[center][color=ed1c24][h2]The Undefeated[/h2][/color][/center]

Kelsie was enjoying a long, scalding hot shower, streams of water running down her lean body. She ran her fingers through short dark hair, rinsing the last remains of shampoo off. It was not a regulation to have it that short, more of a recommendation, but in her position she couldn't afford to look too womanly. She took a deep breath and switched the tap to the other side, slowly exhaling as ice-cold drops fell on her skin, feeling like being pinched by thousands of tiny needles.

Wrapped in a small towel she stepped out of the bathroom, quickly glancing over the room. The bed was already perfectly made, with no sign on it being used for the past hour. It was no surprise, every trooper remembered their first year in the military academy and the endless hours of bed making and uniform folding. A young man next to the bed was just putting his pants on, but when she entered, he quickly jumped to attention. Kelsie smirked a bit, she hoped he would be gone by now. “At ease. You are dismissed, captain.”

The man quickly finished dressing and then hesitated for a moment. “Ma’am? About my application…”

“I said I would think about it. Now get lost.” She sighed and started up her terminal. Yes, a promise once given needed to be kept. He wanted to apply for a promotion to a squadron leader and having a higher officer’s recommendation helped smooth the way. Kelsie’s thoughts wandered to the past hour and she smiled a bit. He was good (in more things than just waging war on the Screechers), but was he really good enough to decide the fate of so many men? Her fingers stopped above the keyboard. What the hell was his name? He was a captain, sure, his first name was David, but the last name? Baker? Barker?

A beeping comlink interrupted her thoughts. An urgent meeting was called by the Grand General.

[hr]

Twenty minutes later she was entering the Tactical room. Several Guardians were already present and quiet but nervous chatter filled the room. Kelsie came closer to a large figure standing in a corner. “Guardian Hamonga,” she greeted the man. Hamonga seemed intimidating to most people, but Kelsie served with him and knew him well. It was in fact him, who suggested her name when a Guardian position opened up, the second-highest rank a person could achieve.

“Guardian Blackwood,” he turned to her. “We are just waiting on Guardian Tai.”

“Tai? Isn’t he on the way north to the front now?”

“He has been recalled, this meeting has the highest priority.”

Kelsie wanted to ask how something could have a higher priority than the ongoing war but didn’t get a chance. Guardian Tai just walked in, followed by Grand General Oscar Pawlowski. The room went silent, everyone standing at attention.

“At ease,” Pawlowski walked to the large table in the middle of the room and sat on one of the chairs. “Sit.” He was not known to waste time with extra words. When all gathered, he swiped on his datapad, sending a data stream to everyone in the room. “The situation is as follows. The Gateway in the system has reopened. So far nothing has come through. We have our sensors locked on that area of space and our small spaceships will take turns patrolling around it.”

The room was silent, everyone scrolling through the data, trying to hide their surprise. “We do not have any means to wage war in space. The spacecraft are for reconnaissance and small transport only, we don't have any bigger spaceships at our disposal. Our missiles can’t travel through space, our troop carriers cannot leave the atmosphere, the personal exoskeletons are not designed to protect from the hard vacuum,” Guardian Tai summed up what everyone else was thinking. “If we get attacked now, we are screwed.”

“Maybe we don’t necessarily have to start a new war with whoever is on the other side of the Gateways?” Coming from a scary figure like Hamonga, words of peace sounded almost ironic. “We could contact other colonies, establish trade routes. We are already at one war that is eating up all our resources. A second conflict, let alone with an advanced civilization, might pose a threat to all we have been building here.”

“It would be wise to gather as much information as possible,” Kelsie added. “We have been at war for 300 years, but others might have been at peace. They could have made huge technological progress in that time.”

“I agree,” Pawlowski interrupted her. “And you are wrong, Guardian Tai. We have one spaceship. The Revenant was originally meant to be the main transport vessel for the intended mining colony on the Donut, but it is being equipped with a small modular fusion reactor and armed with the biggest laser guns we have. It is not much, but at least it will not be going completely unarmed.”

“Going where?”

“Glad that you asked, Guardian Blackwood. The Revenant is going through the Gateway on a diplomatic and recon mission. Since we are a bit short on diplomats,” he grinned, “you will be leading that expedition.”

Kelsie stared at him, stunned by the fact that he actually made a joke. Short on diplomats. What the hell would we need diplomats for? Everyone who ever tried to negotiate with the natives (and there have been some so stupid in the early days of colonization) disappeared. There were findings of human bones with teeth marks, but never any survivors. Then Kelsie’s brain finally caught up with what the Great General actually said. She was supposed to lead this mission?

“The activities on the northern front are suspended until this situation is resolved. We will only keep garrison in the strongholds. The 8th and 9th are recalled back to the Citadel. I expect all of you to start working on ideas on how to deal with this new threat. Guardian Blackwood, you have your orders, all details on a separate data stream. You are dismissed.”

“Yes, sir,” Kelsie saluted and marched out of the room, catching a glimpse of Hamonga giving her thumbs up before the door closed behind her. What just happened?

[hr]

The Revenant looked way better than Kelsie had expected. There were a lot of workers and technicians running around, welding this and cutting that. She left them to do their business and headed inside, throwing her bag onto one of the bunkbeds. There was no room for comfort, but she was used to this. A good quartermaster could actually cram even more people in there.

The engine room was one big mess, cables and pipes lying and hanging everywhere. Two technicians were tinkering with a huge box that was evidently not in the ship’s original plans. A young girl was directing them and Kelsie headed towards her. “Commander Harding?”

The girl turned to Kelsie but before she could say a word a slender man jumped from the corner. “That would be me, Guardian. Don’t mind this one, that is just my assistant.” He impatiently waved at the girl to get back to work. “Miss Petrova will be coming with us to erm… assist me.”

Kelsie noticed that he didn't use any rank when referring to the girl. So she was Rejected, and an exceptionally smart one to be allowed to work on such an important project. “So, this is your big invention, Commander?” Kelsie pointed towards the box.

Harding swelled with pride. “Yes, yes, my great invention. Portable cold fusion reactor, small enough to fit in here, but it will keep the ship going for years.”

“Weren’t these things only in the experimental phase? Is there any danger?” Kelsie had her doubts about using an untested technology on such a crucial mission.

The scientist scoffed. “I can assure you, that all MY inventions are perfectly safe, Guardian!”

Kelsie watched the assistant’s face and couldn’t miss a sad grin when Harding talked about HIS inventions. It was not uncommon for the scientists to find a very talented low-ranked or Rejected person to do all the work and just claim the credits. Kelsie found it disgusting, but it was officially not illegal. “Fine, fine. Let’s just hope that YOUR invention will at least get us into space without blowing the ship into pieces.”

She left the techies to their inventions and mysterious boxes and headed back to the top deck to greet the new arrivals. Four men and two women were unpacking their bags and chatting, all jumping up to attention when she walked in. A tall dark man made a step forward. “Squad 9-C-17 ‘The Reapers’, reporting as ordered, ma’am.”

“At ease, assholes,” Kelsie grinned.

“Well, well, look at her, how cocky she got with her new ranks and whatnot. Still, she calls us when she needs to have her ass covered,” one of the women laughed and mockingly saluted.

“I will let you cover my ass any time, Janice,” another man replied and winked at her.

“It is First Sergeant Springer to you, stupid tincan,” Janice hissed and threw a shoe at him.

“Some things never change,” Kelsie smiled. “Make sure you have all your gear and weapons safely stored. Did they give you the hard vacuum suit and gun upgrades?”

“Well, they made some tinkering to it, we haven’t tested it yet.”

“Let’s hope we won’t have to. This is supposed to be a diplomatic mission, you guys are here just in case something goes wrong.” Kelsie was no diplomat, so she expected a lot of things to go wrong.

“Aaand we are back to the ass-covering.”

Kelsie laughed and left them to their bickering. She knew she could count on them, they had been in countless missions together and always pulled through, although not always without losses. There was just one crew member missing now.

A young man walked up the ramp to the ship, a standard military bag over his shoulder. “Cap… Major David Parker reporting for duty,” he saluted her.

“Welcome on board,” Kelsie smiled. “I see you are enjoying your promotion.” She did eventually remember his last name and when it came to choosing the person who will be piloting the ship, she picked him. He had a lot of experience flying with shuttles in enemy territories and an impressive number of pterro takedowns. Plus, this could be a long mission and it was always useful to have some ‘entertainment’ at hand.

[hr]

Everything on the ship was shaking as they were leaving the atmosphere, but it held together, no explosions or other mishaps. The crew gathered on the bridge to take one last glimpse of the planet. “It looks so peaceful from up here,” Kelsie said quietly. “Anyway, we should get going. Major Parker, is everything ready to go?”

“All systems are in green, ma’am. We had a small leak of the cooling agent, but Commander Harding is taking care of it and says it is not a problem.”

Kelsie rolled her eyes. “If he says so. Let’s go then.”

The Revenant passed two small shuttles patrolling the area around the Gateway. As the ship came closer to it, the Gateway interface popped up on their displays, offering a list of available locations. “Well we all know where we need to go first,” Kelsie pointed at one word at the top of the list. Earth.

[hr]

“Well, this sucks,” Janice summed up what everyone else was thinking as they stared down on the cradle of all mankind. The planet was completely devoid of all life, no water or vegetation visible anywhere, no life detectable. The stations and satellites that once orbited it were either gone or heavily damaged, drifting aimlessly through space.

“I am detecting another ship,” Parker pointed at one of the screens. “It seems to be a small shuttle, and…,” he pressed a few buttons, “it is transmitting a message.”

[i]"Hail, those that still voyage through the stars. We are one of the lost colonies, eager to meet our own kind. Please, we mean no harm."[/i]

People on the bridge looked at each other. Shivers ran down Kelsie’s spine, but she was trained not to show any emotions. “Open a channel. The Revenant to the unknown ship. This is Guardian Kelsie Blackwood. We are also representatives of one of the colonies and I have to say we are happy to see we weren’t the only ones to survive. We are looking to establish friendly relations and possible trade routes.” Kelsie ended the transmission and took a deep breath. “Take us closer to that shuttle, but slowly, we don't want to spook them.”

[@Irredeemable]