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*voices.... distant voices.... silent whispers...* /a dream?/ - 'Naaah' Miguel Cordero pressed his face deeper into his pillow. He was already awake, about an hour. He couldnt sleep well for a long time. Clock display glowed red into the dark and showed 04:34 in the morning. ' 'time to wake up it seems...' he said to himself and turned in bed around. He was lazy to stand up. After next 15 minutes he finally decided to move out of bed, while he took his uniform from the wardrobe. A shiny captains uniform. He pushed a button to open a window and prepared his daily portion of cardamine into inhaler. With a silent sound the window moved into the roof. It was still a night, a cloudless night, there could be seen flickering lights of traffic and some shady and tall city buildings till the horizon. Cold air filled the room.

Miguel Cordero walked down the street to the mass transit. The MagLev station was really close to his flat. He didnt liked to travel like the other navy officers, in private luxury ships with armed escort. Train arrived soon and he entered a wagon. ' '...ah man, these junker transports, i hate them really, till we finally unloaded those one yesterday... you can imagine my headache after the slaves left the cargobay, and the stench...' said an older bearded man, dressed in a dock worker uniform. Miguel Cordero enjoyed to hear other people to talk about their little problems while travelling to the docks. The train stopped. Automatic
voice annouced -'starport, docks' and the door opened. Cordero stepped out of the train.

The 'docks' was a immense military controlled installation at the edge of the city. Many capital vessels of the Maltese fleet were stationed there, along with a numerous fighter squadron. Miguel Cordero passed the checkpoint by the entrance and waved to the guard standing at the door. ''Morning sir, can i have your id card please?' answered the soldier. His Navy ID card slided through the scanner. ''all right sir, have a nice
day' said the soldier again and opened the door.

[Image: PlanetMalta03-insidedocks-Storta.jpg]

After he walked into the building, a large docking bay revealed to his sight. He already could see it! His ship was docked and quietly hovered over a remote platform. ''Morning Captain, again the first here uhm...?' said in hurry a suntanned young girl wearing a pilot uniform. ''Seems so, what about you?' answered Cordero. ''Well, my fighter wing has today an early departure... you know one of these secret missions again, wish me luck...' smiled the girl and ran away. Cordero remained a while near the banister and looked at his ship. It was a 'Storta' Maltese Destroyer. The ships name inlaid with silver reflected in the shine of the hangar lights. 'Krak des Chevaliers' was its name.

Two hours later the ship was already crowded with people. There were men and women from the military and the maintenance personnel in body armors of different colours everywhere, preparing for their duties aboard the destroyer. Everyone was equipped at least with a side arm, which was a standard measure like the necessary body armors to prevent losses of the crew in battles, since the Outcast birth rate was dramatically lowered in the last years due to the cardamine exposure. All stations on bridge were ready and the destroyer was prepared for launch. A voice from the machine deck was to hear from the ship's comm ''Captain, the singularity generator is ready, power at maximum, we can start'. Cordero was sitting in his amrchair, even with the armored spacesuit on it was very comfortable. He was looking at the main monitor above the navigational officer and slowly pressed the comm button. Frequency to the tower was opened ''This is RM-2A destroyer Krak des Chevaliers we are ready to launch'.

[Image: KrakdesChevaliers-emergingfromplanet.jpg]

Sun was already shining on the Malta's surface when the destroyer emerged from the docks. It was speeding up on an upward trajectory and heading for the planet's orbit. Passing some huge transport and supply ships along with some rusty slaveliners. The sky was cloudy at the horizon. Cordero was staring at the main screen on the bridge. He thought to himself - /i am always leaving before the rain.../ This time it was a routine mission which was taking him and his crew several systems from Omicron Alpha away. He looked on the navscreen ''I hope there won't be troubles'. 1st officer turned his head and a little smile appeared on his face ' 'as usual Captain'.

.:Polarkreis:.

.:Polarkreis:.

Polarkreis