Man, I would've thought that the Reds or someone would've responded to the Ceres Independence. Do you have any idea how useful a nation with, like, half a dozen atmospheric shuttles could be? You could have an attack on a base, and in an hours' time, you'd have reinforcements and superior weaponry and special items, and they can't really be blocked unless someone decided to make something to counter a Ceres shuttle's stealth systems. Stealth as in: made to not show up on radar, to allow any kind of wave to pass around it, etc. Essentially so that you'd have to see it or use heat-seaking, and the Ceres Independence knows that, with such scary times, people might actually try to shoot it down. Countermeasures are in place, but even they are not invincible.