Waybound did not so much revert from hyperspace as shudder back to sublight speed with a deep-bone vibration that trembled from aft to prow and a visible undulation that rocked the Nebulon-B frigate and drew groans from overstressed metal.
On the bridge, filled with the fear-stink of five different species mixed liberally with the scent of stale sweat on skin and fur, Captain Faranni slowly eased his grip on the edges of his seat as the shaking stopped. Pops and bangs throughout the superstructure eased into creaking barely at the edge of hearing.
'We're not dead,' he whispered, and louder: 'so that's something. C'mon. Talk to me, what's our status?'
Bleary eyes raked over holograms, most angry red and orange. Shaking hands rubbed at dried blood on cheeks or tenderly probed cuts and abrasions.
'Looks like that was the hyperdrive – engineering is saying…' Dorieke, a Chadra-Fan, leaned closer, sniffing, reading the text scrolling across her screen. 'Engineering says it blew out under the strain. We can't make any more jumps.' About what Faranni expected: the long chase from Telerath had pared away most of the ragged remains of the flotilla and left them hanging by the wire. This last jump, a random, hazardous one, hopefully would have put them just beyond the invader's tattooed reach.
'But we're holding together and still breathing. That's enough for now. Get damage control teams to the breaches along F and G deck. Who's still with us out there?'
'Waybound to fleet, Waybound to fleet: report in. Waybound to fleet, Waybound to fleet, report in.' Despite the hours and hours without sleep, hammered by stress, Akeyr's voice was calm and firm, one paw pressed to the headset as he broadcast through local space. The Bothan was the least injured of all of them. He had been lucky in his position on the bridge that most of the shredded transparisteel from the broad viewscreen had missed him when it had blasted inward. Even the briefest touch of the void before the armored shutters slammed down hadn't seemed to ruffle his fur. He held up a finger, only the slightest of exhaustion shakes quivering it.
'We have – Armiger reporting in, Taxman and Watch Your Back too. Devil's Dance squadron reporting in, Skyhopper and Waverunner both reporting pilots missing. Armiger is saying…Armiger says Equitable went down before they jumped. All hands.'
Faranni sighed, studying the holotank as it slowly resolved what remained of the flotilla. With Equitable gone, their only other frigate, they were well below a quarter strength from when they broke out of the blockade over the besieged world and fled into the deep black. Not to mention another few hundred souls lost.
'Tell them to form up on us and relay damage reports, replenishables and supply.' Raksim, the pilot, eased forward the throttle and everyone winced at the groans and quakes that ran along Waybound as its ion drives spooled up. Faranni turned to Ellaih, the other human on the bridge, overseeing navigation. 'Where are we, Ell?'
The man shrugged, wincing as it tugged on lacerations. 'Hard to say. Just inside the comet shell of a star system, that's for sure, and if I'm looking at the stars right, I'd say we're north of Comkin, probably into the Mid Rim. Give me some time to narrow it down. The whole navicomputer keeps trying to reboot, and I'm kind of afraid if I let it shut down it's not going to turn back on.
'And no signs of the Vong?'
'Nothing yet. Scopes are clear.'
'Akeyr, pass it along: we're going sunward. Get all our scopes looking in and seeing what's here. I want to know our options.'
There was a murmur of agreement throughout the bride as his crew redoubled their efforts. Nineteen hours without sleep. More for some. He was damned proud of their dedication, not just to themselves but to each other. To this ship.
'Then maybe we can see about rotating out for some rest. It's been a long day, folks.' He got a few weary nods and Ellaih mustered a sardonic 'hooray' while Raksim punched the air.
Waybound slowly burned a trail of ions down-well, toward the dim and distant pale star, the battered shapes of three corvettes trailing close and two dozen starfighters glinting like flitterflies in the dark.
.