Within a few minutes, the Orionis Belt popped up on the scanners of the Lietinna. Archer sat on his captain's chair with a frown on his face as the image of the three enemy ships in pursuit was also still displayed on his monitor. His plan was simple; neutralize the enemy's superiority in number and firepower by leveraging the scattered asteroids and hope that they can buy enough time for help to arrive from somewhere.
"ETA less than 60 seconds Sir. Preparing for a HLT drop."
Archer straightened his sitting posture as he stared ahead and spoke up while pressing the intercom button causing his voice to boom throughout the Lietinna:
"All hands to battle stations, brace for contact."
The tension on the bridge and throughout the ship was palpable as the countdown decreased. As soon as the time hit 10 seconds, Archer leaned forward on his chair and stared intently ahead with his hand holding the armrest tightly.
Within a few more seconds, the tug of an HLT drop accompanied by humming coursed throughout the ship and a sea of asteroids of varying sizes came into view, but there was no time to lose, Archer immediately commanded:
"Helm, full speed into the belt. Coordinate with the Romme and the Tame on movement and stay within range of them and prepare for quick adjustment. Tactical, prepare to deploy the mines as soon as we enter the asteroid field, staggered intervals and random patterns."
"" Yes sir""
Archer then looked to his left monitor as he waited for the Romme to drop out of HLT. Archer noticed a while ago that the Romme was not initially escaping at full speed before they noticed the Type 3 on their pursuit, causing them to lag the Lietinna in arriving at the belt.
The incompetency and lack of sense from Lt. Commander Esmer was making Archer wonder how this man made it far in his career, but then again, Lt. Commander Naimes deemed the navy a pool of stagnant water and Lt. Commander Esmer seemed a perfect fit for it.
The Lietinna dropped very close to the edge of the asteroid belt and was within two minutes of reaching it. After 30 seconds, the 3 enemy ships also dropped out of HLT and flew in pursuit of the Lietinna while releasing a barrage of proton cannon fire.
Their speeds were equivalent, and the Lietinna was far enough ahead that the impact of their forward proton cannons was not devasting. Archer felt the impact of two cannon shots causing the Lietinna to jolt.
"Sir, multiple proton cannon hit on stern, 50% deflection, no major hull damage."
"Engineering, move power to stern shields."
"Yes sir."
Archer commanded as he sighed. He was essentially shooting target as he couldn't afford to be caught before making his way to the cover of the asteroid belt, so the only path forward was to absorb the enemy fire and hope for the best. As the enemy fire continued to hit the stern of the Lietinna but was essentially being negated by the fully powered shields.
"Sir, the Romme dropping in on the starboard side. They seem to be making their way to us"
Archer who was keeping a close eye on the shield output numbers was flabbergasted at the words he heard before slamming his hand on the armrest and speaking in almost a shout:
"Patch me to the Romme now."
Within a few seconds, Lt. Commander Esmer's face up on Archer's monitor with a weasel look on his face as he spoke immediately:
"Lieutenant Chase, The Romme will rendezvous with you and provide aid."
Archer was almost at the edge of his sanity as he stared angrily at the man on his screen before speaking:
"That is not the plan Lt. Commander. Make your way to the belt and we'll rendezvous as soon as we can in there. Do not engage our pursuers."
Esmer's lips twitched in a strained smile as he looked around slightly before speaking:
"We have that Type 3 a few minutes behind us, we should get together to attack your pursuers before they arrive and then we can team up against the Type 3 without her support."
Archer felt the impact of a few more cannons on their rear but didn't pay it any mind as he stared incredulously at Lt. Commander Esmer. Reading between the lines, Archer summarized that he didn't want to get caught by the type 3 alone so was essentially dragging the Lietinna to help them. Archer couldn't understand the extent of this officer's incompetency, its almost as if he wasn't listening to his and Lt. Commander Naimes' words earlier.
He simply sighed and spoke while pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache come on:
"Lt. Commander, we will not be engaging in any kind of battle in open space, we can't afford to. Please make your way to the asteroid belt, deploy as many mines as you can, and conduct evasive maneuvers as we wait for reinforcements."
Archer then proceeded to disconnect the call before he lost his temper. He then turned to the main viewing screen as the asteroids got larger and within less than a minute of flight from them.
The Romme also adjusted her course to the belt as Lt. Commander Esmer seemed to have reluctantly accepted Archer's words. Archer then turned forward as he input a route plan on his control and spoke at the same time:
"Helm, route input over to you, use the nearest asteroids to get cover and disengage from the enemy ships. Comms, share maneuver plans with the Romme and the Tame."
"Yes sir."
Archer then continued with his route input and adjustments as more of the asteroids came within view. His plan was to simply use a mix of random maneuvers and mines to limit contact with the enemy as much as possible while also working with his allies to opportunistically harass the enemy as much as possible to see if they could isolate one or two ships.
"Sir, we're within the belt, deploying mines."
"Good. Helm, proceed with the planned route. Tact, engage the enemy as soon as they enter the belt, and let's see if we can pay them back. Engineering, redistribute shield power evenly."
"" Yes sir.""
"Sir, enemy ship dropping out of HLT near the Romme. It's the type 3. Archer turned his head to the main display which was now showing the Romme and a large black ship, almost a thousand feet long with more than 8 heavy cannons strewn around its body.
"Chaser Class sir. No identifying marks but seems to be a retrofitted League ship."
Archer took a deep breath as he felt a slight weight leave his shoulders since the enemy ship was a chaser class ship and not a destroyer which would have been devastating for them. They were still in dire straits, but there might still be hope for them still.
"Maintain course, nothing changed from our plan. Ops, keep long-range scanners active, we need to keep an eye on more enemy ships and the location of our reinforcements."
"Yes sir."
Archer spoke as if reinforcements were a certainty in their future, but deep down, he was neither sure nor hopeful that someone would get to them in time and with enough firepower to be able to free them from their predicament. But he still spoke with conviction to maintain his crew's spirits.
"Sir, the three enemy ships are not entering the belt, they are adjusting course to rendezvous with the type 3 ship."
Archer looked at the map and felt relieved before inputting another route that moved them deeper and further into the belt while also moving them away from the enemy ships.
"Helm, new route plan. Comms, notify the Romme. Let's rendezvous with the Tame?"
"Yes sir, the tame just shared her exact location with us, they are deeper within the asteroid field."
"Good, proceed. Anything on long-range scanners?"
"No sir. No movement."
As the Lietinna continued further into the asteroid belt, Archer's mind raced with the possibilities. The Romme was now safely within the belt, and the enemy Type 3 ship seemed to be more interested in linking up with its companions than pursuing them further. It was a small victory, but Archer knew they couldn't afford to let their guard down.
"Sir, we're within visual range of the Tame," the communications officer reported. "They're hailing us."
"Put them through," Archer said, and the image of Lt. Commander Naimes appeared on the screen.
"Archer,"
Lt. Commander Naimes said with a nod of acknowledgment and a broad smile on her face:
"I see you made it into the belt. What's the situation."
Archer nodded back as he spoke:
"The enemy is regrouping, and will no doubt proceed to try and besiege us by having type 2 outflank us and type 3 push us out. We need to ensure that we're not pushed out into open space, have you had a chance to deploy mines?"
"Agreed, the entirety of my rear approach is riddled with mines. Your helm has the routes and patterns. If the enemy does what you said, we need to capitalize on it, we can't afford to do evasive maneuvers all day."
Archer frowned slightly as he really wasn't in the mood for a pitched battle and was hoping they could just bode their time, but he still agreed with Naimes' comment about them not being able to run all day.
The enemy outnumbers and outguns them, so they will eventually be pushed out of the asteroid field as the type 3 blocked most of their forward routes and the remaining type 2 tried to outflank them from multiple sides.
He said a bit before speaking:
"We'll see how they move. If there is enough space between their flanking movement and their forward pushing type 3, we can take them apart one by one, but…."
Archer paused for a second as he looked at Naimes and his bridge crew while contemplating if he should say what he was thinking. A second later, he made up his mind as he spoke:
"The Romme is a bit unstable. I recommend we keep an eye on them as Lt. Commander Esmer has shown a tendency to make impulsive decisions. We can't afford to be dragged into a fight we're not prepared for or worse be abandoned when we need help."
Silence took over for a second before Lt. Commander Naimes spoke with an uncharacteristically serious tone:
"Unfortunately, not my first encounter with that moron. We'll spoon-feed him direction, thankfully he is easy to order around, unlike someone."
Archer chuckled a bit but was interrupted by a crew member speaking:
"Sir, the enemy is advancing forward into the field in a scattered formation. The Type 3 is taking center."
"Alright, here we go. Keep an eye on their movements,"
Archer instructed.
"Helm, adjust our course to maintain a safe distance from the Type 3 but stay within range of the Tame and Romme. Tactical, prepare to target the Type 2 ships when they come within range, coordinate with the Tame."
The tension on the bridge was palpable as the Lietinna and the Romme maneuvered through the asteroid field, carefully avoiding collisions with the rocky obstacles. The enemy ships soon closed the distance, their proton cannons firing sporadically as they navigated the hazardous terrain.
Archer sat back on his chair as he looked for patterns on a path forward while the Romme and the Tame also proceeded to use the asteroids and mines to evade the enemy fire.