On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter XCV

"Come on!" Leia yelled as she and Han raced through the base, a couple of the Emperor's Hands hot on their heels. "We're almost—"

"Get down!" the Smuggler shouted, tackling her to the ground a moment before a thermal detonator went off, covering her body with his. The explosion left ringing in her ears even as she felt the Force warn her—

"We've got to move!" she yelled, her dazed senses somehow still managing to pick out the sound of a sweeping lightsaber as she struggled to get out from under the man to draw her own and block.

Then there was a clash and a short yell of fury and a thump. Then nothing.

Leia looked up to find a familiar pair of black boots.

"Ya know, never thought I'd be this happy to see you," Han grumbled at the Sith, moving off of her before offering a hand to help the girl to her feet which the Princess took without a moment of hesitation though she felt Vader's glare on them. Well, too bad. He may be her father, but he wasn't about to get a say in her love life.

"We need to reach Luke," the Sith stated.

"No kidding. Knowing him, he's already found a few new friends," the Smuggler said, shaking his head as he bent down to snach one of the Hand's fallen blades.

"....Do you even know how to use that?" Leia asked, raising an eyebrow. He shrugged.

"Can't be that hard."

"What happened to sticking to your baster?"

"I'm getting fed up with running from saber wielding maniacs," Han huffed in answer as he started forward, blaster in one hand and stolen lightsaber in the other like Leia. "Now are we going after Luke or what?"

Father and daughter shared an equally confused look before quickly following the Smuggler, though he didn't remain up front for long, Vader taking point for obvious reasons as they hurried through the not as empty as they'd like corridors.

Until the turned a corner and slammed to a halt, nearly colliding with Luke and his two—

"Ahsoka?!" Leia half yelled, stunned by the Grey Jedi's appearance.

"Vader," the Togruta stated.

"Luke," Vader said.

"Leia," Luke responded, sounding a tad surprised about their group's sudden appearance.

"And Han," Han added. "Great, we all know each other's names. Let's go."

"Ahsoka, I can expla—" Leia began, only to cut herself off when one of Ahsoka's white blades suddenly snapped to life as she gracefully spun around behind Luke just in time to block a blaster shot from Stormtroopers rounding the corner behind them.

"Later! Move it Skyguy Junior!" the Grey Jedi shouted, turning back around even as everyone started sprinting back the way Leia, Han, and Vader had come.

"Skyguy Junior?! That's a new one, Kid!" Han commented, looking back to address the young man even as he blasted some of their tails.

"Don't we have more important things to worry about?!" Luke shouted. "Like getting out of here?!"

"Luke's right! What's the plan or are we improvising?" Ahsoka added as she blocked a few laser blasts to prevent the Rebels from getting hit.

"The second one!" Han answered.

"Not completely! We've got to get to the landing pad!" Leia explained, looking back as she assisted her boyfriend on making Imperial life difficult.

"There's only one turbolift to every pad, right?!" the Grey Jedi questioned.

"Correct," Vader stated.

"And probably Emperor's Hands in the way! We've already run into two of them!" the Smuggler added.

"We ran into four!" Luke commented. "They usually travel in sixes, right?!"

"Depends on what they're doing!" Ahsoka answered as the last stormtrooper behind them dropped down, injured or dead. "Depending on how important the Emperor thinks this base is, there could be twelve or more!"

"How would you know that?!" Han shouted.

"I'm part of Rebel Intelligence, remember?!"

"You're a member of Rebel Intelligence?" Vader questioned. Had Leia not been busy running and blasting, she would have face palmed.

"Yes, if you must know!" Ahsoka yelled, much to the Princess's amazement, as well as everyone else's. "Is Chewbacca picking us up or do we have another ride?"

"Depends, do you want to leave your ship behind?"

"My partner would literally kill me if I did!"

"We'll take the Lunar Shadow then," Vader decided. Leia couldn't help her confusion at how easily both the Sith and Grey Jedi seemed to be working together. She wasn't the only one, though the boys had the sense to keep his mouth shut. "It'll be easier to reclaim your ship."

"Perfect!"

"Do you two know each other or something?!" Han asked as they made the turn towards the turbolift, only to be met with blaster fire. Leia activated her lightsaber, blocking the blasts alongside Vader, who had never deactivated his weapon in the first place, to shield everyone as the group grounded to a halt.

"Not important right now, Han!" Luke shouted in response as the two ducked into alcoves to make life a bit easier for the Sith and Princess. "Ideas anyone?"

"Artoo, use your fire extinguisher!" Ahsoka yelled. The droid immediately did as told, creating a white mist around them to make it harder for the troopers to hit anything.

Only for the Grey Jedi to thrust out a hand and shoot the mist forward at their adversaries, moving as though she herself was part of the white cloud past the two defenders. The blaster fire continued, though the shots were wild and eratice and sometimes accompanied by two blazing white lights. When the Princess had sensed the danger passed and silence had reigned for several seconds, she relaxed, slowly following Vader forward into the mist with the rest of the group close behind.

As they entered the cloud, Leia found that there were Stormtroopers, several still alive, littering the ground as well as blasters cut in half. Vader waved a hand, dissipating the mist and allowing her to find Ahsoka leaning against the wall beside the turbolift, arms crossed, waiting for them as casually as though they were meeting up at a cantina.

"Thought you weren't a Jedi," Han commented, sounding a little stunned. Leia, admittedly, was too. She had never seen Ahsoka fight before, and it was clear that the Grey Jedi was likely on par with Luna when it came to capabilities. The Princess had a long way to go before she was even close to the abilities of either.

"I may not be a Jedi, but I was trained by one," Ahsoka answered.

"Who?"

"Anakin Skywalker," she stated, though she quickly turned away, not allowing time for Han or Luke to recover from the shock of the declaration. "Now let's move."