Invictus Launch Week, the week in which the UEE military celebrated itself and its new recruits A display of military strength. I didn’t have a good opinion of the military. It oppressed free peoples. In 2571 the UEE hunted a group of rebels to their base at Ashana in the Nul System. The captain of the battle carrier Olympus made a navigational error and crashed on the planet. The wreck of the Olympus became the home of the inhabitants of Ashana. The home where I grew up.

Nevertheless I could not escape the fascination of the spaceships. I travelled to the planet ArcCorp, where this year’s ship exhibition took place at the Bevic Convention Center. Right at my arrival I made my first experience with the military. A member of the Navy harassed me. Pirate Pack had no business here. He was probably referring to my T-shirt.  Great start. I wonder what it would be like at the convention center. I wondered if they’d even sell me a ticket.

The entrance to the fair looked like hero worship and self-congratulation. There was heroic music to be heard and shiny stone tablets showed the history of Invictus. There was almost something religious about it. Statues showed the veneration of the soldiers. They held out their hands to me as if inviting me to join the Navy. 

I didn’t really feel comfortable. Always stay under the radar, I said to myself. Just don’t stand out. I bought some Invictus clothes. They made me look like a fanboy, the perfect disguise.

Announcements were made in the huge exhibition hall, every sound echoing off the walls. They showed what the military had to offer. It gave me goose bumps. It was better to avoid direct combat with these ships. At least if you didn’t want to die as a hero.  

Besides the fighter craft, support ships were displayed. With some of them you could do free test flights. There was also a Carrack. There I stood, in front of this big impressive ship. My thoughts wandered away, into the vastness of space. I saw unknown worlds in front of me that no human being had seen before. The spirit of the discoverer awoke in me. Someday, one day, I would walk this path.

I’d stroll into a side hall. Only a faint light shone here. A glass case was in the room. A bluish light shimmered out of the box. I went closer. With every step I took, my grin grew wider. Inside the glass case was a hologram of the Mercury Starrunner. The ship of my dreams. I stayed almost an eternity and looked at the hologram from all sides. Soon, very soon this ship was to be my own.