July 30, 1987/28 BBY
Unknown System
RNS Sriko
Sico Troik stared at his console with slight anticipation. The deep void of the Unknown Regions was known to keep many travelers away. From ramming into a star or a black hole to being simply cut off from the rest of the galaxy by either damage or natural factors, it was an incredibly dangerous place.
That did not however, keep the Galactic Republic from sending numerous expeditions to the region to attempt to conquer over its dangers.
One such vessel was the Sriko, a Consular-class cruiser that had been modified to operate as a deep space explorer. Every time the ship jumped to a new system; their sensors would be flooded with new data. Within 30 seconds, it could tell if there was a planet capable of sustaining complex organisms. While the exploration vessel's mission was to find new resources and astrological phenomena as well as life, everyone aboard hoped for the ultimate discovery of a new civilization.
"All hands, prepare for hyperspace jump."
Like the ship had hundreds of times before on this expedition, it completed the jump without incident.
"Scanners? What is the system's composition?" Captain Reily Scruk – a orange skinned Twi'lek – asked Sico. He quickly managed the readouts and responded. "System is composed of a single yellow dwarf main-sequence star, eight planetoids, an asteroid field and several dozen minor satellites."
Scruk nodded. "Ensign Scoto, take us into the inner system, we need to get more detailed readings of the inner planets."
The female human Ensign quickly did so and within an hour, the ship was past the asteroid belt separating the outer and inner planets. However, as they begin to pass a world with a rust-colored surface a notification sounded on Sico's station.
"The system is detecting unidentified signals from the systems third body!" he practically yelled. The bridge went silent, but Scruk immediately sprang into action.
"Are they Holo-Net signals?" she asked to which Sico instantly replied "No ma'am, they seem to be simple radio systems. They're broadcasting straight into the void".
"Alright people, we have unidentified signals and are the only ship in the sector. Bring our weapons and long-range transmitters online to send a message to Coruscant".
As the crew carried out their duties, Scruk made her way over to Sico's station. "Are there any constructs in orbit?" she asked him.
"There seems to be a relatively small number of satellites ma'am, but nothing resembling orbital stations of any kind" he replied.
"Captain, I have Director Champ online the comm for you." Scruk quickly thanked the comms officer and made her way to holo-table in the area behind the main cockpit. She then quickly answered the holo-call and an older human male appeared on the table.
"Director Champ, it is good to see you."
"Likewise, Captain I was told you had something important to report?"
"Yes sir, we are currently in the 21st system we have encountered during our exploration of the Unknown Regions. However, during our recent scans of the system we arrived in, we discovered radio signals and a primitive satellite network from the third body in the system. The world has a diverse biosphere, with many similarities to the planet of Naboo at first glance."
She then continued, "I respectfully request that the Office of the Chancellor be contacted and that a first contact package be prepared as we continue our monitoring of the planet, as well as a delegation prepared for diplomatic relations and trade."
Champ pondered this for a few seconds before replying, "Consider your request approved, I'll try to set it up as soon as possible. In the meantime, do as you suggested and continue to monitor the world, we will need to know all that we can if we are to make a decent first impression on the locals. Do remember to keep your vessel hidden from their sensors, even if they simply misidentify you as a rogue asteroid or comet, it may start a panic."
Scruk quickly saluted and replied, "Yes sir!". After the transmission went out, she quickly made her way back to the bridge.
August 18, 1987/28 BBY
Unidentified Garden World, Unknown System
Low Planetary Orbit
It had taken almost three weeks, but the Republic had finally sent the first contact team for the newly discovered world. A full team of diplomats and xenobiologists had been dispatched to help bring this developing civilization into the galactic folds. The hope was that, with any luck, the world would become a resting point for dozens more ventures into the still mostly unexplored Unknown Regions. However, arriving at that point necessitated diplomacy with this new group of humans. To that end, the diplomats had been accompanied by a sizeable escort of Republic Judicial Forces.
Consisting of eight Consular-class cruisers, three large troop transports, and over four dozen starfighters, it was a sizable force. One that should be able to at least hold its own until the Republic could withdraw and either lockdown the system or summon a larger force to deal with any hostile forces at play.
However, for contact to be made they couldn't just send a signal and hope it would be picked out among the thousands of others across the planet. Luckily, one of the languages that had been picked up during the three weeks awaiting the diplomatic team was extremely similar to Galactic Basic, so communication would only be a slight issue. It was eventually decided to go for a simple, yet direct approach. The Sriko would enter the planet's atmosphere over the body of water between the two main series of landmasses, whilst being relatively close to the far western region of the planet. Once in position, it would send out a transmission in the clear for any governmental source to hear it. Meanwhile, the rest of the task force would remain behind the planet's moon as to not appear as if they were an invasion force.
"Entering atmosphere, pitch and roll steady," Scoto said as she piloted the ship into the world's atmosphere. As the friction from re-entry dissipated, they could see the clear white clouds and crisp blue sky of the world. Via scans they could also detect dozens of watercrafts going across the surface almost 40,000 feet below them.
After almost 30 minutes of flight, they finally arrived in position almost 1,000 nautical miles off the continent's east coast. "Captain, we are in position for transmission," Scoto reported.
"Prepare transmitters," Scruk ordered. As the comms officer — a Duros named Roe Eviel — carried out his assigned task, Scruk slowly breathed to calm herself. "Time to make history," she said under her breath.
"Captain, transmitters are ready. We await your signal," Eviel reported.
"Begin recording," she ordered.
"This is RNS Sriko of the extra-solar entity known as the Galactic Republic. To any governmental agency who receives this transmission, we wish to establish contact with your people and promote peace and cooperation amongst ourselves. We are transmitting from a location off the eastern coast of your continent. Trace this transmission and you will come upon our vessel. I repeat, we do not seek conflict, but only peace and understanding". With that, the recording was stopped.
"Transmission away and repeating," Eviel said.
"Now… now we wait," Scruk said to herself.
So, they did. For almost eight hours they waited for any reply capable of reaching them. Until… it finally happened.
"Captain I'm receiving a message in the clear!"
"Put it through." Scruk ordered. After almost three seconds of almost completely static, a voice came through the bridge's speakers.
"RNS Sriko, this is Captain Beck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower representing the United States of America and the United Nations of Earth. May I be the first to welcome you to our world and hope for peaceful cooperation between our peoples".
"Copy that Eisenhower, may I request a time and location for diplomatic officials to meet?" Scruk requested.
For almost five seconds there was silence. "Please give us a moment", the vessel requested.
"Understood".
Barely three standard minutes later, the native vessel responded.
"RNS Sriko, you may proceed to the John F. Kennedy International Airport, located at bearing 023 at a range of 983 miles from your position. We will send a fighter escort at 0900 hours in two days' time. Please update us on any additional vessels that may need to land. Be warned that any deviation from the designated course will be considered as hostile intent." the captain responded.
"Affirmative Eisenhower, course will be followed to the letter and notifications will be sent. May we meet with clear skies and calm minds," she replied.
With that, the transmission ended and Scruk turned to her crew. "We did it," she said. The bridge of the Sriko erupted into cheers at the perceived success of their mission.
Little did the crew of the Sriko know of just what type of impact this little blue and green ball would have on galactic history, and the conflicts that would shortly come in the wake of its discovery.
To the galaxy it would be known by several names. 'Sol 3', 'The Gateway to the Unknown Regions' and 'Terra' were common names given to it, but to those who lived on it, their home would have only one name.
That name… was Earth.