[right][sub]the Meeting Place[/sub][/right]

Jim Harlowe was standing on the observation deck with a glass of Matuvistan rum in his hand. Ever since the Chimera exploded and then disappeared in the Gateway, never to be heard from again, he had been here quite often, watching the whirling wormhole, thinking about what happened to Kelsie and her people. Did they at least die quickly, disintegrated into atoms instantly? Or were they stuck somewhere out of our normal space-time continuum? Jim only had a faint idea of how the Gateways actually worked, but he remembered some fancy words.

It was such a shame, really. For the whole nation, Guardian Blackwood was a hero. The first through the Gateway, the first to negotiate with other surviving colonies, their first representative at the Meeting Place. The ceremonial funeral held back on Ellara was huge, broadcasted throughout all the channels on the planet and even to the Meeting Place. An entire nation held a moment of silence in remembrance of this great woman.

For Jim, the shame was even bigger. Just as Kelsie and her people truly accepted him into their team and he stopped being just an unwanted outsider, they disappeared, leaving him here all alone. And while Jim has always been ambitious, he had some pretty big shoes to fill.

Guardian Jim Harlowe. Everything he ever wanted to achieve in his life. And now he couldn’t even enjoy it. The circumstances have made his greatest life accomplishment taste so bitter he was almost ashamed he had accepted the promotion.

Well, there was no time for self-pity now. Things were happening that needed to be dealt with. Jim quickly sent word to the Grand General about the latest development and sipped from his glass while waiting for the response. It was quite swift and Jim’s eyes widened in surprise. Crap, now he had to make a public statement.

“Greetings to everyone at the Meeting Place and in the near proximity of the station. I am Guardian Jim Harlowe, the new representative of the Undefeated nation. Most of you have probably known my predecessor, Kelsie Blackwood, who has recently tragically passed. We can only assume the event was an accident and not an act of open hostility against our nation, for which there are certainly no reasons. I will do everything in my power to try and carry on her legacy.

Just like our Xandalian colleagues, we too have been observing the situation in the Sol system with great worries and disagreement. And I’m afraid we cannot sit idly by anymore and let our common ancestral home be exploited by a few greedy individuals and companies. Thus, we have decided to send a portion of our fleet through the Gateway to the Sol system to assist other nations in defending it. I can assure you this is by no means a hostile action towards any nation currently represented at the Meeting Place or any new arrivals that will be interested in friendly diplomatic relationships. 

Our ships will remain in the close proximity of the Gateway, preventing any more ships of these exploiters from coming through until proper diplomatic channels are established and this whole matter is resolved. I can assure you any of your ships, be it diplomatic, trade, or even military vessels, will be allowed through without any interference whatsoever. I hope we can settle this matter without any more unnecessary casualties.”

Just a few minutes after the broadcast went out, ships started to appear in the Sol system. Three battleships, surrounded by a large number of smaller vessels positioned themselves evenly around the wormhole, ready to intercept any incoming vessel that didn’t belong to the known nations and didn’t respond to the hails. The primary objective was to disable, board, and take control, but if the enemy opened fire, lethal force was allowed as well.

Jim watched the fleet arrive both on his datapad and from the window, tiny spots around the seemingly huge wormhole. “Shit.” He wasn’t the main representative for even a week now and it already seemed his country was headed to another war. Now he knew how Kelsie felt after her first contact with the Zetans.