On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter CLII

"Why isn't Luna coming with us?" Luke hissed, his voice low to avoid being overheard by any of his Father's men as they walked around the Artemis's Illusion one last time to make sure everything was in working order. The Executor was still in hyperspace, but they would be dropping out shortly. After that, it was go time. Ahsoka and Padmé were going to drop them off as close to the stronghold as they could before taking part in the battle above. Luke's mother would have likely preferred to be on the ground with Leia, but he wasn't about to ask how Vader had convinced her to be one of Ahsoka's gunners and risk undoing his Father's hard work. "This was supposed to be something the three of us did together."

"She is needed elsewhere," was the Sith's cryptic response.

"Between me and her, she is the better fighter. You know that! Everyone knows that!" Luke exclaimed. "If anyone should be sidelined because they're needed elsewhere, it's me. At least then you still have a solid chance to take out the Emperor."

"You are far more capable than you give yourself credit."

"That doesn't change the fact that I've been training for all of four years, and only properly the past two. Why can't she come with us? Even if you're confident the two of us can take Palpatine out, Luna being there would only increase the odds in our favor. What gives?" the boy pressed, knowing there had to be something more to it. The young Jedi hurried around so that he was speaking to his Father face-to-face—well, mask-to-face, same difference. "Why don't you want her to come with us?"

Vader was silent for several moments, weighing his reply before finally speaking, his voice so low Luke was amazed he could even hear it: "If Luna comes with us, she will die."

"What?"

"I will not be repeating myself."

"But not all visions—"

"This one is certain. In every future that she comes with us, she dies."

Luke could sense there was more to the words, things his father wasn't saying, things that would explain how Luna of all people would fall in battle despite all the others she had faced, despite her training and her sheer determination. It was hard to take in, hard to believe.

But it did explain why the Sith Lord had changed up his plans. Every time he had described his scheme to defeat the Emperor, even when the girl was off doing Force-knew-what with Ahsoka, Vader had always placed Luna with them when the inevitable confrontation came.

"....What happens when she doesn't come with us?" Luke couldn't help but question, wondering if his Father could see that far.

"It is hard to tell," Vader stated, his attention returning to the ship. "There are paths where we succeed, and paths we fail."

"No better odds than usual I guess."

"Indeed."

At least that means we have a chance, the boy thought to himself. It was honestly a nice bit of reassurance as Luke was still not fully over the fact Vader had been stabbed on Shu-Torun. That single injury had made the entire concept of facing down Palpatine seem that much more impossible, because if Luke's Father could be injured by a Hand, what in the galaxy would that mean when they battled the Emperor himself? "Does Luna know why you're keeping her out of it?"

"No."

"Why not? You know she's upset about it. At the very least she wouldn't be mad anymore if you explained why."

"If I explained why, she would find a way to come with us rather than accepting her role of command."

Luke opened his mouth to argue before realizing Vader had a point. If all of the sure paths to victory included Luna present and dying in the fight, she would refuse to risk the fifty-fifty or so shot the two Skywalkers were going with (and it was worth mentioning Vader didn't even say if her presence made victory certain). The girl liked certain things, and as much as she acted like it, was not as happy to play around with the odds as most other people Luke knew.

"You're going to have to tell her when we get back," the boy muttered. "She'll never forgive you otherwise."

"It won't matter the slightest bit as long as we win," Vader said firmly, his voice holding no room for argument. "There is no reason for Luna to ever know of this."

"....I don't—"

"Luke, we never had this discussion. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," the Jedi answered dully, feeling acutely aware that some sort of mistake was being made though he hadn't the slightest idea of how to fix it. They had looped around to the ramp and it seemed as though they'd soon board when his attention was drawn away from the Illusion to the entrance of the landing bay where the person in question had just walked in, cloak flaring out behind her like wings as she strode towards them.

"T-minus fifteen minutes until we're out of lightspeed," Luna informed them, her voice uncharacteristically hard, though whether that was due to personal feelings or the vocoder in the mask she was wearing, Luke didn't know. She was already dressed for battle—armor covering her body and lightsaber dangling from her hip. The black plates had some blue paint added to them, much like the 501st stormtroopers had done with their armor and helmets. Luna's designs looked like a cross between a lightsaber stabbing downwards and wings spreading open to cover her chest, splattering over the Rebellion Symbol, though the Starbird was still obvious as the blue changed tone on top of it. "Be ready to get out of here as soon as the bay is open."

"We know," Vader stated. Silence descended for several moments, and Luke was just about ready to escape onto the Illusion and away from the staring contest the other two had embarked on when the sudden quiet was breached.

"I want one of you to take this with you," Luna said, drawing a sheathed dagger from next to nowhere. "Just in case someone throws away his lightsaber." She was looking at the Sith Lord, but the words were quite obviously not for Darth Vader.

"I'd never do that," Luke objected, feeling slightly insulted at the implication. "Besides, what good would a dagger do?"

Luna focused on the weapon for a moment, tilting her head as though in thought. The weapon glowed and changed shape. In a moment, Luna was no longer holding a small dagger, but a sheathed longsword.

"If I give you my permission to use this, you will be able to shape it to whatever weapon is necessary with your mind," the girl stated. The weapon glowed, a golden sheen to the light, once more and shrunk back down to concealed carry size. "If you lose it, the weapon will reappear in its sheath."

"....That's amazing," Luke muttered aloud, staring at the weapon. "Where the hell did you find something like that?"

"And what if we don't have your permission?" Vader questioned.

"You can't use it," Luna responded, the answer sounding far too simple as she pressed it into Luke's hand. The dagger felt a lot heavier than it should have, like it was still in longsword form and the girl had just dropped it into his hand, though neither of those things were the case. "Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, you both may wield this blade. I hope you have no need of it."

And with those words, the strange weapon felt no heavier than the Jedi would have otherwise expected as she let go.

"Don't you need it?" Vader questioned, a concerned note to his tone as Luke slipped the new weapon onto his belt. "You've been dual wielding for a while now."

"I'll just use my old lightsaber. Ahsoka mentioned you left it in the Shadow."

"Very well."

Awkward silence once again reigned for several long moments. Luke tried to distract himself by changing the shape of the weird weapon the girl had just given him. It was a lot harder than she made it look. All he managed to do was lengthen the blade by no more than three millimeters.

"You had better get your other saber and join the landing party," the Sith Lord finally stated.

"Yeah, and we'd better board," the boy added, looking up from the strange dagger. Luna nodded in agreement.

"May the Force be with you both," she said, voice unusually soft.

"And also with you," Vader stated.

"We'll see you after the fight," Luke promised as he and his Father started up the ramp.

"I'll be waiting," Luna responded, backing away before turning around to leave the landing bay, pulling her black hood over her head. Luke didn't see her look back.