Prologue
Beaten, broken, battered. The mood among the meagre fleet could be summed up with those three words, and Admiral Rozilo Beniga knew it. He observed the command staff diligently perform their duties on the bridge of Raven, and he noted their professionalism, though his trained, experienced eyes saw through it all. He knew the reality. He knew how they felt, for he felt it too. Beaten, broken, and battered.
His star destroyer raced through hyperspace, one of dozens of formidable warships, yet he knew they were but a shadow, a fragment of their former glory. The empire he had served, the empire he had loved, no longer existed. He and his people were pariahs in the new, lawless society of the New Republic, which had already began to dismantle the stability and order the Empire had built. Rage made his face flush and his hands tremble; Beniga pushed away a wayward strand of grey hair, and tried to retain a dignified stance.
"Sir, we are coming up on the edges of the Unknown Regions, Grand Admiral Sloane is ordering the fleet to drop out of hyperspace," a comms officer reported.
"Well then, let us obey. Bring us out of hyperspace, and let us observe what shall be our new home."
Raven buzzed under his feet as the gargantuan destroyer slipped out of the murky realm of hyperspace, and inky black void reappeared. Stars peppered the night, and lurking ahead of them, Beniga saw the distortions and disruptions of hyperspace eddies, tears in the fabric of reality itself, throbbing with crackles of blue, red, and white energy.
"How would we navigate through that?" a young, strong female voice beside him demanded.
"With great care, Captain Zogo." Beniga turned to look at her. Powerful cheekbones, pristine ebony skin, and piercing brown eyes looked back.
"This plan remains absurd," she muttered.
"Careful Captain, this plan is the remit of our superiors, devised to help us survive."
"Survival alone is not nearly enough."
"No it is not, but it is where we must start. Admiral Sloane understands this, and she is in command. Our first duty is to obey her, and rebuild. We must survive first, in order to do that."
Zogo scoffed, but recognition emerged on her face.
"Forgive me Admiral, I am frustrated. I wish to be shattering Republic scum, not fleeing like a rat."
"Believe me Captain, I share your frustration. None of this was part of the plan, none of this is what the Emperor wanted for us. It is unfathomable, yet it is our reality, and we must make the best of it."
Zogo looked away from him, setting her gaze on the star scape. "What do you imagine lurks within the Unknown Regions, sir?"
Beniga shrugged. "I cannot imagine. There are stories, stories that speak of ship-eating leviathans, black holes caught in deadly spirals with larger singularities, hyperspace storms that should shred worlds, clusters of neutron stars that would rip a ship from hyper and send it barrelling into oblivion, and within all of that, savage groups of pirates that will strip bare any ship that dares push too far. I guess we shall shortly find out what awaits us."
"Such a wonderful reward for such glorious service."
"Again, careful Captain. Besides, the circumstances that have left us out here were hardly predictable. They outfoxed even Palpatine himself. I do not want to hear further pessimism, especially on the Bridge."
Contrition creased Zogo's otherwise smooth face. Beniga envied her vitality, acutely aware of the lines of age that furrowed his brow.
"My apologies, Admiral. I am, as I said, ah, frustrated with our circumstances."
"You need not apologise for your emotions, Captain, merely be mindful of how you express them, especially in front of your crew. Now, to business. Once we receive precise coordinates to follow, we should-"
"Sirs, we're picking up a massive electromagnetic spike, directly ahead!" a blond-haired lieutenant blurted out from the pit. Beniga looked out of the Bridge's windows, squinting to see anything that stood out among the maelstrom.
"What am I looking for, lieutenant?"
"There is an energy surge, sir, it's actually something embedded in hyperspace, I don't understand these readings, it's like space itself is being torn open!"
"We could use more detail, Valorian," Captain Zogo suggested.
"I'm sorry Captain, I don't have any, these readings make no sense, there's hyperspace fluctuations, and subspace fluctuations, and, sirs, whatever it is, it's expanding!"
Now Beniga saw it. He saw chaos within chaos, a churning vortex of golds, reds, blues and greens, disrupting even the long-established malady of hyperspace storms and gravitational torrents. It reminded him of a whirlpool, except this one was made out of something he could not comprehend.
"Reverse course immediately, have all ships in the vicinity prepare to jump back to hyperspace," he ordered, as crisp and calm as he could manage. Raven shifted under his feet, and he heard the whine of the engines as they strained against some unseen force.
"The helm is not responding!" came the voice of the helmswoman. Raven shuddered, and the lights briefly dimmed. "We are being pulled in!"
"Full power to shields, all hands, brace for impact!" Zogo commanded. Beniga gripped the railing beside him. He was not given to displaying his fear, but his eyes widened as Raven inexorably slid into the widening abyss, and he closed his eyes, expecting to meet his death...
Beaten, broken, battered. The mood among the meagre fleet could be summed up with those three words, and Admiral Rozilo Beniga knew it. He observed the command staff diligently perform their duties on the bridge of Raven, and he noted their professionalism, though his trained, experienced eyes saw through it all. He knew the reality. He knew how they felt, for he felt it too. Beaten, broken, and battered.
His star destroyer raced through hyperspace, one of dozens of formidable warships, yet he knew they were but a shadow, a fragment of their former glory. The empire he had served, the empire he had loved, no longer existed. He and his people were pariahs in the new, lawless society of the New Republic, which had already began to dismantle the stability and order the Empire had built. Rage made his face flush and his hands tremble; Beniga pushed away a wayward strand of grey hair, and tried to retain a dignified stance.
"Sir, we are coming up on the edges of the Unknown Regions, Grand Admiral Sloane is ordering the fleet to drop out of hyperspace," a comms officer reported.
"Well then, let us obey. Bring us out of hyperspace, and let us observe what shall be our new home."
Raven buzzed under his feet as the gargantuan destroyer slipped out of the murky realm of hyperspace, and inky black void reappeared. Stars peppered the night, and lurking ahead of them, Beniga saw the distortions and disruptions of hyperspace eddies, tears in the fabric of reality itself, throbbing with crackles of blue, red, and white energy.
"How would we navigate through that?" a young, strong female voice beside him demanded.
"With great care, Captain Zogo." Beniga turned to look at her. Powerful cheekbones, pristine ebony skin, and piercing brown eyes looked back.
"This plan remains absurd," she muttered.
"Careful Captain, this plan is the remit of our superiors, devised to help us survive."
"Survival alone is not nearly enough."
"No it is not, but it is where we must start. Admiral Sloane understands this, and she is in command. Our first duty is to obey her, and rebuild. We must survive first, in order to do that."
Zogo scoffed, but recognition emerged on her face.
"Forgive me Admiral, I am frustrated. I wish to be shattering Republic scum, not fleeing like a rat."
"Believe me Captain, I share your frustration. None of this was part of the plan, none of this is what the Emperor wanted for us. It is unfathomable, yet it is our reality, and we must make the best of it."
Zogo looked away from him, setting her gaze on the star scape. "What do you imagine lurks within the Unknown Regions, sir?"
Beniga shrugged. "I cannot imagine. There are stories, stories that speak of ship-eating leviathans, black holes caught in deadly spirals with larger singularities, hyperspace storms that should shred worlds, clusters of neutron stars that would rip a ship from hyper and send it barrelling into oblivion, and within all of that, savage groups of pirates that will strip bare any ship that dares push too far. I guess we shall shortly find out what awaits us."
"Such a wonderful reward for such glorious service."
"Again, careful Captain. Besides, the circumstances that have left us out here were hardly predictable. They outfoxed even Palpatine himself. I do not want to hear further pessimism, especially on the Bridge."
Contrition creased Zogo's otherwise smooth face. Beniga envied her vitality, acutely aware of the lines of age that furrowed his brow.
"My apologies, Admiral. I am, as I said, ah, frustrated with our circumstances."
"You need not apologise for your emotions, Captain, merely be mindful of how you express them, especially in front of your crew. Now, to business. Once we receive precise coordinates to follow, we should-"
"Sirs, we're picking up a massive electromagnetic spike, directly ahead!" a blond-haired lieutenant blurted out from the pit. Beniga looked out of the Bridge's windows, squinting to see anything that stood out among the maelstrom.
"What am I looking for, lieutenant?"
"There is an energy surge, sir, it's actually something embedded in hyperspace, I don't understand these readings, it's like space itself is being torn open!"
"We could use more detail, Valorian," Captain Zogo suggested.
"I'm sorry Captain, I don't have any, these readings make no sense, there's hyperspace fluctuations, and subspace fluctuations, and, sirs, whatever it is, it's expanding!"
Now Beniga saw it. He saw chaos within chaos, a churning vortex of golds, reds, blues and greens, disrupting even the long-established malady of hyperspace storms and gravitational torrents. It reminded him of a whirlpool, except this one was made out of something he could not comprehend.
"Reverse course immediately, have all ships in the vicinity prepare to jump back to hyperspace," he ordered, as crisp and calm as he could manage. Raven shifted under his feet, and he heard the whine of the engines as they strained against some unseen force.
"The helm is not responding!" came the voice of the helmswoman. Raven shuddered, and the lights briefly dimmed. "We are being pulled in!"
"Full power to shields, all hands, brace for impact!" Zogo commanded. Beniga gripped the railing beside him. He was not given to displaying his fear, but his eyes widened as Raven inexorably slid into the widening abyss, and he closed his eyes, expecting to meet his death...
