Torren's blood ran cold.
The smirk that had curled on his lips only moments before vanished like a star swallowed by a black hole.
He slammed a fist into the steel railing before him, the impact echoing across the command deck like a cannon shot.
"Turn us back—now!" he roared, his voice sharp and cracking with fury, his face flushing red. The last screams of his pilots still rang in his skull—ambush… they're everywhere… save us…—five lives snuffed out in five seconds.
The crew jumped to obey, fear fueling their every motion.
The ensign's fingers flew across the console, inputting course corrections as the Iron Fang's engines groaned in protest.
The titanic destroyer shuddered, her thrusters flaring a brilliant orange as the ship pivoted, reversing its trajectory with a bone-rattling jolt.
The stars outside spun wildly across the viewport, the ship's momentum fighting its own bulk, and then—
