[center][b][u]Post #2: Putting Down Roots[/u][/b][/center]

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[center][i]The destroyer, VRS[/i] Venture Star[i], along with the frigates [/i]White Knife[i] and [/i]Altos[i], departing the Qetesh System.[/i][/center][/hider]
[b]VRS [i]Venture Star[/i]
Underway ≈10,000 LY beyond VUR controlled space[/b]

It was an exciting time to be a Val. For the first time in over a century the species was expanding beyond its borders, and venturing forth into the great unknown. That the universe beyond was even more wild and uncertain than in all of recorded history, made the occasion even more momentous. 

Captain Selussa Esta-Athobus lay in her berth, quietly contemplating the import of her species’ undertaking, and the role in which she was playing. It was yet difficult for her to comprehend just how much had changed in the six weeks since the Quantum Spacetime Anomaly had transplanted her entire nation into the frontier of the true vacuum. She had gone from being a decorated, ambitious, and talented naval officer of the venerated 4th Fleet, to being granted command of a brand new destroyer as a part of the equally contemporary 5th Fleet. 

While having been under development for several years, the 5th Fleet expansion had been rushed to fruition in the aftermath of the QSA, and the VUR’s new focus of establishing a more secure military force. Where the other naval fleets were tasked solely with the defense of their specific systems and sectors, the 5th Fleet was a new animal altogether, bearing the distinction of operating beyond the established boundaries of the VUR, and setting the first building blocks for secure galactic expansion.  

Selussa, and her ship, the destroyer VRS [i]Venture Star[/i], were leading the 5th Fleet’s first foray into this bold, new purpose. A small taskforce of thirty-six ships had departed from the Qetesh System just over seven days ago, hurtling through space towards the expanding remnant of a supernova some 46,000 LY beyond the VUR. The fleet itself was mainly comprised of specialized research vessels from various space mining companies, intent on being the first to claim the prized resources yet held within the supernova remnant’s rich womb. 

The VUR navy had almost been left out of the expedition entirely. So fervent was the intent of the mining corporations to explore this new find, that they announced that if the navy was not prepared to escort them at the time of their set departure, that they would forego official support in the name of expediency. The politics of the matter, however, demanded that the navy have [i]some[/i] presence within a mission of such momentous import. As such, those in the upper echelons of government had made it so, heedless of the more conservative thinkers in the naval high command.  

As a result, Selussa and her compatriots of the 5th Fleet, made up only three ships within the taskforce: the destroyer [i]Venture Star[/i], and the frigates [i]White Knife[/i], and [i]Altos[/i]. While these new, and state-of-the-art warships, represented a formidable threat, the rush to get the ships prepared to escort the taskforce had made it impossible for the government to outfit the naval contingent with more support vessels. So, while the 5th Fleet had the esteem of being the first military body of the VUR to venture beyond its established borders, it also had the heavy responsibility of tending to its flock with little more than an honor guard. 

Captain Selussa checked her chrono. It was still another hour before she was to take her watch on the bridge. Sighing, she lay her silver-furred head back onto the pillow. Sleep had eluded her for most of the voyage, and she knew it was a useless proposition now. Three more weeks of travel at FTL speeds until they reached the supernova remnant, and the captain knew it would take longer than that to find restful sleep once again.