== Chapter Thirty-Eight ==
The Fool's Pride and the Skimmer streaked away from the Prosecutor as it slowly tumbled into Atsu's atmosphere. The Star Destroyer's command tower was gone, replaced by a torch-like eruption of fire, and the Imperial ship's internal and external illuminations flickered and died out, suggesting a catastrophic power loss.
"Den my boy," Kath called out over the com, "Do you see that?"
"Yeah I do, Kath. It's a beautiful sight! What the kriff just happened?"
The older man chuckled. "Don't question it, just graciously accept it!"
Ja'Ina darted into the Fool's Pride's cockpit. "We're free?
"Yes my dear," Kath nodded. "For some reason, the Imps took a direct hit to their command tower." He pointed out the viewport. "Watch."
The young woman watched with her mouth agape as the gigantic ship hit the upper atmosphere. Countless smaller pieces of the Star Destroyer whittled away as it uncontrollably plunged further toward the planet. The distinctive triangular shape of the hull became less distinct as it was gnawed down by the intense atmospheric friction. Skink let out a pair of triumphant-sounding yips, which made Ja'Ina and Kath laugh.
A grim realization cut Ja'Ina's mirth short. "What about the Queen Valkyrie? Where is she?"
Kath performed a quick scan of the immediate area. He looked at Ja'Ina with a frown. "No sign of her." He flipped a couple of switches. "Fool's Pride to Queen Valkyrie, come in! Berini! This is Kath, please respond!" He traded worried looks with Ja'Ina.
After a few moments, the static was intermittently broken by a voice. "-ath… We're… Valkyrie…-stroyed… Atsu…"
Kath didn't let the transmission complete. "Berini! Where are you?!"
Berini's voice cut off, followed by more static then continued. "…Hurry…" A prolonged duration of static filled the speaker then her voice came back. "…Beacon…" Her final word disappeared into a wash of white noise.
Kath hurriedly entered some commands in his console. After a moment blurted, "Found it!" He then activated the com. "Den my boy, come in!"
"What're you so fired up about?" was Den's reply.
"The survivors of the Queen Valkyrie have crash-landed on Atsu! Tune into one-zero-eight-point-nine-two megacycles and follow the beacon signal! We have to hurry. They'll fry in that atmosphere in no time!"
"I gotcha. Hopefully, the shelter of the shuttle will buy us enough time."
"Assume nothing! Let's burn sky!"
Atsu's air was incredibly hot, near the boiling point of water. There was a light breeze, but it wasn't a cooling kind of breeze. It created the effect of a convection oven, which meant that without protection, a poor victim could survive only a few excruciating minutes before their lungs cooked on the inside and their skin on the outside. The close proximity to the star and the thinness of the atmosphere also meant that the surface was relentlessly bombarded by deadly intense radiation. Even if someone had breather gear, their body would fry without an anti-rad suit, and even then the protection would be adequate only for a short time. The ground was near-featureless and completely barren with no possible shelter.
A small craft broke the otherwise void landscape in the day-side of the planet. Its nose was jammed into the hard ground with the aft of the ship angled upward a dozen degrees. Inside it, the nine refugees from the Queen Valkyrie did all they could to shelter themselves from the hellish environment outside.
"Can we restore power to the environmental control system?" Berini asked while inspecting the damaged circuitry inside the pilot's console.
"I'm not sure," Myrrna replied from underneath the console. "Things are burned out pretty badly in here."
"Well, do what you can."
The Twi'lek replied tersely. "What do you think I'm doing?!"
The nose-down angle at which the shuttle rested made it difficult to get around inside. Everyone who was strapped into a seat made it through the crash landing with little or no injury. Taam, Mylyn and Gartia, who had to sit in the small aft cargo space, weren't so lucky. They ended up with an assortment of broken bones, lacerations and bruises and were being tended to as best as could be given the situation.
Berini turned to face the others in the cabin. "Under no circumstances is anyone to leave the ship. Understand? If the hatch is opened, we'll be roasted alive in here. And anyone outside will be dead before they get ten meters from the ship. I don't even care if you need to use the refresher!"
"How long 'till we're found?" Juun asked.
Berini wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed. "I'm not sure. I think I got through to Kath, but I don't know how much he heard. Hopefully he can follow our distress signal. I don't know how long we can hold up in here."
The Fool's Pride and the Skimmer descended through Atsu's atmosphere, desperate to get to the survivors before they perished in the harsh environment. Kath was familiar enough with Atsu that he knew their small shuttle would offer only temporary shelter, even if they had landed completely intact.
"Damn," the older man grumbled as he quickly entered more commands into his console.
"What is it, Kath?" Ja'Ina asked from the copilot seat.
"Berini's signal faded out. I'm trying to reestablish a lock on the bearing, but I have nothing." He reached over and activated the com. "Den my boy! Do you still have a bead on them?"
"Negative," Den's reply crackled over the speaker. "I just lost the pings myself. Should we return to orbit for a better reception?"
Kath shook his head. "No, we're high enough now. They're probably having problems with their power systems."
"If that's the case, then they might not be able to maintain the air inside."
"You think I don't know that? Just follow the last known bearing and keep monitoring that blasted frequency!"
"Yes sir!" Den replied with a mocking salute just before closing the com channel.
Rann balled her fists. "If they're dead, the Empire will pay," she growled through gritted teeth.
Without a word, Den banked the ship to the left and engaged the thrusters. Rann looked at him quizzically.
He pointed out the viewport. "I think they pre-paid in full."
Rann followed Den's finger to an astonishing sight far below the ship. Most of the remains of the Prosecutor had landed on top of and around the spaceport, completely obliterating it. A gaping crater had formed from the spaceport's expansive subterranean structure collapsing beneath the enormous sections of the Star Destroyer. Fires raged and black smoke blossomed throughout the scene.
"Now that's a sight to see," Rann said with a smile of deep satisfaction. "It almost pays for this too." She patted her cybernetic leg.
"Surely these guys weren't the ones who tortured you."
Rann chuckled. "No. There must be tens of thousands of Star Destroyers out there. As far as I'm concerned, a dead Imp's a dead Imp. Makes no difference to me."
Den nodded with a smile. "You're right, of course." He took her hand. "Now let's get on to finding our friends!"
The slight breeze swirling outside of the Valkyrie-One had gradually increased to a full-on wind that buffeted the small shuttle hard enough for the occupants to feel it shake. What onboard power they had occasionally flickered with the craft's movements.
Berini checked the com console and scowled. "Damn, our signal went down!" She joined her Twi'lek first officer under the console. "What's it look like?"
"A mess," Myrrna replied with a disgusted inflection. "Looks like our kludges can't handle much stress. I don't know how well we can reinforce things with the few tools we have."
"Let's just worry about getting the emergency beacon back online."
"It's lookin' kinda hostile out there," Taam said as she looked out a viewport. "I get the feelin' this bucket won' hold up fer-ever."
"You wanna go look for some other shelter?" Gartia asked the Twi'lek, pointing to the aft hatch.
"Don' quit yer day job, Gartia," Taam snapped back. "Yer not very funny."
Outside of the shuttle, Atsu's white-hot sun sank toward the horizon. "Enough of the nonsense!" Berini said with a loud clap of her hands. "It's going to be dark soon, and the winds are only going to get worse; in fact, likely more than we can possibly imagine."
Sounds of confusion filled the small cabin; Berini could tell that the others didn't fully understand the ramifications of their situation.
"The temperature differential between day and night is unimaginable. The winds mean that the terminator between daylight and darkness is getting closer. We'll probably freeze in here, assuming the shuttle doesn't get torn apart first."
Aurelia stumbled up to Berini and practically fell into her arms. "I don't wanna die," she whimpered, as Berini held her in a tight bear hug.
The tall Captain bent her neck downward to kiss the top of her head. "I know, baby," she softly said. "I won't let that happen."
Aurelia looked up at Berini and was met with a smile, but it was a smile the teen didn't believe. She knew that Berini wanted to believe they would make it out alive, but had lost hope. The Captain may be able to hide it from the others, but not from her.
A sudden gust of wind rocked the small craft, which made everyone shriek except for Berini, who held her voice in check as she continued to hold Aurelia in her arms. The Captain glanced down at Myrrna, who was working furiously to restore the emergency beacon. The daylight was fading, and so was their hope of rescue.