Why should the people care about this war? After all, we’re not involved in it. We’re not under attack. We’re not in any danger. This is a sentiment I hear everywhere – “we shouldn’t care!” But we should. That there’s a war happening at all so early in our reconstruction, then that means that we aren’t 100% safe from attack at any time. And quite frankly we need to make certain that we can handle an attack by another faction!
—Alesia Maradoth in a televised address to the people
***
Since the beginning of reconstruction, the Colonials have worked under the assumption that it was too early for wars to be occurring. So little infrastructure was in place that it just did not seem feasible at all. Aside from the construction of a few corvettes and a frigate, made primarily to combat outlaws rather than defend the system, very little progress had been made by the Federation militarily.
Then word came of a war occurring between the Nekomi and…some other faction. “Impossible!” so many people said. “How could they possibly have a fleet capable of launching attacks?” But what little news reached the Federation said that not only had decent-sized forces been fielded, but that the Nekomi themselves were quite strong. The first reaction of the populous was to retreat into isolationism – after all, surely with the Nekomi occupied in a war, they would not bother to invade.
However, the Nebulan Party leaders recognized that this sentiment would not do well for the Federation’s long-term survival. There were two other factions nearby – the Emergents and the Capellans. Though relations with both were not poor, there was something to be said for not presenting an open, easy target for invasion. Thankfully, the Odin Project was nearing completion, the first full-fledged, extremely useful railguns about to be brought online. But was it enough?
None of the Sezurenian leaders believed so. Hoping to create popular support for military expansion (something that would make said expansion much easier), Alesia Maradoth and several members of the Congress made a televised address to the people. In it, they detailed the importance of defending themselves now rather than later and how waiting to be attacked could lead to complete disaster. It was a short but poignant series of addresses that minced no words. There was no ambiguity about what the Nebulan Party was wanting and why they wanted it, a rare moment indeed for any government.
With the CFSS Roanoke, escorted by a small fleet, heading off to Algieba System to found the Federation’s first colonies outside of Sezuren, the swaying of public support towards military expansion came none too soon. The Sezuren System would soon be more open to attack and the faster these new ships could be built, the more motivated their builders were, the better off the Federation was.
Well…hopefully.
The specs are also a good bit larger than your average Frigate and it weighs as much as a non-American carrier, so I don't see why this was even brought up. 
