Although always on the lean side, she now looked particularly gaunt following the weeks of deprivation and hardship. But some of the haunted look about her eyes had lifted, her gaze sharp and bright once more as she regarded those gathered, both in person and seemingly through the camera with a critical, yet almost approving air.
Her voice raised slightly - not shouting, such displays were limited to the battlefield - but enough so that the crew even in the furthest reaches of the bridge could hear her clearly.
"Ekirus was a victory."
She paused, letting those words sink in.
"It may not feel like it in this moment, but I want to make this clear to you all so that there can be no doubt in your minds; Ekirus was a victory, though it came at a high price.
Ceryndra lies broken and buried beneath a mountain, just as we had planned. His "Wrath Unbound" has fallen, and his choke-hold upon the planet is broken. For every dead soldier you recall her raining upon us in Haddar, know that their dead far outnumbered our own."
She offered those gathered a brief smile, grim humour lighting her expression for a brief moment.
"One wife down, two to go."
The smile faded, her expression serious once more, her gaze intense as she surveyed those gathered at the foot of the stairs and beyond.
"I know you are hurting - be it physically or otherwise - but pain is our weapon, or tool. Though you may not all be able to wield it in the most literal sense, you all know what it is to feel it and let it carry your through.
Our efforts were not in vain, not by a long shot.
Do not dare to dishonour the dead by pretending that they were. Treat the sacrifices for all that they were intended to be - steps on the path to victory. To freedom."
There was another short pause, letting the words settle before she continued.
"For now, we will nurse our wounds upon our home ground, but we will hunt again.
And we will win again."
She gave a curt gesture; a brief nod of her head, and the feed closed.