She was a beautiful ship. Liberty Siege Cruiser, top of the line. Gleaming under the soft light of the Alaskan sun. Couldn't have asked for a better ship. Or, she could be a better ship. A dreadnought? Oh, one could dream. But one doesn't expect dreadnoughts to be launched on deep exploration missions...So she was a beautiful ship. Just five years into service, without the scars of any major combat...border patrols in Hudson, the occasional Unioner squad spitting at its paint.
She'd be given a crew of eight, along with the uncommissioned captain..something of a skeleton crew, but for any mission this long, every person meant tonnes of stored supplies. They didn't have the space for more than one doc, an engineer, nav, comms, captain, and a handful of weapons specialists. But as she shined in the dim haze of the Alaskan sun, her guts showing to the outside world as the device was mounted, Alice couldn't help but be proud of her ship, her first real command after a series of border patrols and months of tossing that damn gunboat into the badlands, where the rogues always know you're coming, and you barely ever manage to escape...if you see anything.
She wore a crisp uniform, freshly pressed and dried, and stood on the concourse, gazing at the only ship she was cleared to look at. There were other things out here in the Alaskan haze, projects she had no clearance for. Best look straight ahead, and wait for the official briefing to come in, black boxed from Willard.