Looking back at the Yahadick, it seemed they'd prepared for this long ago, too. They once again displayed their astonishing knack for playing with fire, pulling off a sharp U-turn and gliding nimbly aside to evade most of the incoming fire. Then they accelerated again, the ship's hull roaring as it shot out between the two forces.
For a moment, Yu Lian thought he saw an old BJ roast duck dancing gracefully like a swan. He was thoroughly stunned.
"Even Annie couldn't pull off a move like that," Fifi marveled.
Miss Annie Romanova, once the big sister of the reformed daredevil pilots, had indeed become one of the finest helmswomen and captains in the universe in the previous timeline—but that was during the Volunteer Army era. At barely twenty now, she was still green.
"Excellent. If we don't kill that guy later, it'll mean we're destined to meet! We'll keep him around for life as a laborer, and put him in charge of training our helmsmen," Yu Lian laughed.
Just then, the three Marauder warships opposite them seemed to decide that although they had dealings with the pirates, there was no need to get mixed up with them in a battle. They hadn't joined in when the Yahadick came under fire; instead, they'd begun maneuvering. Now the three ships had formed a small squadron of their own and were accelerating toward the Throne's flank.
"Watch out for boarding parties," Fifi said quietly.
"Let's hope they're smart enough," Yu Lian replied with a smile.
If the Marauder commanders were smart, they would recognize what kind of dreadnought this was—and know how many crew a Marauder dreadnought carried at full complement.
They'd have to be out of their minds to charge over and try boarding a ship with tens of thousands of