"The main engine is too badly damaged to restart! The backup engine is loading—no, the energy-compartment conduits have burst! The main system is about to shut down. Prepare for impact!"
"Shut up! If you have time to shout, use it to think of a solution! The Sun Ship's hull is sturdy, but a fall from ten thousand meters is still enough to destroy it. The Crown Prince is aboard! Find a way to reduce the impact!"
"We can deploy the auxiliary wings used for flying in harsh conditions and try to get the Sun Ship gliding before it shuts down. But we have to calculate the best glide path. Otherwise, the momentum we build up will still smash us to pieces."
"Then get calculating! Where is His Highness Khufu? Has anyone seen him? You there, get the escape pods running! We can die, but His Highness must get out!"
General Bhopal's roar echoed across the chaotic bridge, quickly taking control of the situation and spurring his panicked subordinates into action.
The once brightly lit cabin was now flashing its emergency warning lights. The pulsing red glow and the tremors that kept shuddering through the hull spoke to the ship's dire condition, like the mournful cries of a stranded behemoth. Automated damage-control measures had been activated, and the compartments where explosions had occurred were sealed off to prevent the danger from spreading. At the general's bellow, several capable soldiers hurried toward the escape pods.
But getting it done aboard a tilted ship in such violent turbulence was no easy task.
The one small mercy was that, thanks to Lord Phaing's interference, the missile had not struck the active solar engine directly. If that thing had exploded, its energy output would have been enough to turn the Origin Vanguard into flying scrap