A New Hope (Galactya, Emerald-Colestia First Contact)

[Galaxiel]

42/03/6001 P.E.
0 BBT

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Union Of Emerald
Noua Corinia

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The Combined Colonization Program had turned out to be a great success thus far. Many Emeraldian worlds were being terraformed and settles in the Union’s north, with Galactyan Embassies pre-installed on the planets, and Migration Ships helping to move new colonists quickly. All of this was to not only prove to the Emeraldians that their alliance was worth it, but to also combat the same attempts that were being carried out by the Stoinian Star Kingdom. For some time, the two nations had been indirectly (and wheter intentionally or not, it was still to determine) battling each other in a sort of “influence war” to gain the most support and establish most influence possible on the young Union. The Galactyan Government would have been happy with “sharing” the Emeraldians in a way, but the Stoinians seemed very determined in ripping them out of the Empire’s hands. Their pan-humanism was definitely showing.

One of the planets that had recently started to undergo the renowned Galactyan Terraformation Process was Noua Corinia, for the time being the northern-most colony of the Union Of Emerald. The planet, while in the Habitable Zone of its star, still had to undergo massive modifications to its atmosphere, surface and even its core. Without those, the planet would remain a frozen radioactive wasteland that very few species would be able to survive.

The process was deemed to take around 7 or 8 years, an unusually long time for Galactyan Terraformation. Because of that, very few Stoinian vessels were present in orbit, and since shielded zones for the Colonists still hadn’t been built, Noua Corinia was still unpopulated.

In a regular situation, Corinia would remain a relatively un notorious planet. Another far away colony in the rapidly expanding Union.

But that planet, would turn out to be the stage of a much more interesting event. A new friend amongst the stars was about to be found, for Galactya, for Emerald, and for every other ally.

[MilaFredka]

Unbeknowst to any Galactyan or Emeraldian, an unidentified spaceship suddenly flew into view from the north-west, a region largely unexplored anddefinitely unsettled. The shuttle was somewhat large and flattened, unlike any known model. It approached quickly, and seemingly not noticing any of the patrol ships or space stations, the unidentified vessel descended into the planets high orbit, and remained for some time.

[Galaxiel]

The “Reshaper”, a DecaTerraformer, was the Flagship leading the Terraforming Operations on Noua Corinia. The Director of the operations was Chiremos Thailwent, an aserale Pryfalen, and a renowned GeoArchitect high up in the ranks of GeoReform Enterprise, the falsely “independent” company set up by the Galactyan Government to ease up populations distrustful of socialism, and expand their potential market.

Inside his office, Chiremos was calculating the exact mass of carbon dioxide that they would have to inject in Noua Corinia’s atmosphere to increase the temperature to more reasonable levels. Suddenly, his work was interrupted by his assistant.

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”GeoArchitect Thailwent?”

”Yes Restiel? What is it?”

”I am so sorry to bother you but… uh…”

”Come on, spit it out! I haven’t got all day. There are a lot of calculat-”

”An alien ship just appeared in orbit of the planet.”

”Pardon me, WHAT?!”

”It just appeared out of nowhere! What do we do?”

”Uh… I don’t know, I don’t know!… Wait, of course! Just follow the standard protocol for citizens! I just need to find it… Help me out, will you?”

”Oh, uh, sure! It should be in the Diplomacy Section… File Group SP… Specializer… C! Found it! Here it is!”

”Okay, let’s see… it says that the first step is to contact your government, or any allied government’s territory you might be in, and request immediate help. It also says that a First Contact qualifies as a first priority so a team should arrive in less than 5 hours. I’ll read the rest on my own, go and inform our and the Emeraldian Government of what is happening. Also, recall the other terraformers.”

”Of course, I’ll do that immediately!”

”Mhh… then, it says to just… wait until the team arrives. In the meantime we have to leave the area completely and head to the nearest Imperial or allied system. Ok… let’s hope nothing bad happens…”

”I’ve done everything sir! Both Governments have been informed of our situation, and the Terraformers are in fleet formation behind us.”

”Perfect, good job! It’s time to go then!”

An entire fleet of terraforming vessels, side by side in a spherical formation around the Reshaper, activated their FTL Drives. Large rings of pitch-black darkness, surrounded by halos of colorful, shimmering energy clouds formed around each ship. In less than a second, these strange formations violently deformed forward, creating strange loops, and pulling entire pockets of spacetime away at thousands of times the normal speed limit of the universe. Soon, a much different fleet would arrive. Instead of unarmed Terraformation vessels, it would be a fleet of armed diplomacy ships. Galactyan and Emeraldian vessels would soon make their appearance on the scene. How would these aliens react, after what they had recently been through?

[MilaFredka]

K’Meer Loox, the captain of the 276th Colestian colonisation ship was just finishing checking on the vessel to make sure it wasn’t faulty. After all, he had a preety big task ahead of himself. He was to lead the colonisstion of planet Gelmer 3, as it was called back in the capital. He was… relieved. He has wanted to escape from conventional civilisation for quite some time now, and now he finally got the chance. The Council of Citizens did inform the Colonists about something to do with maliciously intented aliens in the east, but it was probaly nothing major.
But just as he and his assistant were finishing recounting the supplies, and just about to start waking the rest from cryohibernation, he suddenly saw a flash of light throug the ship’s reinforced glass windows.

“What the hell was that!?”
“I have no idea captain”
“Retorical questi- sigh, you know, you don’t have to be so formal around me, you know?”
“Yes, captain”
“That’s what I mean! you should just relax and have normal conver-”
“C-c-c-captain? Look o-o-out the window…”
“What is it this time? Nice looking asteriods are cool, but now we have and hurry to start the colo… ni… sation…”

As K’Meer looked through the window, he noticed a gigantic fleet of armed vessels floating in front of the ship. You could see terror in his eyes.

“Well… we’re dead. Wait, there was some procedure for this sent a while back by the Council, just have to find it… Mind helping?”
“R-r-right, already on it…”
"At least you stopped with the “Captain” thing for once… There is the Holofolder! Now let’s see… we’ve gotta… “Send a transmission containing a file with our language, aaand… a message of non-aggresion, got it. Could you turn on the transmittor?”
“Sure… just have to get… Here it is”

After some 5 minutes, the Diplomacy fleet recieved a message in an alien language, as well as a file containing transcription of that language. After desyphering, the message read:
"Hello alien creatures. We apologise for accidentally trespassing in your territory. We mean no harm, as we hope do you. Please state your intent. If you have anything to do with the “Grand Commisariat of Enver”, we wish to participate in contact no longer."

[KingTEM]

2202
Noua Corinia, Noua Stoinia District, Northern Territory, UoE
UES Andrei Sirianu CL-1331
Lt. Cmdr Peter Larsen

Colonial Service, particularly for a planet yet to be Terraformed, had little need for a full battlegroup, and thus a small flotilla was used, in this case, 1 Cuza Class Light Cruiser, 8 Union Class Combat Vessels, 10 Kybok Class Destroyers, and a few Patrol Vessels. The “Flagship” of this flotilla is the UES Andrei Sirianu, named for the Anti-Communist Lion, Captain Andrei Sirianu, the man who fought in numerous conflicts against Communism, he was a very decorated soldier, and memorialized in many places, both on Pacifica, and even in the Union, with a whole system named after him. The “Red Lion”, as the Andrei Sirianu was often called, was assigned to head Noua Corinia’s Military Mandate, or at least Conaro Station, until Terraforming is completed.

Lt. Cmdr Peter Larsen, a Cimbrian from Ny Odense, was enjoying a small nap in his quarters when he was awoken by the GQ Alarm. He made his way to his command chair as he was told that a small craft had entered the system and then stopped, apparently not noticing the Small Flotilla nor the Large Station it guarded.

(CPL)“Tell our ships to hold back and contact HighCom, we may be dealing with yet another First Contact.”

(CMO)“Yes Sir”

As the Diplomatic Fleet, or the 32nd Battle Group as it was formally called showed up, along with it’s Galactyan Counterpart, and as they received and translated the Aliens Transmission, Larsen, as Technical Commander of this system was the one who would respond.

(CPL)“Open Transmission, Priority One, with this alien ship”

(CMO)“Transmission Open Sir”

(CPL)“Good, Ahem, This is Lieutenant Commander Peter Larsen of the 501st Colonial Flotilla, and Military Commander of The Nova Cordilia System, and no, we do not have anything to do with the Envari, that’s for damn sure. Who are you? Exactly?”

[MilaFredka]

Soon after, another message came.

Glad to meet you Commander Larsen. I am captain K’Meer Loox of the 276th Colestian colonization fleet. I, along with my crew, were sent here to colonize this planet, but it appears we weren’t here first. To clarify, this isn’t an invasion, but an accidental meeting. We ask to dock in your port to ressuply, as our ship doesn’t have enough fuel to carry us back to our capital city - SIlvalia - safely.

“I still can’t belive i’m talking to fucking aliens”

[Galaxiel]

Usually, even with Galactyan presence in orbit, a first contact would be handled exclusively by the star nation’s government in which they happened. However, after what had happened during the first contact with Enver on Victoria III, the Emeraldian Government made the decision to ask the assistance of a diplomatic Galactyan fleet that was already mobilizing. After all, the Galactyans were the diplomatic and economic titans of the Sector’s West, so their help, whether diplomatic or military, would prove very useful in case of a situation similar to Enver’s.

Omaheli Yuwestan, a female Titamel, was chosen as leader of the diplomatic fleet. Her previous experiences in diplomatic missions and trade debates had allowed her to rise high in the Governmental Hirarchy of the Ministry Of Foreign Relations, and this first contact would be her chance to prove herself.

After the aliens responded, Omaheli was very pleased. Like the Galactyans did in situations similar to the first contact with Trianar, the mysterious beings clarified all their intentions immediately, without any arrogance or aggressiveness. A good sign.

She too sent a message to the aliens.

“This is Captain Omaheli Yuwestan of the 178th diplomatic fleet, here to represent the Celestial Empire Of Galactya. It was one of our terraformation ships in orbit around this planet to first spot your appearance. I am glad to hear that you did not have any aggressive intents, and I too am glad to meet you.”

“I believe I speak for my Emeraldian companion as well by giving you permission to track at one of Noua Corinia’s ports. There should be a Galactyan Terraformation Station in orbit around the planet’s equator. We will send you orbital path info, and you can track there.”

[MilaFredka]

Thank you for your hospitality, I will head to the stations immediately.

“Well, i guess we’re goin’ to an alien teaparty now. Not what i expeced trom this job, but I’ll manage.”

K’Meer flew the ship towards the equator and tracked it one of the stations. The ship’s movement was somewhat clumsy, as it wasn’t designed with precise flight in mind, but it got the job done. The ship stopped next to the station. The moment was tense as never before. And after a while to get himself together, captain Loox walked out of the ship, and into the alien base.

[Galaxiel]

Omaheli, along with the rest of the mixed diplomatic team, entered the station quickly and waited at the main hangar for the aliens to arrive. She still remembered the national ecstasy and joy when the first contact with Calerost happened, same as for the ones with the Drakari Imperium, Ferristia, Emerald, Trianar, the Akropii… these figures, still alive today, who went down in history for their importance and contributions to Galactya’s quest of Galactic Friendship.

And in a couple moments, she too was going to fill that role. She fixed her uniform, and waited, her Emeraldian counterpart standing similarly on her right.

Suddenly, the ship’s intercom announced that the aliens had tracked and entered the station, and were now walking towards the main hangar’s door.

This was it. The moment she had been waiting for her whole life.

As the doors opened, the sight of what laid behind them surprised her. In a definitely positive way.

The aliens were short, not higher than a meter. They had definitely reptilian features, but something else was remarkably particular… these weren’t animals… these were plants! Finally, another intelligent plant lifeform! The Galactyans were the only ones to possess plant species, and for quite some time they had been wondering about the existence of other non-animal species. Finally, they had found their answer.

Omaheli, walked towards the aliens. She could see that her size and looks intimidated them, but they made a good enough job of hiding it.

“Greetings. My name is Omaheli Yuwestan. I was the one who contacted you prior. I’m so pleasured to meet you.”

[MilaFredka]

The aliens, while at first frightened by the diplomat, after a few seconds seemingly calmed down. They didn’t have mouths, but in their eyes you could see an expression similar to a smile. One of the two, one slightly taller, wearing a dark suit with a small ringed planet symbol on it, walked forward, looked up at Omaheli and started speaking.

“Greetings to you too, Omaheli. My name is K’Meer Loox, currently representing the Common Republic of Colestia. I’m glad to finally know there’s a friendly face out there. I would love to establish a good relation between Us and the… Celestial Empire of Galactya. So to begin, could you tell us something about your people and nation? Just from the ones standing here, you can see it’s quite the varied bunch!”

The small creature seemed somewhat stressed, but was hiding it relatively well.

[KingTEM]

Lt. Cmdr Peter Larsen

Larsen looked at the rather short and plant based, aliens. He did visibly cringe at the fact that the aliens thought they were in Galactya.

(CPL)“We are currently in Emeraldian Territory, specifically, Noua Corinia, Noua Stoinia District, Northern Territory, Union Of Emerald. What does your government call this system, and where your government believes the Border is.”

Larsen was clearly a little inexperienced, he never expected to be acting as diplomat in a First Contact, especially in the Northern Territory, with a colony that hadn’t even been terraformed yet! But, as he was the appointed Military Commander of the Nova Cordilia System, it was his effectively his job to do this, despite the fact that the Fleet Admiral would’ve been a better pick as Diplomat.

[MilaFredka]

“We call this system the Gelmer system, with this planet being Gelmer 3. As for the Border part, well… Starting the Colonization program, our government, or anyone for that matter, didn’t exactly expect to run into an alien civilization, so we don’t really have a border. The program however only expected to launch so many ships to so many planets, so you could count the colonized area as our “border”. As for where that area ends, here are the coordinates.”

The alien then showed Cmdr Larsen a holoscreen projecting a set of numbers along with reference points to figure out the nation’s borders.

[Galaxiel]

“Yes, I confirm what my colleague here said. We currently are in the Union Of Emerald’s territory, and our ships were here only because we were terraforming Noua Corinia for them.” However, as good allies and members of an interstellar coalition, our governments decided to jointly handle this first contact."

“I also notice that during your transmission earlier you mentioned the Grand Commisariat of Enver, K’Meer Loox. From how it was phrased, I take it you didn’t have a good experience with them. Emerald too has had such an experience some time ago, on a planet which we were terraforming as well. That encounter is also part of the reason why we are handling this jointly.”

“Now, since you all seem so eager to learn more about our nations, I find it appropriate for us to go to a proper meeting room. Apart from being more formal, the hlographic maps and databases will make all of this a much easier process.”

“If you may, follow me.”

Following Omaheli, the aliens and Commander Larsen entered a large, circular room. Despite this being a Terraformation Hub Station, the meeting room was still rather elegant, with fancy colorful armchairs, and various murals depicting previously terraformed planets on the walls.

As the aliens went to seat on the chairs, the cushions lowered, allowing them to more easily get up on them. Pleased, Omaheli sat down in the main armchair opposite to the entrance, Larsen sitting on her right.

“I hope the chairs are comfortable enough to be of your liking. If you wish, we can change them for a model better suited to your physiology.”

“If not, we can start. As you and Commander Larsen were saying earlier, I think we should first understand where your shared border lies. Then, we would definitely appreciate it if you told us more about Colestia, K’Meer.”

[MilaFredka]

“The chairs are fine, thanks. About the borders, I still have to contact the Council, but we’ll respect your space and adjust our claimed territory accordingly. As for Colestia, it’s kinda gard to just explain a whole nation like this, but in short it’s a nation situated mostly in two star systems and a megastructure called a “Bishop ring”. It’s ruled by elected Councilors, who decide the rules and projects by votes, usually getting the people involved in the voting too. As for our culture, well… I don’t really know what to say, since we don’t really have a huge sample size to compare. If there’s anything i missed, just ask away. And I’d like to hear something about Galactya and Emerald as well, if you could.”

K’Meer, contrasting with what was before, definitely felt more relaxed knowing the aliens had similar intentions as him.

[Galaxiel]

“Uh, how interesting. You seem relatively advanced, yet you cover so little territory… you must have only started expanding very recently, I presume.”

“As for my nation instead, the Galactyan Empire is situated 700 lightyears in the Galactic South from here, enveloped in two hyperdense Nebulae. The Empire has terraformed and colonized little less than 31000 planets, and overall controls a similar amount of star systems. Ruled over by the Emperors, the Council of Clades, the Quadrant Assembly and Nine Grand Ministries, Galactya has created a vast net of alliances with various nations, including the Union Of Emerald. As you can guess, our international attitude isn’t one of conquest and conflict, but rather one of diplomacy and collaboration. Similarly, if there is anything else that you deem necessary to know, feel free to ask.”

“Although, I think it wise to first let my Emeraldian colleague here explain some things about the Union, especially considering the fact that you are in their territories now.”

[KingTEM]

Lt. Commander Peter Larsen

(CPL)“Of course, The Union Of Emerald was founded 102 Year’s Ago, by Colonists of the Starhawk Pact. We originated from a Planet known as Pacifica”

The Holotable in the middle showed a 3d Image of the Planet and then zoomed in to a specific part.

(CPL)" The South Pacific Area to be more specific. We arrived at our current capital, New Greenston, on the Day Class Colony Vessel, and basis for the most produced Warship Class in Denvari History, The UES Union CS-1980, Navy Flagship. The Union is ruled by His Emeraldian Majesty, King Edward V, along with the Democratically elected Civilian Government, and the War Council, made up of High Ranking Officials of all three Branches. The Union is not the only Human Nation we know of. We have the Stoinian Star Kingdom, The Ryccian Empire, Weisserstein, and, although they don’t admit it, Trianar. Before you have a heart attack Omaheli, we figured out about their existence pretty quickly from what ERIDA was told by the Galactyan Government. The Civilian Populace don’t know about them… Yet. That’s a subject for another time, where was I, oh right. Emerald, so far has colonized 72 Worlds, but have control of many more systems other than that. This Includes the Blanc System, a system dedicated to Ore Mining, which is currently the northern most system we have in our possession."

The Holotable flickers to a map of the Emeraldian Borders, highlighting the Nova Cordilia System sitting along the flattest point of the border closest to Enver, with the Blanc System highlighted to be close by, but even closer to the border.

(CPL)“If you have named this system, then surely you’ve named the Blanc System something else as well. Emerald follows an Attitude of don’t attack unless provoked and to follow Diplomacy at all costs. While we are no where as close to being as Xenophobic as the Stoinian’s are, we will discriminate against species who few the Human Race as Inferior to themselves. The Denvari People know the pain of being discriminated all too well… you can blame the Fauderlandish and their frankist policies. Anything else you wanna ask?”

[MilaFredka]

“Well, I do have lots of questions, you did just start spouting names of… other nations I presume. But, I’ll catch up on that later, now there’s more pressing matters to resolve. Namely, what are we supposed to do? I mean, our ship doesn’t have enough fuel to go back to our capital and there’s no way your fuel is compatible with our engine, so we can’t go back that way. What we do have though, is the parts and capibility to build a gate back to SIlvalia, but i think it’s too early for that.”

K’meer turned around to his sassistand and started speaking to him

“Galven, please inform the Councils of Citizens and Technology about what, no, who we found and wait for their response.”
“Right, on it. Pardon me, I have to leave for a second.”
“Sure, go ahead. Anyway, we have about a day until the Councils give their official statement about the matter, so we have some time to discuss. Would you mind telling me something more about your nations? Culture, government, all that jazz?”

Galven stood up and somewhat stressfuly scurried out of the room, opening a holoscreen along the way. Now the representatives were in private.

[Galaxiel]

“Well… I suppose we could start with our species.”

Omaheli pressed the table’s touchscreen, activating a holoprojector.
Suddenly, a circular wall of projected images appeared over the large table.

“These are all of the species that live and thrive in the Galactyan Empire as equal and respected citizens. They are ninety nine in total: eighty nine of them have been have been genetically modified and created with neogenics and regular genetic engineering, while the remaining ten are immigrants and immigrant descendants hailing from our neighboring and allied nations.”

“As you can guess, our culture and history both heavily revolve around genetic engineering. Of course, such modifications can only be done with the full consent of the person receiving them, even though certain situations are excluded from such rule, with medical emergencies being an example.”

“We also heavily value diplomacy and peace. The Empire has created strong and peaceful relations with many nations, establishing florid trade routes and enriching itself and it’s allies. As your people have certainly discovered during the first contact with the Envari, not all of the Sector is as peaceful. Xenophobia, slavery and conflict have always been a sad and unfortunate re occurrence in the Sector, but it appears that the international situation is degrading more and more in the last years.”

“Wars, mass destruction, political coups have characterized the last year. Particularly in the Galactic East, opposed to our more peaceful West, things have started to fall. You may consider me rushed and impulsive for saying this, but I do hope that our nation will be able to collaborate in light of these events. Colestia seems to be fitting all of our requirements for such a thing.”

[MilaFredka]

"War… That’s something my kind hasn’t seen in a long time… And it’s sort of concerning… But look at that diversity! Your culture seems just amazing! Anyways, for your knowledge, Colestia hasn’t met any aliens aside from the Envari yet, so I don’t have much to tell you, and what information I can give about My nation is still up to the government, so… we’ll just have to wait for now. The Council takes a pretty long time to make decisions, about 12 hours, so if you don’t mind, I still have some pressing matters to attend at my ship, and I’d like to ask you if it can stay here until we get commands, if there’s nothing wrong with that.

[Galaxiel]

“Well, I can certainly give you permission to stay tracked at this station since it is under Imperial Jurisdiction, however any detracking of the ship until it is time for you to depart will need to first be authorized by the Emeraldian Government.”

“You’re free to go now, obviously. The Hangar doors to your ship should be open now. If you don’t mind, I’d like to give you this biosynthetic holocommunicator. It’s a personal form of instantaneous communication and runs on a monopole enhanced microfusion reactor. It’s linked to my communicator, so you’ll be free to ask any questions you might need. It also has an updated encyclopedia inside of it, so if you want to learn more about us and our allies while it’s still within operation range, feel free to do so.”