Frantically, Avery fired the Dauntless' thruster to put some space between him and the queen energy lifeform.
If he took a direct hit from multiple of its energy spikes, then even his ship was going to end up looking like a pin cushion.
Thankfully, with Kasandra's earlier warning, and his concertation fully devoted to evasion, Avery was able to weave through the attack and avoid all but a glancing blow.
Still, even just that was enough to take ten percent off the Dauntless' shields. By far the biggest hit they had they had taken so far.
"We've gotten too low. I'm deploying a shield cell." Kasandra called out.
Over the course of the battle, they had taken several hits, and their main source of protection was beginning to get whittled down.
With that last attack from the queen, it was enough to put them in the danger zone and in need of replenishing the shields.
"There are eight medium energy lifeforms closing in. Watch out."
Reacting to this warning just in time, Avery maneuvered the ship erratically as a barrage of energy blasts came flying towards them.
Soon they were cut off from the rest of the retreating squad and left in the middle of the energy lifeform swarm by themselves.
"I didn't want to use them but load the first phasic torpedo and get the last one ready to fire immediately after. We're blowing our way out of here." Avery ordered as he continued to dodge.
Having Kasandra's support was really helping him out in this moment. Even just the simple action of preparing his trump card would have left him too vulnerable in this instance. Without someone else to assist him, Avery would have been in serious trouble right now.
When the first phasic torpedo was ready, Avery wasted no time firing it off towards the medium energy lifeforms attacking him.
Currently, their ceaseless bombardment was the biggest threat. No matter how well Avery initiated evasive maneuvers, some of the blasts hit and drained the Dauntless' shields.
The torpedo struck true. Appearing to be swallowed by the middle energy lifeform, before exploding in a brilliant burst that consumed them all.
"And this one is for you, your majesty." Avery said sardonically as he rapidly turned his ship around and launched his final phasic torpedo at the queen energy lifeform.
It flew at a breakneck speed towards her, leaving a trail of light in its wake.
Yet, the powerful projectile never reached its intended target.
A mass of fast-moving small energy lifeforms intercepted the torpedo and blocked it with their own bodies.
The enormous explosion still lit up the system like a sudden emergence or a new star, but it failed to reach the queen. Instead, taking out hundreds of her dwindling spawn.
"Not the outcome I was hoping for, but it will have to do."
Having created enough space for his own escape, Avery turned to follow the path that the first and fourth squads had used to break out of the energy lifeform's encirclement.
Before he got far, though, Kasandra received a worrying signal from the sensors and warned Avery about the approaching danger.
Passing through the blast left behind by the phasic torpedo, the queen energy lifeform barreled directly for the Dauntless.
She was intent on destroying the hateful creatures that had foiled her plans and led to the deaths of so many of the children she had pianistically spawned to protect herself.
Avery pushed the thrusters while dodging a rain of energy spears flying towards him.
He attempted to fire back with his EMP blaster and the last five missiles in the ammunition bay, but the queen simply had too much vitality to be brough down by a single small ship that no longer possessed its most powerful weapon.
"Sh*t." Avery yelled as he was forced to twist his ship around to avoid slamming into a horde of small energy life forms that had moved to block his way.
This momentary loss of speed proved to be the deciding factor in Avery's made rush to escape.
The queen, having doggedly pursued him, finally caught up.
"Avery!" Kasandra shouted just moments before they were swallowed by the queen's energy field.
Instantly alarms started blaring, and Avery watched the gauge displaying the shield's current strength going down at a disconcerting rate.
If there was any consolation, it was that they had not died immediately. The Dauntless' defenses were strong enough to keep them alive for at least a couple dozen seconds, even when fully engulfed by the strongest energy lifeform.
All around them, the viewscreen displayed an endless orange glow. Their sensors could only pick up the tremendous energy surrounding them and had no way to detect anything outside.
With only certain death awaiting them if they stayed put, Avery sent full power to the thrusters and tried to leave the confines of the queen's energy field before it was too late.
Yet, the space monster was not about to let them go so easily. Whichever way Avery tried to go; she followed to keep the Dauntless inside of her so that she could sap away its power.
Soon, Kasandra had to deploy their second shield cell to prevent their imminent destruction. Leaving them only one left, and very little time to come up with a plan.
"Kasandra, can you tell which direction the greatest source of energy is coming from?" Avery asked, his mind racing to figure a way out of this mess.
"Probably, but why? We need to get out, not go deeper in." Kasandra responded, flustered.
"Just do it! I don't have time to explain."
Biting her lower lip in frustration, Kasandra did as she was told. Before leaving on this mission, she had told Avery that she trusted him. And now was the time to prove it.
Once the path was determined, Avery turned the Dauntless around and flew deeper into the queen energy lifeform.
The pressure on their shields increased as they went, but it was simply something that they would have to deal with.
"I'm deploying the final shield cell. I hope whatever its is your trying to do works."
"So do I." Avery said, both fear and determination in his eyes.