An Alliance of Three
Indoraptor Year 1269, January, Shangri (Wuxing system), Green Diamond Hotel...
Agent Ludvik was curling on his bed when his friend entered the hotel room.
Compared to his immaculate black and blue scales, Lea's grey and brown scales looked like they needed some thorough brushing. Not that Raizex blamed him since Lea had been visiting places adjacent to the hotel to collect information and hadn't had time to look after himself.
"Lea, have you seen the most recent news?"
"Yeah, I just did on the main lobby! Our vermillion avian friends have chosen to formally introduce themselves to our human friends. Remember the diplomat who welcomed the Aviren ambassadors years ago? He's now working as the translator for the birds!"
Today, a Saturday morning shrouded in a drizzle and thin mist, Agent Ludvik and his friend found themselves staying in a five-story hotel at Adaria, the capital city of Shangri, a cold and misty garden world owned by the Indoraptor Union. The two weren't alone in their current mission; some one hundred and fifty people of varying specialties were also assigned to Shangri by the Ministers on Terra Prima to monitor an open meeting between Indoraptor officials and Aviren diplomats. The topic of the meeting was a proposal to form a three-way defense pact between the Union, the Polity, and the Human Republic.
Raizex's task was simply to keep watch over the congregation of people. But whenever he had free time, the young agent would devote his time to study the relic and its red-colored twin presently stored within the local artifact archive.
Lea would read newsletters on the Republic's claims of being a nation founded by humans should he got his claws on them, living on a planet allegedly called Earth, developing different types of technology than the Union, as well as speaking in the same language that the Indoraptors shared.
"Frankly, I'm not sure if the humans are comfortable having big, talkative birds walking around them."
"Are you afraid the humans will try to eat the Avirens?" Raizex scoffed.
"Eh, I'm not sure, but I'd rather not tempt fate like that, dude."
Their version of Earth and Sol system were located more than a hundred light-years away from the Union's Sol system, and just like this one, the other Sol system was fairly lucky to be surrounded by other star systems that contained garden planets in varying levels of habitability. The main difference between the Indoraptors' Terra Prima and the humans' Earth was that the latter had never attempted any form of extinct animal cloning. Instead, the alternate humans preferred to tinker with computers and programming, resulting in the creation of artificial intelligence that varied greatly in terms of aptitude and self-awareness.
The Polity of Laritem had expressed enthusiasm in making contact with the Republic, hoping to establish mutual treaties in scientific studies, transaction, and security… the last bit was probably motivated by the Sylvons' attempt to steal valuable data and cultural heritage from the Polity.
"Can we talk about the Lotus?" Lea suddenly asked.
Raizex raised his eyebrows but nodded nevertheless.
He knew it was a bad and dangerous habit to carry the White Lotus wherever he went, but the young agent preferred it that way rather than leaving the Lotus unguarded in a locker.
Like it did many times before, the relic bloomed when activated. Holographic images of ancient tentacle aliens presented themselves to the two dinosaurs.
"Here, in the first video, I think the extinct aliens were saying something along the line of 'Bless be the all-creator for granting us the power of creation, for it is His will that we may grant life to the void', but don't quote me on that, since my translator can get fucked-up at times," Raizex explained the dialogue in the relic's holographic recording to Lea; it was the recording where the ancient aliens experimented on microorganisms.
"Next, in the second video, I think they're saying 'By the will of the all-creator, we shall seed the galaxy with beings of our designing, big and small, gentle and ferocious', before their terraforming mission," Lea rubbed his hands together as he watched the holographic screen further. The terraforming projects apparently bestowed the barren planets with divergent biomes.
"And the last one here, when the microbes mutate into new plants and animals, I believe the ancient aliens said 'Our hopes and dreams shall go with these young ones', but I don't think the proclamation was supposed to end there. The video is incomplete, and I think the rest of it could've been stored within the Red Lotus or the stolen Purple Lotus, if only I had the chance to open them myself," Raizex said as soon as the recording ended, miffed by the lack of proper closure to his little research.
So an old and advanced civilization seeded life on many planets across the known galaxy. They declared it as the will of their patron deity and performed their mission with holy fervor. By their technology alone, the ancient ones could be referred to as Gods by certain cultures. Yet their surviving legacy was being fought by those who came across them by accident and those who coveted them in the name of galactic dominance. To Raizex, this could provide insight on why the mollusks gambled everything to claim the artifacts, despite their Assembly being an authoritarian society with no trace of religious fundamentalism.
"Isn't that why you're here, to get close to the professors who study the Red Lotus?"
"Yeah. I wish I could contact them sooner. Maybe after we're done with this mission?"
"Hmm, I've got an idea. Why don't we visit the local bar to seek news?"
"Sounds good for me!"
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Republic Year 2180 (Indoraptor Year 1269), January, New Sahara (Republic space)...
Commander Julia Samson groaned in annoyance as she woke up in her private bunk on the colony planet's operations compound.
The poor woman was informed of how their new ally beyond the Republic space had agreed to establish a defense concord and had been urging the humans to join the defense pact to create a three-way alliance. Seriously, how the hell did the talking dinosaurs do that? The thought sent her nasty headaches ever since weeks ago, something that the Republic's politicians shared.
As she pulled herself up, she examined her morning schedules on her computer tablet. No urgent messages or calls, it seemed. Putting the tablet down, the commander decided to get a shower first and then dress up in standard uniform before looking for something to eat at the compound's cafeteria. Any updates must be put on hold until she finally got her bearings.
Just as she finished her plain chicken porridge as today's breakfast, a soldier approached the woman and alerted her of urgent news. It concerned the Republic's first-contact scenario with the Navari aliens.
Goddamn it, the woman cursed in her head. Samson originally intended to visit the compound's training ground first, but urgent news must be considered as a top priority. The commander then thanked the soldier and returned to her bunk to watch the breaking news on her PDA.
"The clans of Zulkana are immensely delighted to finally establish First-Contact with an intelligent spacefaring race, ambassador. You may refer to me as Cleyrasparnax, or Cleyra for short." A feminine voice speaking in heavily accented English played from the video. In it, the commander saw a cheetah-like creature, most likely the Navari everyone talked about recently, conversing with a human man in a plain-looking meeting room. Around them were witnesses, both humans and Navari in lab coats or suits. A notification at the corner of her tablet's screen identified the aliens' governing body as the State of Zulkana.
So, the Republic has initiated the first contact.
"Please call me Jackson, madam Cleyra. I am authorized to greet you on behalf of our interstellar empire; the Human Republic of Earth thanks you for your enthusiasm to open a diplomatic connection with us. I hope this historical occasion brings prosperity to all of us," Ah, Brandon Jean-Luc Jackson, one of those pro-alien activists as Samson recalled him. A vocal influencer of human-alien cooperation, Jackson had been promoting his belief that humans need aliens, if only to stop mankind from being so wasteful and self-centered for the good of the whole species.
"May the spirits of the cosmos grant you good fortune as well, Ambassador Jackson."
"Amen to that."
Samson wryly smiled; she nearly forgot how Jackson was a religious figure, despite the Republic's secularist disposition. "Now, ambassador, may we learn a little more about your social strata? We were informed through data caches sent by your language translators who used... English, is that the name of your language? Yes, we've read the data about what you humans are and how your culture operates but… is it possible for egalitarian and academic philosophies to coexist at the same time, inside the same government as well?" The alien, Cleyra, began asking the ambassador.
"To answer your question, Humanity's administration originally came from a series of conflicts among nation-states with differing political ideology and values. The latest planet-wide conflict, the third of its kind, nearly took one-third of our population with it. Fearing that the end of mankind was near, we had no choice but to unite under a single banner, all in our desperation to stall the doomsday. And so the Human Republic of Earth was born, by joining the best traits of many philosophical customs while abandoning the negative ones."
Hmpf, the commander didn't have to be reminded of that one war's controversy. One side argued that it was certainly the third world war, while another, more skeptical faction claimed that it was no different than the armed conflicts which happened annually for decades.
"So your species were close to extinction?" Cleyra's eyes turned from blue to orange, a sign of interest.
"Not very close, but the fear of total collapse was there." the ambassador shook his head.
"We offer our condolences, ambassador," Cleyra said empathically, "We also experienced a near-total decline of our civilization in the past."
Samson nodded as she indulged herself in the discussion. She could note Jackson's uncertainty at the Navari's confession, "How so?"
"We used to be apex carnivores on our homeworld. Once we got accustomed to industrialization, our diet shifted gradually to omnivorous, and the lesser meat-eating animals, once nothing but scavenging vermin, then evolved to become deadly threats to our continued existence." Ah, so the Navari was just like the Indoraptors, the woman noted. But unlike the mutant lizards who harnessed their wild instinct to a certain degree, the cheetah people chose to forgo their wild instinct in favor of technological advancement.
"So you fell to the bottom of the food chain, is that correct, madam Cleyra?" clarified the ambassador.
"True. Our ancestors had to rediscover how to fight, how to be hunters once again. Mind you, ambassador; several species of carnivores on Zulkana evolved to be large and robust enough to withstand arrows and spears. We had to choose; either start fighting back or risk being reduced to cave-dwelling animals." At the female Navari's gesture, a few other Navari turned a projector on, showcasing the evolution of primitive Navari until they became what they were now. Another set of images revealed what Samson thought to be carnivorous species from the feline's home planet, with several of them being almost similar to prehistoric creatures that came before the dinosaurs.
"Truly remarkable."
The mood of the discussion progressively shifted into discomfort as Ambassador Jackson tried to change the subject, "Now, I'm very sorry if the following topic sounds startling for the Navari, but I believe... no, Humanity believes that your species could be an important asset in securing our future. A future free from oppression."
"What oppression are you talking about?" Cleyra moved uncomfortably in her seat. The commander suspected that Cleyra sensed the ambassador's anxiety.
"The Republic has been warned of an impending conflict against an adversary. You see, we have established contact with a reptilian species with a special connection to mankind as a whole. They mentioned how a molluscoid species have silently declared their xenophobic intention against all sapient life they've encountered with threats of slavery, espionage, and theft."
Not sure if the statement produced the intended effect or not, but judging from the Navari audience's unraveled expressions, Samson assumed the felines to be quite uncomfortable at the notion Jackson forwarded. "Spirits, another alien race desired to subjugate your people?" Cleyra asked in trepidation, followed shortly by the ambassador's grim nodding.
"Correct, madam Cleyra. There are two spacefaring species with a benign attitude toward the Republic, and they too are suffering from what they coined as proxy wars against the mollusks. They are known as the Indoraptor Union and the Aviren Polity of Laritem. Both had been in contact with us for some time. Upon learning the similarities between their struggles and the recent events we've had lately, we might as well try to recruit allies in driving the mollusks away."
Minutes went by as Ambassador Jackson explained what the Republic has studied so far in terms of the Sylvon Assembly's espionage and all attempt to undermine them, but Commander Samson knew better. He shouldn't have broken out the news so quickly, lest the Navari State chose to retreat behind their border, depraving the Republic of a future ally.
Much to her marvel, however, was the Navari's vow to share as much knowledge as her species could, although the Republic's delegations were a little peeved by Cleyra's testimony that they might not be able to assist in military-related issues beyond monetary assistance. As proof of cordiality, the Navari requested open access to Human-owned territories since they were eager to learn everything there was to know about the Republic and its citizens.
The video ended soon after Jackson and Cleyra shook hands as a symbol of mutual coexistence.
Commander Samson sighed as she had no idea whether letting them into Republic space would be well-received or not, but their dominion was bordering on the Navari State's rightful territory, and regardless of what the masses might think about their government, the Republic was not founded by a horde of xenophobic idiots. A sinister adversary was antagonizing them from the dark, and turning aid away could be mankind's greatest mistake.
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EXTRACTING SPECIES PROFILE: NAVARI
Species Name: Navari
Scientific Name: Felis Pardus campus
Classification: Feline Mammalian
Homeworld: Zulkana, Trappist system
Preferable Habitats: Savanna and arid plains
Lifespan: ~90 years
Length: 2.5 meters
Height: ~1.85 meters (bipedal stance)
Weight: ~50 kilograms
Diet: Primarily carnivore
Locomotion: Bipedal
Ethics: Egalitarian, Scholarly, and Spiritualistic
Species Attributes: Two forward-facing eyes, retractable claws on fingers and toes, very agile, democratic, intellectually talented, possessing night vision, sensitive ears, and a keen interest in science and the arts.
Overview:
The Navari, also referred to as the 'Cheetah People' by the Human Republic of Earth, evolved on the dry, warm planet of Zulkana as a former apex predator species. Fast, agile, and resilient, the Navari roamed the vast continents of their planet with the intent of seeking bountiful hunting and breeding grounds. Their species began to evolve into multiple ethnicities for the following tens of thousands of years when shifting tectonic plates split continents apart, separating packs and families from one another.
To express their emotion by visual means, the felines used their eye pupils to shine different colors depending on what emotion they felt at the time; dark purple when angry, icy blue when calm, yellow when happy, and orange when curious or apprehensive.
Upon gaining self-awareness and subsequently sapience, the Navari slowly but steadily lost their apex predator status as the hunting-gathering lifestyle was outdone by the rise of agriculture and tool manufacturing. In the absence of a top-level carnivorous species, other meat-eating animals rose to supremacy, compelling the feline species to re-learn how to hunt and fight to protect their young. Early in their history, their weaponry consisted of simple spears and stone hammers, and their knowledge was fairly limited to single-digit numbers, primitive hieroglyphs, and simple wooden buildings. It was not until Year 350 in their calendar system that a group of intelligent Navarie developed radical tools such as carriages, windmills, explosives, and ships than could carry the feline creatures across the ocean.
Not long after that, a flurry of technological inventions occurred (Year 355 – Year 802). The Navarie advanced quickly in engineering, metallurgy, botany, and energy-generating, giving them an opportunity to regain their status as the apex life form on Zulkana. New languages and writing methods were practiced and went on to become the basis of daily interactions between families, groups, and nations.
But it was the discovery of gunpowder that led them into conflicts.
There were two world wars among the Navarie which mirrored the World Wars on Earth; the Voyage Wars (Year 800 - 884) which gave way into an era of Colonialism and Expansionism, and the Showdown of Dactreev (Year 996 - 1100), when two superpowers displayed menacing plays on political powers, dragging many smaller countries into a bloody conflict.
The development of space flight, followed shortly by the discovery of non-sapient life on a planet neighboring Zulkana somehow united the felines, providing them an insight into how life could exist outside their homeworld. The species, formerly divided by ideologies and constitutional systems, became one under the banner of the Navari State, also referred to as the State of Zulkana. From then on, their lives were greatly improved as social equality became commonplace (circa Year 1586) and the academic mindset outlasted the waning traditionalist views among them. They believed that only by embracing their people as friends, not enemies or rivals, can the Navari move forward as a whole.
As of this date (Year 2070), a number of space travels have been carried out to survey other star systems neighboring the Trappist system in search of other habitable planets.