Terran Alliance: The Odyssey

Chapter 17- Exegol

Chapter 17- Exegol

(September 27, 2041)

On the bridge of the Hood, Admiral Pellaeon is watching the holotable intently as it shows the progress of the Hood. After the ship had left R727 after they had harvested some material and fully marked and mapped the system, the ship had resumed its mission to find Exegol.

Now, the ship has almost reached Exegol. They had managed to map a route almost to the planet, and now the ship is about to finish a hyperspace jump taking it to the final obstacle on the path to Exegol.

Data and maps retrieved from the Malevolence after it crashed had revealed that on the route to Exegol that the Malevolence had used was a large nebula. Because of the nature of the nebula, it was very difficult to navigate, especially for a ship of this size. The ship would have to travel through the nebula at extremely low sublight speeds. Once through the nebula, they would emerge into the Exegol system.

"Time to target point?" Pellaeon calls out.

"Sir, 20 seconds," the navigation officer calls out.

Pellaeon stands up and turns to the viewport. Sure enough, 20 seconds later, then blue of hyperspace lengthens out, and then the ship drops out of hyperspace. Up ahead, Pellaeon can see the vast nebula in their path.

"Reduce engine power to 50 percent. Prepare to enter the nebula," Pellaeon calls out.

On the bridge, the atmosphere is tense. The Hood, or any Terran warship, has never attempted navigation of something like this. While warships have navigated nebulae before, mostly as tests, only once has a ship of this size navigated a nebula, and it was a far simpler navigation than this one will be.

"Time to enter the nebula?" Pellaeon calls out.

"Sir, sixty seconds to entry interface," the navigation officer calls out. Despite the fact that the navigation officer is now 60 years old, he's still as sharp and good at his job as ever.

The bridge crew watches intently as the nebula approaches. As the Hood enters the nebula, there is a slight vibration in the ship, but it is almost imperceptible.

Pellaeon is by now on full alert, as is the rest of the bridge crew. They have to be ready to react to any unexpected surprises in the nebula and avoid taking the ship into any dangerous sections of the nebula.

"Alright. Engines down to 40 percent power, alter course 0.9 degrees to starboard," Pellaeon orders. The helmsman follows his orders immediately, adjusting course and engine power. All the while, Pellaeon is running calculations and trajectories through his mind. This travel through the nebula will require dozens of such course corrections and changes in engine speed, as well as occasional evasive maneuvers to avoid damaging the ship. At the speeds the battlecruiser will be traveling, the trip through the nebula will take a little over an hour. It reminds him a little bit of a movie he's seen during his time aboard the Hood.

The Hood maintains its present course for about 5 minutes until Pellaeon sees the clouds of gas and debris thickening ahead. "Engines down to 35 percent power, alter course 4 degrees to port," he orders. The helmsman follows his orders immediately.

As Pellaeon carefully watches, the ship alters course to port to maintain the path through the nebula. As finishes its turn, Pellaeon orders, "Increase engine power to 48 percent."

"Aye, aye, sir," the helmsman calls out as he advances the engine power up to 48 percent, the ship slowly increasing in speed.

For the next hour, the Hood continues its complicated journey through the nebula. About half an hour into the journey, the Hood reaches the most complicated part of the trip. At this point, the gas cloud and debris are so thick and convoluted that the ship has to decrease engine power to a mere 30 percent of rated performance and the helmsman has to make constant course changes. The Hood does crash through a few thick clouds of gas and debris, but thankfully with no damage to the ship and just a few disruptions in the electrical systems in the bow.