Zaya sat up in the pilot seat of her ship, her heart pulsing irregularly. She stared at a map projection on a glass panel at her side, and the map showed that she was close to Trey’s space station. Close to Hale. And even closer to having to make the decision.

Zaya forced her eyes away from the map and gazed ahead at hyperspace. The light waves bending about were comforting to her troubled mind. Watching her icon on the map approach Trey’s gave her an unnerving countdown to when she had to choose between two of her ideals, both of which had made her career. When she accepted a job, she always, always saw it through. Those who hired her could rely on that. And those whom she associated with, she didn’t betray. She was as trustworthy as people in this line of work could be.

If she killed Hale, she would be staying true to Coran. But then she would be going against her non-betrayal policy. However, did that apply to Hale now? They weren’t working together or comrades anymore. She no longer associated with him at all. So would killing Hale actually violate her ideals then?

Zaya stopped herself from answering that question. She felt as though she were falling into circular reasoning the more she tried to rationalize. She was fearful that casting aside her ideals for this one job would lead her away from them all together. Then there would be no difference between Hale and her. And she prided herself on having higher standards than Hale. After everything went down between then, she vowed to never live as he did, blatantly disregarding any rules or authority. Zaya valued order, the result of a balance of rules and authority.

She would have preferred death than to become like him.

Zaya stretched out her arms and sighed. Thinking about Hale and the decision she must make were not going to help her on the task ahead which was to reach Trey and capture Hale. She could decide what to do with Hale once he was chained up on her ship.

“Two minutes until exit,” one of her crew members announced to the fleet through the intercom system.

Zaya’s eyes darted to the digital map to check for herself, confirming her crew member’s statement. Zaya was supposed to make that announcement.

She opened a private communication channel between herself and that crew member. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied.

“I’m reviewing my strategy for Hale’s capture,” Zaya continued.

“Oh?”

“I’ll update any changes. No worries,” Zaya assured him.

She closed the communication channel. There was nothing she wished to change with her strategy. But she needed a legitimate sounding way to explain her lack of focus.

Her strategy was straightforward. She and her crew were to trap Hale by surrounding his ship from every angle to prevent him from escaping through hyperspace. But it would be foolish for Zaya to assume it would be easy. She had never met a pilot more adept than Hale, and his techniques were masterful because of their unpredictability. The one thing she could count on is that he would escape through hyperspace. Or, more accurately, he would try.

She and her crew would have very little time to surround him, every movement with purpose, error unacceptable. Zaya had instructed her crew to fire on his ship to damage it, preventing him from being able to engage his hyperdrive. She would have to practice restraint when firing off her laser cannons at him though; blowing his ship up would kill Pandora, which wasn’t an option.

An alarm signaled to her that her ship’s hyperdrive was slowing down. From the viewport, she watched lines of white light streaking through the hyperspace channel. As the ship decelerated, the light streaks spilt and continued to split into smaller pieces, eventually taking the form of brilliant stars upon entering real space.

Ahead, she spotted Hale’s ship disconnecting from Trey’s station. She swiftly turned on the comm channel to her crew.

“Get into formation,” she ordered her crew.

Four ships belonging to her crew moved ahead of her, split into groups of two, into the shape of a backwards arrow directed toward Hale.

Once Hale had drifted far enough away Trey’s space station, Zaya and her crew began firing their canons.

* * * *

“Coran sent them—” he paused, jerking the control yoke to his body and veering his ship upwards into a roll which avoided the incoming laser fire. “to kill me, and capture you,” he finished with a snarl, as he spun to the left, only to be met with more blasts.

Pandora winced as the blasts pulsed against the body of the ship. An alarm sounded off from the panel.

In the middle of a series of barrel rolls, Hale reached for a lever in between the seats and pulled it, stopping the irritating alarm.

She grasped her neck, aching from all the abrupt twists and turns Hale had and was making. “What was the beeping noise for?” she shouted.

“Shields,” he answered.

Pandora looked up through the viewport to see the five ships speeding closer to them. Since there were five of them, their cannon fire covered a large area, including and surrounding Hale’s ship. She doubted that Hale would be able to dodge all of the blasts, not for much longer anyway. And the shields would only offer so much protection.

Hale sent the ship furiously into a downward spiral, which, to her surprise, avoided the streams of lasers all around them. The drop made her head pound, and she gripped the armrests of her seat so tightly her joints hurt.

The pressure released as they came out of the spiral. Pandora remembered to breathe and blink. She turned to Hale, who seemed totally relaxed and dare she say... content. His eyes beamed with excitement, and he was nearly smiling. The tension that was often present in his shoulders was no where to be found.

She was dumbfounded.

Here she was, in shock, hardly able to think. And he was enjoying himself. Was he seeing something she wasn’t?

Or perhaps he trusted in his abilities too much. She thought him to be the arrogant and overconfident type anyway. And it was never too long before someone like that fell because of his pride. She prayed it wouldn’t be now.

Pandora held her breath and tightened her grip on the armrests with more terror than before as Hale looped the ship around several times, with small twists left and right to avoid most of the energy blasts still constantly streaming from the enemy crafts. Near the end of the last loop, a salvo of beams smashed into the hull, jolting his ship violently.

She was sure Hale would lose control.

But he didn’t. Hale let off the thrusters a bit and twisted the yoke in the direction the blast was sending the ship. This move lessened the impact and allowed Hale to regain full control within seconds.

She admitted his confidence wasn’t completely unfounded.

Hale reengaged the thrusters and rotated the ship 180 degrees on its y-axis, placing the enemy directly into view. He proceeded to blaze them with his own energy canons, activated by the triggers on the control yoke. Pandora watched in amazement as every blast hit.

Hale was a masterfully talented pilot, she could no longer deny. He was severely outnumbered and outgunned, yet he was still alive. His quick reflexes and his precise movements must have come from much practice, which led her to wondering how often he put himself in these situations.

He twisted the ship back and forth to avoid the opposing fire, while allowing his canons to recharge. After a quick glance to check the status of the canons, Hale pulled back into position and sent wave after wave of lasers their way, stopping only when the canons needed to cool down.

Although Hale’s aim was precise, he was unable to deal enough damage fast enough to make it worth the damage he was taking from the opposing fire. He couldn’t avoid all blasts. And his shields wouldn’t protect him for much longer.

“This isn’t working,” Hale admitted, flinching as they sustained a stream of energy beams from two ships. “We have to get out of here.”

Coran’s ships were getting too close by now. Hale had to weave in between a few of them to avoid crashing, while also avoiding hundreds of laser beams around him.

“They’re attempting to surround us,” Hale scoffed.

“What are you going to do?” Pandora asked, feigning calmness.

“I’m going to steer. You’re—” He triggered the cannons at the main ship in Coran’s fleet. “you’re going to enter the coordinates for the hyperspace route.”

Pandora’s face turned pale. “I don’t know. Where even?”

“Whatever planet you need to go to!” he barked, while kicking into another spin.

“Garra?”

Hale’s frustration seethed through his teeth. “I don’t care. Right now, I don’t care.”

Pandora turned her chair to the side of the control panel. She moved her shaking hands over the keypad. She paused, and struggled to think. Each moment that passed, the shields were weakening further.

“Have you got it yet?” Hale screeched.

Pandora huffed. “No. I’m trying.”

Her head knocked the back of her seat from a sharp turn Hale made to evade a collision with one of the ships.

“They’re still trying to surround us. Did you forget the coordinates?” he strained, enduring another few blasts.

Pandora ignored his question so that she could focus. She keyed in the first half, but stopped before she typed the rest. Garra was the planet she wanted to visit. However, she wasn’t sure she was remembering the right entry for Garra. But it didn’t matter. She went with the coordinates she remembered and didn’t look back.

“Ready!” Pandora called to him.

“Good. Now hold on.”

Hale sent the ship in a backwards half-loop around an enemy craft and hit the thrusters.

* * * *

Zaya accelerated past her crew to lead them closer to Hale. Once her ion cannons charged to capacity, she sent layers of short laser blasts his way as she chased after him.

“He’s trying to make the jump!” Zaya shouted. “Move into position now!”

Zaya held back slightly and diverted extra energy to the cannons. She kept the pressure on Hale through constant fire as her crew moved forwards and outwards around Hale’s ship.

If she were going to capture him here, it had to be now. Her determination, her focus, and her strength went into her accuracy as she fired upon him. As good as Hale’s piloting was, he couldn’t fully avoid the beams Zaya sent.

Within the minute, a light wave flashed over Hale’s ship. His shields were destroyed. And all other blasts he would sustain effected real damage to his ship.

But Zaya had no time to boast. Her cannons overheated, forcing her to lay off.

Her jaw tightened, and a curse or two left her lips. Nothing more. She refused to lose this battle because of her frustrations.

Zaya kept her position behind Hale; there was little else she could do but wait for her crew to surround him. Hale’s random turns and flips were making the outcome of the fight seem less likely turn out in her favor. Her crew couldn’t anticipate his moves closely enough to surround Hale. From their attempts to match his maneuvers, her crew had fallen behind which gave Hale an opening.

He flipped forwards and began accelerating in a straight path. He was about to make the jump to hyperspace. She knew. In spite of having five opponents, Hale had won this battle

“Change of plans,” Zaya announced to them. “Forget surrounding him. Start shooting. We have to damage his hyperdrive.”

Zaya watched him speed even farther away. Her cannons had cooled and were ready. She sent the first of many series of blasts down Hale’s path. He didn’t try to avoid them. He continued accelerating.

Judging by his speed and the relatively good condition of his ship, she knew he would make it. They only had seconds before he escaped to hyperspace. And then they would lose him.

Her crew was unaware, but everything was now up to Zaya. She had only one move to make. It wouldn’t prevent his escape, but it would prevent this mission from failing, from them having to return to Coran empty handed, from them sustaining punishment from their failure, and from Zaya losing her job. And she had nothing else to turn to.

It was up to her. And luckily for her crew, she was up to the challenge. In less than a moment, she hit a switch, shooting a single blast his way.

This blast was different than the others. It wasn’t made of energy. This blast was a solid, spherical bullet with micro claws. With Hale’s shields down, it would surely latch onto his ship. If it could catch up to him, that is. She would only know if the bullet made it after it was too late.

She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, Hale was gone.

Zaya gazed sideways at the map screen, her fingers crossed. She waited and ignored the complaints of her crew.

A chime came from the control board, and a flashing dot appeared on the map screen.

Zaya smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ve got him.”

“What do you mean?” one of her crew asked.

“I sent out a tracker, successfully. According to my map, he’s heading to a planet in the Outskirts called... Vaanu? Anyone ever been there?”

Each response was as expected.

“Well, you’re about to find out,” Zaya said, grinning.