The shuttle nosed up as it struck the atmosphere, deploying air brakes, and the surface of the moon began to rush by. A low boom echoed across the thin atmosphere as the shuttle dug in. Plumes of smoke and fire erupted below as lasers raked the surface rather than vanishing off forever into space.

The parasite frigate’s predictive computers now had an easier time of things because the shuttle’s motion was less open, but atmospheric particulate made getting a lock more difficult, forcing the Imperial crew to follow their quarry down.

Sonic booms tore through the valleys and plains below, a small one trailing the shuttle and a larger one following in the wake of the frigate as it fell deeper into the atmosphere. Lasers superheated the air into plasma, causing crackling light to dance and occasionally detonating explosive pockets of gas in the atmosphere with the force of small bombs.

The action, once languid and slow, was now furious and lethally fast.

►►►

PC Parasite Five

► “Do not lose them,” Penae ordered tersely, leaning forward in his station as he glared at the screens.

The signal that marked the enemy was breaking up in the highly charged atmosphere of the volcanic moon, and the frigate was having trouble keeping the small craft in sight as the pilot threw his ship back and forth through volcanic peaks, dancing around thick plumes of smoke and dust that rendered scanners practically useless.

They should be right on top of the craft by this point, with their superior speed, but once again the other pilot was making them work for every scrap of distance they could close.

“Missiles, Subaltern?” his tactical officer asked, sounding not a little desperate.

Penae snorted. “Pointless!”

And they were. Their missiles would never track through the charged atmosphere they were flying through here, not if the parasite’s own scanners were having this much trouble. Lasers were rapidly losing effectiveness as the atmosphere and its particulates thickened, which meant that shortly the parasite crew would be limited to trying to keep the target in sight and hoping to catch the shuttle when it once more left the atmosphere.

Penae was beginning to wonder if a single small craft was remotely worth this amount of hassle, but orders were orders.

“A hit!”

He snapped his attention back to the tactical station. An officer there was practically cheering. “We hit them, Subaltern!”

Though difficult to tell through the mess that was obscuring the parasite’s scanners, the enemy ship did appear to be maneuvering poorly and losing altitude. Penae leaned forward, hoping that this was the end.

►►►

Shuttle Eagle One

► The shuttle felt like it had been hammered by a giant fist, and Stephen’s stomach was suddenly in his throat as they lost altitude in a hurry. The claxons that sounded were such that he couldn’t hear himself think, but that was fine because thinking was one thing he just didn’t have time for.