Aboard the Silaris Science Vessel
Tau 30 system
Upon seeing the artefact Aela abandoned her dig for, all she could think was "Goddess that's huge."The… thing was simply massive, seemingly capable of fitting an entire dreadnaught within those arms of theirs. Perhaps this was a hub of sorts, similar to the Citadel? There was simply no way to tell though with just her cursory inspection. Unlike ancient Prothean artefacts like Mass Relays or the Citadel, it didn't have a smoothed, clean aesthetic. This was an artefact designed to be rough and tough and do whatever it was meant to do.
Just what was this artefact for? Who made it? How old is it? What can it do? She could make rough guesses based on appearances alone. It was likely that whoever made this artefact was of a very practical mind. There was a certain roughishness to it that Prothean artefacts didn't have. Furthermore it was tough. There were signs of some damage on the gate itself, likely hits from stray asteroids from the nearby fields. Beyond that though, the team was to find out just what exactly it was.
"The Fleet could certainly learn a thing or two from whoever built this." said a Quarian next to her.
"Pardon?" she asked, with the slightest hint of curiosity.
"Back on the fleet, I was, like many of us, a mechanic and engineer. We had to deal with repairing and keeping ancient ships for a long time. This has been here for who knows how long, but I can tell its tough. Notice the lack of any windows are seemingly any room for crew? This was likely a fully automated station, meant to go on without any assistance whatsoever. Whoever built these things built them to last with little to no maintenance. And unlike the Protheans, I think we can duplicate this one. The scans show that the alloy used in its construction isn't entirely foreign to us. In fact,while we are detecting many very familiar or similar alloys or elements, we haven't detected anything too alien in terms of material or design, except for one thing. This thing has no traces of Element Zero whatsoever."
"None at all? But to build something so massive…"
"They must have been masters of engineering to build something so big and yet so massive without any element zero. I wonder if this is the largest thing they could've built or did they build any bigger? Oh the things we could learn from this alone…"
Aela gave his views some thought. They seemed to make sense..."I think you are onto something there. I'm sorry though, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Dr. Aela D'Avo, apparent Lead Archaeologist for this expedition. You are?"
"Dari'Teema nar Neema, you can call me Dari. I was recruited into this, surprisingly enough, as a Technological consultant for this expedition. They hope that my experience as a mechanic and programmer will help in deciphering the alien programming. Hope." she said with the slightest hint of sarcasm.
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Dari. I look forward to working with you. I'm sure you'll learn something worthwhile to send back to the fleet here." she said encouragingly
"I'm sure we will. I'm more worried about our security though. Knowing those Turians on that small patrol fleet of theirs, if we trigger something on the artefact, they may just destroy it before we figure out what it was about to do." Dari replied, clearly showing her... dislike for the Turians.
"The Turians are more disciplined than that. They will not fire till they show some sort of clear sign of aggression, and at that point, it is better to be alive and wondering what ifs than dead yes?" she replied.
"True. You have to wonder though, did they have to keep the entire Seventh here, along with that Dreadnaught of theirs? Isn't that a little overkill?" she said as she pointed as said ship.
The Gladius was one of the newer Dreadnoughts of the Turian Navy. At 1.3 km long, she was also one of the larger ones. Her crew may be unbloodied, but they were well trained and were led by the General who discovered this in the first place, General Septimus Oraka. Still, next to the… thing it was small in comparison. Easily enveloped by it in fact.
"While unusual, I expect it is to deter any pirates that may stumble upon us. That would be the last thing we would want to happen while we were up close examining the artefact yes?" she said, though she couldn't help but agree with Dari a bit on how unusual it was for a Dreadnought to escort them. Though she did feel that it may be a little bit of caution, just in case they may be dealing with a new Rachni event. Better safe than sorry.
"Yes. Well I better get ready. We are going to approach the artefact for some more detailed scans soon. Then we go and try and find an access point to see the insides of this. It was good to meet you Aela" said Dari.
"Likewise. I best be getting ready as well." Said Aela before she left for her station. Here thanks to the computers in front of her, she could make out all sorts of data the scans will provide. More detailed visuals of the artefact, more data on its energy output and so much more.
"This is your captain speaking, we are now making our approach to the artefact. All personnel, please proceed to your stations and standby for new data." rang the comms of the ship.
Aela was already at her station, so she just patiently waited as her displays showed her ship approaching the artefact. Soon the Silaris was a kilometer away from the arms of the artefact. Now though, her displays were displaying something interesting. The power signatures of the artefact were getting higher. Worryingly so. "Captain T'Loni, the artefact seems to be generating increased energy signatures. Is my display malfunctioning?"
"No Dr.D'Avo, they aren't. We are detecting it as well. It seems to be concentrat-Goddess, look at that!"
A visual feed from outside the ship was now being played on displays across the fleet. The arms of the artefact were now opening and an anomaly , a great vortex of energy, was now seemingly forming in the middle of the ring the artefact formed. As she continued to observe the anomaly, she couldn't help but hear one of the other officers on the bridge report "Captain T'Loni, the anomaly seems to be getting bigger and the Turians are powering up weapons! They are preparing to destroy the artefact!"
"Comms! Get me Oraka now!" said the Captain with as much steel as she could muster.
"Hailing the Gladius ma'am! She's responding! Putting her up on comms now."
"Oraka here. We're powering up weapons now and we expect you to move out of our line of fire soon. What is it that you want Silaris?"
"What I want Oraka, is that you stand down and get those ships of yours to hold their fire!"
"Captain T'Loni, that thing over there is generating incredibly anomalous energy signatures which started when the Silaris started to approach. It's clear to me you've triggered a defence mechanism of some sort, and it looks like it's powering up something big. Now pull back and let us save your ship and likely rest of the fleet here as well."
"Oraka that thing could just be harnessing a natural anomaly we aren't aware of! Stand down!"
"That's not something I'm willing to risk Captain T'Loni, now move out of the way!"
"Oraka, if you destroy that artefact, we'll never likely find something like it ag-"
"Captain! I'm reading signatures coming from the anomaly! It appears to be… a few shuttles and a freighter! Completely unknown make!" interrupted her Sensor officer.
"Oraka! Stand down! We could be dealing with a first contact!"
It was quiet on Oraka's end for a while, but then he responded" I've confirmed reports that there are indeed unknowns coming out of that anomaly. We won't open fire, but the moment that they do something hostile, we're tearing that thing and them down. "
"Thank you general. "replied the T'Loni, relief clear in her voice. "Now, I want-"
"Captain! I'm receiving a message from the shuttles on several wavelengths! Playing now."
"Seo Cheannasaí Perkins de na Fórsaí Armtha na Breataine. Tá tú ar chríoch éileamh ag an Ríocht na Breataine. Cuirimid fáilte roimh tú i síocháin. Tá súil agam i ndáiríre go atá tú ag teacht ar roinnt tae agus nach bhfuil a mharú dúinn go léir."
Silence reigned in the bridge. Everyone was shocked. This… this was first contact, possibly with the species that made this… thing.
Aela though, had come to one conclusion. The Artefact was a… FTL of sorts. It was the only way those ships could have arrived so suddenly.
"Captain." she quietly spoke, yet somehow her voice rang throughout the bridge. " I think… that whoever are in those ships that came out of the anomaly, they built this thing. I also think... that this... gate... is their FTL."
"This… is certainly a most interesting day. Comms, send the first package, I do believe one rotation of the local planet should be enough time for them to decrypt it. We should go into orbit around there and then await them there. "
"What about the General?"
"Inform him that the situation has changed. We are now dealing with a live alien race, and as such, to assume First Contact protocols. We will orbit around the local planet and await them to decrypt the package, and hopefully find enough time for them to communicate, if really primitively with us.
Despite centuries of Social Tradition of being calm in the face of adversity, there was very little Commander Perkins could do once he saw the small fleet in front of him. in fact, the first words that came out of his mouth were "Bugger."
Still, training took hold soon after. This was an unidentified fleet, and God knew only knew where they came from, they might have even been Coalition ships for crying out loud, he had to let them know that this was Bretonian space.
"This is Commander Perkins of the Bretonian Armed Forces. You are on territory claimed by the Kingdom of Bretonia. We welcome you in the name of peace, but if you come seeking war, then be prepared to face a good thrashing." he announced, in as cool a manner he could, on the comm on all frequencies, just to be sure.
He also immediately switched to his flight's frequency after sending that open message. "Alright ladies and gents, you too Doctor listen up, I want no one to fire till fired upon,if they do, we all hightail it back through the gate and go lock it. We block things off here and inform High Command that we're under attack. Don't wait for all of us to go through, just whoever gets on the other side, go lock the gate. "
Perkins received a round of affirmatives all around, and he mentally prepared himself to possibly die in the service of his King and Country.
The next minute of blissful peace and no energy build up were a very pleasant revelation.
The fact that he received an information package from them too certainly helped calm things down a bit. Still, he was still quite tensed up and ready to unleash hell when he noticed the small fleet move. He at first thought that perhaps they were closing in for better range till he noticed them turn around, and according to his sensors anyway, head to the local planet.
"Thank God." was all he could really say at this point. He and his men weren't dead and they would very likely go on and continue living for now.
"Commander" interrupted the comms, it was Doctor Brent.
"Yes Doctor?"
"I've analyzed the information packet they've sent us… we've just made first contact Commander. This is an alien race, at least based on the image they've sent alone. It also looks like, at least based on the images they're sending on this package, they want to meet us... around the orbit of the planet in this system in about one rotation of it. That's roughly 37 hours Commander. "
Well that certainly complicated things. "Damn." There went this being an uncomplicated mission." So, we've just met a race of aliens with a fleet just parked inside space claimed by Bretonia"
"Essentially, yes , I must add based on what they've sent alone that they are a rather peaceful; bunch, likely explorers. If they were hostile, I don't imagine they would've let us leave alive now, let alone send an information package. "
"Doctor, are you sure they didn't piggybank a virus or something onto that package? Maybe they wanted us to open it so that they can access our Neural net. "
"I don't think so Commander, this is all remarkably basic scientific information, numbers, basic elements, etc. I'm… relatively confident that whatever we've opened, we're capable of handling the consequences. Why, I do believe that me and my team can even come up with a rough translation index given the information they've sent us. I honestly believe that these are a peaceful people."
"Fine Doctor. " sighed Perkins. He was hardly in a position to reverse what the Doctor had done. "Just do be careful and remember to set up proper quarantine protocols. I'll go and report this to High Command. They'll give us further orders and hopefully, they'll have someone better equipped to handle this."
"Right Commander. Good luck." Knowing just how fast the Bureaucracy moved in Bretonia, Perkins honestly believed that he would need it. Perkins then opened up the comms and prepared to talk to Captain Dunbar.
"This is Commander Perkins of Sigma flight to HMS Stirling. We've uh… encountered non-human lifeforms orders."
"Perkins, this is Captain Dunbar, we're rather busy at the moment holding off possibly the largest Molly excursion ever onto the LD-14 plant and from what New London is saying, several simultaneous bombings across Bretonia, so unless those microbes are making conversation with you, I don't exactly see how this necessitates a change in orders."
"Thats just it sir, these aliens ARE talking back. We're talking about a genuine first contact situation. They want us to meet in orbit around the local planet here in approximately 37 hours. What are your orders sir?"
A worrying moment of silence dominated the comms for a minute. For a while, Perkins thought that he had just underwent a Bureaucratic nightmare and would have to wait the next few hours just for a reply, at least until he heard his comm crackle to life.
"Perkins, I'm going to ask you to wait for a while. This situation you handed me is simply far too important for me alone to give you any orders on this situation beyond you holding position and to simply observe the aliens. Expect to hear from me in an hour. I'll try and reach what elements of High Command that aren't actively frothing at the mouth against the Mollies."
"Copy that sir. I'll make sure nothing fishy goes on with the aliens. Perkins out."
The next hour was perhaps one of the more… tense ones Perkins has had in his career. It was an hour of carefully observing the alien ships on his sensors and keeping an eye out on the Doctor's transport, just in case anything malicious was in that information the alien ships did absolutely nothing, save orbit the planet, it was still quite nerve wracking to observe them. The human imagination is a terrible terrible thing to have in a situation like this, and with Perkins' rather active one, he wasn't really enjoying the images it gave him so far. He was incredibly relieved when his own comm sparked to life with a message from Captain Dunbar.
"Perkins, this is perhaps the absolute worst time for this to happen." And there went the relief. " Things are in chaos in High Command what with the bombings the Mollys have pulled off. Many civies are dead back on New London and Leeds and honestly, it'll take far too long for any properly trained diplomat to be sent there." That sent far too many tingles down his spine. The same kind that warned him while flying in Dublin." I've been authorised by His Majesty that, until Lord Barstow can get there, which at best speed is around 48 hours considering that he is coming from a trade meeting on Curacao, you are to act as His Majesty's representative in this most historic occasion. You have been authorized to greet them, encourage talks of non-aggression, peace and cultural exchange, nothing more. The moment Lord Barstow and consequently the Stirling arrives there, you are to report back and brief us on what you manage to learn from them. God Help us all Commander. Good luck and Godspeed."
Well Damn. There went going home for a nice cuppa. Still orders were orders, and all things considered, this was an exceptionally fast response from High Command.
"Alright ladies and gents, we have new orders from His Majesty himself. The Mollies have bombed New London and Leeds and things are quite chaotic now. There is simply no way for a Diplomat to be sent here within the timeframe the aliens have sent us. His Majesty has decided" and here Perkins paused and tried to say the next bit with as much dignity as possible. " to send me instead as the representative of Bretonia. "
"Well bugger us sir." replied Thatcher.
"I personally agree with you Thatch, but orders are orders and there i simply no way to tell if the aliens would react in a hostile manner if we were to not meet them here. " Perkins replied, despite hating his brand new appointment as a representative of His Majesty's government.
"Right lads and ladies, since we've about 36 more hours till the meeting, let's go and do a patrol around the system and do what we came here to do originally, no sense in being unproductive, then we'll have to go and camp out in our ships today till the hour of the meet. Clear?"
A round of clears entered his comm and now Perkin had some more specific orders for the Doctor.
"Alright Doctor Brent, I want you and your team to work on that information packet of theirs at best speed. If you can come up with a translation index, no matter how primitive, it would be great. We've 36 hours till that meeting Doctor, and despite the tradition of Britons going into the unknown with nothing more than a stiff upper lip and his dignity, I'd rather like to have some knowledge of what those aliens are saying."