Akropii-Galactyan First Contact

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A ship seemed to fall into existence, silent and purposeful. A few lights shined from the ship’s bridge. Inside, the synthetic crew bustled about documenting the new system.

“We’ve entered the new system, do we have anything unusual on the planets?”

“We’ve got no readings similar to old-age war machines, we are hundreds of lightyears beyond where they have been.”

“Can I get the scan results on the planets and moons?”

“I think we’re detecting some structure on the planet. Can I get a better scan on them to see what they are?”

“There are some strange signals passing through. Can I get someone working on decoding them?”

After a few more seconds of the excited chaos, a voice rang out above the others, coming from the ship’s overhead speakers. The hectic room quieted down to listen to the announcement.

“It seems that there are buildings or similar structures on the planets. We may be in the first Akropii first contact. A message has been sent back to Ospali and other major hubs. Quite obviously, this vessel has been detected by their sensors. Please ready battlestations in the event they are hostile.” With the last sentence, a quiet murmur broke out among the crew. The bridge started to empty out as non-essential crew went deeper into the ship. On the outside of the ship shields sprang to life, forming a protective bubble.

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Regional Galactyan Date: 41/08/6000 P.E.
Standard Sectorial Date: 0 BBT

Region: Celestial Empire Of Galactya
Star System: Avekolych
Planet: Avekolim
Outside the Avekolychian System, at the limit of interstellar space.

Avekolych was a small system in the far south-east of the Empire. Around the red dwarf orbited 3 planets, and around those orbited in total 4 moons. While being small, the system wasn’t unnoticed, forgotten or anything of the sort. It was a smaller locality, yes, but thanks to it’s relative vicinity with Lunalkirex, trade was fluent and the economy was flourishing, mainly due to exports of rare gases in the system’s gas giant, Avekulkus. Thanks to the smallness, all planets could be easily seen large in the sky from any point in the system, giving it a certain sense of coziness which was difficult to have in the larger ones.

Still, life in the system wasn’t very eventful, not in the grand scheme of things that is. Most of the exciting stuff had happened in the first 27 years of colonization and terraformation, with perilous expeditions on the newly found worlds and long construction projects suspended in Avekulkus’ atmosphere. But now, things went on smoothly and normally. It wasn’t so bad though; after all, it’s better to exchange a little bit of boredom for much more safety.

Things had been like this for centuries now. No messy alien contacts, no invasions, no accidents… nothing! Just a small cozy system where people lived calm and peaceful lives.

Things though, were about to change.

On a day like any other, a large ship appeared in the void next to the edge of Avekolych’s asterosphere. The surveillance radars immediately detected it, sending a distress signal to the rest of the system. As was now basically standard procedure (considering other two star nations had been discovered in the last year), the defense fleet was put on halt, and a signal was sent to the alien ship.

UNIDENTIFIED VESSEL, WE ARE THE GALACTYANS. YOU ARE CURRENTLY TRESPASSING ON THE IMPERIAL TERRITORY OF THE COLONY SYSTEM OF AVEKOLYCH. PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND WE WILL NOT HAVE HOSTILE INTENTIONS.

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Deep in the cities of servers, a bunch clicked on to help handle the load of decrypting the strange signal that had been sent out.

Inside a command room a few beings started drafting a response message.
“We need to get a few points across in this message. We need to show that we do not mean harm, but we also need to ensure they understand that we aren’t defenceless should they attack us.” The being to the right of the head of the table sat down.

Another synthetic stood farther down the table. “Sir, should we send for backup? May I send a request for reinforcements?”

The being at the head of the table, stood up. “We are not going to call for backup. We don’t want to put anyone else at risk. This ship has the best shields of all the ships in the nation given the star core. We are currently the best option to initiate this first contact.” After this statement, the being down the table sat back down. “Do any of you have ideas on where to start?”

After a few minutes, the ship sent out a signal.
“We could not understand your message. This is a vessel of the Akropii Republic. We mean no harm. Violence will be met with retaliation.”

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The universal translators of the Surveillance Nexus translated the message immediately. And what was translated was… good, actually. Usually it never went this good. The aliens did not understand the galactyan message, but at least they seemed like beings of reason and did not mean harm. Now though, they needed to figure out a way to make them understand that they too weren’t hostile.

They either needed to make them understand that the Galactyans were willing to give them time to translate the message, or to actually send them a translator. It would be difficult, but perhaps they had just the right idea.

As the communication shuttle warped towards the alien vessel, it prepared it’s vast array of communication flares, perfect for communication using only symbols and not words. The last time they had used them was with the Edhelerim, and it didn’t work so well, but maybe this time was going to be different. The communication shuttle got out of warp at around 10 kilometers from the remarkably large alien ship. And, after some time, it shot out the first flare. After flying up above the shuttle it exploded into a symbol of hot, incandescent purple plasma, in the shape of a smiley face.

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and now, all they had to do was wait for an answer.

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As the shuttle approached, the whole ship watched. The targeting system locked on to the small ship. In the bridge a discussion broke out over the purpose of the shuttle. When it launched an unknown object, the servers had to make a sudden and quick decision: is the ship dangerous? The AI came to a conclusion and a round of projectiles were fired at the shuttle with pinpoint precision, taking out all potential weapons. The bridge was silent as they watched. As the projectiles reached their target, the flare exploded in a smiley face. Someone in the bridge quietly whispered, “F*ck. They were peaceful. You won the bet.”

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As the projectiles shot through the void towards the shuttle, the antimatter shields activated in time. The vessel didn’t suffer any damage, but the shielding’s integrity was almost completely depleted, and it would take time for it to completely recharge.

Usually an attack like this would have warranted the direct intervention of the defense fleet destruction of the alien vessel, but as previous experiences during first contacts had showed the Galactyans, attack responses rarely meant actual hostility, and actually were the effects of uncertainty and, in some cases, fear.

Therefore, they decided to not attack the aliens. The shuttle again shot another flare, further signifying the aliens that they meant no harm. Then, the shuttle stood still, waiting for a response. Perhaps they could figure out a similar way to temporarily communicate with symbols?

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Inside the command room the head of the table, the ship’s AI, spoke to the advisors gathered around.
“The communication shuttle seems to still want peace, despite our fire at it. We also now know it has antimatter shielding similar to our own.” The AI paused for a second, and announce to the advisors, “The signal sent when we arrived has been adapted into our coding languages and we have partially translated the message. The message reads: ‘[Unknown, but are referring to us], we are the [Untranslated name: GALACTYANS]. You are inside the territory of the system of [Untranslated name: AVEKOLYCH]. Please [Unknown] yourself and we will not have hostility.’ It is currently not known what they demanded of us. Given their response with a smiley face it is likely that we somehow complied without knowing. In addition, given their second smiley face they don’t seem to be mad at shooting the small vessel. A message is being patched together in their language since they don’t know what we’re saying; their use of symbols to communicate makes that obvious.”

The Akropii starcarrier sent out another message.
“Are you hostile?”

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Second time’s a charm apparently. This time the aliens didn’t respond violently and instead sent out another message. Perhaps they could actually understand pieces of the Galactyan messages!

They immediately sent another message to the aliens.

IT DEPENDS ON YOU. IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND PEACE WILL FOLLOW. ATTACK OUR VESSELS AND OBLITERATION WILL BE CERTAIN.

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In the command room, the AI spoke again, ending the idle chatter of the room’s occupants.
“We have received a new message from the system inhabitants. It reads: It depends on you. identify yourself and [unknown] will happen. Attack our vessels and [Something Hostile] will occur.” The AI paused for a second to let the crew in the room to consider the message. “I am piecing together what information we can based on our limited understanding of their language. A data signal containing identifying Akropii registration will be sent accompanying it.”

The Akropii vessel sent out another message.
“We are a vessel of the Akropii Republic."

[-Begin Registration Signal-]
[Starship Class: Starcarrier (#278)]
[Ship ID: 278-001]
[Name: Ardeo]
[Design Purpose: Warship/Power Projection]
[Current Mission: Exploration]
[Commanding Officer: Litus (Ship AI)]
[Travel Restrictions: -Unrestricted-]
[Weaponry: Conventional & WMDs on board, WWD Capable (No WWDs on board)]
[-End Registration Signal-]

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On Avekolim’s Surveillance Nexus

The radars picked up the new messages, and the personnel of the Security Nexus were most delighted to discover the data they contained. Not only the star nation of origin, but also a great deal of info on the alien ship. The Supercomputers took the data and started using it to compile diagrams and schematics showing the ship’s systems and the weaponry.

What they were less delighted to see though was the fact that the alien vessel was a warship.

Could it be possible that the aliens were trying to trick them? No, otherwise they would have omitted the nature of their ship. Maybe they made a mistake and sent it out regardless? Still, no, otherwise they would have tried to justify themselves immediately.

The Galactyans still had hope in achieving peace from the start, but to be sure they made the defense fleet transfer to Avekia, one of Avekulkus’s moons that in that moment was closest to the aliens.

ARDEO OF THE AKROPII REPUBLIC, WE UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY UNABLE TO FULLY TRANSLATE OUR MESSAGES. THEREFORE, WE WILL SEND AN INFOSPHERE CONTAINING A PORTABLE UNIVERSAL TRANSLATOR.

Since a chance of hostility was now present, the Galactyans were willing to try gaining the trust of the aliens. Considering where they came from, after the contact they would need to ask Calerost if they knew anything about these aliens. They had never even heard of them before.

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In the command room, Litus updated the crew once again.
“Sensors have detected the movement of a fleet of warships to the celestial body closest to us. It seems that this nation is preparing to fight us. We have also received a message that we have not fully translated yet, along with a strange program. It is quite complex and could be anything from a map of the universe to malware designed to knock us off our feet. It is currently being downloaded onto an isolated server in case it is malware.”

After a few more minutes Litus spoke again to the command room.
“The program has been downloaded onto the isolated server and it appears to be some sort of translator device. It runs off an efficient algorithm, not a database of languages. It seems that these Galactyans have been able to understand our messages this whole time. We are drafting a proposal for a diplomatic meeting.”

The Ardeo sent out another message.

“We would like to extend the hand of peace and offer diplomatic talks. We are open to meeting you on the Ardeo, on a civilian vessel, or inside one of your warships. We do not mind if you carry weapons into the meeting. If you accept this please send back a location and any other terms you demand.”

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We are glad to hear that. Our diplomatic meeting will be held on the Adaptive Orbital Station "Obihjesk" (SERIAL NUMBER AXJ-5) in orbit around Avekia, the third moon of Avekulkus, the gas giant of the system. Orbital Path Info will be sent right now. In order for the station's environment to be suitable for your species at your arrival, please give us data about the gravity, atmospheric composition and humidity your species is most accustomed to.

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We do not require any specific environment modifications. No life sustaining systems are necessary for our operations. A shuttle will be sent over in an hour on the dot.

As promised the shuttle was launched exactly on the hour and made its way over to Adaptive Orbital Station Obihjesk. Inside rode 4 Synthetics: two guards, a body piloted remotely by Litus, and Litus’ second in command.

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As the alien shuttle was travelling towards the station, Obihjesk’s primary hangar and depressurization systems activated, preparing the station for the shuttle’s entry.

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Governor Hertansolp Obiusmmar during a private event at Avekolim’s northern pole.

Meanwhile Hertansolp, governor of the Avekolych System, was flying from the Main World of Avekolim to the Avekuskusian moon. Although they had been trained for this situation, as all governors were recently, they didn’t feel ready for it in the slightest. Usually, for a variety of reasons that were still unknown, first contacts with Alien Nations happened on bigger and more important system. Avekolych was small, and they were used to the simplicity of managing it compared to other systems. While waiting at the station, they practiced their relaxation techniques while drinking a methane-flavored Hinklaoed. They hoped they’d be able to handle it. A couple of months ago, they managed to talk in person with Asdariek, the first governor to handle a first contact. She told them that while stressful, the situation hardly degenerated, so he didn’t have much to worry about. He just had to be calm and kind, and the aliens would respond well.

As the Ardeo arrived to the Orbital Station and entered the hangar, the docking arms extended from the walls, keeping the ship in place a few meters from the ground as the hangar doors closed and the room filled with air. The station’s personnel watched the tracking progress from behind the windows of the side hallways on the second floor, ready to get down the stairs and lead the aliens to the Inner Ecosystem. Some soldiers were also ready to intervene in case things got icky. All they had to do now, was wait for the aliens to come out.

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The shuttle made a hissing noise as it adjusted to the station’s pressure, and the side door slid open. A ramp lowered to the floor and 4 beings walked out. They were each made of metal, wires, electronics, and hydraulic tubing. The two guards were bigger and covered in metal armor. A small glint around them hinted at a small personal antimatter shield. They carried no weapons, although the guards could easily have weapons built into them. Lights glowed from behind their eyes as they looked around the station. The synthetic at the head of the group spoke.
“We are here for the diplomatic talks.”

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Robots. Four exclusively robotic beings came out of the ship, not one of them presenting any biological features. Galactya also had plenty of robotic citizens, but to see an alien nation composed entirely of robots was so… intriguing.

Activating their portable universal translator, Hertansolp began to talk to the robot at the head of the group.

“Welcome to the Obihjesk! I am Hertansolp Obiusmmar, governor of the Avekolych Star System. A pleasure to meet you.”

“If you may follow me, we’ll go to my private Interior Ecosystem. It’s much more fit for diplomatic talks than the entry hangar.”

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Governor Hertansolp’s Private Part of the Obihjesk’s Interior Ecosystem.

The group of alien diplomats followed Hertansolp to their private room in the station.
They motioned the alien group to sit down on some gravitationally suspended armchairs, before pouring himself another cup of methane-flavored Hinklaoed.

He was about to ask the aliens if they wanted some, but judging from their physical appearance they probably couldn’t even eat. Regardless, he sat down and resumed talking.

“So, what brings you here? You appeared in our territories out of nowhere and we were wondering what objective you had when exploring our… little corner of the Sector.”

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As the synthetics passed through the inner ecosystem, they marveled at the plants and vegetation. None of them had seen any life at such a scale, even a small one, since the akropii Apocalypse war.

The robot piloted by Litus respond to Hertansolp.
“We have arrived in your small system here on an exploration mission. For the past few months we have been jumping system to system mapping the planets. Although when we jumped to this system we jumped significantly farther, a couple hundred perhaps thousand times farther.” Litus paused for a moment then inquired, “How large is your nation? And, probably more importantly, are you a threat to us?”

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”Well, whether we are a threat or not depends entirely on you. But, if I may be honest, considering how you behaved until now we won’t be foes.”

”We have become friends with other nations that acted far more aggressively when we first met.

”Instead, about your other question…”

Hertansolp pushed a button hidden on their chair, and a pillar emerged in the center of the room, right in front of the robots.

The pillar started projecting a large 3d hologram, with a map of Galactya’s territories, indicating the Capital, the major systems and where they were at the moment.

Then, the hologram became larger, as many other maps appeared near Galactya’s one.

”This is the Galactyan Empire and these are our allied nations. If you can, could you give us an approximation of where yours is located?

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Litus stood up and examined the map. With careful precision they pointed out a rough blob of space.
“Since we came from this direction, we are probably located over this way, and based on how far we went, we should be located here.” Litus sat back down into the chair. “Do you have a download of this map, or am I to rely on memory?”

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“Interesting… you come from behind the badlands! You must have taken a curved trajectory the, since otherwise there’s no way you’d be able to have crossed them with your ship. SInce you’re on their side of the Sector, we should probably also inform Calerost of your existence, so that they don’t attack you if you happen to come too near to their borders.”

“Anyways yes, I can just give you an holopad with the map on it and you can figure out how to download it later on.”

Now that we have solved this matter, I was curious to know something. Are you just a rather peculiar team or is your entire star nation composed entirely of robotic beings? We had theorized such cultures in the past, but we doubted they existed at all!