[b]“We are the Undefeated of the planet Ellara. Despite all the perils and trials that we had to overcome just to survive, we never wavered and never surrendered. Yet, we have never strayed away from what it means to be human. We will welcome those who are true to the ideals of our ancestors as our friends, and together we will pass the legacy on to the next generations.”[/b] The Grand General waited a few seconds in silence, before turning the recorder off. “So, what do you think?” He turned to Kelsie and Hamonga, who were standing behind him during the short speech. Kelsie as the newly appointed representative of the Undefeated at the Meeting Place. Hamonga as a silent threat. This is what our warriors look like. Be intimidated. “Too pathetic?”

“Just the right amount of pathetic. Let’s hope it brings those more ‘normal’ colonists to us.” And we will need more support. Nations kept to themselves mostly in the past few months, but even then there was some friction between the Zetans and the ECU. The Undefeated stood by the ECU, although no official treaty or an alliance had been debated yet. Still, the Zetans had an undisputable technological advantage over the other two. Even though none of them had any weapons to speak of when they first met each other, both ECU and the Undefeated now had a fleet of spaceships ready to fight. No doubt the Zetans also spent the time preparing for a possible conflict. 

“Great. My work here is done then. From now on, you are in charge here, Guardian Blackwood. I will return on the Thorsten and take it back through the Gateway. The Chimera will remain here at your disposal.” The Thorsten was the flagship of the new fleet, the very first battleship designed and constructed on Ellara. It was carrying experimental new plasma-based weapons and deflector shields. While the tests and simulations looked promising, the technology had not been tested in battle conditions yet. Kelsie hoped it would stay that way. The Chimera was a tiny vessel in comparison, sleek and elegant, designed for swift transfers and scouting rather than for combat situations. It was, however, equipped with the best sensors and various scanners available.

The Grand General, Hamonga, and most of the other Undefeated, aside from those that Kelsie chose for her team, have left the station. She watched from the window as the Thorsten made a slow turn, showing off all the new fancy guns. His visit here was a power play, a display of strength. Kelsie could have recorded the message just as well, but Pawlowski insisted on coming in person, bringing the new flagship for a joyride. The other Thorsten-class ships were still under construction, nearing completion, but not flight-ready yet. There were smaller cruisers, troop transporters, fighters, and other types of ships Kelsie had lost track of, some operational and guarding their end of the Gateway, some being finished in one of the new large shipyards that grew on Ellara.

First of all, she decided to take a long hot shower, a thing that had become almost a luxury back home. As nearly all resources were poured into the arms race, other parts of the economy, society, and everyday life had to deal with shortages of all kinds. Most recently, the lack of turbine parts for heating plants caused hot water to become unavailable in the capital and all over the central regions. People weren’t happy about these things, but most of them either believed it was for the good of all Undefeated or were just smart enough to keep their mouths shut. Even so, there have been several arrests and two of the biggest insurgents were publicly executed to remind everyone about the nation’s priorities.

[right][sub][i](Addressing: [@Tortoise])[/i][/sub][/right]

Refreshed and dressed in her brand new uniform (simple, yet elegant black suit with silver-embroidered insignia on her shoulder), she opened the message from Abadi again. Kelsie didn’t have time to respond to her back home and decided it would be better to wait for the Meeting Place completion since they both would probably be stationed there anyway. 

“Oligarch Abadi,” Kelsie smiled, glad that Abadi got promoted. Interesting how they nearly started a war and yet both got praised for it. “I will be glad to meet again and continue our discussion. I believe that our governments share a similar point of view on certain… matters. I have just arrived at the Meeting point, perhaps I could come and visit you in the ECU section of the station?” Kelsie could have just as well invited her to the Undefeated part, but there was really not much to see. The ECU, however, had the holoprojectors installed all over their section (or at least that was what the rumors said), and Kelsie was eager to see them.