Chile Region, Ryccian Empire
Patrolled Borderlands
The life of a patrol officer in the western regions of the Empire was boring. The nations bordering it, the Imperium of Pax Dracon and the Tarassian Union, were not hostile or were uncontacted, respectively. There was no threat to Imperial domains in this area.
The Raider-class corvette Sight was on a scheduled patrol throughout the border. As usual, nothing of note was happening. A few civilian ships here or there visiting gas giants and other desolate celestial bodies for whatever reason, but nothing out of the ordinary. Scans showed nothing unknown.
The unknown makes itself known.
“Hrrrrgh…”
The ensign Karus Erdarn, a human from the Wild North, grumbled. He kept checking the scanners. Nothing. This was boring to the extreme. This was a mind-numbingly boring career, and the chances for promotion were slim, since there was little to distinguish yourself in. Well, at least he got paid. That’s got to count for something.
Then, something unexpected.
“What…?”
Scanners were pointing to a craft of unknown design that had arrived to the area. There were no records for it. It was completely alien. Could this be a Draconian stray? A Tarassian ship like those fabled in the legends of old?
No. This ship didn’t match any known Draconian or Tarassian patterns. Its signature, its symbols, everything…it wasn’t from here.
“Captain! There’s a craft of unknown design in our scanners!”
“What?”
“Yes, ma’am, and it doesn’t match any Draconian or Tarassian patterns!”
“Initiate jump to hyperspace. Get close to that ship!”
“Yes, Captain!”
The captain of the Sight, Marina Vurnphish, a human from Novaterra, was concerned. What kind of ship was that? It was very small, tiny, even. It seemed harmless, but you never know with alien craft.
“Have weapons and shields at the ready! We don’t know what could come from this…!”
Unknown Space
Probe Officers was one of the most boring jobs imaginable. They were sent out on small probes to investigate new space for the Union. Probe Types were unarmed and lightly shielded to conserve power for the JumpDrive. Usually, most probe ships would report nothing back to high command and for the officers, they would see very little action in their careers.
The Explorer Class Probeship Paul Jensen was testing a Mark II JumpDrive and the ship was launched far from Union space. The 2 person crew were about to see some action, but didn’t know it yet.
“What the-”
Ensign Kale Andrei, a new Probe Officer from New Spiras, was concerned. The stars didn’t match their star charts for Southern Territory and the scanners were picking up odd signatures. He choose this job due to the high pay for very little work. Sure it was boring, but he had liked space as a young boy and loved taking photos of new nebulas, but he wasn’t prepared for something like this.
“Grace! Something isn’t right here! We aren’t in Union space!”
“What? Up the shields!”
Lt. Grace Mathias was the senior probe officer of the Paul Jensen and she had never seen this part of space. She had ordered shields up, but she knew the Paul Jensen had too light shields too protect from an attack. The shields were meant to protect the craft if it entered an atmosphere “accidently”.
“Grace! I’m picking something up on scanners! It’s weapons are hot!”
“Prepare a Greeting message!”
(OOC: The Greeting message is:“We are the UPS Paul Jensen, we are unarmed and not hostile, we come in peace”)
Chile Region, Ryccian Empire
Borderlands
The craft…its message…it was in English.
Another human realm across the stars? No way…
The crew was surprised. More humans. Were they all over the region? What in the stars happened in ancient history for this to have occurred?
Their historical musings had no bearing on the current situation, however. Now, they had a job to do. As per protocol, they were to detain the foreigners.
The captain began to speak. She wouldn’t let them get away.
“Attention unknown craft UPS Paul Jensen, this is the corvette Sight of the Imperial Ryccian Navy. You are currently trespassing on Imperial territory and are now under detention. Do not resist, or prepare to be destroyed”
The corvette released its two TIE fighters to surround the tiny craft. The message was clear: come with us in peace, or be annihilated.
Unknown Space
“Grace! What should we do? We’re surrounded!”
The Sights captain spoke in Austral, and Ryccia? Grace had heard that name before. It was one of the nations on Pacifica! Did Ryccia launch colonial ships aswell? Argh… the fractured memory core left the Union with many questions, key among them being able to tell what government types the old Pacifica nations had, aside from Emerald of Course. Grace decided to send back a message.
“This is Lt. Grace Mathias of The United Emeraldian Navy, we are lowering our shields and we will surrender our vessel peacefully, if we can send a message back to high command to establish contact between our nations.”
“Grace! Are you insane? We should warp back!”
“Kale, we are surrounded by fightercraft and the Sight is quite clearly a warship, we have no other choice but to surrender.”
Chile Region, Ryccian Empire
Borderlands
Send a message to their high command?
The commanders of the corvette were undecided. The captain wanted to accept the surrender, but some of her lieutenants argued against it. Fearing a fleet appearing like in the Rascal Incident, they were terrified of the prospect of a hostile battlegroup on Imperial space.
A short argument played out, and, in the end, the captain won. She would allow them to inform their…what was it again? Emeraldian government? Yes, that.
“Sight to Paul Jensen, we accept the terms. Prepare to be boarded”
A squad of Imperial Army troopers were sent on a small transport. They boarded the tiny vessel and took control of the ship after letting these foreigners inform their government of what had happened. Now, these unknown humans were under Imperial custody.
Unknown Space
“Roger that Sight, We shall send a message back to high command. We will tell them to meet at our current coordinates with weapons offline and shields down and will be expecting a diplomatic welcome.”
“Grace! Transport ships inbound!”
“Let them on board.”
“Grace, I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Grace was more than nervous, but she had no other choice then to surrender their craft. The boarding door opened and what Grace assumed were Army soldiers entered. Grace and Kale surrendered their service pistols and the emergency shotgun. Grace being the more senior officer onboard was allowed to stay to pilot the ship into the corvettes hanger. Kale was escorted to the Boarding craft as another soldier stayed behind with Grace, to make sure it was guided back to the corvette peacefully.
New Greenston Region, Emerald
Naval High Command, Galen Hughe Station
“Sir! We got a message from the Paul Jensen !”
“What?!”
Admiral Jake Hedrov, senior High Admiral from New Ludville was shocked. The Paul Jensen had gone missing two days ago. Why were they just now sending a message back?
“What did they say?”
“Sir, they found another star nation, and it has other Pacificans!”
“Another star nation? Whats the name?”
“Ryccia, sir”
Ryccia? That was an old Pacifica nation wasn’t it. Yes, The Ryccian Federation! But, does that mean they also sent out colony ships? Ugh, the fractured core of The Union has given it’s historians so many issues. We know the names, geography, location(on Pacifica) of nations, but don’t know their history or government, except for Emerald.
“What else did they say?”
“They had to surrender the ship in exchange for their lives. Sir, they want 3 ships to greet them(Ryccian Diplomats) at their(Crew of Paul Jensen) last coordinates, with weapons cold and shields lowered.”
That’s a tall order, but what if instead of a diplomatic fleet, we get a war fleet? Well, we’ll have to wait and see.
“Prepare my ship and her personal escorts.”
“Right away sir!”
(OOC: The Ships are: The UES Union CS-1980/1, UES Foxtrot FF-43, and UES Delta FF-41)
Unknown Space
The diplomatic fleet had finally arrived. Admiral Jake Hedrov was suspicious, most so, when they arrived and no ships were present. This feels all too much like a trap, but he had no other choice, his fellow citizens were in danger.
“Sir, still nothing on long range scanners”
“Keep our weapons cold, we can’t look like a warfleet”
“But sir, we have received nothing from the Paul Jensen or if it has been examined!”
“Keep your cool Commander.”
​​​​​​​"Just keep scanning."
Near Shiribishu System
Chile Region, Ryccian Empire
The Ryccians had detained the foreigners on a first-class hotel in the planet of Shiribishu. Inhabited mainly by Kaminoans, the local authorities were instructed by Daonlathas to put the entire hotel under military lockdown. Shiribishu’s most elite armed police units were guarding the building, assisted by units of the local army garrison.
The Ryccians peacefully interrogated these scouts, seeking to learn more about their country. As the tone was meant to be firm but diplomatic, they could not push further than the scouts would willingly divulge. They knew that these outsiders came from some “Emerald Union”, and that these humans called themselves “Pacificans”. The medical scans concluded that these were, in fact, humans, with virtually the same anatomy and DNA as Ryccia’s human race.
This shocked the government and the Empire’s leading historians. Some of them still held to the theory that the Stoinians were simply unaware that they were, in fact, Ryccian colonists. The discovery of these “Pacificans” shattered any such delusions. Something unknown to the Empire had happened all those years ago. What had truly occurred more than six milleniae past, and why?
For now, the deeper mystery could wait. The Empire needed to interact with this human-led state. Upon receiving word of the contact made between them two, the Empire decided to greet them.
With force.
The Ryccians had lied. They had no intention to trust these strangers. As a way to demonstrate their power, and on the insistence of the military, the Ryccian Navy’s Executor-class dreadnought, Alexandria, jumped out of hyperspace, along with an accompanying fleet of two star destroyers, six crusiers and ten corvettes. The Rascal Incident and the Venterran conflict in the faraway lands of Stoinia had shown that you couldn’t be too careful.
In a show of force, a swarm of TIE Fighters surrounded the Emeraldians’s diplomatic ships. The Kaminoan admiral-in-charge of this task force, Lan Yien, contacted the foreigners.
“Emeraldians, this is the Ryccian Navy dreadnought Alexandria. Welcome to the Ryccian Empire. A high-ranking diplomat shall meet you shortly. We welcome a shuttle of your choice to dock at this ship. Beware, however, if you dare initiate hostilities, we will open fire”
Unknown Space
“Sir! That looks like a war fleet!”
“Commander! Did you not just hear what the Alexandria said? Keep weapons cold and shields down. I’ll travel over there myself.”
“But sir!”
“You have the conn Commander”
Jake traveled to the hanger and boarded the Shuttle Orion. Before he boarded, he took his service pistol out of its holster and left it with the A/STC Commander. The Orion left the Union and made its way to the Alexandria. He reached one of its many docking bays. The Boarding Door then opened.
Near Shiribishu System
Chile Region, Ryccian Empire
“Salute!”
Perhaps to their surprise, the Ryccians organized an impromptu honour guard to receive these foreigners. More surprising, perhaps, is the fact that the soldiers varied in species, and all were equal. Admiral Yien greeted this emissary, clearly a human. Was he surprised and appalled like the Stoinians were? Who knows.
“Mister…er, what was it, Jeik? Yes, welcome to the Ryccian Empire, Emeraldian emissary. We hope to engage in peaceful and civil discussion over the relevant affairs between our two states. Pardon the aggressive display of force, we have no idea who you are but we are hopeful you are not an overtly hostile state. I trust your journey treated you well?”
Jake was certainly surprised, but not about the other Species, but at how formal it was.
“Yes it did, Emeraldian Jumpdrive’s are nice, but I can say we definitely did get lucky. Emerald isn’t hostile to other Star-Nations, unless they themselves are hostile.”
Like many military officers, Yien was suspicious. No one could really know what these Emeraldians were, even if they were humans themselves. Regardless, it was time to meet them all the same.
“That is good to hear. I introduce to you Henry Valissien, a high-ranking diplomat who shall discuss the relevant matters with you along with me. Please, follow me to my office”
A squad of Imperial Guards (OOC: Death Troopers) surrounded the three beings. They escorted them to the office, and they entered. The guards did not leave, instead spreading across the room for protection.
“Please, have a seat. Would you like to commence, or shall we?”
Jake followed the Alexandrias Captain and The Diplomat.
“I would prefer that you would commence.”
Jake looked at the Guards, they clad in some kind of Black Armour and carried what he assumed were Plasma Rifles, although he couldn’t tell if they shot Plasma or not.
“Very well, then. First things first, we welcome you to the Ryccian Empire. We hope your stay is as pleasant as it can be for you”
“Now onto business. We have two of your citizens and a small ship of Emeraldian design in custody. The Empire assures your state that we have not harmed them in any way. As a matter of fact, they are under domiciliary detention at a high-quality hotel, guarded by the finest security of that planet. They have been provided food, entertainment and shelter. As your ship, we have it under custody at a facility on the aforementioned planet”
Valissien then summoned some aides, who brought with them gifts to bestow upon the Emeraldian diplomats. The Empire had no idea who these people truly were, or at least not yet. They had to be cordial.
“As compensation for their trouble, and as a gesture of good faith, we have arranged some gifts for you. Do with them as you please, they are yours”
The aides presented an assortment of flowers and luxurious foodstuffs. Cautious and diplomatic niceties, nothing that would reveal any Ryccian technology in any way.
Then, they presented three swords. They were Velpan in origin, crafted by a skilled artisan. The sword was exquisite, made of materials of the highest grade. From the ivory handle to the steel used to the intricate to the carefully-drawn patterns in the blades…they were worth millions of credits.
“Present these swords to your leader and the two citizens we have in our custody, one for each person. It is a gift from us”
Then, three boxes of fountain pens. They were Kaminoan. These were also worth millions of credits, as they were crafted by expert Kaminoan artisans. The use of such pens in the Ryccian Empire had faded into obscurity due to their technological advancement making holodocuments the primary method of reading and writing. To the Ryccians, these were collectibles, or items you could use to practice the beautiful art of calligraphy as a hobby.
“These pens are, as the swords were, for your leaders and your two civilians. Another gift from us to you”
“Now, would the Emeraldian delegation wish to discuss matters such as establishing basic diplomatic relations, or do you have another item in our agenda?”
The Emeraldians may not have been aware of it, but the swords and pens were a subtle, hidden message. We can use the sword to fight you, or we can lay it down and use the pen to talk to you.
“I graciously accept the gifts, they will be presented later.”
Jake reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out what looks like a flip phone.
“Before you say something, this is a simple comm device. Don’t worry, these don’t record audio or video.”
“This is High Admiral Jake R. Hedrov, Commander, teleport over the gifts.”
“Yes Sir”
Jake clears the table as a ornately designed box materializes in front of everybody.
“What just occurred was that my ship teleported over this box of gifts. As our own sign of good faith, we have prepared gifts as well.”
The box was covered with designs depicting major Emeraldian Events, Jake pressed a button on the side of the box. The box opened. Jake first pulled out an axe, made to Emeraldian design, covered in ornate detail and built with some of the finest materials the Union had.
“This kind of weapon, while now outdated, was used in Old Emerald. This Axe has been built from materials that originate from Pacifica. It is to be presented to your leader”
The second item to be pulled out is one of significance. Jake pulls a holopad, with all the so far recovered data detailing the Ryccian Federation.
“This gift is for your countries historians, it contains all historical data we were able to recover from our memory core. It goes from the first Ryccian state to around the 2020’s on Pacifica, although, it may further shatter your prehistory. This gift represents how our terran origins are related.”
The third and final gift is the most important one, a Ryccian Federation Battle Helmet dating 1953 PY from Pacifica, presumed to be a Great War Helmet. The Helmet is in near perfect condition aside from the paint scratches, the Ryccian Flag is still very much visible on the right side of the Helmet.
“This gift compliments the historical data, this Helmet has been carbon dated to 1953 PY on Pacifica and is Ryccian of origin. It comes from the so called Great War.”
“Ryccian Gifts will need to be teleported, can you lock on to their location?”
“Gifts are Ident, teleporting now”
The Gifts given by Ryccia dematerializes. Jake shuts off the ComDev.
“Now onto Diplomatic relations, Emerald seeks friendly relations and hopes for the same from Ryccia.”