On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter CLIII

Luna silently listened, eyes closed as organized chaos enveloped Vader's flagship, waves of excitement and dread and courage that radiated through the Force telling her all she needed to know. The screams of the TIE fighter engines as they exited the hangers nearly drowned out the launch alarms that were sounding. A second alarm would soon follow, notifying the transport ships and their escort to launch once there was a path to the atmosphere established.

If the second alarm didn't come in a timely manner, Luna would be leaving her current station to take her Delta out with Kaytee to punch a path to the planet. If it was possible to do so after that point. They had surprise on their side right now, but if the transports didn't get moving soon, they may never be able to get past the Imperial fleet and lose their chance to kill the Emperor in the process.

Luna felt further disturbance in space as the area around the Executor warped. Many more ships dropped from lightspeed around the super star destroyer as the Rebel Alliance vessels caught up to the already blooming battle. The girl had known they'd land in the area ahead of the rest of the fleet, but didn't know by how much. The Executor's more advanced and thus faster drive had passed the others in hyperspace despite the few minutes head start that had been given, and that could have given the 501st anywhere between seconds or minutes before backup arrived. If it had been the Imperial fleet, the difference in exit times would have made everything more difficult considering there would be time between arrival and the deployment of fighters.

Thankfully, the Alliance did not need to worry about fighter or transport ship deployment as none of their capital ships had fighters still in their hangars. It was one of the unsung benefits of having a fleet full of one manned fighters with both shields and hyperdrives installed, and one the Rebellion knew how to utilize effectively enough that the Empire had begun regretting the decision of not investing more in Thrawn's TIEs, stocking those models on only a handful of ships.

Unfortunately, for the Empire that was, most of the TIE Defenders that existed outside of Thrawn's fleet were picked up by Vader and housed on the Executor. Luna had the super star destroyer drop out of lightspeed early to deploy the Defenders and get the Illusion off the ship, so that they wouldn't have to wait on the Alliance or the regular TIEs to get out of the hangars before a proper attack could be underway. By now the Defender Squad had already made their run and were being joined by their brethren, swarming towards the Imperial fleet. The Illusion had likely cloaked itself by now, having emerged from hyperspace in the scan-shadow of the Executor so their enemies were unaware it was already deployed. It would remain cloaked and out of the battle until after Vader and Luke had been dropped off.

It was instinct rather than knowledge that caused Luna to grab onto a hand hold just before the ship lurched forward, having discreetly risen from the hanger floor while Luna had been observing the battle through her mind's eye. It was different from her usual awareness, as instead of being aware of her general surroundings, the girl was stretching her senses so that she could almost see the entire space battle as it happened. Vader was better at it than Luna was, though he wasn't doing it for the moment as such action would give him away.

Things appeared to be going to plan. The ex-Shadow let her awareness shrink back towards herself, stopping just outside the ship's hull to create a Force shield. Ideally it wouldn't be necessary, but Luna wasn't in the mood for risks.

It wouldn't be long now. She could feel everyone around her tensing, mentally preparing themselves for when they dropped down.

They were entering the atmosphere now. It had only taken a minute, maybe two, the fighters were doing a good job. The pilots of the transports were doing a good job too, though the turbulence was vibrating the entire ship. Most of the stormtroopers were hanging onto grab bars to remain standing.

The lights turned red, dyeing the room with the color of blood and notifying everyone aboard that they were close to the ground. Luna drew her lightsabers, right in the usual grip and left in reverse, remaining steady though it felt like she was trying to stand on a galloping shaak.

The ship lurched, touching down as the ramp lowered. Luna did not wait for the green light, leaping forward over the ramp and into the open, lightsabers lighting up as she deflected a laserblast that had been aimed at the ship. The force of the defection tossed her backwards, causing her to land nimbly on the still lowering ramp, red and purple humming in her hands. Luna then stood, taking her first real look at the Sith planet.

Exegol was a dark world of lightning and storms. More than that though, it felt almost right for her to be standing and looking upon this sunless wasteland, sabers humming in hand with an army at her back and enemies in front.

Exegol felt like a place for endings.

She could see the Sith Citadel rising up in front of her—a dark towering, imposing mass of black—already firing beams of light towards the attackers. The ex-Shadow raised her hands, concentrating, and forced the blasts to freeze.

Several booming thuds shook the ground as AT-ATs were deployed around the troop transports by warlord dropships—dropships the blasts would have hit had she not acted. More importantly, a second ship behind her rolled out the load it had come down with, not troops but an energy shield which sprung to life over the army. Luna released the cannon blasts which harmlessly splattered against the protective barrier that lit the ground and the army sheltering under it—its very presence meaning that the Citadel's defenses would be useless and that the Sith inside would have to deal with this particular attack the old fashioned way.

The girl felt more than saw the light behind her turn green as the ramp beneath her feet touched the dark sands. Luna started forward once more, this time with the 501st following behind her.

~*~

As far as Vader could tell, the battle appeared to be going to plan. Luna's idea to make use of an energy shield for offense seemed to have had its desired effect as it appeared that particular side of the Citadel was having more attention assigned to it if the army of red blades exiting the fortress was anything to go by.

He tried to not worry.

"There," Vader stated, pointing at a location on the ground that was practically on top of an unguarded entry point. Ahsoka brought the still cloaked Illusion down, preparing to hover just long enough for the Jedi and Sith to jump off the ramp.

"You sure you don't want me to come with you?" the Grey Jedi asked as Vader started to leave. He paused at the doorway, but didn't glance back as he considered the question.

"Positive. May the Force be with you."

"And also with you," she answered as he left.

"It is time," Vader stated, passing where Luke had been meditating in the attempt to further prepare himself for whatever was to come. The Sith's son stood without a word and followed the Dark Lord to the exit ramp.

"T-minus ten seconds," Ahsoka called out over the ship's intercom as the ramp began to lower. Stormy wind whipped at Vader's cape as lightning crashed in the sky around them, the boom of thunder practically on top of the light. "Five, four, three, two—"

Vader had already exited before she made it to one, falling the relatively short distance between the Artemis's Illusion and the surface of the planet. The Sith landed in a crouch with his blade out and on, an action his limbs protested against but he ignored. Luke landed beside him with, as if rehearsed, his own saber out and activated. Father and son stood together at the base of the towering Citadel, the formidable structure only being lit by a mixture of lightning and laser blasts, as Ahsoka left them behind to join the battle in space.

"Let's end this," Vader stated as Sith and Jedi started forward as one.