Chapter Text
New Republic Sector Command, Outer Rim Deployment Base
The ceremony was brief. Mercifully so.
Arden Lynn stood alone at the center of the room, the burn of her healing injury flaring as she shifted her stance. The holoscreens above displayed her commendation, though her face was notably absent from the broadcast footage. Parts of her mission were still classified, even now.
Admiral Zorana kept her remarks simple.
"You neutralized a Level-One Threat to the New Republic. You gathered critical intelligence, dismantled a rising force, and survived encounters no one else would have walked away from."
A pause.
"There is no more Val Korra," Zorana said firmly, looking her in the eye. "That alias is officially retired. And you are not being sent back into the shadows."
Arden's heart thudded once. A strange stillness followed.
"The request came through before you even returned," the Admiral continued. "From Captain Antilles. And General Luke Skywalker."
She held out a datapad with Arden's new assignment.
"Rogue Group. Strategic infiltration and tactical recon support. They're rebuilding with purpose—and they asked for you, by name."
Arden didn't smile. But her expression shifted—just slightly—as she accepted the pad. No pseudonym. No false past. Just Lt. Arden Lynn, written in clean type at the top of the record.
"I take it you accept?" Zorana asked.
"I do," Arden said.
....
The Rogue Group flight deck buzzed with quiet activity—technicians working on starfighters, pilots laughing in a far corner over caf. The smell of scorched ozone and coolant hung in the air like home.
Arden's boots hit the deck with steady rhythm as she approached the awaiting officer by the ship roster.
A sharp-featured man with a datapad looked up. "Name?"
Arden didn't hesitate. "Lieutenant Arden Lynn. Reporting for duty."
The officer blinked once. Recognition passed behind her eyes.
"You're the one they warned us about."
"Probably."
She nodded toward a row of freshly painted X-wings. "Welcome to Rogue Group."
Arden looked out across the flightline.
No masks. No code names. No more running from who she'd been.
Just a new mission—and this time, she was flying straight into it.