Minixus Kaenid watched with no small amount of eagerness and excitement as the various ships of the expeditionary fleet were loaded, four clippers, a windjammer, a frigate and a large merchantman, converted into a fleet resupply tanker and tender, all sat at the extremely busy dock, however, despite its business, it was relatively empty of unnecessary onlookers. Minixus had felt, in these tense and violent times, that careful secrecy and confidentiality was essential to the operation at hand, least it be misunderstood as a preparing invasion force, especially given that some weapons were indeed being loaded on the ships, although outside of the armories of the frigate, none were turkey military grade, being mostly handguns and a popular sporting rifle common to Nemidia, which would be potentially essential later down the line, if Minixus’s plans went according to plan, that was. He was sure that his wife had thought he had been having a manic episode, and he probably had been, when he got up late one night with the inspiration to start making his plans and preperations, and his hard work showed on his face, as he has not slept a full nights sleep, only getting the occasional nap, for almost a week straight.
It was coming close to time for the fleet to embark, and the fleets commander, Rear Admiral Vacoby Noren, approached the emperor with a salute, which the emperor gave a nod in return, as the Rear Admiral have his report.
“Most of our supplies and kit are loaded sir, and we are finishing loading the vehicles and other equipment we are bringing. We should be ready to depart in a few hours.”
Minixus nodded, they were ahead of schedule, which would make them all that much harder to predict.
“Very good, continue with your preparations and depart as soon as the fleet is ready.”
The Rear Admiral simply responded with “Yes, my emperor.”
Minixus had hand chosen the man specifically, rather than a higher ranking officer, he felt that the sudden disappearance of a proper fleet admiral would be suspicious to those who were watching the NIMDF closely, and so, had decided to leave them be, and take a lower ranking, and relatively new and little known, but very capable, officer instead. The same had been true of the ships and other equipment. Minixus had, and still was, planning and executing this plan with extreme caution, even for him, no one, outside the empress and those whom he felt absolutely needed to know had been informed, and if things went well, the only hint something was amiss would be when the fleet reported its success and Minixus made an announcement on said success. Minixus, of course, knew better than to believe that everything would go that smoothly, and had taken precautions, a new vessel, or more correctly, four of them, would also be jointing the fleet, something that only he, the empress and a handful of officers, most of whom would be going themselves, actually knew about.
Minixus had done everything he could to ensure that this journey to the west would succeed, now all he could do now was watch things play out.
