824A.S., Kyushu System, somewhere in the Seiran Dust Cloud.
Under the guise of the blue nebula, a weary team kept watch over sensors and diagnostic panels. Their mission was to be aware of any and all that approached the area where stationed the core of the KNF 2nd Fleet, with the centenary Nagumo at its center.
One of the bridge officers spoke, after confirming the information on his screen.
"Admiral, it's 19:40. Shozan wing is inbound, the patrol was completed without incident. Shiroyama wing reports it has encountered enemy scouts on the western approach, and fended off the attack. They are expected to arrive 50 minutes later than planned. Wing reports 2 craft lost."
On the captain chair, Sakamoto Ryoma listened with a weary look on his face. The constant state of alert and the impossibility for him to leave the command center to take one of the fighters and go out there displeased him. "Very well, as soon as the Shozan arrives, we will proceed to waypoint 5. Our fleet must keep moving. Shiroyama team knows where to link up with us later."
A few minutes later, a wing of fighters appeared in range, the frames bearing the emblems of the KNF 2nd Fleet. After hails to the control center, the fighters began to dock with the battered Nagumo, which had already started moving to his new position.
Nagumo auxiliary engines have been all torn apart save one, and several sections all over the ship didn't show better conditions. The proud bow was adorned with a range of parallel scars made with lasers, as if the ship had been struck by a cosmic tiger.
"The Asama wing is ready to depart, correct? We need to keep our fighters in the air. Have them depart before we reach our new position." said Sakamoto, while looking at a timetable. The day promised very little relief from the rearguard.
"Only one transport to come today, if any? We're not getting any luck soon. Sanda, how's our coverage holding up?" "Hai, the latest report from the frigate Momi is that ECM operations are still nominal. We should be able to avoid Imperial hunting packs if everything goes well."
"To live another day to fight is fine and dandy, but we really need a solution to take us out of this hellhole. When will the Admiralty send us some backup?...." questioned Sakamoto, as a new wing of fighters passed in front of the bridge, diving into the blue sea again.
824A.S., Kyushu System, somewhere in the Seiran Dust Cloud.
Sector 8 - A 26, Akito Nambu is walking around in the machine room, searching for a plasma welder.
"God dammit, where is this welder."
While he is looking around, he can slowly see in his canthus how the Oxygen level on the display is going down.
"Not again... Code Red, Code Red."
Only a few seconds later, Akito found his Oxygen mask and is contacting the brigde.
"Brigde to Machine room, we got a big problem here, the oxygen level is on 0% again, I repeat, on 0% again and I doubt that I can fix that with a simple plasma welder! "
824A.S., Kyushu System, somewhere in the Seiran Dust Cloud.
19:50 Hangar B, Sector 4 - Yuji Hara, Commander of Asama wing and his wing are preparing for departure
"Another patrol, already? Are they nuts? These ships won't be able to handle such workload without proper maintenance and what we have right now hardly can be called as one."
"Silence Mori, this is our duty, just do your job and try not die."
A moment later all ships were ready to launch.
"This is Asama leader to Nagumo, we are ready to depart."
Asama leader, this is Nagumo, you have green light. Good hunting.
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