As Voidwalker shuddered out of hyperspace a jolt of irrational panic shot through Davek. Everything had gone to plan so far. Their battle group had split up to enter the pocket of space around the waystation from each of the four openings in the Shroud's gas clouds. Without direct communications they'd had to plot out everything down to the second and Davek had been the one counting each one out, barking the commands to jump once, twice, three times in lightspeed micro-leaps through the Shroud's tangled passages. He'd called everything right and everyone on Voidwalker reported all systems standing by and ready to fight. Still, all of that could mean nothing. They'd only know when they arrived at the target.

When hyperspace flashed away the bridge crew had a perfect view of the enemy waystation sitting against a backdrop of blue and violet faintly twinkling with veiled stars. The tactical read-out came fast: six Mandalorian corvettes, three frigates, and one supply ship, all where they were supposed to be. Not even a single Beskad fighter flying patrol. The visual scanners also marked the two TIE Stalkers that had jumped into the area ten seconds before Voidwalker, jammers fired up, each right on top of a communications buoy linked the waystation with others.

Shieldbreaker was due to jump into the battle zone in thirty-five seconds. The clock was already counting down and they had work to do first.

"Fighter groups, away!" Davek called. "Black Squad for the buoys. Grey and Gold Squads, head for the station."

Even as he said it, Captain Lorn commanded, "Guns, eleven o'clock! Fire!"

Davek glanced up and saw Voidwalker's forward cannon pop off a single shot. A half-second later the communications buoy directly ahead of them burst into a fireball.

"Excellent! Helm, take us in!" the Muun said. He was still in his command chair but he leaned forward eagerly, betraying rare agitation.

As Lieutenant Jaeger ordered Voidwalker ahead, Davek glanced at the tactical readout. The frigate was pumping out fighters as fast as it could. Black Squad split in two to destroy the jammed buoys while the others plunged toward the station that had just raised shields but not, as yet, launched any defenders. Its cannons swiveled and began firing, broad shots the TIEs could easily evade at long-distance.

Then Shieldbreaker appeared, right on time. The last comm buoy exploded as Captain Dobriss' frigate dove down on the waystation from above. The frigate launched both squadrons of TIE Demolishers as fast as it could. The station turret guns strained to refocus their fire as the Demolishers began their first volley. All twelve vessels from Red Squad dropped shield-buster torpedoes designed to overwhelm the energy barriers around a heavily defended target. Blue light flared and scattered across the station's protective shell.

From beside Davek, Ensign Korak reported, "Sir, that's shield's still holding. Looks damaged, though."

Shieldbreaker had dropped in closer to the station and was already moving to remedy the fact. Its forward cannons were already releasing a hail of green turbolaser fire while its Demolishers arced around for a second run.

"Look!" Ensign Por Dun tapped the tactical holo. "One of the corvettes is firing engines!"

"Understood." Davek tapped his headset and connected with Lieutenant Pelky. "Breaker, this is Walker. One of those Crusaders is warming up."

"We see it," she responded. "Will remedy."

Shieldbreaker was settling low over the station and leveling out so that it could bring its full spread of ventral cannons to bear on the upper shields. They were hitting hard but their shields were holding; once Voidwalker got close enough to bring its own turbolasers to bear they would pop the shields and the station and everything attached to it.

When Ensign Korak reported the first squadron of Beskad fighters launching from one of the frigates, Davek got online with Voidwalker's flight wing. "Grey Squad, handle those fighters. Black Squad, get back here and help. Gold Squad, focus on the corvette that's breaking free. Help Blue Squad kill it before it can kill us."

The squad leaders gave affirmatives with wordless comm-line clicks. Davek shut off the link and looked at the tactical holo. Voidwalker would be in range of the station in under ninety seconds. The one corvette was escaping its moorings and opening fire but no other Mandalorian ship seemed stirred to readiness.

He took a deep breath and let himself wonder if they just might pull this off.

-{}-

Marasiah dashed right below the belly of the Crusader corvette as it escaped the protective bubble of the station's energy shield. Quad-laser turrets tracked her and her wingmen but none connected.

"Come around for another pass," she ordered, and pulled her TIE-X into a sharp U-turn. Vendark Marth, and Loman almost kept up. Before they could re-orient on the corvette, she spotted a pair of Beskar fighters shaped like nimble flying Ts, both vectoring toward two Demolishers on an attack run.

"Targets at three o'clock," she called and juked her fighter starboard. The others followed as she began to spray laser blasts on the Beskads' aft shields. The Mando fighters were durable and nimble and, worst of all, presented small target profiles, so she was barely able to clip one in the lower S-foil. The fighter stayed with its partner and both unleashed proton torpedoes that arched out at the Demolishers. The bombers had heavy shields to go with heavy armaments but both Mando torpedoes hit the same target, punched through defenses and turned the TIE into a streaming fireball.

The other Demolisher let loose its own torpedo at the same time and broke away. The Beskads split and Marasiah quickly ordered Vendark to stay on her wing, Marth and Loman to go after the other ship. From the corner of her eye she spotted more Demolishers converging on the corvette and letting their warheads fly.

She pulled her attention away from the attack and onto the Beskad. The little fighter slipped around with aggravating ease, but she was able to lace its port shields with laser blasts. Vendark fired from starboard until their green plasma-bolts overwhelmed its shields and chewed it to fiery debris.

"Excellent, Two," she called. "Stay on my wing."

Even as she wheeled back around to the corvette she heard Marth holler, "Corvette's down, Lead!"

Sue enough, the Demolishers had ripped a long gash through its starboard hull. The Mandalorian warship was drifting away from the station and trailing entrails as it fell toward the gas-clouds.

"Excellent," she called. "One Flight, follow me. Protect those bombers."

She checked her scanners. Voidwalker was just entering the firing zone and began pounding the station's shields with its forward cannons. Shieldbreaker was still shooting from above and it looked like the shell was about the break. She saw two more corvettes and one Mandalorian frigate were starting to warm their engines.

Black Squad was still reforming after hitting the comm buoys. She switched her link to the CAG's and said, "Black Leader, this is Gold Leader. Require assistance at the station."

"On our way now," Commander Samar said. "Will be there in- Stang!"

The CAG wasn't the swearing type. When Marasiah looked at her scanners she gasped despite herself. Two more Mandalorian Teroch-class frigates has just dropped out of the exit tunnel behind Commander Samar, and their guns were already blazing.

"Black Squad, evasive maneuvers!" Samar shouted. "They're launching fighters!"

"Gold Squad, Blue Squad!" Lieutenant Fel's voice suddenly sounded. "Intercept those frigates! Do everything you can to slow them down!"

He wasn't even trying to hide his panic. Marasiah snarled, "You heard him, Gold Squad. On my lead!"

"No!" Samar interjected. "Too late! Take down that station and get out while you can!"

"Commander," Fel began, "We cannot-"

A cut-short scream, then static in Marasiah's earpiece. She quickly switched to Gold Squad's channel, where she had only hushed profanities to listen to. Her scanner lit up with flare-marks, each one denoting one Black Squad TIE after another caught by enemy fire and destroyed. In seconds they were all gone.

-{}-

"Helm!" Captain Lorn's voice boomed over the bridge. "Change position! Do whatever you can to keep that station between us and the frigates."

"Sir," Davek reported, "We just lost half of Black Squad. Commander Samar-"

"I'm aware of that," Lorn scowled. "Guns, keep firing on that station for as long as you can."

Ensign Korak said, "That frigate is breaking free of the docking arm! She's starting to fire!"

They were close enough now that Davek could see it with his own eyes. Shieldbreaker had dropped low over the station to bring all its weapons to bear. It was holding position still, even after the frigates had arrived. It would take them a few minutes to bring their guns to bear on the Imperial ships and Captain Dobriss seemed to think he might still break the station in that time. He might be right: the shields were on the brink of collapse.

"Walker, this is Gold One!" Lieutenant Valtor sounded in his earpiece. "Requesting orders!"

"Stay by the station, Gold One. Keep the Beskads busy. We've almost cracked it."

"Understood," she said and cut the link. Only when it closed did Davek realize she was the only one of Voidwalker's three squad leaders still alive.

There was no time to think about that. Por Dun reported, "Shields are breaking… They're gone!"

Lorn must have heard her. "All guns, fire on that station! Helm, turn and show off our broadside!"

Voidwalker spun on its axis and the view from the bridge panned toward deceptively peaceful starlight and dust. The ship still shuddered as it brought all its starboard guns to bear on the station. He checked his tactical readout: Shieldbreaker was still holding low, still pounding the station, even as the Mandalorians' backup as just a minute away. Dobriss must have been betting the station had no armor to speak of and it looked like he was right. Readouts reported punctures and tears across its surface. One of the corvettes exploded in its dock. Another arm, hooked to one corvette and another frigate, broke off and took its ships with it as it drifted toward a dust cloud.

The explosive bursts jarred the scanners and made it difficult to tell what was happening. As Por Dun struggled to filter out the noise Davek lost track of the Mandalorian frigate that had broken free of the station just before it blew.

Just as he opened his mouth to shout a warning, Ensign Korak said, "Incoming torpedoes!"

Lorn heard too and called for more strength to starboard shields, but the projectiles arced around and slammed instead into Voidwalker's aft. The entire ship lurched, nearly throwing Davek off his feet, and he wondered if they'd lost an engine. Just then the tactical readout cleared and showed the full nasty picture. The two newcomer frigates were veering straight for Shieldbreaker, which was trying to pull into a steep upward climb toward the vector from whence it had come. The third frigate was charging Voidwalker head-on.

Mandalorian ships weren't designed for grueling broadside exchanges like Imperial ones. They were made for fast, brutal attacks, and most of the guns on a Teroch-class frigate were angled for forward fire. The one coming at them now was unloading everything it had: turbolasers, concussion missiles, what was left of its starfighter complement.

Lorn shouted for more power to shields. He barely got it out before the impacts began. The entire command deck lurched again, trembled. Davek grabbed onto the back of Por Dun's chair and barely stayed upright. He only released his breath when the trembling died down, when it seemed like they'd weathered the worst salvo.

Then the bridge exploded. His vision filled with light. He was jerked so hard to fell, knees slamming hard onto the deck. That was probably what saved him; the piece of shrapnel would have otherwise torn through his chest or ripped open his neck. Instead he felt streak of pain across the top of his head and fell back. The next thing he knew he was staring at the ceiling of the bridge. Alarms were wailing and red lights flashing. Korak's face appeared over his and the ensign slapped his cheeks.

"Sir! Sir, are you alive?"

Davek raised a hand and weakly batted him back. Por Dun knelt beside him too and both ensigns shifted him until he was seated upright. He looked around and saw everything was a chaotic mess. Some missiles must have breached the shields around the command tower. He heard someone shout that emergency bulkheads were in place, which was probably the only reason they all weren't dead in a vacuum. Someone else was calling for an emergency medical team.

He grabbed the nearest console and pulled himself upright so he could see better. The men in the crew pit seemed alright but there were bodies lying on the upper deck, cut down by flying debris. He saw a corpse lying face-down not far from the captain's chair, blood pooling wide around. A chunk of twisted metal jutted out of the man's skull. He was pretty sure it was First Officer Sarl.

"Sir!" Korak shouted. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine!" Davek said, just as liquid fell into one eye. He wiped it away with a palm that came back red. Bleeding. He was bleeding from the head. He felt his skull, felt it slick with blood, but he didn't feel any deeper damage. He kept his palm planted tight on his forehead to staunch the flow and looked around again.

Sarl was dead. And the captain's chair-

-was empty. He stagged forward, looked around. Even prone on the floor the tall pale Muun was easy to spot. Davek dropped to his knees next to Lorn and turned his on his side. Another piece of debris has taken him deep in the gut. Dark-blue blood feel freely from another wound across his bald head, Davek couldn't tell how deep.

"Medic!" Davek shouted. "The captain needs a medic!"

Lorn's long hand reached out and slapped hard against Davek's cheek. The captain's thin-lipped mouth opened to say something. Davek leaned closer and strained to hear over the alarms and the shouts.

"First... Off… Officer..." Lorn wheezed, his breath hot on Davek's cheek.

"Sarl's dead, sir."

"You… First… Officer…."

A first officer with blood all over his face. "Yes, sir. I understand, sir."

"Foolish… Get us out… Run… Run."

"Yes, sir. I will, sir."

Suddenly a voice behind him said, "Step away, Lieutenant, please."

He looked over his shoulder. Two men in medical whites peered over him. He shuffled aside and let them move Captain Lorn onto a repulsor-powered stretcher while another medic dashed in and wiped his face clear of blood.

"I'm fine," Davek panted. "I have to… I have to order retreat."

"Hold still, sir!" the medic said, and with some kind of tape-gun laid down a strip of adhesive over the wound. "Don't strain yourself, sir! That won't last long!"

The medic was gone just as fast. They'd already moved the captain off the bridge and were hauling him for the lift. They could take him down to sick bay. They could save him. Other bodies, bodies like Sarl's, were past repair. They were moving them off to the side, making way for men who could still be saved. Triage. Save those who can survive.

"Sir!" he heard Korak shout, "It's Shieldbreaker!"

He looked out the viewport for the first time since their shields collapsed. He watched as the two other Mandalorian frigates charged out of the waystation's flaming wreckage with all guns firing. Shieldbreaker had no chance. Its port shields absorbed an impressive amount and damage but not enough. Missiles tore through its hull. Its engines sputtered and died. Explosions blossom from inside, spilling out wreckage from the scorched mouth of its hangar bay.

"Comm!" he called. "Can we get a line with Breaker?"

Lieutenant Renwar, as dazed as the rest of them, shook her head and cried over the alarm, "Nothing, sir!"

Triage. Save those we can survive.

"Get us out of here," Davek rasped and looked to Lieutenant Jaeger. "Helm. Get us out!"

The lieutenant obeyed. Voidwalker spun around and began to vector for the nearest exit lane.

He was about to call all fighters back to the barn when another salvo hit. The entire deck shuddered again and the bridge went dark.

-{}-

The lift tube had dropped them at best halfway down to sick bay when the power died. The stop was so sudden it knocked both medics to their feet and slammed their heads against the walls of the narrow capsule. The repulsor-bed knocked corners against the walls too but didn't tip.

And suddenly Lukas Briggs and Assistant Medical Officer Vorman were trapped in utter blackness with the dying captain.

Lukas spent what seemed like a full awful minute listening to the Muun's ragged breath before Vorman activated his glow-rod. The bright light cast harsh shadows that moved as Vorman staggered to his feet, back braced against the tube's curving walls. He held the light over Captain Lorn, making visible the deep wound in his side, the damage to his head.

"What happened?" Lukas panted.

"Power's down," Vorman wiped sweat off his forehead. "Maybe just this section. Maybe we're dead in space."

"What about emergency power?"

"I don't know."

They looked down at the Muun. His long alien face seemed twisted in pain. His small dark eyes were squeezed shut. His long-fingered hands twitched at his sides and more oil-dark blood seeped around from around the debris lodged in his side.

Lukas fished out his comlink. He tried to cycle through its channels, including the line back to sick bay he'd just programmed into it. Nothing was working.

"How much air do you think is in here?" he asked.

"I don't know. Take small breaths."

Lukas had already been trying but panic and adrenaline weren't conducive to shallow breathing. The captain let out another groan; his body twisted on the bed and more blood spilled from his side.

"We have to do something." Lukas looked at Vorman. "Have you ever operated on a Muun before?" Field medic training for stormtroopers only covered human biology.

"No. I, uh, watched an instructional vid once." Vorman swallowed and Lukas felt all hope die. He'd been assuming, all this time, that a real medical officer would surely know how to handle any conceivable emergency while Lukas himself would just hold tools and suture wounds. Now it was plain the other man- barely older than him- was just as helpless.

"We have to do something," Lukas whispered. He wondered if the captain could even hear them.

Vorman set the light-stick down next to Lorn's torso wound. "We can, ah, start by removing this wound. We'll try to suture it."

"What about internal injuries?"

Vorman's look said everything. If the medic had once known his way around the inside of a Muun he couldn't remember it now.

"We have to try," Lukas told him.

"I know." Vorman rolled up his sleeves and pulled his gloves on tight. "Get your second vial of anesthetic and prepare to inject."

Lukas quickly found the cylinder in his belt pouch. "Got it. What next?"

As he stuck the needle through Lorn's bloodied uniform and into his skin Vorman said, "Do you have sutures?"

"Ready." The gun was at his hip like a blaster.

"Glad one of us is." Vorman put one hand on Lorn's side, another on the shrapnel stabbing into it. One hand pushed, the other pulled. Maybe they acted too quickly; maybe the anesthetic was never meant to work on a Muun. All Lukas knew was that he'd remember Lorn's agonized scream for the rest of his life.

Which, the way things were going, wouldn't be long at all.

-{}-

From her fighter, Marasiah could see all the damage in gruesome detail. The first missile barrage had knocked out Voidwalker's upper thrust engine and dented the command tower. The second had ripped a black-scorched hole in its upper starboard deck, spilling bodies and equipment into the vacuum. Lights were going down all over the ship and she couldn't hail the bridge. The only mercy was that none of the enemy's shots had ignited the missile magazines beneath the forward or tail batteries. All the while, Gold Squad and what was left of Black Squad were flying a valiant and vain fighter screen around the damaged frigate. They couldn't stop the approaching Mando ship's heavy guns but they could at least keep the Beskad fighters distracted.

More importantly, they could keep the Mando's frigate attention focused on what was ahead of it instead of what lay behind.

"Bombs away!" Blue One's voice sounded on her headset. They were the only two squad leaders from either frigate left flying and with Shieldbreaker and Voidwalker both dead in space they'd had to cook up this attack on their own.

She veered away from Voidwalker to get a better look. Vendark, Marth, and Loman kept behind her as she turned. What was left of Shieldbreaker's TIE Demolishers- fourteen heavy bombers in all- plus Gray Squad's five remaining TIE-Xs executed a dazzling attack on the Mandalorian ship's aft. Grey Squad went in first, drawing fire from the defensive turrets. Then the Demolishers with shield-busters still in their tubes let them fly. The Mandalorian ship, which had shunted energy forward to battle Voidwalker, couldn't reinforce its aft defenses in time. The remaining Demolishers unleashed a barrage of concussion missiles that smashed into the Mando ship's engines and burst them.

She knew some of her pilots were cheering but she switched her comm over to Blue One and said, "Excellent job, Lead. That ship's dead in space."

"I'm seeing lights coming back on yours," he said. Marasiah swung back to see Voidwalker, and indeed more window-lights were starting to flicker on.

She immediately hailed Lieutenant Fel. She waited for excruciating seconds, wondering if he was still alive or if the whole bridge had been pressurized by that first volley.

Then he said, "I just saw it. Excellent work, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, sir!" Adrenaline was making her giddy; she was starting to think any of them might survive this. "Status?"

"Backup generator finally kicked in. Thrust and hyperdrives should work. We're going to try and run for it."

"We'll re-form to cover you."

"Good. Prepare to- Wait. Wait one second-"

-{}-

Davek switched the frequency of his headset away from Lieutenant Valtor's and onto one he never thought he'd hear from again. "Lieutenant Pelky? Breaker, is that you?"

"This is Breaker." That voice, normally so soothing, was broken by static and stress. "What's your status?"

"Heavy damage but we're getting engines back online."

"Understood. We'll try to cover your exit."

"Lieutenant-"

"Captain Dobriss is dead. Our engines are gone but we're trying directional repulsors. We've started launching escape pods. Should slow the Mandos down if they want to capture any."

Davek's heart fell. He looked at the tactical holo that had just reappeared. The two active Mando frigates were close to Shieldbreaker's battered remains. If he took Voidwalker on an immediate escape route he just might escape. Or they might catch him.

If he went to rescue Breaker's remaining crew he'd be overwhelmed and lose his ship.

"Lieutenant," he began, not knowing how to end it. After all this he'd never see her in person.

"It's all right." Static broke her transmission, then it came back. "Most of those pods… thermal detonators."

"Oh. Oh, Lieutenant-"

"Hold on. We've got something else. Try-" static again. "Get closer, please!"

"What do you mean? Lieutenant? Lieutenant!"

"-straction. Just give us a little more-"

The connection died. Davek pulled off his headset and scowled as he looked over the bridge. The bodies had been cleared but the upper deck was slick with pools of blood. Alarms still wailed and right lights flashed. In the distance, through the forward viewport, he could see the smoldering remains of the waystation so many had died to kill. Almost silhouetted against it were three frigates: two blunt enemy ships and one sleek friendly dagger, dying but still deadly.

He didn't know what Lieutenant Pelky's last transmission had meant, but he said, "Helm, take us back to Shieldbreaker."

Lieutenant Jaeger stuttered a minute before saying, "Yes, sir. As ordered, sir."

Something dark flecked Davek's vision. He wiped his forehead and saw more blood, but not too much. Voidwalker shuddered as it lurched forward. Davek put his headset back on and called up Lieutenant Valtor.

"Are you there, Gold One?"

"Here, Lieutenant. Are you moving toward the enemy?"

"That's right." He didn't have the energy the explain and probably couldn't if he tried. "Keep our backs clear, Lieutenant."

"Yes, Lieutenant. Will comply."

-{}-

When the emergency power came on the frozen lift still didn't move. Lukas and Vorman had both been hunched low over Captain Lorn, desperately trying to suture his torn-open insides even though neither of them knew what they were doing. When the dim red lights came up neither of them noticed. When Lukas finally did realize what had happened, he slapped the control pad with a glove now coated in blue-black Muun blood. The lift tube shuddered downward again. When the door opened they looked out on a hallway, once plain white, now almost ghostly in the softer blue tones provided by the emergency lights. They pushed Lorn's repulsor-stretcher down the hall as fast as they could, Vorman called out help. They turned a corner hard and sprinted down one more corridor before they hit the medical bay.

The beds were already full, every one. Lukas shouted a from-the-belly stormtrooper's shout, and only that turned heads their way.

The chief medic came scurrying out of the crowd for them, and his eyes immediately fell on the captain. "We didn't hear he was injured!" Holden said. "Comm lines with the bridge are still down!"

"We tried to do what we could." Lukas gestured to wound in his side with blood-covered hands.

"I understand," Holden said curtly and called for another medic. "We'll take care of him. You've done enough for now."

With that they pushed Lorn away, somehow maneuvering the stretcher through the chaos sick bay had become. Against all the shouting, a silence seemed to fall around Lukas and Vorman. The two men stared at each other, eyes wide, breathing heavy. Then another medic called Vorman's name and he was off to another bed.

No one called for Lukas. He shuffled back until his shoulders hit the nearest bulkhead. He tore the bloody gloves off his hands and threw them to the deck. He stared at his palms. They were so clean it was terrifying and they wouldn't stop shaking.

-{}-

When Voidwalker got close, the two Mandalorian frigates lurched to meet it. Davek watched it all from the tactical station, praying he hadn't just doomed his men for no reason. Their fighters were already colliding with the TIE-X screen. The frigates would be in firing range soon. Davek had told Lieutenant Jaeger to prepare to gun it for the exit zone above them and the helm officer was clearly anxious for the order.

Davek watched all those escape pods. The Mandalorians, apparently keen on taking prisoners for once, were starting to reel them in with tractor beams. Then, all at once, they stopped, as though they couldn't decide between chasing Voidwalker or seizing the survivors from Shieldbreaker.

Then, without warning, they turned their guns and began shooting the escape pods.

Shouts of dismay, barely stifled, rippled across the bridge. Some of those escape pods burst bright like novas as the thermal detonators stuffed inside burst. Others were simply gone; empty or stuffed with helpless crewmen, Davek would never know.

The Mandalorians surged forward again. Davek ordered all guns ready but kept his eye on Shieldbreaker as the Mandos started to leave it behind. The dagger-shaped frigate seemed to drift dead in space.

And then it began to move. Its engines were still dead, but it seemed to crawl after one Mando frigate like it was dragged in the ship's wake. Then Davek understood: tractor beam.

"Helm, take us after that starboard frigate!" Davek called. "Guns, get a solution and fire the second you're in range."

Affirmatives echoed across the bridge. Everyone was still too dazed and shocked to even question. The Mandos seemed to have figured out what Shieldbreaker was doing and had turned their aft guns on the crippled vessel, but the warships, fearsome as they were, had almost no range of fire from their bottom-aft section. Shieldbreaker surged forward, firing with a handful of still-functioning guns, getting closer and closer to the Mandalorian ship. From the bottom section of its hull, some escape pods were shooting free. Not many, but some, and Davek was sure real crew were on those.

But first, the fight. Voidwalker began to pummel the frigate's forward hull as Shieldbreaker reared into its aft. The vessels collided, not fast, but hard. Metal sheared off metal and snarls of debris tumbled into space. The Mando frigate's engine shuddered, died. Shieldbreaker's nose stabbed up into its starboard flank, its tip probing life a knife-blade. When it found the vessel's missile magazine the explosion was so bright Davek had to look away.

When he looked back some of the crew started cheering. The whole aft section of the Mandalorian ship was gone. So was Shieldbreaker.

"How many escape pods?" He rasped, then repeated it louder.

"Um, looks like…. Seventeen." Por Dun said.

That other Mando ship was coming at them, still, curving around the wreckage of its partner. Davek saw his opportunity. "Helm, take us in close. Use that wreckage as a shield. Tractor beams, reel in as many escape pods as you can."

Voidwalker moved quickly to position itself on the other side of the broken Mandalorian frigate. As Por Dun softly rattled off one recovery after another, Davek said watched the tactical holo and tried to figure out how much time he had before they'd been forced to slug it out with the remaining enemy ship. In their condition it wasn't a battle they could win.

Then Ensign Korak said, "Sir, three new Mando ships inbound."

Davek looked at the holo. One more frigate and two corvettes, coming from the same vector as the other two arrivals. They were already deploying fighters.

Strangely enough, he was actually glad. He'd been planning to run through the same hole Shieldbreaker had dived out of, and that was much closer. The real worry was still the frigate closest to them. That, and time.

"How many escape pods do we have left out there?" he asked.

"Seven more," Por Dun reported, then swore. "Six more. Mandos just shot another one."

Korak started swearing but Davek cut him off. "How many fighters are still in the air? How many, total?"

The ensign checked his console. "Thirty-four, sir."

Just enough to squeeze into a hangar. He picked up his headset and hailed Lieutenant Valtor. "Gold One, get your birds ready to roost. All your birds."

"Understood, sir."

"Good. And keep those escape pods safe until then." He turned off the headset and looked back at the tactical display. They were almost ready to run and he'd get everyone home he could. They could jump before the new Mandos got there which left just one hurdle.

There was one thing he could think of. It wasn't his idea, it was Shieldbreaker's, but if that dead ship could do them one last favor-

"All escape pods aboard, sir," Por Dun said.

"Helm, plot a course for the exit vector directly above us. All available tractor beams, lock on to that dead frigate. We're using what's left of it as a shield." He snapped a finger at Korak. "Send a recall signal to all our birds. We're running."

Lieutenant Jaeger was more than happy to comply. Voidwalker surged upward. The wreckage around the destroyed waystation panned down out of view and the gap in the gas clouds above beckoned like an open doorway.

"How's our shield working?" he asked Por Dun.

"Blocking some of their attacks," the ensign said nervously. "But we're recalling our fighter screen and theirs is still-"

The bridge shook, but not as hard as before. No more debris blew across the deck. Davek called out, "Damage?"

"They're nibbling at our aft," Lieutenant Jaeger said, then stopped to listen to his headset. His expression feel sharply. "Sir, engines report problems."

"What kind of problem? We still have sublight." Not now, not when they'd come this damned far.

Jaeger scowled. "Sir, I have Chief Daharr. He says- Ah-"

Davek crouched over the crew pit and tore the headset off Jaeger's head. The lieutenant yelped in surprise but Davek shoved it on his own and said, "This is Lieutenant Fel. What's happening, Chief?"

"That last hit sent a power surge through our auxiliary power coupling to the hyperdrive core, almost burned the thing out-

"What does that mean, Chief? Do we have lightspeed?"

"Yes, but I can't guarantee it won't blow out after one use."

"We need to get out of here now, Chief. Can you reinforce it somehow, just get a couple more jumps until we're out of the Shroud?"

"I can try but I don't know. If it blows out now-"

The bridge shook again. Someone said, "They're pounding our aft shields hard now. Won't last much longer!"

Davek spun toward tactical. "The fighters?"

"Last one's aboard," Korak reported.

He looked down to Jaeger. "Helm, plot us a jump out of here."

"Sir, the Chief said-"

"I know. Just do it, Lieutenant!"

Jaeger's crew patched the route in less than fifteen seconds. He looked up at Davek, hope and dread mixed equally in his eyes. "We're ready, sir."

Davek grabbed hold of Captain Lorn's empty chair, braced himself, and said, "Jump!"

They surged into lightspeed. The gas-cloud fell away and stars became a storm. The deck shuddered and lurched.

Less than thirty seconds later, they fell back into realspace. No enemy ships were waiting for them, no wreckage. Just another vast pocket of space deep within the Shroud. He saw asteroids, planetoids, chunks of barren space rock all drifting lazily through the void.

It was suddenly very, very quiet on the bridge. Davek staggered over to the tactical station. He suddenly felt so weak he could collapse.

"Ensign," he asked Por Dun, "Any hostiles?"

"Negative, sir… But it's hard to tell. This space goes on for a long time."

"How far?"

"Looks like… Over two standard light-years across."

Silence again. He said, "All crews, begin damage assessment. Begin casualty counts." He tapped his headset- Jaeger's headset- and brought up the engineering section on comm.

"Chief Daharr," he said, "Are you there?"

After a second his dry voice crackled, "I'm here."

"The hyperdrive?"

"Gone, sir."

Davek felt hollow inside. All the adrenaline of the fight was gone in an instant. "How long until you can fix it?"

"Sir… The power surge from the jump blew out the auxiliary power coupling. It's too damaged to be repaired. We don't have a replacement."

"What does that mean, Chief?"

"Sir… We may never have lightspeed again."

Davek swallowed. Somehow he said, "Work on it, Chief," and took of the headset. He staggered over to Jaeger and dropped it back to him. He met the helmsman's eyes and shook his head.

Then, finally, Renwar called from the comm station. "Lieutenant, we've finally reestablished contact with the infirmary. They say they're overloaded and still don't have a proper casualty count."

He heard the trepidation in her voice and dared to ask, "What about the captain?"

"Captain Lorn is dead."

The enormity of it finally hit him then. He clung to the back of Lorn's chair to keep aright and stared out at the space before them, lightyears-vast and lifeless. After fighting so fiercely to survive he'd led them all into a graveyard.