Dense packs of fluttering lights dotted the vast dark emptiness of space, the distance narrowly a few hundred kilometers away, but the sparks never the less painted each craft in a near constant orange hue. Ships were strewn about, the lines of battle were clear and each ship traded volley after volley of weapon fire with their foes. Clearly, one side was outmatched, but that didn't stop all Cutlass fighters from being sent out. Some of the first fighters to enter the fight, the Cutlass of the carrier Novas met missiles, fighters and capital ships alike in the vast expanse separating rebels from friendly ships. A stream of fire and debris littered the gap between the two sides, made up mostly of destroyed fighters and missiles, though how many no one could tell.<br/><br/>Bethany Walker twisted her flight stick hard and veered her Cutlass to the right, the nimble spacecraft twisting and turning as whispy trails of smoke drifted past her canopy. Rounds pingd off the side of her front engines, and as many warning lights as she had ever seen decorated her control panel. Blood trickled down her forehead, at some point her helmet had come undone, though she had gotten it back on quickly enough, obviously not quickly enough to avoid an injury. She felt no point though, her veins coursed harshly with adrenaline and all but the sensation of the stick in her hands had departed her the second she left the flight deck. She was in lead of one unit of six, including herself, among the 48 spacecraft the Novas had sent out at the start of the fight. As she regarded her systems however, what few worked, the number of friendlies remaining had gone down sharply, while enemy fighters clearly had the opposite idea.<br/><br/>The fight had started easily enough, the mostly veteran crew of the Novas carrier wing had marked in a surprising number of kills, though Bethany had only taken one herself thus far. Tightly grouped packs of fighters ventured from fighting ground to fighting ground, and sometimes breaking off to atack capital ships. That had been a bit of a mistake, ultimately, as the enemy had a significant group of fighters to defend their larger ships. She had gotten off five missiles onto the lead capital ship before the first warning alarms started, then a half dozen more wailed in their opinions of her piloting. She had narrowly avoided being samwhiched between a pair of enemy squadrons, but those pilots had been more focused on protecting their capital ships, and did not chase the handful of remaining Cutlass' retreating from the enemy capital ships. In the vaccum of space, manouverability and speed came easily to any small, nimble craft, but lacking air resistance meant using a lot of guess work to gather where you were pointed.<br/><br/>So by the time Bethany saw the carrier Novas explode, her head was light from the gash on her forehead, and battle fatigue had set in. She twisted the stick from side to side, narrowly avoiding another missile before doing a verticle 180 and then rotating another 180 degrees. The enemy pilot veered, but she tracked him with her guidance boosters and her guns tore the spacecraft to shreds, a brief spark of orange fire bust out but was quickly extinguished. Debris bounced off her canopy, though none large enough to cause damage. New alarms had started, and a dozen new enemy fighters appeared before her. Bethany yanked the stick hard and brought herself back up, and dove back towards the enemy fighters, dancing nimbling through wreckages and making for the four big chunks that made up the carcas of the Novas. She had an idea to stay and fight, but she had heared the abandon ship from the Novas, moments before it exploded.<br/><br/>Bethany wouldn't give up though, and made desperately for the only remaining ship, the Liege. Other fighters were heading for her, but she could not tell which ship they hailed from. It was now she finally took stock of all her alarms, and realized rather suddenly that her master engine alarm was on, so at least she had the comfort of knowing if the Liege jumped before she got there, she would explode shortly thereafter. She cut power to the engines and drifted into the Liege's flight bay, using her guidance thrusters for steering. Her Cutlass landed gently enough, though she still bounced and nearly hit a spinning Saber before coming to an unfriendly stop against a far bulkhead. She immediately shut down all systems, though a plethora of alarms sounded none the less, and removed herself from the cockpit.<br/><br/>The Liege's deck was a mosh pit of frantic activity, though most of it seemed to be the Liege's crew, she could not immediately see any pilots from the Novas, but she was focused elsewhere in moments. Clearly the ship had suffered damage, and she moved to assist a nearby damage control team, when the ship started to shake violently. She gripped a nearby support beam to help her stance, but the ship continued the shake and do so with intensity, so much so that Bethany soon lost her footing and was sent tumbling backwards ooto the flight deck. She covered her head and tried to stand, but the shaking kept her from regaining her footing, and so she waited out, wondering if this is what it felt like to be inside a ship that was breaking apart. Luckily, after a few minutes, the shaking subsided and Bethany released a sight of relief, glad she wasn't going to find out what death was like today. The pilot regained her footing, slowly and cautiously, before making a quick jog over to the damage control team.