Cadets: The Empress of Batoria

#11 ESCAPING THE EMPIRE

The fire squad rushed to put the fire out on the War-Bat . Ali and the medics crowded round to examine me. I needed emergency treatment.

While I was carried to sickbay, followed by Stevie, Max, Asha and Tom made their way to the bridge. Throughout the ship, the crew was rushing about. It was all hands-on deck, as they squeezed their way through the rushing.

They soon arrived on the bridge as we left orbit for the flight channels.

Jennifer explained the situation as Max and Tom took to their posts. The Empire had orders to have us apprehended or destroyed. She recommended getting out of Batorean Space before larger forces showed up.

"I think they already have." said Max pointing out a Batorean dreadnaught blocking our way to the channels.

We received transmissions from the vessel, ordering us to surrender or be destroyed. Making themselves quite clear, they fired a warning shot. Tom dodged the incoming blast and turned the ship around as thousands of War-Bats phased in, to attack.

"We've got to find another way out of here." said Jennifer only to be told by Asha there was no other way out. Jennifer insisted there had to be and ordered X-5 to begin scanning for another possible passage out of the nebula.

"The interior surface area is roughly over tenth to sixteenth square kilometres. It will take seven hours to completely scan the surface." "We don't have seven hours!" exclaimed Max.

Seeing no alternative, Tom suggested making our own passage through the nebula. My crew was against it, especially Asha. As she stated before, the nebula was erupting with discharging gases that were fatal to starships. For someone to make it through would have to be the greatest pilot in the universe.

Despite it being risky, they agreed it was our only chance of escape. With no further objections, Tom steered the Enterprise into the cloudy walls, followed in by the War-Bats.

It was very narrow flying inside the nebula. My crew had to be on their toes if we had any chance of getting through in one piece. There was no margin for error. The odds against us were tremendous, but the stakes were high.

It was not smooth sailing for the Batoreans either. One War-Bat got struck by lightning, causing it to roll out of control before blowing up.

Even for small ships like War-Bats, it was dangerous for them to fly in the nebula as well. However, Batorean pilots were firmly trained to fear nothing, not even death. So, it did not matter if they lived or died.

Suddenly, a War-Bat decloaked on our port side and opened fire, hitting the main bridge. Several bridge stations blew up, sending a few operatives flying across the bridge. The destroyed stations caught fire, and the crew rushed to put them out.

Tom and Max held on tight during the chaos, including Jennifer. They shielded themselves each time sparks showered over their heads.

"Hang on!" and Tom pulled back on the stick for a climb. Everyone held tight as we climbed through the blinding nebula, shuddering.

The pursuing War-Bats were trying to catch up. They took shots at our rear, missing a few times. Some hits made us jerk slightly.

Once we had some distance, Tom turned the ship around for a diving charge towards the pursuing fighters.

Firing forward weapons, he could not really tell if they were ahead, but was hoping to hit something. He hit one or two fighters, exposing their location for a brief second. The surviving War-Bats dodged us and then turned around.

The chase continued as we flew under a wall of cloud. Lighting continued to discharge, and the War-Bats kept on shooting.

By taking evasive manoeuvres, Tom hoped to shake off our pursuers. His efforts led to no avail. They were tougher to shake than he thought.

Tom deaccelerated and got behind the pursing fighters. He opened fire and destroyed another War-Bat just as the rest cloaked.

He lost sight of them, but not for long. They were still cloaked but flying through the thick nebula clouds exposed their location. He locked weapons on the fighters and took them out. The War-Bats were exposed by the incoming laser fire. They blew up or collided into one another. Some limped away we raced on.

Then just when we thought we were safe, a Batorean dreadnaught emerged from the clouds ahead of us, blocking our path. Incoming laser fire struck us in the belly as we tried to evade. Laser fire struck the under part of the wing section, and then blast through engineering. Explosions jerked us so much that everyone on board fell to one side as we dived violently further into the nebula.

Leaving behind a trail of fire and smoke, we rolled out of control through the blinding nebula. Everyone, especially in engineering, struggled to get the ship back under control. Tom had a struggling fight with the steering. He could not get the ship to respond the way he wanted it too.

Everyone on the bridge held tight as we continued to roll through the nebula. Lighting struck us a few times, causing us to jerk. Eventually, after changing a few set ups, and pulling throttles back and forth, Tom was able to get the Enterprise back under control.

The worst was over, but the damage was done. We suffered damage to our hyperdrive, and engineering was reporting several casualties in need of medical emergency.

As we continued to fly on through the nebula, my crew began to wonder where we were. Sensors were barely operating, and they were one of the few things onboard that were not damaged.

Everyone was hoping we had lost our pursuers, but Asha suspected otherwise. Her people were not the type who would give up easily, and she was right.

The dreadnaught that took us by surprise was now on our tail with more War-Bats moving in. Tom did his best to evade through the incoming shower of laser fire, especially for Nym. He and the engineers were barely managing to keep the ship together and the last thing he wanted was more beatings. Our only chance was to lose our tail which was easier said than done.

Pretty soon, the clouds were starting to get thicker to the point of being unable to see where we were going. Tom decided to use this to his advantage and made a turn. The War-Bats followed and eventually they lost sight of us as we accelerated further into the clouds. They tried to see through the clouds to no avail.

Then out of nowhere, they saw themselves on a direct collision with the pursuing dreadnaught. They all crashed into side of the ship like torpedoes. Some ended up crashing into the command tower, which caused severe damage throughout the dreadnaught, rendering powerless.

Because of Tom, he used the clouds to trick the Batoreans into crashing into each other.

Even though we got away, the chase was far from over. the Empire would send more of their forces to come after us and our best chance was to run and hide.