”The Collective might be gone, but the distrust of Taldryan that let them take root here in the first place will take a lot longer to fix.” Rian paused. “I’m going to make that my priority in the near future. I might even take a step back from Clan business and spend time talking to the people with Ceyra. If we’d had a better relationship with the citizens of Caelus, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

Erinyes rolled her eyes. “Yeah, good luck with that. I’m going to start looking for ways we can stay independent, so that we don’t have to rely on people who have already backstabbed us once to stay loyal to us in the future.”

Read more of the final Unsteady Ground fiction update here.

Four months ago, I started a series of competitions called Unsteady Ground, telling the story of a Collective attempt to undermine the government of Taldryan’s home system. This past week, that competition series came to a close—and thanks to all of you, the Caelus System is still safely in Taldryan hands. Many people contributed to that effort, and I’d like to give a big thank-you to the participants in both the prelude competition and the main series, those who intended to participate but couldn’t find the time, and those who had no idea they were participating yet still managed to take first place in an event (thanks Atra, your support means a lot). This competition couldn’t have happened without all of you, and I appreciate all your hard work.

Now, on to the awards!

Phase 2 Solo Fiction (“Clash of Champions”):

• 1st: Eminent Bale Andros
• 2nd: General Zen’trula
• 3rd: Mystic Appius Wight

Phase 2 Run-On Fiction (“Decapitation Strike”):

• 1st: Eminent Bale Andros, General Zen’trula, Corsaier Aylin Sajark, Raider Ala’ar Rinn

Phase 2 Gaming (“Repel the Invaders”):

• 1st: Warlord Bentre Sadow
• 2nd: Battlelord Tasha’Vel Versea
• 3rd: Warlord Ronovi Tavisaen

Phase 2 Graphics (“The Grunt Life”):

• 1st: Knight Agate Gua’lara
• 2nd: Corsair Aylin Sajark
• 3rd: Eminent Bale Andros

Phase 2 Flash Gaming (“Scrambled Message”):

• 1st: Colonel Rhylance
• 2nd: Warlord Ciara Tearnan Rothwell Tarentae
• 3rd: General Zen’trula

And last but not least, the overall top placements for the main Unsteady Ground competition series:

• 1st: Eminent Bale Andros
• 2nd: Knight Agate Gua’lara
• 3rd: General Zen’trula

Thanks again to everyone who made this competition series awesome. I’m looking forward to the next one!