Whispers and Sightings
Republic Year 2175 (Indoraptor Year 1262), June, planet Earth(?)...
"Good morning, Mr. President."
"At ease, Commander."
The two humans in uniform were standing inside a white oval room, inaccessible to virtually everyone except people with very special authorization. The male human president shifted his attention from the lady commander in front of him to the datapad in her possession, carrying a top-secret report regarding the existence of another spacefaring species.
For centuries, the human race thought of itself as the sole sapient life form throughout the galaxy, believing that space was empty of life, or at least intelligent life, to begin with. Explorations upon explorations were conducted in search of life in the cosmos, and yet all they found were empty barren planets, and habitable planets populated by nothing but plants and wild animals. Millions upon millions of credits were poured into all manners of research; the men and women of the Republic required the best information and technology they could get their hands on if they were to triumph over the 'Final Frontier'.
For a long, long time, mankind met no other sapient life in space, only decaying ruins that spoke of great cataclysms in the past. Investigations led on the excavation sites yielded blueprints for humanity to study and develop their technology from; interstellar warp drives, kinetic weaponry, spaceships with artificial gravity, and even crude forms of genetic engineering. And so, the Human Republic of Earth was born, both to safeguard humanity from perils of the cosmos and to expand their interests. Space is empty, most people said, there's nothing to be afraid of.
That belief was shattered when their long-range satellites in space identified the presence of another interstellar empire by detecting light emissions and signals floating in space. The top brass hadn't released their findings to the public, wanting to understand this spectacle first and took essential precautions unless the discovery was judged non-life-threatening.
"I've heard plenty of news so far, but no evidence until now. Is this correct?"
"Yes, sir," the commander nodded firmly.
"Have they been verified?"
A second nod from the commander confirmed the president's suspicions; the existence of a rival civilization could be a threat to the Republic's integrity and the human race as a whole. Further examination on the reports failed to identify the aliens' fleet power and number, nor the size of their territory and number of colonized planets, but they did isolate a significant amount of communication between the members of the enigmatic species, coming to and from different planets. The signals were speculated to be the aliens' equivalent of the internet.
These worlds, the researchers noted, were of divergent biomes, many of which were said to be unsuitable for humans without first constructing special terraforming facilities.
"One more thing to clarify, Mr. President."
"What is it?"
"Our scientists, especially those among the lower levels, claimed under the vague suggestion that this alien empire... originated from a parallel Earth, although the theory was most likely a misidentification," the commander kept her voice steady, not wishing to be called superstitious.
"One does not make outrageous statements like that. Parallel Earth?" the president narrowed his green eyes at the mention of it.
"Your skepticism is one of many, sir. The majority of the Republic's House of Commons disagreed with the findings, yet they demanded more thorough investigations to determine if these aliens... these 'Indoraptors' are of any hazard to us. If they are, we may choose to attack them in case they become a danger. Otherwise, let them prowl behind their border."
The president's stern facial expression was a complete mystery. Even behind the facade of seriousness, the commander could see two conflicting thoughts inside the older man's mind; one desired to preserve humanity's strength against a bigger threat than these Indoraptors (ignore the aliens as long as they play nice), while the other suggested wiping out all potential menace before they grow into a real danger (we destroy them or they destroy us). The commander dared not to break the silence, lest she rubbed the leader of the Republic in the wrong way.
To begin with, the Republic's space navy's strength consisted of five major fleets; each fleet was comprised of eight cruiser-class ships, fifteen destroyer-class ships, and dozens of fighter-class ships. The smaller ships also supported the bulk of the Republic's scout fleets. It was not satisfactory however, what with their three fledgling colonies still lacking sufficient resources before they could contribute anything of use, including soldiers and warships, to the Republic.
In the end, something must be done.
"For starters, we should increase the number of ships within the fleets, maybe even set up new fleets as we go," the President finally broke the uneasy silence, "send word to our admirals and generals, tell them to prepare their manpower and stockpile all strategic resources as best as they could. Tell them that we are about to experience a probable first-contact scenario soon enough. Don't let our weaknesses be spotted by the aliens."
He then stopped for a brief moment before continuing "Also, let our diplomats know that we should be designing a translator device. The project can be started next week when they are ready."
"Understood, sir."
"And for the record, don't let your personal views cloud your judgment. I care not if there are parallel Earths out there, and I don't want to hear illogical nonsense about parallel humans, too. The aliens, whoever they are, will either be our friends, enemies, or passive neighbors. Let's keep our heads clear and logical."
"Affirmative, sir."
Watching the commander left him in the room alone, the president silently contemplated his verdict. Damn it all, he thought, he and the rest of the Republic were advancing well in their lives, and now fate decided to throw a completely unknown variable in their direction. The existence of an Earth-like planet out there, populated by beings that might or might not be parallel humans…
The president could only hope that, whatever the outcome of the imminent first-contact situation, the Republic and humanity as a whole could gain some benefit from it.
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Aviren Year 2217 (Indoraptor Year 1262), June, planet Laritem...
"There is no mistake in this finding?"
"None, Executive Zyr, we have checked and rechecked it countless times."
The two avian aliens with vermillion feathers were chattering quickly in Vasilis, the official language of the Aviren Polity of Laritem. Just ten days ago, the scientific community of Laritem had announced their discovery of an intelligent civilization that mastered space colonization. Some sort of reptile-like aliens, they said, settling on planets with wide arrays of biomes.
"Have we determined their species name and type of government?"
"We haven't pinpointed their species name yet, but preliminary observations indicated a kind of egalitarian and materialistic type of government, one that values family and teamwork despite their scientific advances. We thought of this as an impossibility, but who knows? These are aliens after all; they might not hold the same principles as we do."
"Very well. Is there any new opinion posted on our public forum?"
"None as of today, executive," the secretary waved his feathered hand, "The citizens both on Laritem and the colonies remained ambivalent regarding the discovery."
The disgruntled leader permitted her aide to abandon the office. The female Aviren then cleaned her worktable of any paperwork, glancing once in a while to her communication device as if waiting for other news to arrive.
Of course, due to the provocative nature of the declaration, the entire population of the Polity was dragged into a series of long debates. Firstly, the debates were to disprove such findings by invoking the Jarsemi Mystery, an accepted theory to explain the lack of extraterrestrial civilization despite the galaxy having existed for billions of years. The galaxy was empty and had always been empty. Came nine days later, and people who opposed the theory opened a second public debate, where they presented a voice recording captured by their long-range space satellites, a recording of what they called the aliens' language. It was, at first, disjointed as if the speakers gave long pauses between sentences, but in-depth examinations revealed that their speech was somewhat full of tones and flavors, as if possessing a large number of emotion-based phrases.
The subsequent debates meant to contradict the Jarsemi Mystery slowly transformed into arguments on the Polity's ethics and codes of conduct in the future. Would they be welcoming the aliens in open hands? Would the Polity be friendly, cordial, or antagonistic in their diplomacy? What of the Avirens' future in the face of galactic cooperation?
The answer was, to put it mildly, uncertain.
Executive Zyr had to listen to the continental Governors of the Polity voicing their attitudes in an ever-escalating dispute. So far none were willing to bond their views together.
"Since we are not well-equipped for a possible interstellar war, I, therefore, suggest that we settle for a peaceful, diplomatic contact with the aliens. Who knows? Maybe one day our government and theirs may become allies," said several Governors with pacifist inclinations.
"True, but we must also increase our own military power and diplomatic skills. Any sane mind would tell you that the Polity of Laritem can't afford to rely on someone else's military prowess to safeguard our people, and we can't have the aliens to capitalize on our fluctuating economy. We have to be independent and strong, not weak and submissive!" said another group of Governors with a more cynical alignment.
"This party believes that we can use the aliens as a liaison between us and other civilizations out there. Instead of relying on their military might, we can turn them into our guardians by the use of certain political influences, and with promises of freedom and unrestricted access to our market, these aliens could be lured and used as our primary assets."
Truth be told, the species mainly voted for the first option, and Zyr indirectly approved it as well, and for good reason. The Avirens are both thrifty and intellectual, fancying themselves as a combination of credible traders and natural prodigy in science and engineering, so obviously they would go for the least confrontational path. Being prairie dwellers only seemed to intensify a major problem of their society; the birdlike Avirens were not masters of combat, inappropriate for open warfare, even though physically they didn't get sick or tired easily.
With all that political turmoil, and an incoming time where everything they've grown accustomed to being challenged, Zyr gathered willpower in her mind to stay optimistic for a favorable and nonviolent interaction when the inevitable came.
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Sylvon Year 2191 (Indoraptor Year 1262), June, planet Akantorin...
Two tall figures stood in a darkened office. One male and one female, their faces were emotionless and their head tentacles unmoving. They were speaking in Tamadol, the oldest official language of their species.
The male, Councilor Astrax, offered an oval datapad for the female to study, who was seated on an expensive leather chair.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
The mutterings of the spy mistress convinced Councilor Astrax of forthcoming business opportunity presented by the discovery, one that also possessed a risk of empire-wide jeopardy. The councilor held his tongue, letting the female glean through the information provided in the datapad.
Ever since two decades ago, the Sylvon Assembly's Council of Elders worked tirelessly to search for signs of intelligent space aliens. During that time, they have discovered two; the first one was the two-legged avian Aviren and their oligarchic government system dubbed the 'Polity of Laritem', while the second one was the primate-like Human, propagating the democratic Republic of Earth which reeks of a protectionist archetype. The former could be taken care of effortlessly through economic hegemony. The latter could be dealt with by luring them into proxy warfare and devious negotiations.
The Council of Elders had already outlined its plans to dominate both Avirens and Humans.
The Council did not expect to detect a third party so quickly after investigating the Human Republic of Earth.
"Let us recall what we already know about the... Indoraptors," the councilor began awkwardly. "Firstly, we know that they are carnivorous in nature, hunters, perhaps even the apex predators on their planet of origin. They are bipedal but capable of running on all fours when the situation allows them to. Our extra-solar satellites and supercomputers successfully procured data which noted that the Indoraptors can thrive in many biomes, evidenced by their colonies which consisted of a savanna planet, a tropical planet, a tundra planet, and a continental planet. We haven't identified their technological level yet, but after discovering that their 'Indoraptor Union' are inhabiting different environments and grow significantly big in a short time, it's safe to assume that they are more advanced than the primates."
"Next, let's examine how their Union operates," The spy mistress continued, "Their government is equivalent to what we can define as an egalitarian democracy. The highest leader of their Union was a Prime Minister, and below this Prime Minister are minor Ministers, Overseers who work as aides, and Military Chiefs from their Admiralty Board who serve as the Prime Minister's eyes and ears over their territory. Indoraptor youths, according to this data, are permitted to choose whether they want to jump straight into industrial sectors, or to take courses to increase their skills, or to follow army enlistment at the behest of their board of admirals. But unlike the two other species, this one is... how do I put it? Pack-oriented? Communal? Regardless of the terminology, armed conflicts were rare for the Indoraptors as if they hold social integrity in the highest honor. Their main loyalty is to the Union, but they're permitted to express their art and culture as long as they remain within the boundary of the Union."
"To me, it looked like such values are encoded, programmed, into their system of belief," Councilor Astrax said with a hum of inquisitiveness.
"Are you proposing the likelihood of these lizards being artificially created rather than a natural product of evolution?"
"Even if I wanted to say yes, no progress has been made to isolate the probability," the spy mistress and her companion traded uneasy glances at the verdict. The reports were long and detailed, but no matter how many times the spy mistress searched, there was a secret, a mystery, that she couldn't grasp just yet. Nothing that could give her an advantage over those new aliens. Could she be left out of the loop? Or her best agents simply didn't find a chance to hand over what they have studied? In which case, she needed to expand more influence in getting more Council members to her sway. More allies meant more information and assets coming in her favor.
"I could commission the third and fourth battle groups to scout their borders if you wish."
"Not now, councilor. We need to get in the aliens' good side first in the early days of first-contact. We need more data, more knowledge," the spy mistress warned. Astrax's tentacles splayed in disbelief.
"And what will you desire to happen?"
"I want them to become our top-grade servants with promises of wealth and power should they prove to be the best of the three species."
"I might put my money's on the Indoraptors' eagerness to serve a greater power. They're physically tough, resilient, and with their harmonious and chivalrous ideology, they'd be happy to mow down the other two if we give them the incentive to do so."
The spy mistress waved her lanky hand in dismissal, "For today, I'll advise you not to bet too early; your expectation can hit you in your face. Let's call it a day for now. Try giving the other councilors some guidance on a safe approach to first-contacts scenarios. I'll try to pull in some favors from our old friends. If all goes well, we should be able to see through the coming uproar," she assured the male Sylvon, turning off the datapad as he took it back. A few steps from the exit door, the councilor looked back at the female, now standing to look outside the room's veiled windows.
"Can I trust you and your organization to protect the people's wellbeing?"
"Certainly, sir. The Silver Blade is dedicated to safeguarding the Sylvons and their interests."
