On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter XCIV

Luke walked with purpose through the Imperial base on Felucia trying to ignore the energies emanating from the planet itself through the Force. Something bad had happened here, something that pushed the planet itself into a darker part of the Force, he just didn't know what. Probably wouldn't know unless he stayed longer and explored, which was not an option.

So the young Jedi continued on, hoping his military-like strut and officer's uniform was going to be good enough of a Yes, I belong here and that no one would look too closely at his face. Leia and Han were going after what was hopefully a secret lab or something rather than a production line of lightsabers while he and Artoo were tasked with gathering intel. Force be with them, nothing would go wrong.

And if it did.... Well, Vader had his back up plan and was already in position. Only thing was that the way the base was set up to be a massive network of bunkers, the Sith would be reaching Leia and Han first. If Luke ran into trouble, he'd be on his own for a good chunk of time before anyone would be able to reach him.

But he'd be fine. Probably. The boy had been making breakthroughs in his training with Vader's help paired with what Anakin and Obi-Wan had taught him while they'd been out of their time even before Luna had brought Yoda out of hiding. Ever since Luke's Master had joined up with the fleet, his abilities had been growing in leaps and bounds. Not to be overconfident or anything, but Luke was rather sure he might actually be decently close to getting knighted.

He knew Yoda had been pleased with the progress he'd made since he'd left Dagobah at least, and that could only be good news. With luck, he actually might be able to take on one or two of the Emperor's Hands without nearly dying. Only one or two though—Luke was not Luna.

Problem was the young Jedi was starting to think Palpatine's servants never traveled alone or in pairs, and while he was confident in his skills, he wasn't that confident.

Not that it mattered. With luck, this base didn't have any Hands stationed on it, though the past month it had started becoming more and more clear that the Hands operated well outside of what little Rebel Intelligence could easily gather. For instance, while a Hand had been raised as a possibility at the masquerade, they had not expected the number that had been present. If anyone had thought there'd be more than one attending, Vader would have been laying in wait regardless of Han's impromptu declaration, and they wouldn't have been forced to rely on Luna's uncanny knack of showing up whenever she happened to be needed.

Luke mentally shook the thoughts from his mind. If the Emperor's lackeys were in the base, they were in the base. Nothing more he could do about it besides try to avoid them.

The Skywalker boy continued down the corridors with his faithful droid companion, eventually arriving at the door that would lead him to where most of the datafiles were kept. He gave the near empty hallway a look over before nodding to Artoo as a trooper turned a corner. The droid quickly got to work and opened up the door.

Luke froze, as did the only conscious person in the room.

Then she, an orange skinned togruta who clearly did not belong inside an Imperial base, relaxed and smiled welcomingly: "Hello, Luke Skywalker. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

The young Jedi shook himself out of his stupor and walked in, sensing she meant no harm, with Artoo on his heels. "Who the hell are you?"

"I am—" she was cut off as Artoo let out a flurry of whistles and beeps, causing her to beam the moment she saw the R2 Unit. "Artoo!"

"You know my droid?" Luke asked, though it was a rather redundant question considering Artoo-Deetoo clearly knew the stranger.

"Yes, we used to work together during the Clone Wars. My name is Ahsoka Tano," she said, coming forward and offering a hand. He noticed two lightsabers resting on her belt and suddenly had a very good idea of what this Ahsoka Tano was, and not just because Leia had mentioned her in passing. He took the raised hand and shook.

"Nice to meet you. Jedi?"

Ahsoka ducked her head slightly, glancing away. "Once upon a time. I went ahead and started some of the datadownloads. Artoo can take things from here."

"You were expecting us," Luke noted, crossing his arms as the droid went around them to do as Ahsoka said.

"Yes, I wanted to speak to you and Leia."

"In the middle of a mission?"

"It's....a sensitive matter I would prefer to not discuss in the Fleet."

Luke frowned at the words before remembering the not-Jedi in front of him was a spy master. "I see. Well, thank you for coming all the way out here. I know Leia's been wanting to speak with you."

"So I've heard," Ahsoka responded, managing a small smile. "I was thinking I would get that sorted on this trip as well."

"Wonderful," the boy said, smiling, knowing that would mean they may get something more on Luna. The two were silent for a moment, but Luke found himself bursting with questions and—as Ahsoka seemed friendly enough—decided to go ahead and ask a few of them. "So, if you don't mind me wondering, what do you mean you were once a Jedi?"

"Years ago, I once—" The Togruta was cut off by a sudden blaring alarm. The two Rebels looked at each other, both knowing what it ment.

Well, knowing in their own ways that is.

~*~

Luna was glad for the black cloak covering her body against the chill of the streets as she watched from the shadows. There had been an Imperial base right under their noses this entire time, hidden in plain sight. Seriously. How had they not found an Art Gallery on Corellia suspicious?

Well, it was alright, she'd noticed it now.

And not a moment too late. This information, it could alter the tide of the war.

She just had to get it.