On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter CXXXI

Luna studied her reflection, not all that sure if she was happy with it. She had wanted to use Valkyrie's outfit once more, but forgoing her armor was not worth the argument that would come with the action. So that left her wearing something that looked far too like Eclipse even without a cloak and cowl. Yes, she'd painted the Rebellion's symbol on the left chest plate a while ago and had added Valkyrie's gray wings spreading wide on the back in limited free time, but there was still so much black. And if she planned to preserve her identity, a mask of some description was required as was a built-in vocoder (for Valkyrie's voice of course).

Even though she'd grabbed one of her much older masks, before it took on a design that loosely resembled Vader's, she still wasn't all that fond of the resulting look. Looked like some well armored ninja from the darkside of Mortal Kombat had showed up and decided to be a Rebel without the rebel red. But even those ninjas had some colors in their armor, even if they were far more skimpily dressed than Luna was.

She just....didn't feel ready. Like when she visited the Rebellion, but worse. Much worse. Like she was an imposter in her own skin.

"What do you think, my pet?" Luna questioned aloud, turning to look at the wings on the back and double checking for the upteenth time that the edge of the brand still wasn't visible at where her armor met skin. It, of course, wasn't.

Cerberus, of course, didn't really respond, simply watching her as she double checked everything. Hair out of the way in one of the hairdos she used as Eclipse due to how well it kept the black strands out of the way? Check. Armor? Check. Mask? Check. Working vocoder? Check. Comm? Check. Utility belt with hopefully anything she may need? Check. Lightsaber? Check. Dagger? Check.

"Almost feels like the first time I led my own mission," the girl noted. She'd been full of nerves then too, double and triple checking everything looked perfect, as though that would have any effect on the reaction of her troops. It never did, they feared or respected her just the same.

The Rebels would be no different.

The real problem was that for the ease of getting Vader into the Rebellion, it would be better for Luna to revert to older ways in more than just her combat outfit. If word got out that she'd renounced her apprenticeship before joining the Rebellion, it would be all that harder for the Sith Lord to gain the Alliance's trust.

She wasn't....ready to do that. But Luna didn't have much of a choice, did she? It had always been best to present a united front and the situation was no different now. Of course, it would be nothing but an act. She was an excellent actress.

So why did the idea of acting put such a sour taste in her mouth?

"Stay close, Cerberus," she ordered with a sigh. He perked up at the words, standing up and stretching as he knew it met that they would be soon leaving.

~*~

"Princess, are you certain this is a wise strategy?" one of the Rebel Commandos questioned as they watched the Tantive finish setting down on the ground.

"Of course," Leia answered. She had already briefed them on the plan, and while everyone had taken the job with the understanding that they were volunteering themselves to fight alongside the former enemies of the Rebellion, none of them liked the idea that Leia was joining in on the fight, let alone in Vader's group.

But how else were they going to get people to trust the Sith if it wasn't made clear that high ranked Rebels trusted him? More than once they'd suggested she join the other team—the one Luna was leading, though the Rebels who'd volunteered all referred to the girl as Valkyrie.