Chazdrul Harn had spent the past six years as Wayward Soldier's first officer, and in that capacity he'd had a chance to work with Evan Praelyx on all manner of missions, from straight-up piracy to scout jobs to intel-gathering for their Hapan clients. In all that time the one place their work hadn't taken them to was his boss's old prowling ground, which was why the sight of the huge Yuuzhan Vong worldship orbiting Myrkr filled him with a sense of quiet dread.
Praelyx had revealed his origins about five years back, and Harn liked to think he took it better than most beings would. Baragwin had a reputation of being pragmatic, level-headed, and basically unflappable, and Harn generally tried to live up to the stereotype; back during the Vong War he'd run with the Peace Brigade for a while, so he wasn't averse to dealing with the race on principle. The viciousness of the warrior caste had always been a turn-off but the intendants, of which Praelyx had once been a member, were generally a lot more reasonable.
And, all things considered, Praelyx was a lot more reasonable than other bosses Harn had worked under. He had a good, fast, well-armed gunship to prowl around on and he spread payments pretty generously amongst the crew, with a special bonus for his first officer. So, in summary, he was not a bad being to work with, and his being a Yuuzhan Vong rarely seemed a factor.
The worldship, though, was starting to get on Harn's nerves. It represented not just all kinds of unknowable Vong nasties but possible threats from the Imperial and rogue Hapan elements, which meant Wayward Soldier and her crew stood to make a lot of enemies they couldn't afford to. Praelyx was usually as pragmatic as Harn, but for some reason he'd not only agreed to this job but decided he was going to go down to that worldship too.
Most of the time he barely thought of Praelyx as a Vong- the masquer and the attitude made him seem as un-Vong as one could get. Praelyx didn't seem to think of himself as very Vong either. But there he was, down on that worldship.
It made Harn wonder how well he knew his captain after all, and that, he decided, was the really unsettling part.
When the little Bimm pilot came to the bridge, it had been about an hour since they'd gotten the last comm transmission from the captured Imp shuttle. The furry creature was about one-tenth of Harn's total mass but nonetheless he strode across the command deck with confidence, right toward the first officer.
"Nothing to report, pilot," Harn grunted. He'd already commed the docked freighter Mandala to relay the message from the shuttle.
The Vjarna's right ear twitched. "I wanted a different view. Is that a problem?"
Wayward Soldier was never the most formal ship, the Harn didn't suppose there was any danger on letting the little Bimm do some pacing.
"Tell me," Vjarna said as he stepped beside the hulking Baragwin, "Did you try to stop your captain from going down there?"
Harn blinked his small eyes. "Why? Did you?"
Vjarna nodded. "She seemed… curiously intent."
Harn snorted. It was the closest he'd come to expressing disgruntled agreement, especially to a stranger.
He and Vjarna stood side-by-side, staring through the viewport for about a minute, when the Duro at the tactical station called, "Sir! Something just dropped out of hyperspace!"
Harn hurried over to the station as fast as he could, and Vjarna hurried after him. "What kind of some-thing?"
"Looks like… Multiple targets..."
"What kind?" Harn said as he loomed over the tactical station.
"I see two corvettes, Assassin-class. One Corellian gunship… Sir, it looks like an old Imp escort carrier. It's already launching fighters."
Harn fought a curse. Escort carriers were basically mobile hangar bays capable of carrying a full wing of starfighters in the belly. It lacked in firepower but the other three ships certainly made up for that.
"They've moving to encircle us," the Duro explained, pointing to the tactical holo.
"I have eyes," Harn grumbled. "What kind of fighters from the carrier?"
"Looks like… Headhunters, Starchasers, uglies..."
"Has to be a mercenary fleet," piped Vjarna.
"Hell of a lot of mercs," muttered the Duro.
Harn lurched over to the comm station. "Send a call to the worldship, tell them we're under attack. And send the emergency signal the captain set up."
The comm officer nodded affirmative. Behind him the Duro asked, "Sir… Do we hold?"
Harn allowed an angry rumble deep in his throat. The merc fleet was already spreading out to stop any escape. Those fighters would be on him soon, but Wayward Soldier was a gunship designed to hold out against snubs. The best chance of survival was to either drop close to the worldship and hope Hapan help arrived, or run for an open space while the enemy was still deploying and leave Praelyx to die.
The latter option was the smart one. Harn knew that, but he hesitated, because if he left Praelyx behind here he'd never come back.
This wasn't like the Vong War and the Peace Brigade. His damned conscience would get to him if he ran and he knew it. He was getting soft in his old age.
"Turn us around," he said gruffly. "I want to see that fleet."
"But sir… do we hold?"
He was only able to agonize over that choice for a few seconds before the comm officer called, "Sir, we're being hailed!"
"All right," Harn said. "Let's see what they want. Helm, take us closer to the worldship."
Baragwin weren't famous conversationalists, but if he had to he could stall for time. The bent over the comm station and lowered his snout to the speaker grille. "This is Chazdrul Harn of the Wayward Soldier. State your intent."
"Chazdrul? Is that you?" The voice was vaguely familiar, probably human.
"I just gave you my name. Who is this?"
"This is Narl Lukhan, captain of the corvette Edge Runner. Been a long time. I had no idea you were running with Praelyx now."
Harn remembered Lukhan well from their days in the Peace Brigade. He'd been a loudmouth and a braggart but good for a fight and a night of drinking afterward.
Harn wasn't in the mood to reminisce. "Who hired you, Lukhan?"
"Doesn't matter, Chazdrul. All you need to do is shut down your weapons and let us pass. I promise no harm'll come to you."
The comm officer tugged Harn's sleeve and whispered, "They're jamming out signals, but we got the emergency call out fast."
"Did we signal to the shuttle?" Harn asked, just as quiet.
The human shook his head gravely.
"Well, Chazdrul?" Lukhan asked. "You've got a nice ship there. I'd hate to see you bust it up. By the way, where's Praelyx?"
"What do you want, Lukhan. Make it clear so we can come to some agreement."
"All right, then." The human sniffed with feigned offense. "I'll be clear and simple. You take your gunship and leave this system right now."
"And if we have people on the worldship?" It was as much as admitting Praelyx was down there, but Lukhan had probably figured that already.
"No can do. You either go now or you don't go at all. I'm being generous."
He was also trying to avoid a messy fight. There was no way Wayward Soldier could out-brawl another gunship, two well-armed corvettes, and a massive fighter wing. At most, they could take one capital ship with them before they got vaped. Some would call it a brave, heroic death but Harn had no intention of dying heroically, even if his conscience was making an unexpected comeback.
Lukhan wasn't looking to die either, heroically or otherwise, and Harn hoped that gave him a little more time. The Baragwin said, "I appreciate your generosity, but I've got to protect my people on the ground."
"I'm sure Praelyx has got to be touched by your loyalty. I know it's a hard choice, Chazdrul, but we both know what the smart way out of this is. If it's any consolation, I'll move fast once you're gone. Praelyx'll never know you ran on him."
Harn growled deep in his throat and looked at the tactical station, where the little Bimm from Mandala watched with fur bristling in panic. The Duro reported, "They've spread their fighter screen wide. Looks ready to intercept a run, not launch an attack."
The only option was to stall. Feeling strangely relieved, Harn said, "Lukhan, I've got to admit I'm curious. Where'd you pick up a fleet like that?"
The human chuckled. "Impressive, ain't it? The Imp carrier's a patched-up wreck but she still flies."
"I can see that. And they all work for you?"
"I've moved up in life."
"I can see that. Any chance you're taking on new employees?"
It was a transparent stall, but Lukhan was greedy and ambitious enough to look twice at the bait. Wayward Soldier was a better fighter than any individual ship in Lukhan's fleet; its addition would boost his offensive capabilities by almost fifty percent.
Lukhan's reply came as a crackling sigh. "You know, Chazdrul, I always thought Praelyx was better at wheeling and dealing than you."
"You've never seen me play sabacc. I can wheel and deal too."
"You're not a bad bluffer either. You know, I could just come and take that Wayward Soldier from you."
"It would cost you."
"I know. But it might be worth the trade. Plus I wouldn't have to split the payment any more than I already have."
Then the Duro called, "One more incoming! It's a big one!"
Harn dared to hope. He was about to ask what it was but froze. Against the starfield past the forward viewport he'd faintly been able to make out the thruster-glow of approaching starfighter and the brighter glow of the corvettes holding back.
He had no trouble at all seeing proud double-disc shape of the Hapan Battle Dragon that had just arrived.
-{}-
The last time Tenel Ka had stood on the bridge of the Dragon Queen had been during the battle for Shedu Maad; the battle had ended in heartbreak and nearly gotten her and Allana killed. This time, though, they were not facing a super star destroy and its support ships but a miss-matched mercenary fleet of corvettes, gunships, and starfighters.
She would have felt very confident, if not for the spiral-armed disc of the Yuuzhan Vong worldship silhouetted against Myrkr's green glow dead ahead.
"Your Majesty, we're launching all Miy'tils now," Admiral Baas reported.
"And the pulse mass mines?"
"Deploying two."
Tenel Ka nodded. As the mercenary fleet struggled to reorient itself to the surprise arrival, the Hapans were wasting no time enacted their pre-arranged plan. The mercenaries had an impressive array of starfighters, more than Dragon Queen carried in its bays, but its small capital ships had no hope of outgunning the larger warship. Tenel Ka's primary goal was to force them to surrender, both to spare bloodshed and to find out who had hired them.
She felt the command deck shift slightly as the its artificial gravity adjusted to the interdiction fields brought up by the two pulse mass mines. The trap was complete now; unless they destroyed both mines, the mercenaries had no way out of the Myrkr system.
"They have a jamming field set up," Admiral Baas said. "Still no hails."
Tenel Ka observed the tactical holo in the center of the bridge. It showed the mercenary ships swing around to face her and the starfighter screen reorient itself toward the Miy'tils racing forward. There was one last gunship, Ranger-class, hanging in position low over the worldship.
"Mark that vessel as friendly," Tenel Ka pointed to its light-speck.
"And the rest?" asked Baas.
Tenel Ka met the admiral's eye. "Hostile. You may fire when ready."