entry way into a hall that had thrones lining either side. Vader could sense the darkside was strong here, as were many presences despite the Sith and Jedi being the only living beings among the thrones. He sensed his son's fear spike.

"Father—"

"By my side," Vader interrupted, eyeing both sides of the hall as he moved forward, Force presence wrapped protectively around the boy's. "Sith have remained here."

Luke didn't need further encouragement, guard raising even further as he moved closer to his father's side. "Why was Luna here?" the Jedi learner hissed.

"We'll ask her when we find her," the Sith responded, cautiously moving forward, looking for even the slightest hint of one of the ancient Sith. However, there were none to be found as they ventured further into the hall, though Vader did notice that someone had apparently decided to destroy one of the thrones. Who would be foolish enough to do that and raise the ire of the owner? Surely not Luna. She knew better than to pick fights with Sith spirits.

That was his thought on the matter until they actually made it within sight of the inscription. The Sith moved closer to read over the Sith words while Luke ventured a few steps away to study something on the ground. Upon reading over the ruins, Vader balled a hand and the remaining empty throne on the dais imploded.

"Much better," he grumbled to himself.

"Look at this," Luke muttered, seeming to have decided to not question his Father's wanton destruction at the moment, as he gestured at something on the ground in front of him. "It's blood. New too."

"Let me see," Vader said, moving to kneel at his son's side, pressing a hand to the ground. The Sith could sense an echo of Luna's presence, one of fear. "She was here." Reaching through the Force, he stood, sensing the direction she had gone and noticing the dark marks on some of the rubble from the larger throne she had destroyed leading to a back passage, a small blood trail that would likely disappear a few feet in. "This way."

Within moments, they had left the hall of dead Sith and were following the trailing echoes of the girl's presence.

~*~

The tuk'ata knew his way about the secret passages. Unfortunately, Luna was mostly following blind and in pain. The farther they went the more Luna had to admit to herself that there was no way she'd make it back out of the Valley before Vader caught up with them. The tuk'ata also seemed to be aware of her current start and had moved to her side to lend some support, like Artoo had done when she first visited the Rebel Fleet all those years ago. Unfortunately, the Sith hound wasn't in the best of shape to lend support due to the fact the creature only had three legs.

"Can you take us to the surface instead?" Luna asked after several painful minutes. The Sith hound grunted in response and immediately altered his course. The girl pulled out her comm. "Kaytee, get the ship in the air. I'll be launching a beacon for pick up soon."

There was a flurry of whistles, beeps, and other Binary that had nothing to do with Luna's orders and everything to do with her extended radio silence. Apparently Luna had spent almost all of her designated Sith Space exploration time in the tombs of Moraband.

"Later, Kay," she interrupted, voice tense with pain and annoyance when there was a break in the beeps. "I'll explain on the ship."

"You got yourself hurt again, didn't you?!"

"Later!"

"Fine. You organic beings are always trying to do more than you're capable of!"

"You know, you didn't give me a heads up about another ship landing."

"I tried. There was too much interference with the signal. The Angel's Pearl landed a while ago. Two lifeforms disembarked. Seventy-five percent chance the second was Luke."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Luna mumbled. "T.T.Y.L."

She and the tuk'ata continued onwards, climbing upwards until they eventually reached an ancient stone door. The girl reached into the Force, noting that Luke was indeed planetside and he and his father were far too close for comfort, and shot the door forward and off its hinges, allowing the light of the sunrise to enter the tunnel, blinding her and the Sith hound as the ex-Shadow activated the beacon.

"Come on, Kay," Luna hissed under her breath as she moved out into the open, monitoring the progress of father and son through the Force. After what felt like a far too long half minute, the Artemis's Illision's engines reached the girl's ears as the ship came into sight, slowing down and turning to position the already lowering ramp to face her. Luna started forward, stopping at a whine from behind her. She sighed.

"If you truly wish to join me, come," Luna told the tuk'ata, glancing back at it for a moment before climbing onto the ramp. She heard the Sith hound's claws clattering at her heels as the creature followed. Ahsoka's going to kill me, Luna noted grimly. The Grey Jedi had never stricken her as a pet person, and a Sith hound.... Well, she'd get to that when she got to it.

"Kay, get us out of the atmosphere and start getting coordinates for Vodran!" Luna yelled as she closed the ramp, feeling as though she could feel Vader's breath on her neck, the Sith was so close. "Hurry!"

She could feel the ship humming louder as the engine worked to do as requested, gravity pulling at her. Luna shut her eyes as her legs gave out and left her sitting against the wall, trying to dissuade the nausea as she waited for the ship to even out before she made her way to the medbay. After that, she'd....

On second thought, not vomiting was enough of a plan.

~*~

Vader swore colorfully as he exited the tunnel to find himself on a ledge high up the valley wall. He could hear the engines of Luna's ship as it sped off, shooting straight upwards. Luke walked out onto the ledge beside him, shielding his eyes to get a look at the escaping ship.

"Do you think we can catch up?" the boy asked.

"She'll be in lightspeed before we have the ship in the air," Vader answered. They had been so close!

"....That ship looks a lot like Valkyrie's," Luke muttered after several moments of silence as it turned into a speck in the sky.

"It does?" the Sith asked in surprise, looking at the fledgeling Jedi. Luke nodded.

"Well, from what little I can tell from this distance. Valkyrie's was a Correlian model of some description though even Han didn't recognize the model. Could they be the same models?"

"....Possibly. Or Luna and Valkyrie are working much closer than we have been led to believe if you are right."