Ramming his stick hard left, Nova tried to twist his fighter out of the sights of the pursuing fighters. Alarms went off telling him he hadn't quite made it. Nova knew he was good, if not "The best", then damn close. He had proved it in enough dogfights. But this wasn't a fight he could win.
One on one, even 3 on one, he had defeated pilots of these fellows caliber often enough. But this time he had 7 very angry pilots on his tail, and only the speed and agility advantage of his fighter had kept him from taking fatal damage so far. But that didn't look like it was going to last, they other side had started getting smart, and splitting up to come at him from different vectors.
Nova sighed as he glanced at the clock on his control console. 3 more minutes, and he could think about trying to escape instead of playing "Pin the tail on the Treecat" with these guys. That would give his wing-man enough time to hit the hyper limit and let the fleet know the base had been reinforced. To attack now would just let their forces get massacred.
Ramming his stick practically into his own belly and to the left, Nova pointed the nose of his fighter up and left into the one sector the others hadn't had enough pairs to cover, hoping the move would at least help to buy those 3 more minutes.
Bobbing and weaving like crazy, Nova showed his pursuer's why his name was Nova Dancer, dancing circles around them as time ticked on, drawing them off to the far side of the system.
His clock had just hit the 30 second mark when Nova felt his ship slam sideways as a missile exploded within meters of his right wingtip. The near miss was survivable, but the shock wave slammed him right into the body of a missle that hadn't passed close enough on the other side to blow. While that one didn't explode, it knocked out his directional thrusters on that side, and threw him into a spin that had him pinned into his seat, unable to reach his controls.
Rolling his eyes, Nova examined his instruments in the few seconds he figured he had left before his enemies blew his spinning but defenseless fighter to bits. Reading his last co-ordinates and the clock, he tried to smile through the g-forces as he realized he had done it. Leaf eater would have time to get back to the fleet before these guys could return to destroy his injured fighter.
Preparing himself for the incoming missiles, Nova was shocked when what his instruments told him he was on track for a wormhole insertion. No one had even suspected this system held a worm hole! And a fighter was in no way a good choice for traversing one that hadn't been charted. The added stress of wormhole insertion was too much for Nova's body and he blacked out.
Slowly coming to, Nova checked his instruments and realized he had no idea where he was, his fighter was damaged beyond repair, and he was heading directly for planet not listed on any chart he had ever seen. Seeing the lights of orbital installations, and Night time cities, Nova new he would have to eject before he hit atmosphere. The hull was still too much in one piece to break up before it slammed into the ground. The wounded and killed would weigh him for as long as he had to live if he allowed that to happen. Grabbing the ejection handle with his tail, he gave it a hard yank and was knocked unconscious again as the ship spat him out.
Nova sighed as he glanced at the clock on his control console. 3 more minutes, and he could think about trying to escape instead of playing "Pin the tail on the Treecat" with these guys. That would give his wing-man enough time to hit the hyper limit and let the fleet know the base had been reinforced. To attack now would just let their forces get massacred.
Ramming his stick practically into his own belly and to the left, Nova pointed the nose of his fighter up and left into the one sector the others hadn't had enough pairs to cover, hoping the move would at least help to buy those 3 more minutes.
Bobbing and weaving like crazy, Nova showed his pursuer's why his name was Nova Dancer, dancing circles around them as time ticked on, drawing them off to the far side of the system.
His clock had just hit the 30 second mark when Nova felt his ship slam sideways as a missile exploded within meters of his right wingtip. The near miss was survivable, but the shock wave slammed him right into the body of a missle that hadn't passed close enough on the other side to blow. While that one didn't explode, it knocked out his directional thrusters on that side, and threw him into a spin that had him pinned into his seat, unable to reach his controls.
Rolling his eyes, Nova examined his instruments in the few seconds he figured he had left before his enemies blew his spinning but defenseless fighter to bits. Reading his last co-ordinates and the clock, he tried to smile through the g-forces as he realized he had done it. Leaf eater would have time to get back to the fleet before these guys could return to destroy his injured fighter.
Preparing himself for the incoming missiles, Nova was shocked when what his instruments told him he was on track for a wormhole insertion. No one had even suspected this system held a worm hole! And a fighter was in no way a good choice for traversing one that hadn't been charted. The added stress of wormhole insertion was too much for Nova's body and he blacked out.
Slowly coming to, Nova checked his instruments and realized he had no idea where he was, his fighter was damaged beyond repair, and he was heading directly for planet not listed on any chart he had ever seen. Seeing the lights of orbital installations, and Night time cities, Nova new he would have to eject before he hit atmosphere. The hull was still too much in one piece to break up before it slammed into the ground. The wounded and killed would weigh him for as long as he had to live if he allowed that to happen. Grabbing the ejection handle with his tail, he gave it a hard yank and was knocked unconscious again as the ship spat him out.