Tales of A Galaxy IC

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Welcome to the year 50,000 AD. The Galaxy of NGC 224, more commonly known as the Andromeda galaxy, now stirs with life, as it's own pool of intelligent species begin to achieve spaceflight and out of their planetary cradles. Some species were faster; already expanding beyond their solar system to other systems. Some were slower; only now making off-homeworld colonies. It was the time of nourishment, of expansion and development.
However, not all will be peaceful. In a neighboring galaxy, more commonly known as the Milky Way, was until recently torn apart with a brutal, devastating war between two ancient species, known as the Great War. One is known as the Dracos, now extinct in the hands of it's enemies. The victor? A strange, two-legged humanoids who call themselves Humanity. The war raged on for 15,000 years, both races at one point driving minor races to extinction. Planets were destroyed without mercy, campaigns waged over star systems, but in the end humanity came out victorious, now a brutal, xenophobic, and merciless race. 50 years since the war ended, the Imperium ex Mundus, the greatest interstellar empire in the Universe, turns it's eyes to the Andromeda galaxy, to expand it's territory and to uphold the ideal that was the driving force behind humanity during the Great war.
"Manifest Destiny"
And so, an epics saga begins. There will be many adventures, many conflicts, and many tales to come......
---
Current races
Humanity.................................................................................Guderian2nd-GM
- Imperium Ex Mundus
Sesillians...................................................................................Glassware-Co-GM
- The Sesillian Consensus.
- The Union of Free Stars
- The Order of Hidden Darkness
- The Home Fleet
- The Transcendence Institute
Gremlins....................................................................................Trent01
- Interstellar Trust
Tricomas...................................................................................Reece
- The Allo
Vaecaesin.................................................................................slasher
- The Vaecaesin Republic
- The Vaecaesin Empire
- The Estoric Order of Vaecaesa

Lyrans......................................................................................BobTheNinja

-United Systems Common Wealth

Drosera....................................................................................Silveraith

-Drosera Presence

Urkai Collective..........................................................................Annunaki

-Expansionists

-Isolationists

Meltrandi..................................................................................Twitchy Artemis

-The Meltrandi(or Meltrons)

::Sector (59,1)::

Reality tore open. A blue blossom in the void appeared as the fabrics of space time ripped and opened an exit from another dimension.

Out came a ship. It was shaped like a fighter, but without the wing. It's 2 huge engines attached to the back were sphere shaped and rotatable in all directions, as if to show off maneuverability. It was littered with small turrets and guns, and on one side, a huge disc, with 4 gigantic guns pointing the 4 directions.

It was a Destroyer, it's name INS Witch Hunter, printed on one of it's broadsides. The ship-of-the-line in the Imperium Ex Mundus, the greatest interstellar empire in the Milky way. Except that this place wasn't the Milky Way. It was Andromeda.

Behind the Destroyer opened up 4 more tears, as the original tear closed up. Two of the new rifts spat out 2 more Destroyers. The remaining 2 spat out what at a first glance seemed like an over-sized soccer balls, except all the colors were metallic. Moreover, it's size was overwhelming, next to them the already kilometers-long Destroyer nothing but a speck. However, the surface of these 2 were plain; flat, sleek, spotless, and most of all weaponless. It was a cargo ship, measuring 60kms in diameter, it was stripped of all weapons for the sake of more cargo. And the cargo it carried was indeed important.

Necessary for Manifest Destiny.

---

He opened his eyes.

Arghh. He quickly raised his hands to his head as it hurt like hell. White smoke covered his vision, but they were quickly ventilated as the transparent door opened up. Mechanical whirring and other various digital and anologue sounds entered his ear, as his head became calmer.

>>Your awake, Captain James A. Clovisar. You may head to the bridge to manually take control of the ship or go to the leisure sections to ease up some stress if you feel to do so. Would you like me to report the current status?

A mechanical, but feminine voice, much different from the other various noises was heard. He put his hands down and raised his head, towards the voice.

Captain James A. Clovisar......Yeah, that's me.... And uh.... yeah, I am the Captain of The Witch Hunter. Okay, okay, so why was I cryonized....um... Aha! Yeah, Manifest Destiny. I am the first human to set foot on Andromeda. I see.... James thought as he opened his mouth.

"...yes. Yes, please report"

>>Yes, Captain. The 3 Destroyers INS Witch Hunter, INS Purger, and INS Ass Kicker have all safely exited warping. The two Hexa-class Cargo ships have also safely finished warping. According to pre-mapped Coordinates of NGC 224 shows we are somewhere roughly in (59, 1), so we have reached our desired destination. Request for immediate start on the construction of the Gate, Captain?

James blinked. He was about to respond, when the AI interrupted.

>>Captain, incoming IC Transmission from INS Ass Kicker. Would you like to open visual conversation?

He groaned before replying with a short yes. Immediately 3 projectors came to life and projected a colored 3D holographic image, showing a man whom James knew very well. He climbed out of the cryo tube and stood up to face the old friend. There was a small snap and a hiss as the cryo tube closed back.

"Hey, nice too see ya awake James... So, then, now what?"

James smirked slightly. He scratched his black hair for a moment, before speaking the words that changed the fate of a galaxy.

"Well Marcus...... let's get started."

3,25.

Six cylindrical frigates hung motionless in space, their blackened hulls bledning into the void of space around them. Inside the ship the psi-op commander -jiral- sat awkwardly on the chitinous command seat, the oddly shaped seat pressed his wings down unfortabley and the ceiling was low enough that his antenna brushed against its bumby surface.

"We/it/us sees ship/mother/queen/ coming through the dark."

Jiral nodded at the the cluster of fused drones that hung from the ceiling, they were acting as the CIC for the frigate, it was entirely for his benefit though, the frigate could operate fine without a commander.

Jural spread his senses out into the dark of space, he picked up the frigates - golden honeycombed cylinders - as well as the incoming ship, seconds later real space folded, twisted and snapped open letting loose a wave of howling enrgy atop of which came the Hive ship, riding the cresting wave of destrucive force out into real space.

after the doorway into the warp sealed itself shut Jiral's mind was assaulted by the overpowering voice of the queen.

"Report! We demand a progress report now!"

Bound by the powerful compulsion Jiral gave his report.

"Few planets Queen, only one capable of supporting a hive, there are some indiginous but their most advanced weapinry still uses black powder."

There was a slight pause before the Queen responded.

"Destroy them, wipe them clean, cleanse the planet...you have done well Jiral"

Jiral let loose a rattling sigh, his entire body sagging with relief at the Queens praise, she was normally dissmissive of every advance made by the Psi-ops, but the discoery of a planet capable of supporting a hive and at such a low level of technology was something even she would have to be proud of.

"Drones, take us to-"

"We/it/us understood, we heard the Ship/mother/Queens song and we obey. Home is near, flesh is near, will burn then build. we hear and obey."

The Frigates formed a loose V around the Hive ship and began to advance towards the unaware and doomed desert world that lay only half a light year away.

Star Date 12345

Five hundred years. That is how long it has been since the Trinity waged war. Although they are still technically at war. It is a cold war fleets patrol their borders waiting for the conflict to escalate. Diplomats struggle to keep the peace knowing that it is only a matter of time. The Order desires to unite all Vaecaesi under their wise dominion.They wish to save the heretics from their fate. The Ancestors will return and those who have strayed from the righteous path will be destroyed for their sins. The Empire differs from the Order in one respect. They do not hold faith in religious stupidity. They believe that the myths hold some truth that they did come from a distant world possibly from another galaxy. Yet they do not hold their ancestors in reverence. They believe in progress at any price. They are the future and the Order will fall for their ignorance. They are stuck the past and if they refuse to see reason... its light will burn them to ash. Meanwhile the Republic is a nation of freedoms. They let their people make their own choices and have one desire in this three way war. They wish to maintain their independence and protect the rights of the people. That is the purpose of government after all. They will live free or die free. They will not be bound!

IMPERIAL SPACE

The Imperial fifth fleet consisting of over ten thousand warships has been stationed at the Imperial/Republic border for over eighty years. The flagship is a dreadnaught. The ID Valhalla a massive warship armed to the teeth with devastating weapons. It glides silently through the void as smaller craft whiz around it like hornets do their nests. The bridge sits deep within its hull protected from harm by meters of dense armor and dozens of meters of corridors and living space. In the bridge a dozen Vaecaesi stand at their stations working hard at their jobs. A comm pings and the view screen shifts from the sensor readings to a face. An older Vaecaesin with Ruby eyes. He stands tall and proud in his uniform a smirk etched into his features. His long white hair tied into a pony tail as his hands are tucked behind his back.

"Commander Zan'thar you have orders from Imperial Fleet Command. You will begin scouting Republic space. Use utmost stealth we must not tip out hand too soon. Unity through Victory!"

He does a Romulan salute bringing his closed fist to his chest. Zan'thar returns the gesture with a softly spoken: "As you command." The channel is cut and he turns aside.

"Zach open a channel to the fleet. Relay these orders."

He begins typing rapidly his fingers moving inhumanly fast a testament to his dexterity and mental fortitude. Within the hour the fleet will jump to warp.

REPUBLIC SPACE

Vaecaesa the capital of the Republic. A shining beacon of freedom and joy. Countless ships travel through the system it is filled with life. Down below the senate is in session. The Vaecaesin Prime overlooking it all ready to act should his vote be required. He is the executive officer of the Republic but he also acts as a mediator and tie breaker in the senate. He cannot vote unless the senate is locked due to a tie in votes. Otherwise he just gives suggestions and proposes bills for the senate to vote on. The senate can propose bills too of course. The Prime is a tall distinguished Vaecaesin. He differs from others of his kind by being one of the rare few with a short hair cut. His eyes are gone replaced with silvery prosthetics a battle scar from the last war.His face is heavily scarred as well.

"We must bolster our military funding. The enemy are just waiting for us to show weakness!"

The Prime just watches silently as the debate rages. A young Vaecaesin well known for being militarist is arguing against his fellow senators. An older Vaecaesin speaks his deep voice rumbling through the chambers.

"There has been no warfare for five hundred years. The constant war readiness we have held is doing grave damage to our economy. People who could be at work are busy manning our warships. We are entering a recession how can we keep our nation strong if it is allowed to rot from the inside?"

There is much quiet discussion as the senate considers his point. They then go silent and turn to the prime. He sighs and activates his voice amplifier.

"Thus begins the vote. All who support the 80% cut in military spending and the release of personnel into the civilian sector?"

The votes are tallied and the opposing vote is done and a compromise is made in order to break the stalemate. The Prime refused to vote and demanded that they work it out themselves. Within the next five years the fleet will be downsized by 50%. A small token force will be kept to handle pirates and secure the borders just in case. Prime rubs his temples in a vain attempt to release his stress.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

ORDER SPACE

As usual the Order is silent. They watch waiting as they continue in their recovery. Deep within Order territory on a massive moon sized space station the High Templar stands tall overlooking the balcony. A thin force field all that stands between him and the searing heat of the red dwarf ahead. Its blinding light filtered by the protective fields preventing him from going blind. He watches the plasma dance on the surface like a red boiling ocean. Flares reaching for him drawn to the many spires which absorb their energy to power the reactors. His sapphire eyes gleam with malice as he partakes of the sacred elixir. A potent mix of drugs and fluids which give him visions. Visions believed to be of the future. Lights flash in his vision, starships clash and shatter as worlds burn. He smiles maniacally as he begins to cackle.

"Soon the crusade will begin anew. May the ancestors preserve and return to us!"

He soon fully succumbs to the effect of the hallucinogens, narcotics, and stimulants driving him further into his madness.

Sector 33,25

Space warped in and around itself in a hexagonal pattern as the Home Fleet moved. Shifted light, undergoing shifts from the sheer speed, glanced off of the massive fleet. Thousands of ships moved as one, sending out strange rippling effects through nearby space as the ancient Sesillians aboard each vessel drew upon stored reservoirs of power and shattered the limits of light. At the center of the formation was the massive Future, a behemoth fifteen kilometers in length that shone with strange, glistening aftereffects of the sheer power that its passengers emitted through their dense concentrations of life and the amounts needed to move it.

Slowly, ships began to stop. The massive ion engines powered down and the navigators ceased their struggles. The deceleration took longer than the act of acceleration, but at least it was easier on the psychics. No longer did they need to expend their own power by controlling the direction of the forces that propelled the ships faster than the speed of light. Now the tools of the material realm could take over.

In the center of the Future, amidst so many wires and strange pieces of scientific and medical equipment, the Captain stirred. Old scales crackled against the metal that entombed the old creature as it awoke, the first and then the secondary eyelids sliding open.

The Captain was old. Not nearly so old as the elders who ruled the Consensus and the majority of the Sesillian people, nor as old as the rumors surrounding the patron of the Transcendence Institute, but old nevertheless. He was an old and respected being, his serpentine form a respectable one hundred meters in length.

A simple thought brought the equipment surrounding the Captain to life. A brief thought emerged from his mind, translated into a request heard by all the active crew.

Status report.

A short flurry of activity followed, before Second K’tresl responded with a simple electronic message that scrolled in front of the Captain’s eyes. Not as efficient as telepathy, but K’tresl was young yet, a mere dozen meters, and could not muster the strength for a lengthy telepathic report.

New system entry is confirmed. All ships confirmed as having exited safely. All layers report 100% effectiveness. No other ships appear to be in system, rich asteroid belt, active local gas giant is a scientific curiosity. Mining and exploration ships are setting up shop. Orders?

This was routine enough. An uninhabited system to refuel and repair recent damages from a brief, unfortunate accident. The Captain barely needed to think about his response. Business as usual. Open the bazaar.

The Future was now open territory for the fleet, with meetings and matters of governance alike. The Captain has made this so when he had first acquired the ship in his youth, and he intended to keep it that way. The Home Fleet was secure. The Home Fleet was free.

The Home Fleet was the future.

The Sesillian Senators of the Union of Free Stars were powerful creatures individually, and few were so powerful as Lesilisan, representative of the fifty-seventh district. Not in terms of psionic might, no, Lesilisan was a scant few tens of meters in length and his power unpracticed. But politically, Lesilisan represented and to an extent controlled one of the most powerful districts of the Union.

In their everlasting Cold War with the hated tyrants of the Sesillian Consensus, the Union had adopted an opposing system, where leaders were chosen in a manner theoretically guaranteed to represent the best interests of those who appointed them, as opposed to the blunt system of psychic power that governed the Consensus. And so democracy had been born, an oddly meritocratic system that selected for those with skill in certain fields and weaknesses in others.

The Union was thoroughly ridiculed for it by most of the Sesillian population, but it functioned admirably well when put to test. And so Lesilisan, a child, had come to be a figure of power.

It could not have happened anywhere but the Union.

Now, though, the Home Fleet had laughed in his face, spat upon his representatives, and stolen a large amount of valuable psionic energy cells. Their huge battleship, the Future, had prevented any recompense for this crime, and if Lesilisan could not retrieve the energy then his district could experience a large economic downturn. This could not be allowed to occur.

And so Lesilisan was speaking to the Admiral of his district’s fleet. Not psychically, but verbally. Elsewhere, it would have been a sign of weakness. Here, it was simply how these things were done.

“You cannot destroy them?”

The Admiral hissed in dismay, coiling his tail around himself in consternation. “No. We can find them, but the Future is simply too powerful to destroy with merely the resources of our district. If you called in the main fleet…”

“No.” Lesilisan flicked his tail, dismissing the option. “It would make me look weak, and we cannot afford to move the fleet with things on the border worlds the way they are. Those Transcendence Institute maniacs would just love it if we left them vulnerable.”

“Then we have no choice but to negotiate.”

“Also not an option. That was made quite clear by their transmissions. Unless we have some way of making them reconsider…”

“I was thinking about it myself, Senator, and I came to a conclusion: hostages.”

“Hostages?” Lesilisan recoiled. “That is vile.”

“And so is the thought of what will become of the district if we do not retrieve what was stolen, Senator. We must do it.”

Lesilisan slithered over to a nearby window, considering the world outside. Small Sesillians played in the streets while larger ones slithered about on business. Psychic practitioners coiled on corners, taking in the wealth of emotions.

“…Very well. You have command of the fleet, Admiral, and my permission. Do it. For the people of this district, you must not fail.”

Civilian deep space exploration vessel USCS Adventurer, Sector 28,26
Spring 52nd, 915 I.E. (Interstellar Era), Day 52 of the expedition

Ambassador Daven Garreth was in a very good mood. It had been a nearly a quarter since the launch of the USCS Adventurer at the start of the new year and everything seemed to be going perfectly. The currents of hyperspace had been generous to them, cutting down on their travel time by several days. The 600-meter exploration ship, along with its two Sentinel-class frigate escorts, the USCS Vigilance and the USCS Defiant, stopped periodically to refuel and deposit portable hypergates, allowing ships from the home sectors to access the stop-off systems and begin constructing bigger hypergates and resupply stations, creating a corridor for much faster travel in their wake.

They were now very close to their destination, region of the galaxy with not one, but two major species, discovered four centuries ago by one of the Lyran race's first truly long-range exploration probes, the first ones with hypercomm units no less. The probe gathered signal data from both species from afar for as long as possible, so as not to be detected, before being forced to return to the home sector for maintenance. It was eventually sent back out, and other, more advanced probes soon followed in its wake.

It didn't take long for the raw signal data collected by the probe to be compiled into a compatible format for the Lyrans' computers, revealing that one species was made up of serpentine creatures of hugely variable size, while the other was made up of were short, furry bipeds. Over the course of the next few centuries, scientists, sociologists, and linguists poured over the data, trying to learn as much as they could about these races as possible. Other species had also been detected and surveyed by their probes, but these two appeared to be the most promising candidates for peaceful first contact. They eventually managed to put together a rudimentary but functional translation program for both species' languages. Soon they would be put to the test.

"Ambassador Garreth?" his aide, Jax Fallor, spoke up, pulling the older Lyran out of his musings. "We've just finished refueling. We're ready to jump at any time."

"Excellent!" Garreth replied enthusiastically. "Only ten days or less until we arrive! We're going to be the first Lyrans to make contact with an alien civilization! Isn't it exciting, Jax?"

"Honestly sir, I'll just be happy if they don't decide to conquer us, or that our brains would make a fine meal," Jax deadpanned.

"Bah! you always expect the worst!" Garreth chastised him. "I'm sure things will work out just fine, you'll see!"

"I'll celebrate when I'm proven wrong," Jax replied. "Besides, life is less disappointing when you have a pessimistic worldview."

Garreth sighed. "You're far too young to be so cynical. But to each his own I suppose." He then took his seat at the center of the command-and-control room deep within the ship's hull. The circular chamber was fairly spacious, about 12 meters across, and was capped by a holodome which projected a 360-degree view of the world outside the ship, which was overlayed by a navigation grid and other points of data. The other crew stations were arranged in a circle facing outward, with the pilot and co-pilot's stations situated at the front of the room.

"Alright then, let's get this show on the road. Helm, take us out," Garreth ordered.

"Yes sir, hyperdrive engaged," The pilot replied. "Stand by...drive synchronization with the Vigilance and Defiant confirmed. Jumping in 3...2...1...Mark."

A brief flash of multicolored light erupted as the resonance fields of the three ships' hyperdrives enveloped then. When the light faded a split second later, they were gone.


EDIT NOTE: All listed times measured according to Aris planetary time. 1 Aris day = 32 Terran Hours, 1 Aris week = 8 Aris days, 1 Aris year = 226 Aris days divided into four seasonal months called quarters.

(Sector 34,24, in transit to sector 33,23)

The Interstellar Trust was a old but honored institution, spreading trade and business across the stars for over 1,000 years. They had made contact with many other species, who then joined them in common interests of trade and peaceful exchange.

At the head of this trade order was the Scout Fleet, filled with thousands of starships that explored the interstellar night.

The ITS Dauntless was a Far Explorer class light cruiser that went far ahead of the other ships, far away from friendly space. Two other cruisers were in their sub-sector, but rarely would they ever meet. Whatever the Dauntless would face, it would face alone.

But captain Ollivares had no fear. Whatever was out there, he doubted it would be enough to make Interstellar Trust falter. And afterall, why have conflict when you could have trade for twenty times the profit?

"Captain, we have made successful transition into realspace." Said his XO Kenra. "Beginning sector scan. This system looks like its mineral rich, given by the three asteroid belts."

"Put a flag on it for the follow-up ships to mark. Helm, set a course to the nearest system for active scanning. Take your time, those rocks arn't going anywhere."

Inwardly, Ollivares was hoping for a bit of excitement, but he supposed survey rights from finding fresh mineral fields would do.

* * * * * * *

(35,24)

A Address to the Company on the Importance of Atemporal Theory and Appliance
-CEO Strindburg's speech to the company upon opening of the Strindburg bureu of temporal finances.

"We cannot afford to think solely in four demensions. On a single world, the relatively simplistic equations of supply-demand, Halsen-Jomur theory, and planetary level Game Theory sufficed. We even managed to adapt them to a single star system. But when we first developed jump drives, we realized just how inadequate those were. How can one manage stocks and shareholding assets, shipping and supply and demand ratios when lightspeed lag and shipping distances measured in light-years are involved?

The visionary Skylar knew how to handle such a grand issue of finances and economics. The equations she laid down as the fundamentals of Atemporal finances, taking into account time as well as space into Net Value equations. To this day, we have no idea what spark of genius made her put idea to paper and pen such a radical yet fundamental theory.

Today, Strindburg Industries presents the next evolution of Atemporal finances. With our latest in AI systems, FTL comms, and calculance arrays, we have opened up Stock Option trading on a trans-stellar sector scale. Yes colleagues! Once more we break down the barriers of distance and time for the progress of business! Before, few could manage or maintain Trusts and monopolies beyond decentralized corporations limited by FTL bandwidth, but now we begin the first steps towards creation of a pan-stellar, no, PAN-GALACTIC Trust for all!

Improve efficiency! Greater profits for all! One step further for Interstellar Trust, one great leap for all trade and industry!"


With that speech, a new series of finance ministries began to be opened across the Trust. Better coordination with other companies would assure greater profits for all involved. Few other species could claim such feats of economic power. And this was just a stepping stone towards even greater profits.

::Sector(59,1)::

James and Marcus were different. You could told it with a glance. First of all, James was shorter. Much, MUCH shorter. Nearly a head different in height, Marcus stood way above James. Also, James looked prettier. James had a short, blond hair with blue eyes and a fair, spotless skin. Not a single flaw could be found unless you decided to take a closer examination, but even then it would have been difficult. He walked with grace and pride in his steps, and did it so naturally as if he had been walking like that since birth. Marcus, on the other hand had square jaws, brown and unkempt hair. He had dark-brown eyes, and his face was dirtied and seriously tanned, with small scars visible. He wasn't that ugly, but not what you would consider handsome, to the point the clean white-gold captain uniform Marcus was wearing doesn't really seemed to fit. He walked with strong, rough steps, not positioned in anyway one could call them graceful, if not disorganized.

Even their families, and childhood where the exact opposites of each other. James was born as the second son of the Clovisar family, one of the greatest naval dynasties in Mundus. He grew up knowing no pain; no suffering, and the worst thing he saw where probably ships blowing up in video footages of the Great War during his strategy class. He used to be a dick; and he himself admits it.

Marcus, on the other hand was born on the front lines, by an..... accident between an OLO officer and a civilian. His father, the OLO officer abandoned him. His mother, the civilian, was killed by gangs on a Hive Planet. He had to learn everything dirty by the time he was barely 10; and he had already killed a human. He loathed aristocracy, though he was a cool dude. He was unwillingly put into OLO before forcefully being transferred to the Navy after showing brilliance in space combat strategy.

Richard G. Crossper, captain of INS Purger, thought as he calmly drank his glass of wine. He was also from an influential family, though the Crosspers was nothing compared to the Clovisars. It amused him back at the Milky Way of how different these two men were; even more when he learned about each other's past. Even more, he wondered why a son of the Clovisars was stuck as a mere Destroyer captain. Considering the official years in service with the influence of his family, James may very well be an admiral of a systems fleet, if not a sector fleet. He was surprised when James answered that it was he who decided to stay; he said that he owed Marcus something, and this was pretty much the best he could do to prevent his family from 'removing' Marcus, who was apparently a pest to them, and trying to pay him back. He had even sent recommendation letters of making Marcus an Admiral, though most were ignored.

They were currently all aboard the INS Witch Hunter's leisure hall. James did have a collection of good wines, some dating centuries of years old. The AI within the other destroyers were patrolling through out the already mapped sections, just enough to protect the gates that had begun to be constructed.

The 3 captains were ordered to stay in Andromeda for 15 standard Earth years, and could stay longer if they wanted. The Gates would take a lifetime(and these days, a life time meant centuries) to finish building, so even though they will probably never see the glory of colonized Andromeda, they will still be remembered in history as great explorers and the first lords of Galaxy - Colony designation 1, even though all they did would probably have been playing around for 15 years.

But despite this, Richard still had a gut feeling that something would go wrong. And his gut feelings were usually highly accurate.

He put down his glass before giving James a fair well, and returned to the docking bays to get on the transport that would take him back to his ship. Marcus and James would probably chat for another few minutes before returning to their duties. While they were busy, Richard decided to check out the rest of the Galaxy. Well, at least a few sectors around this one.

Civilian deep space exploration vessel USCS Adventurer, Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space
Summer 4th, 915 I.E. (Interstellar Era), Day 60 of the expedition

Three bright flashes heralded the arrival of the Adventurer, the Vigilance, and the Defiant as the three ships dropped out of hyperspace at their destination: the edge of the nearest star system actively emitting clearly artificial radio waves and other energy signatures.

Garreth deeply inhaled in order to calm himself down. After over a quarter of travelling, they had finally arrived, and were literally seconds away from making First Contact with an advanced alien society. It was all he could do to keep himself from fainting.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment we've all been waiting for. Initiate First Contact procedures," Garreth ordered crisply and clearly.

"Yes sir," the communications officer replied. "Now broadcasting First Contact package on all confirmed alien communications frequencies."

The Adventurer's communications array lit up like a lighthouse, sending out an omni-directional radio transmission in a data format which Sesillian communications equipment would understand. The first part of the broadcast was a simple text and audio message, first in Lyran, then in Sesilian:

"Greetings and salutations. We are Lyrans, a space-travelling species from another part of this galaxy. We have traveled a long way from our home in order to make first contact with your species. We wish to establish peaceful relations with your kind so that both our species can learn and benefit from each other, and it is our hope that you wish for this as well. You have probably noticed that our transmission is compatible with your communications systems, and that the second part of this message is in your language. We were able to translate your language and mimic your communications format as a result our scout probes gathering radio signals from your planets and bringing the data back to us for study over the passage of hundreds of solar cycles. Please do not worry. The probes collected your transmissions from a great distance away from your star systems, and never came close to your territory.

Our emissary group consists of three spaceships. The largest is the civilian deep space exploration vessel USCS Adventurer. It is the lead ship of our group, and carries our species' Ambassador. The two smaller ships are the USCS Vigilance and the USCS Defiant, two Sentinel-class frigates of our military space force. Do not be alarmed. While both of them are armed, they are present only for self defense purposes. Since this is our first contact ever with another intelligent and technologically advanced species, we felt it was prudent to include them in the emissary group as a precaution. They will make no hostile actions unless they or the USCS Adventurer are attacked. Following this message is a package of information regarding our species, our society, and some of our general scientific knowledge, displayed in the form of both images and text."

If you receive this transmission, please send a reply to the USCS Adventurer. We have a language translation program operating on our communications systems, so we should be able to understand you. We eagerly await your response."

This signal contained a picture a Lyran male and female, both wearing basic clothing and holding their arms up as if to wave. They each also bore a close-lipped smile on their faces. Additional images included a diagram of the Lyran's basic anatomy and biological data, a diagram of their home star system, some pictures of their homeworld's cities and natural environments, some spaceships, space stations, and orbital habitats, a periodic table of elements with visual representations of each element, and the Lyran's numerical system. Text was displayed in both the Lyran and Sesillian language where applicable.

"Message sent, sir," the comms officer reported.

"So what do we do now?" Jax asked.

"Now?" Garreth replied with a deep sigh. "We wait."

3'25

Oceans of molten glass stretched across the once sandy surface of the gutted desert world. Hovering thousands of meters above the seething, bubbling surface of the planet was the Hive ship, it's huge bulk casting a menacing shadow across the planets surface, Workers scurried along it's obsidian hull, their chitinous bodies clattering against the ships armor as they began to construct the fleshy tubes that would hollow out the scorched surface kilometers below them.

Inside the ship the queen sat squat in the middle of her nesting basin, her almost human upper body gave way to a disgustingly large and round egg sack that that hung below her waist.

In front of her sat the fleet commander and Psi-op, Jiral, his posture was slumped and spoke of exhaustion, the queen cared little for his weakness, she was far more interested in the hazy images projected out of the middle aged Psi-op's mind.

They were of a species previously unknown to any of the Tricoma. A lean, light skinned bidepal creature, elongated skulls and forwards facing eyes, they resembled an immature queen in regards to their general body shape, but lacked the glossy black eyes and twin antenae.

They were also apparenlty capable of FTL travel if the diagram of their home system was anything to go by.

"And you picked up this transmission from where Jiral?" The queen absently asked, more interested in the strange creature before her. Jiral let the image fade, much to the queens annoyance, before he replied to her.

"From a far away sector of the galaxy, it came from within warp space, I cannot ascertain whether the transmission entered into warp space by design or by accident, either way it isn't very old, barely a minute and a half, and most of it was lost to me, but the image of the species and the star system have been stored within the ships central mind, along with what little language was sent with it."

The Queen hummed in thought, she hand't been one of the original queens that had left Tricoma 3, almost four thousand years ago, the queens had set out into the stars to try and spread the specues as far and wide as possible, because she wasn't one of the original queens, or even had access to their stored racial memory back on Tricoma she had very little instruction geared towards fist contact with another FTL species.

"My queen, if I may be so bold as to say that perhaps it would be best if we avoided this new species for the time being."

The queen paused at Jiral's grovelling statement, but only for a second, once that split second was over she lanced out with her psionic might and sent him flying into far wall of the nesting chamber, luckily for Jiral the chamber was covered in a soft gooey webbing that served to imobilize and queen and soften any impact from emergency landings.

"How dare you presume to suggest anything to me! We will meet these aliens, and we will learn from them and if need be we will wipe them out!"

Jiral nodded dizzily, he was sure that one of his anteanea was broken because there was a horrific buzzing sound in his ears.

"Drones, send word back to Tricoma 3, get a hive ship along with a thirty frigate escort warped to the location that commander Jiral will be sending them."

"We/it/us obeys your words/instructions/song/....song has/was sung, home/hive/desert is sending the drone/ship/swarm to the location."

The queen relaxed, she would be immortalized within the Super-hive back on Tricoma for her discovery, and with that immortality came privilege, the right to seek out new worlds, to birth a daughter and most importantly: the authority to declare war.

Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space
Sesillian Consensus Ship Monument

Lelithas, child of the Fourteenth joining and highcaptain of the Sesillian Consensus, curled lengthily around the spine of the ship. An ancient Sesillian hundreds of meters in length, Lelithas was ranked highly among the Sesillians by virtue of age.

A whisper of thought set the ship in motion, forcing interconnected thoughts with the crew. A confusing jumble of thoughts ensued.

Orders? Identified. Alien. Communication radio waves? Primitive. Interesting. Opportunity. Fascinating data. Deceit? Unlikely. Only the Union still uses radio waves. Bias? Response.

The imagery switched to the fleet of the Union of Free Stars, which contested Consensus control of this system. The chaotic rebels of the Union has dispatched a small fleet with the leadership of a battleship, in contrast to Lelithas’ majestic carrier, supported by the planetary defenses.

Did they know? Choose to exploit? Unlikely. Paranoia. No! Possible. Enough. Prepare contact. Suspend conflict. Extending offer of truce...

Lelithas send a tendril of thought towards the Union battleship, only to be rebuffed after a brief communication. The Union tentatively agreed.

Firing solution confirmed. Fire? Negative. Launch fighters, precautionary. Message composed, responding.

Throughout the ship, Sesillians worked on the first contact package they had received, observing and analyzing. Conclusions were reached. A radio transmitter was removed from storage.

Message composed. “Greetings in the name of the Sesillian Consensus. We wish for peace and beneficial interactions. We await your ambassadors.” Approved. Attaching first contact package. Append warning? Warning confirmed. “Be advised that this system is currently contested space. Consensus forces will not attack, but the Union of Free Stars is not under our control.” Message sent. Beginning emergency transmission to homeworld...

-

Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space
Union of Free Stars Battleship Freedom.

Silalanis, Admiral of the Union of Free Stars fleet, stared at the holographic projections, light focused through crystalline structures to generate an image. It terrified him.

“Are we sure that this isn’t a ruse? Some desperate maneuver by the Consensus?”

His communications aide hissed. “It’s...possible. But unlikely. The amount of work that would go into something like this...it’s monumental. I think that this is genuine first contact with a spacefaring civilization.”

“Gods,” the admiral murmured. His second officer glanced at him, somewhat annoyed at the invocation. “Why now, of all times? We were about to retake the system. We can’t just attack now, not with these unknowns.”

“Indeed, admiral. I fear that things are about to change. And perhaps not for the better. These creatures may say they’re not hostile, but how do we know they’re telling the truth?”

“How do we know they’re not,” the first officer pointed out.

There was silence on the bridge as this point was contemplated.

“You know,” remarked the aide, “If they found us by tracking old radio waves, they might not know that we’re a divided species. The Union is a fairly recent development by comparison to the Consensus.”

“Perhaps,” Silalanis agreed contemplatively. He directed his tail through a complex series of twists on the receptor, bringing up the imagery that had been transmitted. Specifically, the images of the species.

They were so small. The average Sesillian of the Union was five meters long, and Silalanis himself was ten. The Consensus, the ancient governing body, was ruled by those longer than one hundred meters. These Lyrans were tiny, and almost adorably so. Could such different species coexist?

Well. That wasn’t Silalanis’ prerogative, but he hoped so. He turned to the aide.

“Do we have a first contact package like they sent us?”

“Yes, sir,” the aide reported, sifting through the data files, “But it’s only ever been used once, with a species that hadn’t achieved spaceflight.”

“It will do. Prepare to send.” The admiral convulsed as a psychic touch brushed his mind.

“Psychic attack!” The first officer yelled, “shield the bridge!” There was a humming sound as purplish psi-shields sprang into place. These devices were the only reason that the Consensus had not overrun them with sheer psychic might.

The admiral recovered quickly. “Not an attack, a message. The Consensus wants a truce. I say we give it to them, at least until we figure this out.”

“Yes, admiral. Shall I send the package?” The package in question was essentially similar to the Lyran transmission, though it naturally only included a picture of a single Sesillian.

“Yes, do it. And let me record a message.” The admiral slithered into a crystalline structure that would record his holographic image. “Greetings. I am admiral Silalanis of the Union of Free Stars, on board the battleship Freedom, and I welcome you to Sesillian space. Unfortunately, this system is currently contested. I assure you that my ships will not attack unless fired upon, but I cannot say the same for the tyrants of the Sesillian Consensus. A truce has been offered, and it will be held to by my people. If you understand the risks, you are free to enter the system.”

He exited the device. "Now get me the capital, fast."

4,25

#Unyielding Triumphant#

Fleet commander Jiral has sent us something rather interesting, wouldn't you agree?

#Vengeful Worship#

Perhaps, but our own commanders all felt the transmission, it was merely a fluke that hers recieved the main bulk of the data while ours merely felt a tremor in the warp. She should not recieve any priveliges.

#Resting Giant#

None of us suggested that we give her privileges. The Triumphant was merely commenting on uniqueness of Commander Jiral's report...giving the unnamed queen privileges would obviously come later on in this discussion.

Now, back onto the topic at hand, if we do make contact with the new species I would like it too be under our own terms, what little data we have translated has resulted in the discovery that they themselves are-

#Unnamed ship~11045~#

My queens, I have detected a second transmission, this one is different from the others, it contains a new species.

#Unyielding triumphant#

Hm, oddly full of life this galaxy is.

#Vengeful Worship#

This galaxy? What do you mean by that?

#Unyielding Triumphant#

Nothing you need to concern yourself with...Now back to commander Jiral, Commander if you would please tell us the location of the new message, and what new data have you acquired.

#Unnamed ship~11045~#

Yes My Queens. The transmission came from relativley the same sector, however the distance is so vast that my estimation could be off by several hundred light years...and we have so far found very little new data pertaining to the first species, the second appears to be radically different. While the first resembled an immature queen the second species resemble creatures we have commonly found in humid jungle worlds, and my fellow Psi-ops agree with me in the assessment that any worlds they conquer will most likely be the same humid temptrature that -

#Vengeful Worship#

So conquest would be pointless? Is that what you are saying Commander? If so then why do we care about their existence at all?

#Resting Giant#

Because we must spread ourselves, through peace...

#Vengeful Worship#

Or conquest, the original Allo cared very little for the manner in which we spread ourselves.

#Resting Giant#

You know nothing of the original Allo, do not presume to step outside your place, you may be a priveliged one, but we were their when the Hive ships took to the stars, and we shall be here when the stars burn down to dust...

Commander Jiral, I will grant you two times a dozen frigates and three dreadnoughts, I doubt that you will need a force any larger than that...my daughter will also be accompanying you, if peaceful contact can be made then try to establish a Hive in a nearby system, if peaceful contact is not made then you have my authority to raze the alien ships and take what technology you can aquire.

#Unyielding Worship'#

Petty thievery? We are beyond that.

#Resting Giant.#

No, no we are not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Resting Giant has left transmission log
~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Jiral slowly got up off of his knees and left the spacious transmission room of his quarters, he followed the thick chitin pathways that lead to the command deck of his Frigate, the spacious, webbing covered, room was devoid of movement and sound, the Workers keeping it active had all fallen into hibernation the moment that he had taken the ship into the warp.

Their sensitivity to Psi energy would have been their deaths inside the warp, it was even causing him a considerable amount of stress now that the Queens had stopped shielding the ship with their ambient presence.

Already he could feel the pressure of the swriling hell beyond the walls of the ship desperatly trying to get inside and destroy his body, mind and even the fabled notion of a soul. But, entering the warp was the only way for Tricoma ships to track each other, and communicate, the warp wasn't just an instant travel device, it was where armies were staged.

In fact he could already feel the fleet that 'Resting Giant' had promised him draw near, the raw Psionic power of the immature queen was calling out like a sirens song to him, making his antenna twitch and causing him to lose focus as he possesed one of the workers near to her.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vis-yar sat curled up on the hard bowl like chair that served as the command console of her own personal Dreadnought, she was monitoring the presecne of Commander Jiral aboard his Frigate, waiting for the split second of build-up that acted as a telltale for any psionic user.

There

She thought happily, suddenly she was't sensing him on his ship, but rather in the body of the Worker that was feeding on the stored quartz she kept near her chair.

"My Queen, I am honoured to have you joining my fleet...may I suggest a possible formation for your frigates and Dreadnoughts for when we arrive at the aliens location?"

The green skinned queen smiled lightly, her wings fluttering as she sent a wordless approval to the Worker, she then suppressed an amused laugh when the possessed creature shuddered happily at having her mind touch his. Psi-op's were most definitely more entertaining that her mother had let on.

"The frigates will be position in a cube shape around your dreadnoughts, this will allow both the Frigates and the Dreadnoughts to get as many firing angles as possible, and keep your own ship shielding from whatever enemy fire may be aimed at us when we arrive."

The slim queen nodded her approval. "Are you expecting enemy fire Commander? I was told by my mother that this was a peaceful mission."

Jiral shuddered at her speech, it was a far cry from the harsh screeching sylables and cruel words favoured by his previous queen, perhaps working under Vis-yar wouldn't be all bad.

"We are not expecting the aliens to attack us on sight, but we do suspect that they may be armed, approaching without any form of protection would be folly indeed. my Queen."

"Hm, fine, that formation is fine, you can go now Jiral, but feel free to simply pop over at any time, It's rather boring stuck here with these drones, and the warriors speech patterns are such a hassle to understand."

The enamored commander nodded through the drone and slipped back into his own body, the moment he did so he was assaulted by the powerful hormones his more developed form had been pumping out throughout the conversation and the now completely inebriated commander flopped to the floor and began the ardiourous process of flushing his bloodstream.

Civilian deep space exploration vessel USCS Adventurer, Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space
Summer 4th, 915 I.E. (Interstellar Era), Day 60 of the expedition

Not long after sending their transmission, the crew of the Adventurer suddenly felt a familiar yet simultaneously alien tingling at the back of their minds.

"Do any of you feel that?" The communications officer asked. Everyone else nodded in surprise.

"Holy Maker...I think we may be dealing with a psionic species like us!" Garreth bubbled. "This is simply fantastic!"

"Well that's just wonderful," Jax sighed. "We'll probably be driven insane if they attempt to communicate with us telepathically."

"Jax, please stop being so negati-" the older Lyran was suddenly interrupted by the comms officer. "We've recieved a response sir! Running it through the translation software now."

"Put it on screen," Garreth replied, his tone now all business. A text window popped up on the 'front' of the holodome as the message began to scroll into being:

[“Greetings in the name of the Sesillian Consensus. We wish for peace and beneficial interactions. We await your ambassadors. Be advised that this system is currently contested space. Consensus forces will not attack, but the Union of Free Stars is not under our control.”]

Garreth and the rest of the bridge crew blanched at the mention of 'contested space'. It appeared that they had just wandered into an ongoing interstellar conflict.

"...Well...I suppose I was perhaps a bit too optimistic, Jax," Garreth admitted somewhat sullenly.

"I'm tickled to hear you say that, sir," Jax replied with a short but honest chuckle. "But in all seriousness, what do we do now?"

"Sir, another transmission is coming in. Initial analysis indicats the inclusion of a first contact data package similar to the one we sent," the comms officer reported. "Patching it through."

[“Greetings. I am admiral Silalanis of the Union of Free Stars, on board the battleship Freedom, and I welcome you to Sesillian space. Unfortunately, this system is currently contested. I assure you that my ships will not attack unless fired upon, but I cannot say the same for the tyrants of the Sesillian Consensus. A truce has been offered, and it will be held to by my people. If you understand the risks, you are free to enter the system.”]

The message was followed by a presentation of visual data pertaining to basic science and mathematics, as well as picture of a single Sesillian, confirming that they were a comparatively large, serpentine species.

"Simply incredible," Garreth commented. "It's a shame that they're in a state of conflict, but we might as well make the best of it." He then turned to the comms officer. "Prepare a translated text and audio message for transmission to both reply sources."

"Aye sir," she replied as she worked on her touchscreen console. "Ready for recording, sir."

Garreth paused for a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking. "This is Ambassador Daven Garreth of the United Systems Commonwealth, the main governing body of the Lyran race. I would first like to express my regret that your race is in conflict with itself, and I hope that you will find a way to resolve it peacefully. That said, we have only just met, and it is not our place to take sides or make judgements without first observing the merits and faults of each side. Since both of your factions have agreed not to take hostile action against us, our expedition squadron will proceed further into the system. I request that both sides send a representative party to meet us in a neutral location. If possible, I would like to meet your people in person. If you wish to do the same then we will let you decide the meeting place. We await your response."

Garreth then turned to the whole crew. "Everyone, I want you all to go ahead and psychically reach out to them to see if we can make a connection with them. Only brush their minds to let them know we're here. No melding or deeper reading of any sort, understand?"

The crew nodded. Everyone then closed their eyes and let their minds expand toward the Sesillians in an attempt to make psychic contact with them.

Sector 33,23

The ITS Dauntless continued its trek across the stars, jumping from system to system to continue charting planets and possible future colony sites.

That was when a unusual anomaly was detected by their sensors. A wormhole junction. Four wormholes to be precise, all located within a single star system that contained a habitable Jungle-class world, but the rest were barren and dangerous. This was a gold mine. If any of these wormholes led to more habitable worlds, then the Trust would be one step closer to spanning the galaxy and tapping into the wealth of the universe. Even the wormholes themselves were worth much by gravaton-nexus events close to them for the creation of rare negative-g materials, or the research data one could acquire by their individual and unique quantum patterns. And by writ of exploration, it was his! All his! Well technicially only explorer royalty rights, but still, tons of moolah!

"Gentlemen and ladies. We just hit motherloade." Said Ollivares. "Hey, thats what we should call this system. Motherloade. Enter that into the database XO!"

"Aye sir." Said a grinning Kenra. "Shall we begin extended recon?"

"Yes. Get us into orbit of the habitable world, and more importantly launch probes to find out where those wormholes head off to. With any luck, we can make a handsome profit off of this!"

Dozens of scout probes were scattered and shot off into the system's reaches as the ship's AI calculated the needed trajectories to fire directed probes into the wormholes. They would reach them within a matter of hours. From there, they would attempt to cross the event horizon and execute a wormhole jump to whereever they led. Most likely the wormholes on the other side were dormant or hidden by stellar phenomena, but the gravitonic and quantum distortion caused by a wormhole jump was unmistakable.

Ollivares awaited the results eagerly as his crew attended to the system itself.

(Plot hook: wormhole activation anyone?)

Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space. Union of Free Stars battleship Freedom
Admiral Silalanis frowned as he read through the contents of the message. What odd creatures they seemed. Still, at least they were friendly.
“Neutral locations in system...I suppose there’s the moon of the second gas giant,” the first officer suggested.
“It’s large enough, yes,” Silalanis frowned. “It’s habitable for us, I know, but for them?”

“They should be all right biologically,” the communications aide contributed. “And it’s useless, militarily speaking, isn’t it?”

“We were just going to bypass it,” Silalanis agreed. “There’s nothing there worth bothering with to my knowledge. Atmosphere’s pretty light, and there’s not much of an ecosystem.”

“Sir,” the second officer reported, “Communications is reporting some sort of psychic signal from the Lyrans, some sort of…greeting. No response from the capital yet.”

“Are the psi-shields on the rest of the ship still operational?” The psi-shields that protected them from the psychic attacks of the enemy were lowered for communications, whose task it was to eavesdrop on the enemy and to send emergency messages across interstellar distances in times of great need.

“Yes, sir.”

“Hm. Well. Let’s try it.” Silalanis slithered off the bridge and into the isolation suite nearby, where his vitals could be monitored. Technicians took up their positions. “If I show signs of being controlled, take me down.”

“Sir, let me do this,” the first officer protested.

Silalanis gave a reptilian smile. “I’m afraid, Telas, that I’m too curious for my own good. Do it.”

The barriers around the admiral dropped.

-

Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space.
Sesillian Consensus Carrier Monument

Lelithas, child of the Fourteenth Joining, felt the psychic probe even before the technicians received the message and uploaded it to it. Such tiny creatures they were, at least as strong as a ten-meter Sesillian individually, and combining their power to boost their ability. Lelithas was ancient in the ways of psionics, and as it carefully divested itself of the gestalt that was the crew it found the minds of the Lyrans pleasing to its touch.

The ancient serpent caressed their minds, rejoicing in the presence of new creatures, new knowledge, new selves. It was huge and ancient and beautiful and-

That’s enough. You’re frightening them.

Lelithas started at the feeling of a Sesillian thought, and mentally reoriented to regard the tiny admiral whose mind it had touched at the start. He was also engaged in greeting the aliens, but on a much more even footing. Lelithas withdrew from the alien minds, and they retreated, sending hasty thanks to the admiral.

They are small. Children. Something to be cherished. Lelithas curled a thought around the mind of the admiral-Silalanis, it realized. As are you. Love and hope, saccharine in sweetness, flooded through the bond.

I am no slave to your will. The admiral rebuffed Lelithas.

Slave? There are no slaves in the Consensus. Lelithas was confused. There are only children and adults.

Or perhaps there are ancient tyrants who enslave those younger than them. Silalanis expressed disdain. Who can say?

I can. Lelithas declared, radiating power. Silalanis abruptly vanished as Lelithas made a move for him. Those psi-shields of theirs, disgusting things. They restrained the glory of mental communion.

Silalanis reappeared. I came to discuss this. Shall we do so as civilized creatures, or would you shame our race in front of these new friends, elder?

Lelithas relented. Very well, child. What do you suggest?

The sixth moon of the second gas giant has compatible atmosphere and is neutral. We could meet there.

…Yes. Acceptable. It is worthless, yet protected from attack. Very well. Communicate our idea to these new children. I look forward to meeting you in person, my child.

-

The next message to the Lyrans came from the Freedom. “This is admiral Silalanis. The sixth moon of the second gas giant from this star has been selected as acceptably neutral. Coordinates are attached. We will send representatives there. According to the files that you have given us, the atmosphere should be compatible with your biology.”

4,35. Commander Jiral's light recon force + Queen Vis-yar's interceptor fleet. Mid warp.

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#Resting Giant#

We have discovered something disconcerting.

#Unyielding Triumphant#

You, the almighty Giant disconcerted? Oh this must be good.

#Resting Giant#

There is a shadow encroaching onto this galaxy. We have seen it strectching across billions of stars, snuffing them out, smothering them in a blanekt of death and destruction.

#Unyielding Triumphant#

A shadow? What sort of shadow, your visions are not normally this jumbled Resting Giant, what is coming? What makes you so afraid?

#Resting Giant#

I do not know, my vision has failed me, I can no longer walk the pathways of the warp, they are alien to me now, all I see is the howling void, and wisphers of dead civilisations spread amongst the stars...stars so far away, a billion stars, a trillion worlds, unending war, countless lives.
They are coming, and we are not ready, they will sweep us aside in a wave of fire and molten glass.

#Unyielding Triumphant#

What worlds, what are talking about Resting Giant? What is coming?

#Resting Giant#

The end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Transmission interrupted...hack detected...tracing...tracing...trace lost...closest apporximation...155,990 LY*2 In spacial volume...logging disturbance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Worker Drone #2998 scurried along the ceiling of the unnamed dreadnought, his mission was clear, the goals given by the privelged ones themselves, the new queen mist be protected at all costs, if that meant eliminating her mobility and paralyzing her then so be it, but the new speices would not be allowed access to a queen so soon after first contact.

The Drone paused at a junction and referred to its internal map of the ship before heading through a tunnel in the ceiling. The wide open main tunnel that led to the command centre and firing sphere was replaced with the dank and enclosed service tunnels, thick glossy chitin soon melded into fleshy webbing that recorded the Drones movements within the ship.

As the Drone sped through the pitch black tunnel system its mind began to analyse the new species that the fleet was heading headfirst towards. Now Drones are normally completley inintelligent...on their own that is, it's a compeletley different story when they are connected to the central core or a starship, like Drone #2998 was.

When connected they had access to the racial memories of the entire Tricoma species, every second of every life of every cast, from Worker to Queen was laid out for their viewing, it allowed them to adapt the hulls and shields of their ships to compensate for enemy fire. It was darkly ironic that Drones had access to a network that the Psi-ops and Queens spent years working to get access to since their birth.

But right now he wasn't using it to improve the dreadnoughts specs, instead he was cross referencing the images of the new species with currently discovered life forms, a compatibility scan if you will. Over the years of conquest and control the Tricoma had learnt that nearly every species in the known galaxy had a sex drive that matched with that of a fertile and immature Queen.

And most species discovered so far also have the ability to mate and meld with a Queen, allowing for the spawning of Warriors and Drones with the characteristics of their second parent as well as the Queen, meeting another space faring race rather than a pre-FTL race didn't change the fact that the fastest way to intergrate themselves into a new culture was via fertalization and then production of a hybrid army.

But so far Drone #2998 hadn't found a species to compare these lyran (translated data identified them as such.) to, so the Drone had to assume that the presence of a female sporting mammary glands meant the reproduction system of a mammal was in use rather than eggs, either one would have worked, but Drone had identified that the Queen's preffered the a mammals method of fertilization due to the massive hormone release upon the mammal finishing.

'We have dropped out of warp, out current position is twelve light years away from the alien prescence, Drone systems have engaged cloak, we shall run silent until we can fully translate their language and begin first contact, or until it appears they will leave, once contact is made we will attempt to find a suitbale planet to plant a hive.'

Drone #2998 paused in its travels and replayed Commander Jiral's message back to itself, it was one of six hundred first contact protocols proposed by the Privileged ones once the new species had been discovered, The Drone would have preferred to exit warp in formation a mere ten thousand kilometers from the alien ships but he would follow the Commanders orders until such a time he was deemed unnecessary for command.

Civilian deep space exploration vessel USCS Adventurer, Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space
Summer 4th, 915 I.E. (Interstellar Era), Day 60 of the expedition

The crew of the Adventurer marveled at the psychic presence before them. It was like nothing they had ever felt before. Vast...powerful...and very, very old, almost certainly older than all of their own years combined. They mentally shuddered as the being brushed their minds in response; it felt like a great breeze billowing around them. Though the being seemed to be a gentle giant, its power was such that even a light psychic caress easily flooded their minds with its thoughts and feelings. It didn't 'hurt' them, per se, but the experience was still a bit overwhelming, especially since they had no experience with any other psychic races. A name surfaced among these thoughts...he was Lelithas.

Suddenly, a second presence made itself known, much smaller than the first, but still larger and more powerful than all of them combined. He identified himself as Admiral Silalanis. His psychic contact was more reserved and cautious, holding back so as not to overpower them. They felt the Silalanis turn its attention toward the Lelithas. Though the Lyrans weren't actively probing the conversation, the psychic bleed-off was powerful enough to give them a relatively clear picture of what was happening. They were having an argument, with Silalanis asserting that Lelithas was scaring them, which wasn't exactly incorrect considering the sheer difference in apparent age and psychic power and ability.

The Lelithas replied, something along the lines of the Lyrans being small and young, and in need of love, followed by a similar sentiment regarding Silalanis. The admiral rebuked Lelithas, asserting that he wasn't a slave to his will. Lelithas was struck by confusion, replying that there were no slaves in the Consensus, only adults and children, to which Silalanis countered that perhaps there were instead ancient tyrants who subjugated their young. Who could say which was true?

"I CAN." The Lyrans' minds reeled as the bleed-off from Lelithas' sudden boost in psychic power struck them. Even though it wasn't directed at them, it still felt like getting blindsided by a ray of pure sunshine and hurricane-force winds at the same time. The stress proved too much for them, and their minds withdrew.

The crew gasped in shock and exhaustion as they returned to their normal state of consciousness. All of them were sweating profusely.

Ambassador Garreth was the first to speak. "Oh...oh my stars..." he breathed, still catching his breath.

"I totally...called it," Jax replied with both pride and consternation.

"Let's hope that...we never get in...a fight with these guys," the comms officer commented. A second later, a beeping noise emitted from her console.

They were being hailed by the USCS Vigilance over the hypercomm unit. She keyed the reply button and began speaking.

"This is the Adventurer," she began, pausing to gulp and take a breath. "Go ahead Vigilance."

<"Adventurer, this is Captain Selek of the Vigiliance, the biometric feed from your ship is indicating highly elevated stress levels. We also felt a massive spike of psychic activity. Did the aliens attack you?">

"That's a negative, Captain," she replied. "If they had really attacked us, we would probably be dead right now. Their psychic abilities are off the charts, at least an order of magnitude more powerful than our own. We just got caught off guard by the...the 'recoil' of their communications. It seems that the two faction leaders are having a spat with eachother."

<"...This news is...very unsettling. I believe it would be wise if you called off the personal meeting with these factions. You would be needlessly putting yourselves at risk by leaving the Adventurer.>

"No, Commander," Garreth replied firmly. "I understand your concern, but we're going to continue with the current plan. Right now, we're a complete unknown to the Sesillians. I want to definitively prove that we are sincere in our desire for peaceful relations with them, and I believe that meeting them in person is the best way to achieve it."

<"I understand that, Ambassador, but we're talking about two actively warring factions whose motives we know nothing about. How can we be sure that at least one of them won't either kill or kidnap you and your crew in order to further their goals?>

"They both gave their word to guarantee our safety, Commander," Garreth replied. "We need to establish an atmosphere of trust if we want to establish good relations with them. Besides, we all knew the risks when we signed on for this expedition, and if things do take a turn for the worst...well, we're prepared to do what needs to be done." Garreth looked around at the crew, and they all nodded resolutely.

<"...Understood Ambassador. We'll escort you in. Vigilance out.">

Less than an hour later, the battleship Freedom's reply reached the Adventurer. "Incoming transmission from the Sesillian battleship Freedom. Patching it through," the comms officer reported.

[“This is admiral Silalanis. The sixth moon of the second gas giant from this star has been selected as acceptably neutral. Coordinates are attached. We will send representatives there. According to the files that you have given us, the atmosphere should be compatible with your biology.”]

"Scanning received coordinates," the sensor officer reported. "Standard rock moon, 2/3rds Aris gravity, minor biosphere. Atmosphere is a bit thin but within biological tolerances, as are temperature range and background radiation levels. Nothing our medical nanites and implants can't handle."

"Very good," Garreth replied with a nod before turning to the comms officer. "Prepare the following reply for the battleship Freedom and the Consensus ship."

"This is Ambassador Garreth speaking. That was really something, psychically connecting with another intelligent race for the first time. We've never contacted such mentally powerful beings before, and the peak of your argument just now nearly knocked us unconscious, so please be gentle with us when using psychic communication. No hard feelings or anything, just a note for future reference. Moving on, we have reviewed and accepted the neutral meeting location, though it will take at least a few hours for us to get there on sublight propulsion. Our ships are capable of performing faster-than-light transitions within star systems. Unless either of you have any objections, we'll go ahead and transit there with our FTL drives. We'll wait for your response."

::Somewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy::

Tul'lek gulped as he looked at the holographic display of his race's home system. There were red dots everywhere, each representing on of the enemy's capital ships and their escorts. Well, if you could call those huge ships 'escorts'.

In comparison to the enemy's crusade fleet, the fleet of his race was small; so tiny, insignificant. They were once a great republic stretching across systems, but now they were left with a single planet. The colonies were abandoned, and all of the fleet was mustered here for the final battle.

They would lose, no doubt. Even if they won, more would come. He knew they stood no chance against these invaders. That didn't mean they couldn't try. They would die honorably, fighting for the survival of their kind.

"Sir, enemy formations are changing." A crew member claimed as Tul'lek took a look again at the star map. This was it. They were coming.

Sirens started wailing as the crew ran and prepared for battle. Weapons were charged up, with the shields ready to take damage. The engines were turned back to full acceleration, ready to maneuver and a fight according to the plans.

That's when he saw it.

50 flying cities materialized next to the moon, or at least that was what the scans were telling him. He recognized the data instantly. They were the Carriers. They were probably using stealth shields, but if they materialized now....

"All ships, this is Admiral Tul'lek! Switch to plan B-2! Enemy has mass deployed Carriers!" He yelled into the ships comms while trying to calm down, but he wasn't prepared for what came next.

Yet another ship materialized, if you could call it a ship. It looked like a gigantic battle axe, where some one shoved in an engine at the back. It was over 260kms in length. It massively dwarfed the already imposing carriers of the enemy. On it's side, if your were to look at it from a visible distance, were the letters in the Latin alphabet; INS Litter Butcher.

Tul'lek was shocked and confused. They and the planet were already well withing the effective ranges of the enemy's devastating lances. Why weren't they attacking? A loud wailing of a new set of sirens coming from the passive sensors bought his attention.

Gravitational fields were warping and distorting. A new stellar object, well, at least it's gravity fields were detected. The numbers were already off the charts. He looked back at the star chart. The new gravity fields were coming from the new enemy fleet..... could it be them generating artificial gravity? But what for?

Then the Moon of his homeworld stopped in it's tracks. As the moon halted it's rotation around the planet, so did Tul'lek's thinking process.

He could only watch in horror as the very moon, the very first colony of his race, starting falling towards the planet. The next moment, the fleet was obliterated by a broadside salvo of battleships and destroyers.
---

"Admiral Robert A. Clovisar..... that was rather, an unnecessary and inefficient display of artificial gravity technology."

A man said to a another man next to him. They were both floating, and it looked as if they were floating between the stars themselves without any protection gear. In front of them were the planet and the descending moon, but they were so small, the planet it self barely larger than a car.

"Well, the council wanted a fancier victory, so I gave them a fancier victory, Lord Belson."

The other man replied, in an uneasy voice. The Lord was silent, before nodding slowly.

"I see."

The Clovisar Admiral took a step forward, but the results were hardly what you would call the results of a step. As soon as his foot moved, a series of green and red dots appeared in the void, each one with a display of a ship on top of the dot. Next to the displays were numbers and stats, and some messages were popping up. As impossible as it seemed, it was possible, as this was not reality.

The old-fashioned analogue way of commanding space combat from the captains chair while shouting orders were since long gone from Humanity's history. Instead, the captains would connect their brains to the STII(Spacecombat Tactical Immersion Interface), a virtual reality where captains and admirals could deliver orders and analyze the situation in ways impossible in the real world. There, with the Network backing them up, Humanity was finally able to overcome the last obstacle against the Dracos during the Great War; faster and reliable coordination.

As the STII changed into a more holographic interface, Robert turned around and faced the other man once again.

"Lord. Raphael. Gregorius. Belson." He emphasized every word, each syllable dripping with an emotion that was mixed up pretty bad. It was, however, pretty clear that he wasn't happy with Raphael's presence. "You do realize that it is considered rude in the Navy to interrupt an Admiral's battle session while he is still connected to STII?"

Raphael smirked. "Of course I do, Admiral. After all, I am the Lord High Admiral and Chief-in-command of the Imperial Navy."

Robert grunted, before delivering some quick orders to the fleet. He then spoke again.

"Then, kid, you better have a damn good reason."

"Ah, as expected from a proud Clovisar. I'm here to talk about your younger brother, James, and I need to talk about it urgently. Unfortunately you were halfway across the galaxy engaged in a crusade, so I had to choose this option." Raphael calmly claimed as he sighed.

Robert stared at Raphael, before breifly giving an order to the AI.

"Cut off transmitting data to the fleet. I want this talk to be... private."

At the same time, the moon crashed into the xeno's planet.
---

::Sector(59,1)::

Marcus sighed while connected to STII. It had already been 4 hours, and he had discovered only 8 possible habitable planets. They technically shouldn't be doing this, as the actual colonization should be starting after the gates were finished, but all of them were bored, and for constructive purposes, they made a bet.

The 3 captains would search the entire sector for habitable planets. They must return to the gate construction coordinates after 10 hours. The one who found the most planets would be the one to take care of first contact just in case they met xenos in this new galaxy.

That's when he picked up a signal. It was faint, weak, distorted, but a radio-wave and artificial nonetheless. He tried to tract it's source, but it apparently didn't get here by normal means. This signal was at best a few days old, and his long range active scanner weren't detecting anything close to sapient 10 light years from his ship. It was impossible for a radio wave to travel FTL, but this signal did somehow.

He tried to see it's contents, but the whole format was different from the start. Moreover, it's contents were too much distorted, and the only thing the Ass Kicker's AI could make out was that this was artificial in nature.

He decided to tell James about it, but then changed his mind. This signal could possibly be just some overlapping neutron stars with nebulas distorting the signals. He would have to be sure. Ever since he entered the Navy, he always had to be sure, though he needed to take risks time to time. Especially in the over-complicated political situations within the Navy and all their dynasties.

Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space
Sesillian Consensus Carrier Monument.

Unfortunate. Less powerful. Unexpected? Yes. Why? We never sought harm.

Lelithas was somewhat chagrined. It had not intended to cause harm to the tiny creatures, but their thoughts had simply been so engrossing that it had failed to take them into account during its altercation with the admiral. It’s shame echoed through the gestalt, infecting all of the crew of the carrier with melancholy.

A chance. A meeting. Apologize. Yes. Discovery still in place. Who shall represent us?

Lelithas considered. It was needed here, yes, but it also felt the need to make amends in person.

I shall.

The gestalt exploded into chaos.

Why? No! Necessary for defense, coordination. The Union will take advantage. No, this is good. No, this is bad! Remorse must be conveyed. Not like this!

Lelithas sighed mentally, and then spoke. Enough.

The gestalt quieted, but complaints were still registered. Reports would be filed to those older than Lelithas.

Prepare my personal transport.

By this, Lelithas meant the 500 meter long vessel that it used to move around on the rare occasions when it was not ensconsed within the Monument. As a highcaptain, Lelithas spent much of its time in space, but on the rare occasions that it needed to move, it’s great bulk necessitated specialized transportation.

Message composed to Lyrans: “We apologize for our error, and will permit your transportation within this system. Lelithas is en route to the meeting place.” Acceptable. Safe travels, highcaptain.

Lelithas took some time to load itself into the transport, at which point it was jettisoned from the hull.

The highcaptain maneuvered the vessel until it was pointed towards the star, and called upon the vast stores of psionic energy that were held within the vessel’s fuel cells. He arranged things according to the dictates of the navicomputer, and then triggered it.

The energies needed to warp space itself were far beyond what a Sesillian of Lelithas’ abilities could accomplish. Thus, the Sesillians relied upon stored energy, calling upon it when they needed to move. Lelithas triggered the propulsion systems, and then concentrated on the power, warping space around itself.

Lelithas’ vessel arrived in the orbit of the gas giant a few minutes after its initial jump. It had chosen to use a limited amount of power, as it was in no hurry.

Several minutes later, the Union of Free Stars vessel arrived. It was much smaller. Lelithas could feel nothing within it. Presumably they were using their accursed psi-shields.

Lelithas restrained itself, and directed its vessel towards the planet. There was much to do.

-

Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space
Union of Free Stars transport shuttle.

Admiral Silalanis stared out at the ship, clearly a personal transport of an elder. Lelithas had come in person, then.

That was unfortunate. Silalanis reflexively checked his psi-shield, and turned to the language expert Perital (who was more of a communications officer with a few years of study, given that this was a military operation and not an exploration one) and spoke. “Are you certain that you can translate their language in auditory form?”

“Slowly, but with the aid of the shuttle computer, I believe so.” Perital nictated the membranes on all four of his eyes simultaneously and rapidly, a sign of nervousness.

“Sir, was it necessary to come yourself?” This came from the diplomat, Resol. His purpose was to have been to negotiate the surrender of the local star system, so he was now feeling somewhat overwhelmed.

“For a momentous occasion such as this, Resol, I felt that I should exercise the privilege of rank. Besides, how often am I going to be able to meet another species in person firsthand?” Silalanis shivered with anticipation.

“Yes, sir.” The shuttle shook as it entered the atmosphere. Lelithas’ craft was right behind it. Landing data was exchanged, suggestions were made, and a local, flat plain was selected.

Both ships came in for a landing, the shuttle gracefully and the transport heavily.

Silalanis and his team slithered out. None of them were longer than twenty meters, and they were covered with bits and pieces of technology to help them function under their psi-shield. A kilometer to the west, the ground rumbled as Lelithas slithered out of his craft.

He was immense. At least two hundred meters in length. Intel had underestimated his power. He must have been a child of the Twentieth joining at least, not the Thirtieth. His scales were green and iridescent with psionic power. He wore no coverings, because he did not need them.

His four huge eyes stared at Silalanis, and the admiral stared back levelly.

Neither spoke.

There was a whoosh of air as the aliens arrived.

-

Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space
The Meeting Moon

There was a disturbance above. New information and new possibilities. New test subjects. Aliens. Union operatives. And a child of the Fourteenth Joining!

Such an opportunity had dropped into their laps. Had the drones been capable of happiness, they would have felt it now. As it was, only the operator could celebrate as he transmitted his report.

This was an opportunity that simply could not be passed up. Hidden deep under the surface, protected from all sorts of scans, the operator celebrated his opportunity.

The Transcendence Institute would reward him well for this.

Civilian deep space exploration vessel USCS Adventurer, Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space
Summer 4th, 915 I.E. (Interstellar Era), Day 60 of the expedition

"Incoming transmission from the Consensus ship," the comms officer reported as she relayed it to the C&C speakers.

[“We apologize for our error, and will permit your transportation within this system. Lelithas is en route to the meeting place.”]

"Exellent," Garreth commented. "Prepare for hyperjump. Jax, let's get our team together and get ready for departure."

As Garreth and Jax left the C&C to gather the other members of their first contact team, the three vessels synced up their hyperdrives, disappearing from real space in a flash. A few seconds later, they flashed back into existance in orbit around the moon where the meeting would be held. All three ships appeared to have a similar design: a bevelled rectangular prism with four fusion engines at the back. Although they were boxy and utilitarian, they also had an edgy sleekness about them as well.

Everyone marvelled at the size of the Consensus carrier. It was at least twice as large as their own dreadnought-type warships. The Union battleship was much smaller than the carrier, but it still outsized their cruiser-type vessels. A few minutes later a single, triangular shuttlecraft exited the Adventurer's main interior hangar and flew down to the surface, with the three ships remaining in geosync orbit.

The craft rapidly broke through the moon's thin atmosphere, brightly ionizing the air around them and leaving a bright trail in it's wake. As it approached the surface, it rapidly lost speed until it began to hover over the ground. Finally, it touched down on the ground on three heavy duty landing struts.

A single large hatch on the underside opened up, forming a ramp to the ground as a group of six Lyrans emerged. The bipedal beings were just shy of two meters tall, and had a generally lean body build, though there was some variance. Three of them appeared to have a straighter, broader body structure while the other three appeared more curvy, with a distinct swell on their chests. They all wore off-white, form-fitting enviro-suits, but with no helmets, allowing the Sesillians to get a clear look at their faces. Daven Garreth appeared to be the oldest among them, with short greying hair, blue eyes, and beige skin. His aide, Jax Fallor, was a bit younger and taller, possessing short black hair, brown eyes and tan skin. Common features on all of them were two eyes with white sclera and round pupils, two elongated ears, a shallow nose, a straight mouth with lips, a slightly elongated skull, and a full head of hair.

The team took a moment to marvel at the appearance and size of the Sesillians. It was one thing to see them in pictures and videos, seeing them in person was something else entirely. The size of Lelithas in particular was mind-boggling.

Garreth stepped forward and began speaking. "I am Ambassador Daven Garreth of the United Systems Commonwealth," As soon as he finished the sentence, a speaker in his enviro-suit repeated the message in Garreth's same voice, but in the Sesillian language. He then gestured to Jax. "And this is my chief aide, Jax Fallor." He then pointed to another male, younger than Garrath but older than Jax, with short brown hair, green eyes and beige skin. "This is Bernan Kessek, our chief science officer-" he then pointed to a younger woman with blond hair, which was currently tied up in a bun, blue eyes and lighter beige skin. "-and his chief assistant, Mira Lindri." He then gestured to another woman, older than Mira, with short black hair, brown eyes and light beige skin. "Finally, this is Dessana Feylan, our chief psychologist, sociologist, and historian-" he then pointed to another younger woman with red-brown hair tied up in a bun, green eyes and tan skin. "-and her chief assistant, Keran Telossa."

"I'm sure you have many questions for us, and we in turn have many questions for you. But seeing as we were the ones who came to your territory, I think it's fair that we give you the first shot, so to speak. What would you like to discuss first?"

Sector 31,25
The meeting place


Lelithas held itself back. It had been centuries since the immense serpent had communicated using anything but psychics, and it saw no reason to stop now. But it restrained itself immensely, keeping to a simple channel of thought unlikely to harm them.

Beside him, it knew, was Silalanis, though it could not detect the younger Sesillian through his psi-shield. It only felt another Sesillian as one of the Sesillians in Silalanis’ party dropped his shield, deliberately deactivating it so that he could interpret the messages that Lelithas gave.

Lelithas nictated the membranes that covered its eyes, and began. Silalanis was still waiting for it to speak.

Hail and greetings to you, wanderers. I am Lelithas, child of the Fourteenth Joining, highcaptain of the Sesillian Consensus and appointed defender of this system. It is an immense pleasure to meet you in person, and I apologize for my conduct during our initial contact.

It was rare indeed for a Sesillian of its stature to express remorse, but Lelithas felt that this situation warranted it. It had made an error, losing its temper in its conversation with Silalanis. It would not be repeated.

I should begin by explaining the situation that you have entered. It saw Silalanis start to protest out of the corner of its eye. Peace, admiral, you will have your say. The crewman relayed the message and Silalanis quieted. He had permitted Lelithas to go first as part of an instinctive respect for his elders. Though they tried to deny it, Lelithas knew that the Union of Free Stars knew the truth deep down.

This system lies on the very edge of the space that the Sesillian species has personally explored, Lelithas explained. It is a minor system with little to recommend it in the grand scheme of things, though the people are friendly and kind. Recently, however, a dissident movement emerged, protesting the governance of the Sesillian Consensus. We believe this movement to have been funded by the Union of Free Stars, who are the other major Sesillian spacefaring power. Though we and the Union are not currently in active conflict, matters are extremely tense, as the Union has been actively attempting to undermine our government on many worlds. This system had the potential to become a flashpoint for a war that would engulf all of Sesillian space. Your appearance has potentially prevented needless bloodshed on a massive scale, and for that I am extremely grateful.

Lelithas moved its immense head, gazing at the admiral, who began to speak at the indication.

“My task force was invited to this planet by an independent group that we have reason to believe represents a strong majority of the local population, who wished to be able to govern themselves without interference from the Consensus. Ideally, Lelithas would have withdrawn from the system after a few hours of posturing, but your presence means that this is unlikely. Still, I consider this a great opportunity for both of our peoples. I have contacted our capital, and specialist diplomats will be arriving within a few rotations of the local inhabited planet.” The admiral nodded to the language specialist, who helpfully translated this into the Lyran’s language.

Lelithas considered this interpretation quite silly, but ignored it and then spoke. As for the topic of conversation, I have studied the materials that you have transmitted, and am quite impressed by the care that went into the creation of the passage, but there was a single thing missing, and I am quite curious. Why do you choose to come so far from your own space, simply to contact us? Why do you choose to explore, not knowing what you might discover? Had a hostile power discovered you, you might have put all of your people in danger.

Motivation, you see, is the root of all consensus. In order to understand each other, we must comprehend the motivations of the other. Thus, we communicate.

Sector 33,25

The Captain was roused with a discovery.

Sir, the transmission said, an unidentified probe has been captured. We believe that it came from a wormhole, and may be alien in origin. Shall we investigate?

The Captain stirred. Yes, he responded, Dispatch three vessels, one cruiser and two frigates. Have the Emissary on board.

It will be done.

The Home Fleet moved.

Sector 33,23 connecting to 33,25

"Um, boss, something strange is going on with Wormhole Beta." Reported the sensor watch stander Gremlin. Ollivares hopped over to take a look. "I think the wormhole's gone active on the other side. Our probe just gave us the five ping salute."

"Contact." Ollivares finished. "Right, helm bring us to the Beta wormhole. Tactical, run checks on all systems. I want to be ready in case we make hostile contact, although I pray it isn't because this place is our motherloade!"

"Aye aye sir!" His officers scrambled to run pre-battle checks and tests. Warm ups of weapon systems and shields and redundant bulkhead systems.

Once the ship reached the entrance of the wormhole, Ollivares was actually wondering what to do next. The bandwidth limitations of a wormhole link were damn limited to short morse-code notes by Interstellar Trust tech. His best option would be to launch a messenger probe to send a prerecorded message, but what kind of entrace would that be? The aliens would proably think they're a race of machines. No, he's have to take his ship across.

"Prepare a FTL ping to HQ, send them our status and tell them we're about to make First Contact." "Aye sir."

Shortly after, Dauntless then made the leap across the stars to transit the wormhole link. Within a instant, they crossed thousands of lightyears through the greatest natural form of practical string-theory.

Dauntless was flung out of the wormhole like a bullet, forcing them to use retrothrusters to slow down before they reached the limits of their inertial compensators. Evidently this wormhole was rather violently charged. As the crew rushed about, preparing this and that, Ollivares focused on the larger picture, and the alien ships spotted in the system by the automated intelligences. He decided to make a recording to try and open up a dialog.

"Ahem. Hello, my name is Captain Tiem Ollivares of the Interstellar Trust. We greet you with open arms and with hopes of peaceful trade and exchange. We come in peace in hopes of friendly relations between our two peoples and societies. As a token of trust, we give you starcharts to a constellation we inhabit so we may be in contact in the future. For glory of the Trust, Ollivares out."

The message was sent, along with a datapacket that contained a program with pictographic references and audio recordings to form a rudimentary translator for Trade Common. With any luck, they would receive it and be able to communicate within 24 hours.

The meeting moon, Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space
Summer 4th, 915 I.E. (Interstellar Era), Day 60 of the expedition

The Lelithas' psychic speech felt more like a gentle wind rather than a great breeze this time around, causing the Lyrans to relax a bit. Still, they couldn't help but mentally cringe at the idea that their arrival had helped barely avert the breakout of a full-scale war.

Garreth took a few moments to consider Lelithas' question before answering. "The truth is that our species did consider the possibility of hostile aliens. In fact, it has been a well known cultural concept in works of fiction and social theories for well over a thousand years now, and it's one of the reasons we waited for so long to actually attempt first contact. We actually discovered evidence of other interstellar societies some four hundred years ago. We took the time to advance our technology and build up our defenses and contingency measures before we set out to make contact."

"We understand that there are risks, but meeting and making friends with other advanced civilizations has been a goal of our society for as long as the concept of aliens existed. It's a part of our species' desire to explore and understand the universe we live in. The fact that we're now here, talking to another sapient being from a spacefaring society is just incredible beyond words."

"Before we continue, I'd like to ask: what caused this conflict between the Consensus and the Union of Free Stars?" Garreth inquired.

Sector 33, 25

The Emissary was young, for a Sesillian. A mere twenty-five meters in length, the Emissary had neither the experience nor the psychic capabilities of some of the others in the fleet. Still, it was skilled in the practices of interaction, having responsibly served as a diplomat between the Home Fleet and the rest of the Sesillian people for much of its lifespan.

As it and the crew processed the data, however, the Emissary found itself uncertain and afraid. To the best of its knowledge, the Sesillians had never encountered a spacefaring species before. Here, on the edges of Sesillian space, this would be historic.

The Emissary wasn’t sure of protocol for this situation, so it instead decided to move for as much benefit for the Home Fleet as was possible.

Text scrolled in front of its eyes from the monitors that surrounded the young Sesillian. A translation of the alien language, provided by the helpful translation package. The Emissary reflected, somewhat ruefully, that they should have developed something similar, for all the time spent wandering the stars. But if something had been developed, then the archivists had not found it yet.

“Hello, my name is Captain Tiem Ollivares of the Interstellar Trust. We greet you with open arms and with hopes of peaceful trade and exchange. We come in peace in hopes of friendly relations between our two peoples and societies. As a token of trust, we give you starcharts to a constellation we inhabit so we may be in contact in the future. For glory of the Trust, Ollivares out."

The Emissary read through the text several times. They hoped for trade? Better than it had expected. Trade with an alien species would be a bizarre policy, but resources were resources and the Home Fleet could not afford to be picky.
The Emissary composed a message to its officers.

Can we respond?

The language is comprehensible. I will not guarantee total grammatical accuracy, but I believe that we can communicate. The text scrolled past the Emissary’s eyes.

The Emissary considered its options.

Eventually, it moved, triggering heuristic keys with implants to create a message. It was not spoken, but written.

I am the Emissary of the Home Fleet, and I greet you with the hope for beneficial trade and relations in the future. In return for your gift, attached are local star charts. Our people are wanderers by nature, but we have significant resources, and our ability for trade is significant. We will be reachable within this star system in the future.

The Emissary forwarded this to communications, and then created a new document. He needed to contact the Future.

The meeting moon, Sector 31,25, edge of Sesillian space

Lelithas tilted its great head. Interesting. You are a remarkable people, then, ambassador. We have ignored all exterior potentialities for the sake of our own internal issues for quite some time now. It is frustrating, at times. I am hopeful that your arrival will alter this tendency, but we will see.

To explain the conflict…it is a complicated question. Originally, the Union of Free Stars was a small group of Sesillian Consensus colonies that rose against the central governing body. They believe that all should have equal say in management. As one might expect, we disagree. We put our trust in those older and wiser than ourselves, and they have comparatively larger say in matters of governance, military, and economics. Lelithas turned to the admiral. I believe that Admiral Silalanis could give you his point of view better than I could.

The admiral twitched in annoyance. Lelithas marked that as a victory. To see Lelithas being reasonable must seem difficult for him.

“The Union of Free Stars believes that all beings have the right to govern ourselves. I should explain, here, that our species grows increasingly more powerful with age. As we no longer die from biological failure, the oldest Sesillians are several times larger and more powerful than even Lelithas. They use their power to subjugate and control most of the Sesillian people. It is virtually impossible to resist them, and they are easily able to crush any dissent that manages to arise. Only on the outermost edges can their tyranny be challenged. The Union of Free Stars is a movement, not just of the young, but also of those elders who question this tyranny.”

A few mad, delusional fools, Lelithas pointed out, those that aren’t simply using you for their own ends.

Silalanis turned to regard Lelithas. “Regardless, our message has spread. It would not have done so if there were not those who doubted in your system.”

I acknowledge the point, Lelithas agreed, There are always those who are dissatisfied. But you cannot simply give children the reins of government.

Lelithaas returned its attention to the ambassador. Though this conflict has these ideological roots, more recently matters have been exacerbated by repeated uprisings, revolts, and rebellions on the fringe worlds. Though we can prove little, the highest commanders believe that the Union of Free Stars is responsible for these attacks, many of which have led to mass deaths.

“To the best of my knowledge, we are not,” Silalanis contributed.