The bridge of the TRNS Audeamus was dim, the red emergency lights overhead the only thing illuminating the room, save for the console screens of the crew at their various positions. As lead ship in the expedition fleet currently burrowing its way to a neighboring star, the Audeamus was tasked with operating their ripper drive, the other half-dozen ships following just a little ways behind. Each ship measured at roughly three-fourths of a kilometer and were crewed by hundreds, and each blazed a trail forth through the strange tides of rip space.

Rear Admiral Anthony Erling drummed his fingers quietly along the side of his pantsleg, right above his knee, as he stood overlooking the bridge. It wasn't like him to be so nervous. The man had always prided himself in his temperment and his ability to remain calm under fire, even when he was only a commander, tasked with captaincy of a single ship rather than a small fleet. He'd proven himself countless times in the Reunification Wars, and such achievements were why he'd found himself as the one-star Admiral he was now. But even his nerves had a breaking point, and he'd like to believe that the task that lied before him would break even the most stalwart and foolhardy of men.

It was undoubtedly true that Admiral Erling had plenty of reasons to be nervous, even before knowing the true intentions of the mission at hand. For one, the usual task of leading an expedition fleet would normally fall to an officer one, or perhaps even two grades lower than him if needs required, and with a task group half as large. In fact, every ship under Admiral Erling's command was a fair bit better armed than than the usual aging or stripped down expedition ships that would be tasked with the personal surveying of new star systems. The gathered seven vessels were instead ships pulled straight from a carrier fleet, and were all proper war vessels, with their home carrier sitting light years behind them now at the other end of the rip lane, waiting for any sign or signal of something going wrong and send word back to Terra Nova where the Admirality ruled from.

Officially, the larger task group was due to the fact that the star system they were jumping into had a quite a few more planetary bodies and usual, and additional ships were tasked to aid in survey and study, however every single crew member had been informed of their true purpose. In actuality, the neighboring colony had been picking up unusual thermal signatures for some time now from this star system, and while it had originally been ignored and even forgotten in the chaos of the civil war, ever since things had begun to stabalize, a great deal of attention is being paid to these unusual emissions as the potential of first contact with alien life was high based upon estimates and studies done by various research organizations. With such terrifying knowledge in mind, a great deal of deliberation went into the decision making process of how exactly to go forwards.

Eventually, it was decided that it was better to be the initiators of this possible first contact, rather than be stuck on the back foot, and every precaution was taken in order to assure the safety of Terran Remnant assets behind them.

"We'll be reaching the lagrange point in one minute and counting, Admiral." Petty Officer Burkhe's professional tone broke through Admiral Erling's private thoughts, and he turned his head ever so slightly to glance in the man's direction. 

"Very well. Relay the message to the other ships, and the rest of the crew." He thought for a moment. Perhaps now would be the time for a few words, some speech or uplifting sayings to calm the nerves of those here with him. In the end, he decided against it. What words did he have for such a situation. He'd never been the kind of man to try and have the history books write about, and if it turned out that all the studies and research had been wrong, well... He'd look like a damn fool, wouldn't he? No, better not to say anything at all.

"Breaking real space in ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One..." There was a soft shudder as the ship broke out of the rip lane, their arrival foretold by a strange bending of the space around it, growing and expanding and stretching, before reality itself seemed to puncture, an angry red vortex tore itself open in the vaccum seeming almost like an enraged red scar upon the very face of reality.

"Bring all sensors online. Retrograde thrusters, fullstop." Admiral Erling commanded clearly, doing his best to hide his nerves under a loud and commanding voice.

"Brace for fullstop." Another one of the bridge crew called, making sure to call it over the ship intercomm system, and Admiral Erling gripped his hands tightly against the railing in front of him.

Terran Remnant escort vessels could be thought of as living spaces with engines strapped onto both the front and back, pairs of smaller maneuver thrusters strapped onto the sides in order to help with turning. This design was made to allow for quicker stops, and even full reversals of momentum much quicker than normal to aid in quick returns through temporary rip lanes in combat, meaning most Terran Remnant ships relied on broadside weapons as the fore and aft of the ship were taken up by the massive engines.

The fore engine was usually wrapped in armor plating that slid away, as it did now, in order to reveal the series of thrusters past the armored cacoon, all of which burned to life and slowed the ship down until it coasted gently into stillness. It wasn't quite as comfortable for the crew within, as the sudden change in g-forces made the entire hull shake and shudder, and those not properly braced found themselves stumbling.

The other six ships followed suit, all of them coming to a stop in a small cluster just in front of the rip lane as cameras came online and projected a three-sixty degree view of the system around them. What they saw was shocking, and quickly quiet murmuring filled the bridge, as Admiral Erling licked his dry lips and stood a little taller as he sucked in a deep breath to ready himself...

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