Commission: THE FOOL'S ERRAND - A LIVING RELIC, Spacers Saga

From the Spacers Saga by Nick Oakes: https://www.dividedbyzerobooks.com/blog
Addendum: The nose art was drawn by Megan Miller: https://agirlandherniche.bigcartel.com/

When the Bumblebee-class corvette entered service in 2476, it was intended to serve in a fast attack role, based on lessons learned during the Kuiper Crisis still ongoing at the time. During the Nova War (2503-2525), a conflict pitting the Solar Union against the Martian Federation for control of the Nova Cluster, the Bumblebees excelled in frontline service for the Union, racing in and out of the vast engagement areas where much of the War's space battles took place by virtue of their excellent speed and agility.

When the War ended, however, many of these tried and tested vessels were left high and dry, so to speak, as their swiftness and biting close-in firepower was suddenly redundant in the postwar era. As a result, they wound up languishing in interplanetary scrap yards, awaiting the great breaking up that comes at the end of all ships’ service lives, at some point or another. This was considered a tragedy by those who served aboard them, many of whom held the vessels in high esteem for their abilities as combat implements, and also as homes away from home.

Some, like The Fool's Errand, were salvaged and put back to work as merchant vessels, salvage & rescue craft, and a variety of other second life roles. In the case of the Errand, its current crew of five (all of whom are deep space outcasts and vagabonds of the highest order) has repurposed the craft as a long-haul cargo hauler, with its high-performance Gungnir Corporation Mk. VII nuclear salt water rocket put to good use for pushing high-priority cargo across Nova Space - if they can manage to keep enough nuclear fuel in the tanks to keep her flying, that is…