On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter LXVI

Luna stepped off the ship's ramp and onto the red-orange sands of the rocky plain that led to great craggy mountains in the not so far distance which likely held great tombs. The air felt dry as the wind pulled off her hood and tugged at her cloak. She could feel it's ancientness, as if the cold sands themselves were telling her they had been there long before her birth and would remain long after her death. The Force too, seemed quiet and oddly distrustful, seeped with darkness that seemed to want to pull her away without her realizing it.

A hand settled on her shoulder as Vader joined her on the sands, pulling her to his side where his imposing figure blocked the bitter wind and his presence seemed to scare off darkness tugging at the edges of her awareness.

"Welcome to Moraband, my apprentice," he had stated, "the ancient homeworld of the Sith."

"....It feels too alive for such a desolate place," Luna muttered, tempted to lean into his side but knowing better.

"It is said many Sith have not yet left."

"That's because they haven't," the girl had murmured, tilting her head slightly while her voice had turned dull, though the brief personality switch ended before it had truly begun. She looked up at her Master's mask, a small undercurrent of fear undoubtedly winding its way through her presence—something the elder Sith no doubt sensed. "Do you believe there are ghosts here?"

"....No," Vader answered, voice a bit firmer than was warranted for such a childish question as his helmet turned away from her to face the landscape in front of them. The hand on her shoulder gave a brief though reassuring squeeze. "But there are still many dangers, both physical and Force related. The Sith who once lived here may be long dead, but like all Sith, neither they nor their creations are to be trusted. Stay close to me at all times, Luna."

"Yes, Master."

Master and apprentice stood together for a while longer before he let go of her and strode forward.

As always, she was but a beat behind, trailing in the protective cover of his shadow.

~*~

"Are you sure this is a good idea? You've never visited a Sith World without Vader before. Didn't he forbid—"

"Rules were made to be broken, Kaytee. Besides, that was years ago and he has no power over us now. It's nothing I won't be able to deal with even if Palpatine does to me what he did to Yoda," Luna answered, though she could feel something crawling around in her gut. Nerves.

Well, time to buck up and deal with it. Besides, he'd need the blood of someone close to her for such extreme control over her to create such visions....

Actually, since Vader—

Nope. Luna will get to it when she is in Palpatine's hellscape and not before. Not like she could do much about it beforehand anyways. And maybe Sidious won't notice she's visiting—it's not like she was a Jedi visiting a Sith World after all.

All the same, better to be prepared for anything.

"You stay with the ships, Kay. I'll check in at sun down if I'm not planning on returning. If you don't hear from me, you can take the Delta out and see if you can find me."

"Good luck. I'll comm you if the sensors pick up any ships."

"Sounds good," Luna responded as she opened the ramp. Wind immediately began blowing her hair around the moment a crack leading outside appeared. By the time she was walking down onto the moving sands, the wind was howling.

Beginning of a sandstorm. Just my luck, the Rebel thought to herself as she used to Force to make the ramp rise while she started forward—Kaytee triggering the cloaking device and hiding the ship behind her—towards the craggy entrance a handful of meters away where two Sith statues were glowering down at her. She could already feel the dark energy of the valley reaching into her and approving of what it found—at least that meant the likelihood of being attacked by angry Sith ghosts were low.... All the same, better safe than sorry, there would be no distractions allowed here.

In the valley, the wind's howl was dampened the slightest bit, though Luna still headed for the first tomb entrance she could find—better to stay closer to the entrance of the valley for now so she'd know how to get back and have a shorter distance to go if things got worse outside.

Though it was likely she'd be taking shelter inside the tomb.... Well, there were worse things that could happen.

In a tomb.

Stop trying to psych yourself out Luna. You've been in tombs before.

Not alone.

You've walked around in graveyards simply because you wanted to check out the grave stones.

And I could always sense the—

"Mind on the present," she whispered to herself as her lightsaber sprung to life—already dyed red from the dark energy that was all but siffling her with its weight. Luna hadn't gone five feet before she sensed the flicker of a warning.

Traps.

Well, she was the one who decided tomb raiding would be a good idea. Luna sighed, letting out a breath as she collected herself and unfurled her Force presence to better feel, control, and draw on the dark energies surrounding her—pushing back the more insidious and corrupting darkness that had been trying to sink into her in the process.

Her eyes started prickling, specks of Sith yellow temping full invasion and no doubt reflecting flecks of golden light back at any creature who may be watching her as she ventured farther into the stone halls. The deeper Lune went, the older the air smelled while blown in sand gradually gave way to dust. She wandered with little purpose, planning to simply explore and let the device on her wrist track her path—it would eventually give her a map of the entire tomb and help make sure she didn't get lost should her sense of direction and memory fail her.

Fate. Destiny. The Universe. The Force.

Something had other plans.