06:32, MARCH 23, 2298 (military calendar)

LOCATION DELTA BETA SYSTEM, TRI BINARY STAR SYSTEM

UEC HEAVY CARRIER – 798 "SPIRIT OF ENDURANCE"

The Spirit of Endurance hovered above a rather, uninhabited X-Class planet, unsustainable for Human life. It was the earliest Human colonists in the Expanse that discovered the system. The system had been avoided for nearly 70 year's due special shears, but the Spirit had endured much more, it was designed for heavy combat, and long range tactical missions. Commander Barnes sat on the couch in his quarters looking over the various logs they received from a destroyed M-Type Destroyer. It was ironic, that nearly all new ships were killed, and his always survived, no matter the situation, not matter what ever was thrown at the ship, it always survived. The M-Type was a former post war carrier vessel, it served during the early expanse war alongside the Spirit, and during a retreat order, it disappeared, presumed destroyed. He opened the last CSL (Computer Status Log), to figure out what happened, though it was obvious, the FTL malfunctioned and sent half the ship to oblivion. The log stated that the ship suffered a catastrophic lateral structural member failure, and the super structure of the ship collapsed, it was a cascade failure of the ship, when they jumped it ripped the ship apart, killing all 4,000 men and women onboard.

"I guess that's it." He had heard of the Troy, his grandfather always spoke of how great a ship it was, he served on it during the early days, and saw it become The Beast. He knew many men and women who was on it, before the ships final mission, he was transferred to the UEC – Dawn Breaker, the last of the great ships. The Spirit had suffered a similar disaster during her final days before being decommissioned, she broke her back, and had to undergo several retrofits to its systems, and modified the lateral structural members with diuranium plating making it 200% stronger than the original, as the ship was only meant to carry cargo between the production colonies, not a war ship. The Troy was one of the few that served in the merchant marine fleet, and was converted into a war ship, it was outfitted with the same specs as the Spirit of Endurance, outdated equipment, only to serve as a cannon fodder, though the Spirit was fully retrofitted when the fleets flagship was destroyed.

The fact alone, that the Troy's support structure failed, was a testimony, that space travel is dangerous, war in space, makes it all the same. The last time the Troy was seen was 45 years ago, it was most likely transmitting its black-box information, which would continue to do for at least another 20 years. Barnes stood up and looked at the last transmission coordinates, sent 21 days ago, it was only about 4 parsecs away, not far, but far enough that they might jump into the middle of a debris field, or asteroid field, where ship laid. He reached over his desk and grabbed the com to the CIC.

"Specialist Kellen, please plot a hyperlight jump, to spatial coordinates, 724987139802."

"Sir, where?"

"It's a investigation into a lost ship."

"Aye sir. We'll be ready to jump in 32 minutes. I'll call down to the chief to bring the FTL back online. He finished repairs."

"Understood, I'll be up in 10." Barnes quickly walked back into the bathroom, and grabbed a razor. His complexion over the several months has gotten sicklier looking, the lack of sleep, constant need for coffee, and ships food was doing him harm. The ships chef insisted that he make him food, but he'd rather see it go to the crew as well. Long term space duration was not what he expected for his first command, it was grueling on the body, lack of Vitamin D, sunshine, normal gravity, and just being in the confines of a ship alone was taking its toll. Not just on him, but the entire crew as well. The Doctor had informed him that several crewmen have been complaining of nausea, muscle, and bone pain. Along with that he recommends antiradiation meds, they have been exposed to more cosmic radiation they most. A normal crew only served 3 months at a time, they are seeing closer to 100 years.