2. DSS Armitage

DSS Armitage had been there and back again, many times. She was an old ship, with a history. Within her hull, she held not only computers, engines and cables but the echoes and memories of times past. Her databanks contained conversations, missions and reports from three decades and the memorials of everyone that had served aboard since her virgin voyage.
She was not a pretty ship by any means; big and bulky, with old wounds crudely patched and welded. Once she lay abandoned and burned out, drifting for almost six months before a merchant came across her and called it in.
In all her bulkiness, she had been proved to resist alot of punishment and that counted for more than design when it came down to business. She had been in battle many times, with both smugglers and pirates and done numerous lockdowns of mining fascilities in the clusters.

Her main task was to deliver law and order to remote spots controlled by the federation. In practice she acted directly on order from FedCom, usually concerning suspected smuggling or illegal mining operations in the cluster. Aboard her were a crew of around 50 people, depending on tour and mission. Of those 16 were marines, who had the doubtful task of making high risk insertions and arrests; Not only doing it, but loving it.

She was born in the coldness of space and she would surely die there as well, without ever landing on any of the planets and moons her sensors could see. She could never survive a landing since her hull lacked the sleekness required for atmospheric travel, and would quickly turn into a shooting star should any foolish attempt be made. Instead she had two landers in her hold, that could not only make planetfall but also make it up again; sometimes in a hurry.
Presently she drifted through empty space, closing in on the designated target; a mining outpost located on the small moon Felc-III, deep in the asteroidcluster orbiting Cassandra.