On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter L

"....Do you have any idea why Luna's interested in this?" Ahsoka asked as she studied the deactivated electrowhip that her friend had asked her to buy not all that long ago. It had been surprisingly easy to locate one, but it did bring back some rather unpleasant memories. Slavers. Ahsoka couldn't stand them.

Kaytee tootled in response.

"Training? Why in Force's name does she want to learn how to use one of these things?"

Before the R2 Unit could give a response, a light flashed on a nearby consul, alerting the two to the security lock being deactivated and the ramp being lowered. Moments later, Luna walked in, pulling off her veil, gloves, and jacket.

"Never again, Ahsoka. Never again. If this ever happens again, I quit," the human stated, tossing the discarded clothes onto the table.

"Noted. Anything of interest?" Ahsoka asked as Luna flopped into a seat, appearing rather worn and weary despite the fact there had been little to nothing for her to do besides meet with High Command, though she'd been off the Illusion for a good long while—far longer than that meeting should have been.

"Besides the fact Mothma was interested in my take of Vader and Eclipse leaving the Empire, no."

"Come again?"

"She was asking me if I thought it'd be possible to get them to work with us since she decided I must have been high ranked in Death Squadron."

"Were you?"

"Irrelevant," Luna stated, waving the question off as she messaged her temple. "What the hell was I supposed to say anyways? Not like either of us have been in contact with Darth Vader. Who knows what that Sith is thinking."

"What did you say?" Ahsoka asked, curious to hear what the head of the Rebellion was thinking. If Mon Mothma thought they could get Vader to work with them, it would be likely the Torgruta would be the one assigned to the task of recruitment.

"I said that he's probably ready to commit regicide. She agreed with that point and said he likely plans to restore Eclipse her position of princess before crowning her Empress. At least, I think that's where she was going with it. Apparently Palpatine hasn't named a new heir yet."

"....I forgot Eclipse was next in line. It'd make sense, I guess."

"To some degree, but even then, I doubt that would be Vader's plans for the after.... Besides, not like the Rebellion would support another monarch or trust them."

"Too true."

"And then after that, some people decided too—ugh," Luna groaned, cutting herself off and bearing her face in her hands. "Smit me with lightning."

"Stop being so dramatic," Ahsoka muttered. "It couldn't have been that bad."

"....It could have gone worse, I guess."

"Look on the bright side: It's over."

"I'm never coming back here."

"Never? You positive about that?"

"....If there's some sort of major disaster, I'll consider it."

"Only consider?"

"Oh, shut up."

Ahsoka chuckled, shaking her head as she started towards the cockpit to prep for take off. "Hey, why do you want an electowhip anyways?"

"Though I told you I wanted it for training," Luna answered as she stood to follow.

"But why?"

"The Hands had lightwhips, remember?"

"Yeah, you mentioned that," Ahsoka responded with a frown as she sat down in the copilot seat.

"Well, I figured the best way to learn the attacks of a whip would be to learn how to use it yourself," Luna responded as she sat down beside her partner. "In that way, you learn the weaknesses as well as the strengths of its use. I figured it would be better to learn on something that is less punishing than what the Hands were using. I was also considering figuring out how to use a saber-whip combo if I got the hang of it."

Ahsoka paused, frowning as she imagined it. "It would probably be a formidable combination if you managed to get it down. Would it just be you saber transitioning into a whip or are you thinking of making or finding a second lightsaber for this?"

"A second lightsaber, but I might add the modification before I track one down. I was thinking of using the reverse grip on my off hand to keep it from getting tangled with the lightwhip when I'm using that setting."

"....Don't think I've heard of anyone doing that before."

"Considering how little knowledge of this stuff is around, I'm honestly not surprised. Surely someone's thought of it before, though."

"Well, if they did, either it didn't work, or they decided it was too difficult to be practical to teach. Lightwhips in general were never common. Even when I was part of the Order, I'm not sure if any of the masters were proficient with one."

"Force knows. But regardless, knowing what their attacks would be like is important since it is possible those weapons are about to become a hell lot more common."

Ahsoka shook her head at the words. "It won't help much if we learn how to use them though. Lightsabers are exotic enough for most Rebels, lightwhips? What even is their range?"

"Can be a little bit more than an all out lunge with your lightsaber to something far more substantial. There's settings for the length."

"Of course.... Why do I have a feeling this war just got a lot harder?"

"It's been doing that at least once a week since we met."

"Good point."