Operation "Sun Striker"

[HUMPHRESS]

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Averof walked out his quarters on the CNS-Kantara, his cool demeanor masking the anger simmering below its surface. Doing his best to gather himself mentally, and banish his frustration, he strode across the corridor and subsequent flight of stairs that lead towards the bridge. He approached the steel doors parting corridor from bridge, and they parted on their own accord, revealing a room containing some 20 people. The room was rectangular, with a large window situated just below shoulder height stretching across the walls. A series of terminals and tables had been placed around the walls, displaying various charts, diagrams, lists, and models. Buttons, switches, and levers or all shapes and sizes were strewn around the space, and placed near the middle of the room was a large table, with a screen placed on its interior, the tables edges dotted with buttons.

Averof approached this table and the man standing over it. He moved closer and addressed the man at the table;

"Rigoberto, are we ready to depart?"

The man started, and turned around. His face was pointed and beardless, his hair dark and curled and slightly unkempt. His structure was rather tall and skinny, and he was slightly taller then Averof himself. His facial expression and eyes revealed his mental response to Averof's question as he combed his mind for the necessary information.

"If I am not mistaken... Yes captain I believe everything is in order, Ioannis said all our supplies are onboard, and Admiral Rerez told us they are ready to rendezvous, as far as I know all the crew is accounted for and present"

Averof gave him a nod, and turned around towards one of the terminals. He pressed a button on it and talking towards the terminal said in a voice that oozed procedure;

"This is Captain Averof Cornelius of the CNS-Kantara, we are ready to un-moor from the drydock. You may do so at your discretion."

6 seconds pass.

"Roger that Captain Averof, we are un-mooring the Kantara, please standby."

Averof moved away from what was evidently a communications terminal, and sat down in a large chair placed on a slightly elevated platform placed near the front of the room. In front of and slightly above the chair was a screen, and to its side was a panel decorated with buttons. He pressed a button and grabbed an earpiece resting on one of the chairs arms. His hand would move up to his lips and his fingers contorted them as he pondered the operation ahead. It was supposed to be relatively quiet on his end. The main ships at play would be a set of 4 Frigates, and the fighter-craft on the CNS-Puerto Rico. His ship was a last resort. Their mission was to raid isolated convoys and transport ships in Sigma-13 and Honshu and the Kantara wasnt fit for such a task. Fast and powerful as it was, you didnt need a top-of-the-line Tachyon Lance to kill an Akegata. And anyways in the off chance the GMG found the Kantara isolated, it would be much worse losing the cruiser then a dozen fighters.

Still, it felt out of his nature to stand by idly and let other men do the work, and serve the Emperio. The only case in which his ship was likely to do something of note was if they were directly attacked by the Guild or by the Kusari Navy, and frankly this was in no way a desirable scenario for Averof or the Puerto Ricos taskforce. Still, Kantara's job, as well as the job of the other 2 Hel cruisers, was to defend the Puerto Rico and the Frigates in the taskforce, if they came under attack.

The Kantara jolted slightly as it was detached from the drydock on Rhodes shipyard.

"Captain Averof, your ship has been un-moored. The Imperio salutes you and your crew."

Averof said in a some-what distracted voice. "Set a medium speed and head towards Kalhmera, we should give our sister ships some room to move out."

The Kantara began to drift forward, slowly at first, but gradually moving faster until they had a semi decent speed.

"We can stop here, and turn about 70 degrees to starboard while we are at it."

It slowed down in an opposite reflection of its previous movement and Averof watched as Kantara's bow shifted to the left and point towards the Malvada Cloud, shrouded on one side by Planet Crete, and on the other by the blinding light of the Red Sun that illumined his ship and the various stations and celestial bodies in its orbit.

Averof took a minute to admire the sight, and again his mind began to ponder the shared heritage of watching the glorious rising of the red sun in the morning, of looking up into the sky at night and seeing the stars and nebula that were dotted across Sirius. After a minute of so he pulled himself from his thoughts, and looked to his left to see the ships CNS-Kyrenia and CNS-Kolossi moving in his direction. They pulled up and stopped right behind the Kantara, forming a single-file line. Averof pressed a button on the side-panel and said in a commanding voice;

"This is Commander Averof Cornelius of the Kantara to the Kyrenia and Kolossi, all ships proceed to our rendezvous point at Freeport 9."

Standing up from his chair and looking back towards the men on the bridge;

"Emiliano, activate our cruise engines, Rigoberto, set our course for the Theta jumphole."

The Kantaras engines ground into life once more, and the ships speed began to pick up, as it began to glide towards the Malvada Cloud...

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