== Chapter Twenty-Five ==

Berini ran through the corridors to the bridge of the Queen Valkyrie. She barged in and started barking orders.

"Listen up, ladies! Prepare to get underway immediately!" She stopped short when she realized that everyone was already working hard at their stations, prepping the ship for flight.

"Captain, we're ready to take off on your command," Myrrna said.

A proud smile nearly split Berini's face in two as she scanned the bridge. "Very good! Lift off once all is secured and everyone's at their stations."

The Zeltron pilot, Mylyn, turned from her station and faced Berini. "Captain, it's good to have you back…The real you." She applauded with a smile, and the rest of the bridge erupted in applause and cheering.

Berini nodded with a smile, but then stopped them with a swipe of her hand. "All in good time, girls! We'll save it for after we send those Anzat devils to oblivion!"

Everyone turned back to their duties and in short time the Queen Valkyrie lifted off the ground. The ship shuddered with full life for the first time since she landed on Yuulin several months ago. Berini breathed a satisfied sigh as her ship climbed further into the atmosphere.

"All readings are normal," Gartia called out from her comm station.

"Good," Berini said with a proud sigh. Deep inside, the Captain longed for open space again. It'd been many long years since she had ever stayed in one place this long. After her run-in with the Empire that resulted in the deaths of several of her crew, she had let her fear keep her grounded on Yuulin. Now that fear was gone and she was eager to retake her life as she really wanted to live it. And part of the life Berini wanted included helping Kurloh and Ja'Ina in their time of need. The Captain silently reveled in her newly-regained pride. It was a feeling she hadn't felt since the glory days of bounty hunting. It was invigorating.

Davege eagerly sat up in his command chair as he watched the hyperspace wormhole effect break down into star streaks and then steady points of light outside the large forward viewport. A bright blue and green world hung silently below the ISD Prosecutor as she entered orbit.

"We have achieved stable orbit eight-hundred kilometers over Yuulin, sir," the helmsman reported.

"Excellent, Ensign!" Davege replied. "Sensor Ops, any sign of our quarry?"

"Negative, sir. However, there are three vessels which have just broken through the atmosphere, about one-hundred clicks off our bow. They're moving in a hurry."

Davege stood up with a quizzical eyebrow. "Identify."

"A Corellian CR90 Corvette, a GX1 Short Hauler and a GAT-12h Skipray Blastboat."

"Any of them ours?" Davege called out as he crossed the bridge towards the comm station.

The comm officer replied without looking up from his console. "Negative. We're receiving no ID transponder signals from any of them."

"Hmmm, probably just some insignificant criminal scum. Unless they turn hostile, ignore them. We've got a much more important target."

Almost as soon as the Queen Valkyrie cleared Yuulin's ionosphere, an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer exited hyperspace beyond the port-side bow, bearing towards them. Proximity alarm klaxons blared throughout the corvette.

Berini's eyes went wide. "What the blazing hell! Full shields! Evasive maneuvers!" She couldn't believe the sight of the large Imperial ship looming ominously nearby and had no time to contemplate why they were there. She opened the comm to the Fool's Pride and the Skimmer. "Ulundo! Berikko! Get out of here! We'll hold them off while you make the jump to Atsu!"

Kath responded first. "That's mighty admirable of you, Berini! But also mighty stupid! Whatever happens, we stick together!"

"Negative! You go after the Anzati! We'll keep the Imperials off your backs!"

Aboard the Skimmer, Den shot a worried look at Rann. "She can't be serious, can she?"

"I'm afraid she is," Rann replied with a sigh.

"She should know there's no way her ship can stand up to that Imperial hulk."

"But she knows that of all of us the Valkyrie can hold out the longest." She put a reassuring hand on his arm.

Den shook his head. "I suppose you're right." He flipped a couple of switches on the console. "Skimmer to Queen Valkyrie, we acknowledge. Hope to see you soon."

In the Fool's Pride's cockpit, Kath angrily looked at Skink. "I don't believe it! That idiot's just gonna leave Berini like that?!"

The fitzgik answered with a quick yip as if to answer 'yes'.

Kath nervously ran his fingers through his long, messy grey hair. "Ohh, I suppose that's the lesser of two bad ideas. But, blast it anyway, she's not gonna last long!" He forcefully punched the comm switch. "Roger, Valkyrie. But I'm doing this under protest. You'd better make it!"

Aboard the Queen Valkyrie, Berini nodded. "We will. Believe me; I want to kill those Anzati with my bare hands! I'm not going to miss that chance! Berini out." She turned back to her bridge crew. "Charge up the main turbolasers! We've got to inflict whatever damage we can until we can make the jump!"

"Captain!" the Prosecutor's Sensor Ops officer blurted, "The ships are breaking formation; looks like they're trying to run, except the corvette raised their shields and is powering up their main batteries!"

Davege raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? What do these fools think they can do?" He chuckled. "They must have something to hide. Bring up the front deflectors and charge up the forward tractor beam projectors."

Berini called into the comlink. "Gunners, bear port-side! Fire at will!"

With that, the Queen Valkyrie's main turbolaser turrets let loose powerful crimson blasts that shot right into the bow of the Star Destroyer. The large Imperial ship's deflector screens easily dissipated the blasts' energy, denying the Valkyrie any positive hits. At the same time, the Fool's Pride and Skimmer turned away from the skirmish.

The Prosecutor's Sensor Ops officer called out, "Sir, the smaller ships are preparing to make a hyperspace jump!"

Davege chuckled. "Well now, the scum are panicking. Can you determine their heading?"

"I should have it in a moment, Captain. They're not trying very hard to hide their vector."

Davege smiled smugly. "Like I said, they're panicking. And a panicked prey will make mistakes that yield lethal consequences."

Commander Liegel turned to Davege. "Sir, are you planning on pursuing them? I must remind you we're here for the Anzati-"

"Do not assume that I'm abandoning our mission, Commander," Davege growled, his bald head turning slightly red with anger. "Once we know where they're going, we'll relay the information to our operatives in that region so they can deal with these miscreants! We can let no one get away with challenging our authority!"

Embarrassed, the first officer bowed his head. "Please forgive me, Captain. It was not my intention to question your judgment."

Davege glared at Liegel for a moment. He leaned in face-to-face and harshly whispered, "Apology accepted. But question me again and I'll space you without a second thought."

Liegel's head shot back up as he snapped to attention and saluted. "Y-yes, sir!" His voice slightly cracked from fear.

The Sensor Ops officer called out again, "Captain! I have their destination!"

"Good! Where are these slimy mynock herders going?"

"To the Atsu system, near the Trianii border."

Davege cocked his bald head as he watched the two ships instantly disappear from sight. "Interesting. That system is a real hive of scum and villainy from what I recall; a perfect hole for them to scurry into. Liegel, inform our agents in that region to hunt down and apprehend those pirates."

"Yes sir!"

The Captain turned his attention back to the Valkyrie, which continued to futilely pound on the Prosecutor's forward deflectors. "Okay, let's de-wing this mynock scum and be done with it! Target their sublight drives and open fire!"

Moments after Davege's command, a barrage of emerald energy blasts streaked towards the Queen Valkyrie. They hit with deadly accuracy and the Corellian Corvette reeled from the devastating strike.

Berini and the rest on the bridge of the Valkyrie struggled against being thrown from their chairs or off their feet from the blast impact. The lights flickered and a new round of alarms blared.

"Damage report!" Berini yelled.

Myrrna replied from her console. "Engine eight has been knocked out! Aft deflectors are overloaded and offline! One more direct hit to the rear quarter and we won't be able to go anywhere!"

"Dammit! Are the others away yet?"

Gartia responded, "Affirmative! They have entered hyperspace headed for Atsu!"

Berini nodded. "Good! How's our hyperdrive systems?"

"Still online," Myrrna replied.

"Alright! Let's burn sky before those Imperial sithspawn cripple us for good!"

"Laying in a course for Atsu," Mylyn reported. "I'll have the navcomputer programmed in a few moments."

Berini stepped up behind the Zeltron pilot's chair and put her hand on her shoulder. "Make those moments short, Mylyn!"

"I'll do my best. Stand by."

The Queen Valkyrie rocked from another direct hit, and the bridge lights dimmed as the ship's electrical systems were taxed to their limit.

"Captain," the Prosecutor's Sensor Ops officer called out. "They're preparing to jump as well!"

"What a day this is turning out to be," Davege said with a smile and shake of his head. "They're probably following the other ships to Atsu."

"The available data supports your theory, sir!"

"What a bunch of amateurs… It's good that most criminals are incompetents; makes it easy to deal with them without wasting too many resources." Davege walked over to the Weapons officer. "Let's give them a goodbye kiss. Target their engineering section and fire before they can get away."

"Targeting," the Weapons Officer replied.

Davege narrowed his eyes. "Fire!"

A single blast of energy from a forward turbolaser battery shot toward the fleeing Corellian Corvette and connected just forward of her large array of thrusters. The engineering section was instantly engulfed in an explosion that violently rocked the Queen Valkyrie.

"By Stars' End!" Berini yelled. "What the hell was that?!"

"Engineering took a direct hit," Myrrna replied. "The hyperdrive is still functional, but sublight power is down to forty-three percent!"

The Captain broke out in a cold sweat. Oh, no, she silently lamented. For a moment, she worried more about Yurlya than the engines. "Mylyn! You better have that course laid in!"

"Just a few more keystrokes, Berini!" Mylyn called out.

"Engage once you have it!"

The Queen Valkyrie continued to shake and rattle like she was going to fly apart at any moment. It felt like years to Berini before the Zeltron pilot entered the last command and threw the lever that activated the hyperdrive. Everyone on the bridge welcomed the streaks of light that quickly filled the forward viewport.

Davege watched with great satisfaction as a fireball erupted on the Corellian Corvette ahead of the Prosecutor's bow. "Lock the forward tractor beam projectors onto that ship!"

The feeling of satisfaction quickly left him as other ship jumped into hyperspace. "Damn," he muttered.

"Sir," the Sensor Ops officer blurted, pulling Davege from his moment of disappointment. "The Corvette's heading was indeed for Atsu as well."

Satisfaction and a grin returned to Davege. "Excellent! Our agents there will deal with them all in one swift stroke. Let's turn our attention back to the task at hand."

"Captain," the Comm officer called out, "I have received word from the operatives on Yuulin that they've lost track of the Anzati."

Davege hollered a stream of harsh curses in several different languages; linguistics having been one of his best subjects at the Naval Academy. "How can this be?! You tell those incompetents that if they don't find them, they will be executed for their failure!"

The Comm officer's eyes went wide. "M-me, sir?" he asked fearfully.

"Do you not know how to operate your console, Lieutenant?!" Davege huffed as he pounded on said console.

"I-I do, sir," he meekly replied.

"Then follow my orders, or I'll have you scrubbing refreshers on Kessel for the rest of your life!"

The Lieutenant snapped to in his chair. "Sir!" Even though he didn't know how he'd say it, he decided that the better choice was to relay the Captain's ominous threat.