Archer looked through the viewing screen as he saw the three enemy-type ships spread out and start firing proton cannons at them with the large type 3 moving slowly through the asteroid belt. The space between the asteroids was not too small and most type 2 and type 3 ships could maneuver through it comfortably if they maintained a reasonable speed and turn maneuvers while accounting for the asteroid's inherent motion.
Archer's plan was simple, slowly move in and around the asteroids and limit the enemy's weapon superiority while also finding chances to isolate and dwindle their numbers if the opportunity arises.
On the other hand, the enemy was attempting to slowly push Archer and his allies out of the belt by either forcing them to be outflanked, hence limiting their escape paths into the asteroids or simply putting them in the line of fire of the type 3.
Archer looked at the enemy ships on the viewing screen with the occasional proton cannon shot whizzing by or hitting his or his allies. Occasionally he would input a route on his console to ensure that they were not exposed to the Type 3's direct line of fire while also matching his allies' maneuvers.
Hye still maintained a close eye on the Romme and the Tame to make sure that neither of these unpredictable commanders would do something to ruing their efforts for the last 30 minute. The occasional unexpected turn or maneuver from them would often send his stomach to his chest, but they seemed to be sticking to the original plan.
The mood on the bridge mirrored Archer's nerves as the bridge crew maintained vigorous attention to their duties and Archer's commands.
"Sir, incoming message from the Tame."
Archer who was starting to feel a vein almost pop on his temple as he kept a close eye on the movement of his allies and the enemy was alerted by his comm officer's voice as he immediately saw the contact icon pop up on his screen.
He immediately accepted the call and spoke with a strained voice showing his exhaustion:
"Lt. Commander."
Lt. Commander Naimes seemed similarly exhausted, but there was a bright light in her eyes contrasting with Archer's exceedingly dim eyes. Perhaps it was her experience or more likely her taste for battle that seemed to fuel her. She nodded to archer as she spoke quickly:
"Lieutenant. We are running out of time, there are not many routes left that will keep us out of the type 3's main weapon line while also keeping us within the belt. We have less than 10 minutes by my estimation before we must decide, we need to come up with a plan."
Archer did not immediately respond as he stared intently at the relative positions of their ships and the enemy in relation to the asteroids and he couldn't help but agree. Two of the enemy type 2 ships were already cutting off a large swath of their path deeper into the belt and behind them while the remaining type 2 and type 3 ships were slightly further behind waiting for them to enter their direct line of fire or attempt to break away from the two other ships' flaking movements.
Archer's screen was filled with multiple routes that he drew over the last 30 minutes and often, his options were cut off or anticipated by the enemy's own maneuvers causing him to constantly re-evaluate. Currently, there were 3 potential routes available to him as he couldn't help but feel the net tightening on them but was certain that they had more than 15 minutes before he hoped that some other route would open.
However, Lt. Commander Naimes seems to have seen further than he did and saw no good path opening before them causing him to be less than convinced. He turned back to the call and spoke with a confused voice:
"I think a route may open up if we adjust our heading to that of route 5-66 and hope that the enemy's trailing type 2 and type 3 ships don't adjust fast enough."
Lt. Commander Naimes narrowed her eyes at Archer's words as she stared at him for a few seconds before speaking calmly:
"Lieutenant. I admit you have been performing well so far. I am genuinely impressed by your command especially. But you seem to be misunderstanding something; Hope is not a strategy."
Archer, who was half listening while looking at his route plans was jolted by Lt. Commander Naimes' words and turned to look at her with a confused look. Naimes who was suddenly wearing an uncharacteristically serious look continued speaking:
"I know you're new to command and I can't expect you to already know what many of us learn through time, but we are in a battle for our lives and the lives of our crews, so you need to learn fast. So, adjust your plans to be much more pessimistic because there is no place for hope in our line of work."
Archer was stunned. It was true that most of his plans and projections were made with the enemy's movements and anticipated responses in mind, he just simply thought it was tactical thinking, but looking back, the enemy seemed to be a lot more erratic and harder to predict causing him to adjust his route plans constantly. In fact, the toil the constant changes had on his crew was visible to him now as the heavy silence of his bridge crew indicated their frayed nerves at the anticipation of his quick adjustments and orders.
Archer couldn't help but feel afraid at how big a blind spot this was and immediately understood the difference between a seasoned commander like Lt. Commander Naimes and himself and the value of the experience.
Seeing the look of realization slowly creep on Archer's face, Lt. Commander Naimes cracked a smile and continued speaking:
"It's a lesson we all learn sooner or later as commanders. Let me show you how veteran commanders conduct battle at our level. There is less strategic prediction of your enemy's reactions and more forcing their hand into undesirable actions. I'll transmit a route plan to you, please follow it precisely. I'll go talk to Esmer."
Archer was genuinely curious as to Naimes' plan as he seemed to finally understand and appreciate her command ability. In fact, now that he thought about it, the Tame was subjected to much less direct enemy fire than his Lietinna and the Romme showcasing Lt. Commander Naimes' ability compared to his.
'Sir, incoming route plan form the Tame."
Archer turned to his monitor and looked at the plan Naimes sent. It showed their three ships each following their current routes before converging at a large asteroid a distance away at which point the Lietinna and the Romme are to circumvent around the asteroid halfway before turning to a different heading while the Tame turned directly to that heading without the half turn around the asteroid.
Archer saw no clear reason or advantage behind this maneuver except maybe making their three ships move in a close cluster that made them susceptible to the enemy type 3's fire. Regardless, Lt. Commander Naimes seemed confident in her plan, so Archer reluctantly decided to not voice his concerns as he responded:
"Tell them we'll comply. Helm, implement the Tame's route plan."
Archer looked at the map on his console showing the relative locations of the ships and the asteroids and racked his brain trying to figure out Naimes' plan.
Within a few seconds, Archer noticed the Tame and the Romme's paths adjust to the proposed plan and head to the convergence point behind a large asteroid visible on their screens. After half a minute of direct flight and the occasional proton cannon fire, the three LNS ships arrived at the large asteroid.
The Tame immediately veered off to their port side at a high speed and diverged from the Romme and the Lietinna who were proceeding around the circumference of the asteroid continued going forward.
Archer immediately surveyed the enemy positions. The Type 3 and Type 2 ships that were slightly behind adjusted their routes to intercept the Lietinna and the Romme and seemed to be prepping to have them in their direct line of fire as soon as they finished circumventing the large asteroid. On the other hand, Archer noticed that the Type 2 that was on their stern was now adjusting their route to intercept the Tame.
Archer immediately understood what Naimes was doing. She was quite literally forcing the enemy's hand. By converging and then quickly diverging, Naimes was forcing the enemy ships to split their focus and adjust their routes giving them the chance to engage the trailing ship while the other type 2 and type 3 scramble to adjust their routes once again.
"Helm, prepare for a quick course adjustment. Tactical, prepare to engage the enemy."
Lt. Commander Naimes' plan was now unfolding in front of Archer, and he was utterly impressed. She not only isolated the trailing enemy ship but made it so that if they could either disable or destroy that ship, their enemy's flanking efforts would be sundered, and they would be able to stay within the asteroid belt for a bit more time.
As soon as the Lietinna and the Romme changed their course to follow the Tame which was already engaging the trailing enemy ship.
"All weapons fire."
Archer commanded as the Romme already started firing at the enemy as well. The coordinated barrage of cannon fire on the type 2 ship was breathtaking. The enemy ship's shields were engaged on all sides as they tried to break away from the onslaught of their assault.
Unfortunately for them, the unexpected and concentrated fire of three ships at such a close range without much room for evasive maneuvers due to the asteroids scattered everywhere made it so that their fate was sealed.
After a few minutes of barrage from the three ships, the ship sputtered, and their shields dispersed. Soon after a single proton cannon shot hit the ship's bridge and breached the hull essentially.
Cheers resounded from the bridge of the Lietinna as even Archer himself felt his chest pound in excitement, but there was no time for excessive celebrations as the three ships were soon on the line of fire of the now trailing type 3 ship which did not waste time to showcase their firepower.
"Sir, heavy impact on stern shields. 75% capacity, minimal hull damage"
"Engineering, full power to stern shield array. Helm, get us out of here, use those asteroids on heading 335 to break out of that damn type 3's fire line."
"" Yes sir""
The Lietinna immediately peeled out of the type's direct line of firepower and took cover behind some asteroids as they tried to put some distance asteroids between them and the type 3. The damage from that single salvo was indicative enough of the threat this ship posed to them.
Archer immediately noticed that the Tame took a similar evasive maneuver and adjusted course quickly to a nearby asteroid cluster. But oddly enough the Romme seemed to be a beat slower causing Archer to frown before a look of realization dawned on him.
The Romme which was already engaged in a heavy battle earlier in the day didn't seem to be able to soak in the type 3's assault long enough to escape out of the line of fire.
Sure enough, the Romme was soon slowing down drastically as one of her main engines seemed to have been hit. The enemy type 3 was not one to miss such an opportunity as all her weapons pointed at the Romme before a devasting barrage of concentrated fire drowned her.
Archer's eyes widened as he saw the Romme get shredded before a massive explosion destroyed the entire rear and middle sections of the ship, leaving nothing but a heap of metal in its wake.
"Dammit."
Archer slammed his hand on his armrest as he watched what was left of the Romme drift around and a feeling of sadness and despair dawned on him. That was ten lives all presumably lost, a hip exactly like his destroyed in a matter of seconds.
This was a harsh and vivid reminder to Archer that he was fighting for his life and that of his crew. There was no room for error and there was even less room for hesitation. He took a few seconds to calm himself before speaking to his bridge crew who were similarly staring at the wreckage of the Romme:
"Listen up, everyone. I know we're hurting right now. We've witnessed the sacrifice of the Romme and her brave crew, and their loss weighs heavily on our hearts, but we can't stop here. We need to keep going and fight as long as we can."
Archer paused to look at his crew before ordering:
"Helm, maintain course. We have a path clear into the belt; we can't squander it. Comms, connect me to the Tame."
""Yes sir.""