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RP Tuat'la-Koun First Contact

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Bearing 315 of sector centre.
A science vessel floated along on the edges of the sector, sensor pings coming out periodidcally as it scanned its surroundings with the integrated bluespace array built into the vessel. Onboard the ship itself, things were relatively normal, and operations were standard. It was just a normal system survey, they had no reason to suspect there would be life here. Then it happened, a small sensor blip, and then another, then thousands more. As their screen was filled with space traffic of all sorts from their long-range FTL sensors network, they were astonished. It was another set of alien civilizations!

The Commanding Officer quickly nodded to the Chief Operations Officer, and immediately had them send a message to Expeditionary command. It would take a few hours for the message to reach ExCom by Bluespace, but it was a good idea nonetheless. As the ship began performing more scans of the surrounding of the system, specifically the unstable area they were studying, near the edge of the sector, bearing 315 of the centre of the sector, a navigation command was issued.

"Execute a sixty second prograde burn, bearing one-one-two nought five, mark zero nought five, relative to sector bearing zero. Remain at target velocity until sensor readings improve."

"Aye" the navigations officer quickly responded.
 
The Kikyō sector was particularly fertile for a cluster this far out in a spiral arm. All of the stars were within a few light years of the ecliptic plane in this thin part of the galaxy, and shoved into a close-range dance with many stars within a handful of light years of one another, all across the sector. It was not as dense as a coreward cluster, but this far away from the center, it was nothing short of remarkable. A veritable oasis in the middle of the relative emptiness of a distant arm.

By every FTL measurement, the bright energy signatures of the incredible Yamataian and Nepleslian power sources lit up the sector as ships slipped out of ordinary relativism into that artificially-constructed simultaneity that was indicative of hyperspace folding and other continuum distortions that were the hallmark of FTL technology. There were no less than four or five completely different methods of accomplishing the nearly-magical feat, in fact. And, among the noise, broadcast in every subspace, hyperspace, and any other FTL communications means available, was a signal in the language of Yamataigo, whose particularly regular syntax and grammar made for easy decoding. "Unknown Ship," apparently the newcomers had had been detected by the natives as well, "This is Shōi Takeda Sayako of the Star Army of Yamatai, Chief Science Officer of the Yamataian Star Ship Kōun. On behalf of the Yamatai Star Empire, we welcome you. Proceed on your current heading until you reach the rendezvous point at the attached spacetime coordinates if you wish to make contact." The message repeated immediately after.
 
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Alastair stood at attention when it was called out, unknown ship. He had hoped this far out detour may net interesting finds. Since like all things fertile in life, one must thrust into the unknown. The vastness of space was ripe for a new adventure at every turn. Plus it would give the crew valuable experience on how to handle these type of situations. It would also further Alastair's own ability to make friend relationships.

"Very good Sayako, could not have said that better myself." He said as he took a step forward. He then looked to his first officer Akino. "Have the crew be on alert, but nothing that would give indication we are here to fight. I'd like for this to go peaceful if at all possible." He took another step forwarded and waited for the ship to move into position.
 
As the ship moved to the position, they came to a halt as the Inertial Dampeners came online. Coming to a slow halt, the ship's radio officer called out to the other ship,

"This is the Random Alien Joint Forces Vessel Tu'atla of the United Random Alien Federation. We are glad to have faced welcome from a kind species. We have arrived at the rendezvoux point and are standing by awaiting further instructions."

"Docking codes have been transmitted, and a docking port will be extended upon your arrival, should you choose to do so."

The RJFV Tuat'la shone in the bright radiation-scape of galaxy. It was beautiful, its massive bluespace rings and spatial shielding shimmered in the heat of the two ships.
 
Alastair chuckled for a moment when they were called a kind species. He so wanted to be like, hold up, hold my beer while I tell you about my people. Either way this was off to a good start and one he had hoped for.

"Thank you for the formal introduction. I am Captain Belmont of the YSS Koun. A ship tasked with exploring the unknown to find the unknown." He shared over the comms channel. He indicated to cut the feed. He then looked to Sayako, "So, should we send a team? I personally believe it would be best that I go on this mission."
 
"Shōsa, I should go first since I am subject to neither atmospheric or temperature constraints, nor pathogenic or toxic exposure, and am significantly radiation resistant. As I do not require environmental support apparatus for sustainment, I will be the most natural-appearing without disregarding due abundance of caution. I understand the irony of this scenario, but you will not be as visible behind and full-face respirator mask." The repurposed FARS-drone light-bar beneath the synthetic flesh of her neck, seemingly a collar made of light, pulsed a brilliant blue-white at regular intervals as she explained, and it went red, then dark at end as punctuation.

She didn't even give time for her commander to reply to her assertion before she was back on the comms, perhaps with the barest hint of a smug expression shadowing the corner of her mouth, "Federation Vessel Tu'atla, we are honored you have accepted. As I am not a fragile biological lifeform, I shall be the first to board. I have been manufactured in the image of my creator species, so I do not believe it will be an issue for first impressions. After I have performed an atmospheric analysis, my commander, Shōsa Alastair Belmont, and the rest of our away team will follow."

Immediately after the Yamataians' reply was received, the Kōun came out of hyperspace. It was a smaller ship, a large frigate- around half the size of the Tu'atla, and gracefully thin and sharp. Shortly after, there was a shimmer as the Plumeria-class ship's navigation shields lowered, and a shuttle was launched to approach the larger ship.
 
There was little response, which was slightly concerning. Nothing other than a simple,

"You are cleared for docking procedure."

As the JFSE Vessel extended a docking arm, and the ship docked soon after. The docking arm clamped on to the exterior airlock of the Star Army vessel, and as they entered, an atmospheric sample could be taken. it was clean, and breathable, but the other side of the airlock was not open.

Only when both were fully onboard did the airlock close behind them... but the door in front didn't open. A small computer said in the Yamataian language:

"Standby for sterilisine atmospheric injection."

As the airlock flooded with a breathable white gas, a counter counted down from five-minutes. Apparently they were supposed to sit here. It didn't seem painful, and wasn't overtly harmful either. A small panel allowed interaction with the airlock. When the process completed, the airlock opened and they were greeted by three people. A Master at Arms, the Commanding Officer, and Diplomatic Officer.

"Greetings and welcome, may the stars fare upon you well. I am Jatala, Captain of this vessel. You have been treated with a disenfectant and antibiotic regiment intended to prevent disease transfer. Apologies are offered in the event you have been offended. Please come with us, so you may be treated with food and drink, after your introduction, of course."
 
"Captain Jatala, your procedure was not offensive, but was redundant, and therefore inefficient, as our atmosphere and surfaces are not only constantly sterilized by femtomachines, our various constituent species have been engineered to lack any pathogenic susceptibility." A pink-and-blue light pulsed beneath the synthetic skin of the anthroform drone's throat. "It appears our translation facilities have begun to synchronize, but I will transmit a full linguistic corpus." Holding up her left hand, palm forward, she continued, "I am now scanning your atmosphere before the organics come aboard. One moment. Thank you. I am transmitting my analysis to the commander now. I thank you for your offer of sustenance but as I do not require it, I prefer to not ingest it even though I am capable of digestion. However, the rest of our away team may appreciate the gesture more than I am able." Sayako's voice isn't monotone, but there's definitely a flattened affect, any emotive content delivered by the peculiar colors and patterns of lights circling her neck.
 
Alastair did his part by staying behind on the ship. Though he still felt he should go first and greet them in person. Granted he also knew that doing things slightly different could provide intel on how the other side reacts. Good or bad, it would give insight.

Alastair waited for the report to come back from Sayako. Once received he reviewed the findings so far. He was happy to see they too were big on being clean. He may have to ask if he could borrow some of this technology in the future. He was also pleased they understood to offer food at an initial greeting.

He sent a report back to Sayako that he was going to come aboard. He made his way down to the shuttle and jumped on board to head over to meet the new friends. It was only a short trip before the shuttle docked with the other ship. After the airlock sealed and the door opened he made his way out of the shuttle.
 
"You likely do not understand. Pathogens are not the problem. Any microorganism could pose a significant threat due to alien biologiy. It is not about pathogens. Noenetheless, we are glad you are not offended. Redundancy is necessary in safety systems, but that does not mean it is useless. Machines can still cary foreign particles on their exterior."

The rathenkans nodded before awaiting alaisters entry, and after a brief introduction, they looked towards them and simply nodded, beginning to walk down the ship's hallways. The ship itself had a clean, clinical, white interior, Utilising antigrav tunnels, it was easy to navigate between rooms and levels, no elevators needed. As they made their way to the bridge deck, Captain Jatala guided the two into the meeting room, directly off the ready room.

As the group all were seated, they looked at the two, and said, "You must be confused, slightly. We apologise, our language does not translate easily, and it is standard procedure to not transmit psionically if those around us do not understand. Should you wish, we may speak fully."

"Now, if I may ask, why must you grace us, with this... machine? Such a gesture shows little trust in the unknown."

The captain spoke, as the diplomat remained silent. The MA left the room seemingly with no warning.
 
First Contact situations were somewhat rare, but they were always a big deal. At least to Nakama Osakura she thought it should be. The SAINT Operative turned boring Intel Analyst nearly jumped out her chair when the profile of the alien ship did not match anything that on record. When the communication came, she was busy working with the ship's computer to translate it into something they could for the most part understand.

When the all clear was given for a boarding party, she opted to tag along. Her former operative personality kicking herself back to life at the opportunity to study potential foes from the very first moment. Thus the black paneled woman accompanying Alastair decided to simply stay behind their fearless leader and observe everything around them for later analysis.

So far they seem to be technically equal and even had the same lack of elevators. Though the antigrav instead of Zero-G likely means they can't fly. Something she doesn't want to demonstrate just yet they are capable of. When the alien asked about not trusting, she simply looked at Alastair with a blank face and laughed internally.
 
Aliset Koun had been relatively bored since her transfer to this ship, and though she had initially let her heart skip a few beats, and she seemed to fire off a rapid burst of song. This had been a description of the movement of the ship. This had been quickly corrected and translated into Yamataigo.

"And... Now the helm bunny... Waits..." She shook her head, having forgotten to stay silent. Looking back to whoever had the bridge, it seemed they didn't notice. She finally decided to open up the messages and take a look at the untranslated version. Furrowing her brows at the screen, it seemed... Familiar. Something from her schooling on xenopolicy, an example her people had used for their schoolchildren. Closing her eyes, she thought about it. Thrusters, mass drivers, expanding docking arms, why did all this seem so familiar?!

She didn't know it, didn't remember it, those classes had been almost twenty years ago, and long abandoned in her mind as simple examples. Shurista had not been involved in the first contact or any real diplomacy with the Rythenkan Federation, and hadn't been this far out in millenia. She had never seen one of these ships, heard the language in person. But she knew these odd symbols. Something in the back of her mind. No, this was a daughter of Shurista's domain. She did not remember which. Her postage route had been primarily Katamura, Turassiel, Sutrata, and Granatae. She spoke those languages, could sing beacons and passages to them. She knew no one out here. But this was too familiar to ignore.

"Sir." She finally spoke up, "This situation is familiar. I think I remember these people from my schooling on Shurista. Permission to make contact with the away team? If I can get access to camera feeds, it may give me enough of a memory to guide them."
 
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"Belmont-Shōsa," Sayako approached his side once he came through the docking port, "although the chemical sterilization methods used aboard are less effective than our nodal system's constant operation, my scans have indicated the environment is safe. Atmospheric gases and ambient radiation are within standard tolerances. I will scan their offered foodstuffs and comestibles when they are presented." She did not respond at all to being spoken about, instead her attention, other than what was directed at her Captain, was focused on pointing her left palm towards anything and everything in line of sight, with the occasional flash or pattern of light around her neck.
 
Aboard the Tuat'la

Alastair Belmont sat and listened to the captain address him. He was fascinated by how they tried to speak with them. He could tell instantly before even being told that this was not their primary way of communicating. "I am open for whatever means fits best to allow for a clear communication. Based on your question it would seem we have already offended you, which was not our intent. This was my mistake and take full responsibility for this transgression. Being a kind captain that I am has fostered a very loyal crew, even the machines on the ship care for me deeply." As the word, machine, rolled off his tongue a slight anger raised within him. Though none would know of this internal conflict he was having. Alastair did his best to navigate a topic which was sensitive to him. Sayako was more than a machine and was brought onto his ship to ensure she would be treated as the being she was. Though he knew that every new race had reasons for their actions and it would be unkind to judge them using his ideals and laws.

He looked to Sayako who clearly ignored the question and instead focused on the details. "Thank you." He said to her with a warm smile.

"If we could, let us start over properly. I am Alastair Belmont of the YSS Koun of the Star Army of Yamatai. You have already met Takeda Sayako. And the one slightly behind me is Nakama Osakura my intelligence officer." A short moment later he recieved a message from the Koun with a message. It was shared the recent addition to the crew, Aliset Koun, may have insight into this race. A very interesting turn of events. He sent back a message to wait on stand by.

"I have another crew I believe would add much to our discussions. Would you mind if I invited them over?" He asked kindly.
 
The captain nodded, switching seats with the diplomat. The DIplomat adjusted their white and purple uniform, as they managed to focus their mind on the conversation at hand. As they stared forward, their mouth did not move, but they spoke in a language the organics in the room can understand. It took a moment, but eventually the android received the infomration as well, via psionic link. It was strange, images and concepts communicated directly, tonality, colour, flair all enclosed in this wonderful psionic package. At the end of all this, when the Random Alien eventually chose to spoke, it was safe to say it was the most colourful language ever heard. "Please, continue, we are listening, with open minds and open souls. I will not judge you for what you have done, nor will my people, but you have shown yourselves to lack merit, trust. It is important to understand that that is one of the most important thing to our people. I will say, from observation, it is not appreciated your continued boasting of technology, and uneccessary comments on what you believe to be primitive. I will not speak to your technology nor to your culture, as I have not studied it in depth yet. I ask that you extend the same courtesy to us. Do this, and we shall be on amicable terms." The tone was warm, trustful, and caring, despite what the harshness of the words said.

"Now, to proceed with arrangements, dispensing with formalities. Enclosed within this optical disc is a cultural summary of our people, in additoon to the history of our nation, all two-hundred thousand years of it. Should you wish to analyse it, you may do so."
The diplomat slid a thumb-sized crystal disc over the table, to the Yamataians.

"We ask that you bring this other crewmember aboard."
 
Alastair paused, then leaned back into his chair. He was most impressed with how this conversation had turned around. More to the point they were instructing him on how to conduct oneself properly. The only other who had done this thus far had been Sayako. It would seem he now knew of two beings willing to put him in his place.

"I can agree to those terms, as it makes the most logical sense." He tipped his one side as the thumb-sized disc was passed towards him. He was very excited to get his hands on all this information. Normally it would take a very long time to get access to this level of details on a race. He reached over and took it into his hands. They trembled slightly like he was holding the key to the universe. He then looked towards Sayako. "Believe you can analyze this?"

Alastair sent back a message to the ship to prepare to have Aliset sent over. He knew even a little bit of knowledge can go a long way so figured it would not hurt having her come over.
 
Nakama Osakura merely nodded her head when her name minus rank was mentioned. Her eyes also got colder as she felt like they were getting chastised by an outside force making snap judgements. The encounter was quickly becoming one sided as these aliens seemed rather sure of themselves. If they were talking about money and slaves, they'd fit in with the Kuvexians she thought.

Then she heard that word trust again as she activated her encryption and filtering protocols to monitor if they try to actually probe her mind. Freely using telepathy would explain the constant use of "trust".

She looked at Alastair and then Sayako before looking back at their hosts. She established an "old-fashioned" encrypted wireless connection with the android. "I strongly advise you let me inspect that data in a closed off system before we let it touch MEGAMI. First Contact or not, this smells too convenient."
 
"Aliset-Chui, you're up. They've requested your presence," the bridge officer nodded to Aliset's request, and she stood, offering a crisp salute.

"You want me taking my Shuristan space suit or go in Yamataian uniform," she asked, standing to offer a crisp salute.

"Take your suit. But wear your uniform under it. I want you to remove your suit top as soon as you make contact. You said your people know these folks. From how it's going over there, they need a friendly face. Dismissed."

"Yessir." Aliset nodded, then sprinted down the hall to her locker. Pulling the hundreds of years old suit from her locket, she quickly inspected it, ensuring that it marked her correct Yamataian rank alongside her Shuristan ranks of Captain and of Shuristan High Council, her Civil Service ribbon, and her awards. She slipped her knife from her hip sheath, and slipped it into the suit sheath before stepping in, sealing herself, and rolling her shoulders to seat the neoprene against her back. A quick zip, and she lifted her helmet, dropping it to seal her neck and lock it in place. She chose to leave her oxygen pack. She wouldn't need it. And she wanted the Rythenkan sterilizing process to penetrate her suit. It would be too easy to spread a hyperlethal virus or fungus, even the bacterium that lived in her blood and kept her alive was potentially hyperlethal to someone.

No, she wouldn't risk that. But she needed to display herself. And to the airlock she went, her mag boots making their distinct clic-bam as she walked down the hall in full Shuristan Civil Service uniform.

Through the airlock, breathe deep of the sterilizing gasses. Wait. Through, and follow the color coded lines and the smell of her captain's special form of xenopolicy. Tall and proud like a five foot three Councillor of War, Captain of the postage freighter, and Helmsman of the Plumeria should be. She waited until she was in sight of the Rythenkans before pulling the helmet off her head, sweeping her hair across as she hung the helmet on her hip, handing her Service knife to a guard, and unzipping her suit.

The black neoprene and burial steel folded to the side as it slipped from her form, the legs opening and rolling off to slam to the floor as she stepped past her Captain, to kneel. Palm up, hand extended, ungloved as her gloves had slipped off. She closed her eyes and bowed her head to the diplomat from her kneeling form.

"I am Qrr'tok Aliset iš karo laivo Kōun tarybos narys mūšio neé Vadasirinidias krovininis Soren iš Shurista y Tokyo Es Yamatai. It is an honor to finally meet the K'Ai in person. It has been many hundreds of cycles since Shurista has been this far and long from my time."
 
The K'ai diplomat approached, seemingly surprised to see a shuristan, one whom was on the council no-less. As they nodded and removed their glove, they placed their hand on Aliset's hand, before saying,
"I am Qrr'ti Yulata ti Isthat ka Was'at. The honour is mine, and I thank you for taking initiative. You are a strong and caring individual, I can sense. I join with you to lay our minds bare, to let the unseen be seen, let all be revealed in truth in a single moment, for nothing shall be secret."

As both laid their minds bare to eachother, they both saw the life stories of eachother. Their feelings and emotions were laid bare for each to see, and in just a matter of moments, a trusted bond between the two was formed. As the hand slowly lifted away, the diplomat looked at the others with eyes no longer glazed.

"Thank you for accomadating the Senti. It appears you are quite the interesting people, indeed. There is not much I can speak to other than your kindness to others, but nonehtheless, I am happy that you are the way you are to others."

"Now, as per tradition, that with whom I have linked will lead negotiations. I apologise if this subverts the command structure, but this is how things must be done." The diplomat says, returning to their seat, before folding their hands on the table, saying, "A most interesting people indeed..."
 
Sayako didn't look back at the Intelligence officer to reveal their communication, but she had delicately plucked the information storage unit from her Captain's hands like a parent discreetly removing something dangerous from their toddler's grasp. And, in that moment, she'd already begun probing it. She wasn't about to wait for official orders for something she felt was already in the scope of her authority as Chief of Science. "I can, Shōsa." Her words were a bit clipped in their delivery, and there was no flash of light around her emotive band. A storage compartment opened in the back of her wrist, and she secreted it away in the forensic tube inside her forearm. Sayako smiled politely at him for a moment before resuming her empty, poker-faced expression.

It might have been subtle, but the widening of eyes and barest hint of a smile as Sayako's gaze fell on Aliset was telling for anyone who noticed. It was accompanied by a brief pink chasing light around her neck. The usual doll-like serenity of her face became somewhat subtly softer, revealing perhaps a fondness for the Senti that wasn't present in the way she dealt with the others. She focused her gaze on the ritual occurring between the two, and lifted her palm to it, trying to read as much as possible with the chemical, biological, and radiation sensors it contained, as well as the thermal pits below her eyes and beside her nose, giving her a many-layered sensory experience.
 
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