On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter CLXIV

Under any other circumstances, it was a time to celebrate. Everyone else was, there were parties on Exegol's surface, fireworks and lightning lighting up the night. All the larger ships orbiting the planet had their own celebrations. The galaxy itself was celebrating as the Rebel Alliance had broadcasted news of their victory across the stars.

But in the corridors of the Executor, the silence was overwhelming. Not that lack of celebration was unusual—celebrations of victories were often held in crew quarters and mess halls if the battle seemed important enough, but those times were few. Normally, it would be business as usual, but the silence in the corridors was not normal, nor was the energy of the ship's crew. For Admiral Piett, it was a strange thing to witness. Even on the worst days, when Lord Vader had been in one of his moods while the Lady was absent, the ship had never been so silent.

It was almost worse in the nearly abandoned floor that made up the personal quarters of the Lord and Lady.

"How is she?" General Skywalker questioned in a low voice as he entered the dead silent room where Lady Eclipse lay unconscious and maskless, separated from the world by a glass tube to prevent possible contamination. Princess Leia, General Han Solo, and the Togruta were not far behind the Rebel. The four had only just arrived aboard, likely having remained on the ground for a cursory appearance at the festivities occurring below. The Jedi General and Princess had come aboard earlier accompanied by Queen Trios and Lady Astarte to see Lady Eclipse, who had been considered all but stable—if clinging to life by a sturdy thread counted as stable—at the time. The latter two likely were unaffected enough to still be able to celebrate....not that it explained why the former two and General Solo had come.

"Worse, it seems," Veers admitted. He had remained at Lady Eclipse's side as soon as he had finished what duties were required of him—Piett hadn't had the luxury considering he had a ship to run. He could only assume General Veer's reason for his vigil was the presence of a random woman named Padmé who had come aboard earlier and not left the Lady's side. Even now, she was sitting in a chair beside the glass tub. "Her vitals have continued deteriorating. The droids had slowed it considerably, but they have been unable to halt it."

"I thought they said she was stable," Princess Leia said.

"They thought she was at the time," Padmé responded, not sounding pleased with the mistake. "Her heart has stopped and restarted half a dozen times."

"Did they say anything about her waking up? If we know what happened, we could find a way to reverse it," General Solo suggested.

"The outlook is not considered positive," General Veers stated gravely. "The droids believe she has contracted some sort of undiscovered disease, but the cause is unknown."

This was not news to Piett. The moment he'd heard about a possibility of a plague aboard his ship, he'd quarantine all the ground troops to their own sectors. As of yet, no one had contracted the same aliment, and from what information he'd managed to pull out of the Alliance, they too were clean. A disease, or plague at least, appeared to be rather unlikely.

General Skywalker walked over to the glass separating Lady Eclipse from the rest of them, placing a hand on the covering as he bowed his head, as though concentrating on something.

"....I can feel her," he said at last. Princess Leia, Padmé, and the Togruta let out a breath of relief while General Solo relaxed slightly. Piett and Veers shared a confused look before mutually agreeing with their eyes to assume it was good news. "She's in pain."

"Can you talk to her?" Princess Leia asked.

"I don't think so. She's too weak," the Jedi General answered as he opened his eyes, taking a step back. "Her Force presence feels....off."