[b]NC Ira, CIC, Four hours later, Subspace.[/b]
The trio of ships sped through the Subspace corridor in a tight wedge, the white and blue walls shooting past them. Colonel Eudorian rested in his seat, trying to relax while he could. So far, they were safe. But in ten or so minutes, that could drastically change.
Major Nazari was quite the opposite. She kept pacing around the CIC in circles, hoping they would be out soon. Subspace always sent a cold sensation through her guts. She once heard some pilots talking about hearing faint, eerie sounds, like chanting while traveling through subspace. Sound in space, right. She would believe it when she heard it herself. But looking at the alien tunnel going past the ship, she suddenly wasn’t so sure. The three ships remained in close formation, less than a thousand meters between them.
 
The ND Elbus was a Legionnaire-class destroyer. Although old, the Legionnaires still served well. The 170 meters long ship was originally intended as the main warship of the starfleet. However, it was surpassed by the Aurora and lately, the Starfury-class cruisers. But since several dozen of them had already been built by the time the cruisers entered service, scrapping them would have been an inexcusable waste of manpower and time. Instead, their role was changed to supporting larger ships in battle or hunting down smaller targets in groups or by themselves, assisted by their complement of four small craft. In theory, at least.
 
The smaller NFg Impavida, a Pathfinder-class corvette, has always been intended for long-range patrols and reconnaissance. At 120 meters, it could be considered the big sibling of the NCv Prowler-class corvettes. Though far from defenceless, it was to rely on maneuverability rather than weapons for survival. More so, its Subspace motivators were fitted with advanced heatsinks, allowing it to jump in shorter intervals than would be expected from a ship of its size. In addition, each carried a Scout-class dropship equipped with an additional sensor and communication package to provide better coverage in cases of interference, be it environmental or artificial.
 
Lastly, there was the NC Ira, a Starfury-class heavy cruiser, the flagship of the fleet. At 263 meters, she was the second largest ship after the Retribution line of carriers. She was one of just two Starfuries constructed, with three more ordered once their operational evaluation stage was declared successful. It was the most armored and second most expensive ship in the Narix military. With a hangar bay carrying twenty craft, currently housing four Scout dropships, four Tormentor bombers, four Marauder interceptors and eight Raider heavy fighters, it was no wonder they picked it for the job.
 
[b]Eight minutes later.[/b]
The two brown dwarfs lay seemingly stationary in the center of the system. In reality, they danced around each other, forever bound together by the tethers of gravity. Besides these stars and two dwarf planets, circling the stellar duet, there was nothing interesting in the Luhman 16 system when three white and blue subspace windows formed, spitting the three-ship lance out into real space. Agrippa scrambled to the sensors officers. 
 
“Well?” she asked after gazing over their shoulders for several minutes.
“Looks like we found ourselves a binary system here. We seem to be about 108 million kilometers from the close star. Astrogation reports two orbiting bodies visible, preliminary observation would suggest dwarf planets, but you know how confusing things are at such distances.”
The Colonel joined them. “Once their engines cool down, send the Elbus and Impavida to investigate the closer one. We’ll stay here take a look at the surrounding stars and report back home. If we’re going to invite friends, let’s make sure there is something noteworthy here. No sense bringing the rest of the expeditionary fleet into a wasteland.”
 
The two smaller vessels departed, leaving the Ira alone in the darkness of space. “Colonel, our coordinates have been logged. We have the node. One of our telescopes also picked up a three-star system approximately three and a half lightyears from here. It might not be anything important, but we think we’ve identified a partial pattern in the background noise. It’s gone now, but for about forty seconds, it looked like the same sequence was being repeated. It could mean someone’s out there. If so, this could have been their communication.”
“Keep looking that way and listen carefully. It could be just garbage emitted by the three stars. We’re all jumpy, for obvious reasons, let’s keep our heads between our shoulders. Did you send the message?” The officer nodded in agreement. “Good. Let the other ships know we’re going to jump to the other planet and send them the node coordinates. Navigation? Jump when ready.”