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A fluctuation, nothing more than a small power flux in the shield grid, and the generators<br />
"hiccupped", through that small gap the warp gate formed inside of Medusa. It was like a small<br />
black hole had opened in the ship itself.<br />
Armored hull platting, meters thick, crumpled like tissue paper.<br />
Decks twisted and shattered.<br />
Compartments were ripped open and exposed to space.<br />
Dozens of people died instantly, more were injured.<br />
The warp gate opened almost directly on top of her aft engineering compartment.<br />
Medusa's aft gravitic drive fluttered and died, exposing the entire rear of the ship to fire.<br />
Nicholas screamed in agony as his ship self was torn. Decades of Guardian training allowed him<br />
to force his mind to work through the pain, shunting more power to the section. Trying<br />
desperately to reroute around the damage. Nothing; the aft disk remained dead. Without it,<br />
Medusa's acceleration was cut in half. Instead of being "pulled" and "pushed" through space, the<br />
ship was only being pulled now.<br />
"Sharra!"<br />
Alarm klaxons snarled throughout the Guardian ship. Despite the reigning confusion his Provost<br />
was <strong>by</strong> his side almost immediately.<br />
"Yes, Guardian?"<br />
Another missile slammed into the rear of the Medusa. Without the nearly impenetrable gravitic<br />
disk, she was a tempting target. He knew what was going to happen next.<br />
"Sound general evacuation!"<br />
Her eyes met his and he nodded slightly. The well-built woman licked her lips then nodded and<br />
passed on the order. Throughout the ship, crew raced for shuttles, fighters, escape pods.<br />
Anything that would get them off the suddenly sitting target.<br />
"You should go, Sharra."<br />
"My place is with you, Guardian."<br />
"Nicholas, Sharra, my name is Nicholas, remember?"
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