Escape…

Previously…….

"Captain, we have a problem." Lieutenant Lune announced.

"What sort of problem ?" Aki asked.

"Three Dominion battleships and a Dreadnought have just took up positions on the edge of the asteroid belt." Lune reported. "There's another two cruisers on the other side and they've launched battle-bugs."

"How did they get here so fast ?" Aki commented.

[They didn't.] Lieutenant Commander Barker said as he appeared on the viewscreen. [The warp signatures match the three cruisers we encountered earlier. These are the rogue Jem'Hadar forces.]

"Lieutenant Commander." Aki stated. "Set course for Mirisam V and pick up the away team, then head back to the Alpha quadrant."

[Aki, I can't leave you here.] Chu replied, he had no intention of leaving his friend behind.

"Commander, that was an order." Aki stated firmly. "We're trapped here, we have little chance of evading the vessels, but you can escape. Chu I gave you an order, now carry it out."

Chu to protest more, but decided not to. He knew what Aki had said was true, the Taurus had very little chance of survival against the odds. If they were in open space and still had the transwarp drive, they could easily outrun the Jem'Hadar ships. But they were trapped in the asteroid field, their movements limited.

[We're coming back as soon as we can.] He said. [That's a promise.]

The viewscreen changed to the image of the asteroid field and the approaching Jem'Hadar vessels.

"All hands, battle stations." Aki ordered. "Helm, get us away from this base. Head for the two cruisers and the battle bugs, we'll take down as many as we can."

Now…..

"Shields are online Captain." Ensign Voktur reported. "All phasers banks are full charged and all torpedo tubes are loaded."

"We'll take down as many battle-bugs as we can." Aki suggested. "Fire at will Ensign, Lieutenant Dare, take us out of the asteroid field as fast as you can. Head for the two cruisers."

"Yes Ma'am." Zack replied.

The Taurus shook as the rogue Jem'Hadar base finally detonated, sending debris out in all directions. Several pieces hit the shields of the Taurus.

"Shields are holding at ninety percent." Voktur reported. "And rising."

The Taurus was soon rocked again as the first wave of battle bugs came into weapons range.

"Returning fire." Voktur announced. "No damage, shields are holding."

Somehow Zack was able to fly through the asteroid field as if it wasn't there. Even so, wave after wave of Jem'Hadar fighters came streaming at them. Voktur was able to pick them off one by one, until they had managed to fly through the last wave.

"Fighters are turning." Voktur announced. "Shields are at eighty percent."

The Taurus rocked once more at the small fighters started to gain on them and fire. Their smaller size allowed them to manoeuvre far better than the larger New Orleans class vessel.

"Aft shields are beginning to fail Captain." Voktur stated." Down to fifty percent."

There was a massive explosion on the Bridge as several systems blew out.

"Damage report." Aki ordered as smoke and fire filled the Bridge. The automatic fire-suppression systems came online and the smoke was drawn away. Some of the crew ran for portable extinguishers and the fires were soon out.

"Voktur's dead." Lieutenant Lune announced. "Tactical is down, re-routing all weapons system to my console."
"What's our status ?" Aki asked.

"We took a hit to the rear phaser banks." Fai reported. "That caused a feedback signal which was what destroyed the tactical console. Aft shields are at twenty eight percent, rear phaser bank is destroyed."

"What about the aft torpedo launchers ?" Aki enquired.

"We've lost one and the other's heavily damaged." Fai replied.

The ship rocked again.

"Captain, they've just hit our port nacelle." Zack reported. "Port impulse engine is also losing power."

"Aft shields are down to twenty percent." Fai reported. "We'll not be able to take any more hits like that."

"Mister Dare, how much less manoeuvrable has the damage to the impulse engine made us ?"

"None." Zack replied. "At least whilst we're in the asteroid field. It's once we get out into open space that we'll have problems. We will barely make half impulse and with the damage to the port nacelle our top speeds only going to be about warp six, the cruisers will easily catch up with us."

"Helm, turn us around and take us deeper into the asteroid field." Aki ordered. "Divert all power to the shields and prepare to fire. We're going to take these Jem'Hadar on head to head."

"Captain !" Zack exclaimed.

"Mister Dare, are you unsure about following my orders, because I am quite capable of piloting this ship if you'd like to relinquish your station."

"That won't be necessary." Zack replied. "Altering course."

"Mister Lune, Target the lead vessel and fire at will." Aki ordered.

Zack turned out to be a far better pilot than Aki had expected. He was able to manoeuvre the Taurus in the asteroid field with ease. He also somehow managed to keep the Jem'Hadar fighters away from the port side of the ship, protecting the damaged nacelle and the aft shields.

"That's the last of them." Lune announced, as a Jem'Hadar fighter blew up on the viewscreen. "I'm not picking up any other vessels in the field."

"What about the cruisers and the Dreadnought ?" Aki asked.

"We have three vessels on the Dominion side and the two cruisers on the Federation side." Lune reported. "But they don't seem to be launching any more fighters into the asteroid belt, for now."

"Bridge to Engineering." Aki stated.

[Engineering here Captain.] The voice of Ensign Luwall came back.

"What's our status ?" Aki enquired.

[The port nacelle is heavily damaged, but we should still be able to use it. Port impulse engines will be fully repaired in about thirty minutes. All aft weapons systems are off-line, but I've got a team working on the one damaged torpedo launcher. Aft shields should be repaired in ten minutes.] Rachel reported.

"Any good news ?" Aki asked, hopefully.

[Actually I may have Captain.] Rachel replied. [But it's not a great deal. I've managed to salvage one of the transwarp coils and I think I can get our transwarp engines back online. However, the coil is heavily damaged and I doubt we'd get more than an hour out of it at transwarp before it's gone for good.]

"An hour would at least get us past the Jem'Hadar and a safe distance from them." Aki suggested. "How long will you need ?"

[About thirty minutes.] Rachel stated.

"Then I suggest you get on with it." Aki suggested. "Let me know when you're ready. Bridge out. Mister Dare, see if you can find us somewhere to hide out for half an hour."

"Yes Captain." Zack replied.

Within five minutes, the Taurus was "hiding" under the cover of one of the larger asteroids. Something, probably another large asteroid had obviously knocked one of the corners off the asteroid creating an overhang. It was composed of mainly heavy metals and so made an excellent shield from any sensors or probes.

About fifteen minutes later, the Taurus was rocked slightly by a nearby explosion.

"What was that ?" Aki questioned.

"It looks like the Jem'Hadar are trying to "flush" us out." Lieutenant Lune suggested. "They're firing at random into the asteroid field."

"It looks more like they're attempting to clear a path through the field." Zack stated.

"Bridge to Engineering. What the status of the transwarp coil ?" Aki enquired.

[We'll have it online in about five more minutes.] Rachel replied.

"Speed it up Ensign, we may not have five minutes." Aki stated." Helm, set a course out of the asteroid field and back to the Bajorian wormhole. Try and avoid those two Jem'Hadar cruisers if you can. As soon as Engineering has the coil online, take us out of here maximum speed."

Zack moved the Taurus away from their temporary shelter and headed back to the Federation sector of the Gamma quadrant. The Jem'Hadar continued to fire at the ship form both sides, now that it had come out of hiding. Finally they reached the edge of the asteroid field and came face to face with one of the Jem'Hadar cruisers.

"Looks like they anticipated our route." Zack suggested. "Sorry Captain."

"We're not dead yet Mister Dare. Mister Lune, target their weapons systems and prepare to fire on my mark. Helm set a course straight at them. Divert all power to the forward shields." Aki ordered.

The Taurus started to pick up speed and the Jem'Hadar vessel started to fire at them. Zack managed to manoeuvre the smaller vessel, dodging the majority of the fire coming from the larger vessel. But he wasn't going to dodge them all and his luck finally ran out.

The Taurus was shook violently as the Jem'Hadar's superior firepower came to bear on the vessel. The lights went out for a few moments and the ship came to a halt.

As the emergency lights came back on, the Bridge looked a mess. "Damage report."

"We've lost all helm control." Zack reported. "That last volley hit engineering."

"Mister Lune, weapons status." Aki ordered. "Mister Lune….."

Aki looked over her shoulder and saw that body of Lune slumped over the Operations console. He was dead, she looked across the floor and saw young Ensign McQueen rise from the security station. She had a nasty cut on her head, but otherwise seemed OK.

"Lana, see if you can re-route operations and tactical through your station." Aki requested. "Zack, see if you can get us some power and propulsion."

The Jem'Hadar cruiser grew every nearer and locked a tractor beam onto the Taurus. Suddenly the ship rocked as the tractor beam pulled at them, then broke off its grip.

"What happened ?" Aki asked. She got her answer through the comm channel.

[Commander Rashad to Captain Taybar.] A voice announced. [Sorry we're a little late, but I see you've already started without us.]

"Someone's firing at the Jem'Hadar vessel, but sensors don't show any vessel in the area." Lana announced.

"Can you put it on screen." Aki asked.

The viewscreen started to flicker as an image of open space appeared on the screen. No one saw anything but space. Captain Taybar smiled, as she knew exactly what was happening. The Jem'Hadar vessel was taking a beating, but didn't know where to fire back.

"Lana open a channel to the Leviathan." Aki ordered.

"The Leviathan !" Lana remarked. "But there's no ship out there, unless it's cloaked."

"Trust me Lana, it's there." Aki stated. "Look.."

The faint, fuzzy image of a large vessel started to appear on the main screen. No one could make out its exact shape, it was just a blur on the screen, but Aki smiled as she saw the awesome firepower of the ship. Moments later, the image of Commander Rashad appeared on the viewscreen.

[Nice to see you again Captain.] The Romulan-Bajorian stated. [Compliments of Admiral Devore. Are you able to move or will you require a tow. ?]

"Captain, we've got main power back online and Engineering reports that they've got the transwarp coil online." Zack reported as the lights came up.

"Set a course back to Deep Space nine and engage." Aki ordered. "Commander, follow us."

[Understood Captain. Leviathan out.] Rashad replied.

Zack moved the Taurus around the damaged Jem'Hadar cruiser and as soon as they were clear, the ship jumped to transwarp. The transwarp coil only lasted another thirty-six minutes, but it got the Taurus far enough away from the Jem'Hadar and the Regial Seven system to be safe.