"The only thing I shall be concerned with is how I behave, appear and act around others. How others behave, act or do shall be none of my concern." - Imperial Foreign Affairs Office motto
ITS Dominion bridge, Three jumps from the Iliad system
As the Dominion tore through the fabric of space along the hyperlane network, Admiral Williams was busy reviewing the first contact procedures outlined by the IFAO and known by heart by every admiral, general and scientist. The procedures have been used sparingly for over the last twenty years, the majority of the instances being pre-FTL societies becoming a true interstellar empire, the ones who didn't annihilate themselves with nuclear weaponry that is. Williams was also working on a dossier for Elvus sapiens locus vetus for the Technocracy upon their arrival. Half of the fleet had split off to visit this Craftworld Asheria, while the other half, including the Absolution, remained in the Iliad system to provide security for the Riftjumper construction teams.
"We're approaching the signature system, sir," the navigation officer said. "Triangulation shows that we'll be arriving near a gas giant."
"Initiate de-warping procedure and power up the scanners," Williams said. "I want them ready for use as soon as we exit the hyperlane."
"Aye, sir."
The Dominion then stuttered slightly as the fleet exited the hyperlane, the bridge windows showing the night side of the gas giant.
"Beginning scan now, stand by."
A couple of seconds later, another officer came back with a result.
"We have it, sir," the officer said. "The target is on the other end of the system, in orbit around a barren planet."
Williams nodded. If that were the case, they'd most likely not detect them entering the system, depending on their sensor strength. Nonetheless, going towards a ship full of a species that only knows humanity as barbaric apes with full shields and weapon strength would be a bad call, to say the least.
"Fire control, stand down. Set shields to 15 percent strength."
"Sir? Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"We have one of their own aboard. They'd be utter fools to engage us."
The half-strong fleet then powered down their weapons and decreased their shield strength as they steadily moved toward the craftworld, while Williams gave another order.
"Hail them, let them know that we have one of their own on board and are willing to talk," he said as he heard the tapping of various officers on their holographic screens, prepping an open channel for communication.
Craftworld Asheria command room, 9:33 am local time
"Well, they're moving towards us," Fleet Admiral Fueriel said with concern. Ever since they received the distress signal from Farseer Elathana, almost the entire craftworld had been dreading the worst, that Elathana had perished during her mission along with her squad. Along with the arrival of multiple unknown ships in their system, the room had a sense of dread filling it.
Farseer Caennyl was deep in thought. "Are they hostile?"
"No Farseer, they're not powering up their weapons or shields. Shall I order all pilots to stand by, just in case?"
"Have them report to the hanger bays and await further orders, I want the craftworld on high alert just in case."
The fleet admiral nodded and moved to a console while Caennyl remained where he was, face stoic and still deep in thought. Were these new arrivals the Mon'keigh? If so, why were they behaving like this? His thoughts were interrupted by a voice coming through another console.
"Hailing craftworld Asheria," the voice said. "We wish to meet in an act of friendly diplomacy and first contact."
Everybody in the room stopped what they were doing and stared at the device, a Mon'keigh had not only managed to speak perfect Aeldari but also gain access to Asheria's comms channels. That all but proved that the ships currently moving towards them were Mon'keigh in origin, but the tone of the voice was not fuelled with fury and rage that was expected of their kind but was instead more civil, downright friendly. Seeing no one willing to respond, Caennyl decided to take the initiative.
"State your business, Mon'keigh," his commanding voice said. "And do not attempt to deceive us."
"As I have already stated, I wish to meet in an act of kindness and goodwill, as all civilized beings should."
Some in the room scoffed and laughed at that, to which Caennyl silenced them.
"We also have one of your own on board, who is very eager to return home. Are you missing one Elathana?"
This surprised the farseer, who took a few moments to process what he heard. Elathana was alive and was in the custody of the Mon'keigh.
"I'm still waiting for an answer," the voice said.
Sighing, Caennyl decided to entertain this Mon'keigh's request.
"Fine, you may send a ship over to the craftworld. Try anything, and we will not hesitate to kill you."
With that, Caennyl turned off the console and in turn, silenced the Mon'keigh's voice. He still couldn't get the feeling of being led into a trap out of his mind, as every encounter he and many others of his kind had with the barbaric race involved a great deal of bloodshed. No matter the case, should any harm be done to Elathana, he would personally rip the Mon'keigh's mind apart.
Elathana's quarters, ITS Dominion residential area
Williams and two members of the Punitive Corps were headed to the residential area to inform Elathana about the good news. The half-strong fleet was currently in a holding pattern three hundred kilometres away from the craftworld and had already hailed them to inform them that a ship would be sent with Elathana and himself to board the craftworld along with two guards. Once they reached her quarters, Williams unlocked it to see Elathana throwing a book at her bed.
"Human," she said. "Is something wrong?"
"Get your stuff, you're going home," Williams replied as walked back out.
Within two minutes, Elathana and Williams were being escorted by the two Punitive Corps members to the hanger bay. As they walked, Williams was preparing formalities and how he should behave around Elathana's kind. Despite trying to be as friendly as possible, the barely disguised hostility in the replying voice made him think that it was best to remain silent and only speak if spoken to. He also neglected to bring any form of weaponry besides an LH-777 pistol, while his escorts had HT-988 assault rifles instead of their normal armaments, the soldiers holding them with one hand. This choice concerned Williams' crew, who advised against the decision on account of the innate hostility of the craftworld citizens but he dismissed their concerns.
A few minutes later
As the group of four neared the hanger bay, Williams glanced out of the reinforced glass tunnel they were currently walking in down at the craft that would take them over to the craftworld. The Sparrow-class transport seemed average on the exterior; a black-painted hull with a red line running along the center and a black line in the middle of the red, the Technocracy's emblem emblazoned on the center of the hull, four wings; two reverse-angled wings attached to the rear and two regular, smaller wings near the cockpit, two rudders, and five engines, but it is unchallenged in mobility, security, and, most importantly, comfort.
After a few short moments, they reached the craft itself which had a pilot leaning against the hull, tapping on a holographic tablet. As soon as he noticed the group of four, he stood straight.
"Admiral," he said while saluting, to which Williams nodded. "Everything is prepared according to your requests, and I hope you'll find them suitable. Is this your passenger?" He pointed at Elathana.
"Yes, she is," Williams replied while looking at Elathana, who rolled her eyes. "Shall we depart?"
"After you, admiral," the pilot said as he waved his hand in front of a section of hull in front of the frontal wings, which folded out to reveal a walkway that could turn into a staircase if needed. The group of four walked inside the transport to see padded seats on their left and a long table and chairs meant for meetings on their right. Elathana sat on one of the padded seats while Williams got a water bottle before sitting in front of her. Their guards sat at the meeting table and inspected their weapons.
"So," Williams began. "You've been with us for some time now. How was our hospitality?"
"It was not what I expected from your kind," Elathana replied. "I've had relatively few encounters with your kind, and all of them were on the battlefield." Williams chuckled at that.
"Well, I don't blame you for being hostile towards us at first, given humanity's behaviour in this universe."
"You perplex me human. Your behaviour is essentially the exact opposite of what my kind and I expected from your race."
Williams shrugged. "It wasn't always like that at first. In the past, when humanity was taking its first steps into the galaxy and had claimed ten systems and two planets, we encountered our first alien ship in the cosmos. Our past scientists often compare the galaxy to a massive dark forest filled with who knows what stalking between the trees. You could imagine our shock and panic when we first had an encounter with alien life. Some on Earth wanted to leave them alone like cowards, others said to make contact and decrypt their language, while others still proposed a preemptive strike. In the end, we decided to send a sample of our language and culture to the alien ship as a gesture of goodwill and focused on more pressing matters, like fleet construction.
"You can imagine our surprise when not two days later, we received a transmission from the ship that contained what we now knew as greetings, basic sentences and the culture of an alien race. We were, with no exaggeration, very excited and almost immediately focused our scientific efforts on decoding this alien language, and were rewarded with the Galactic Hesukar Regime, our most staunch ally. While I understand the fear of meeting alien life, once you learn about an alien's culture, you get a sense of satisfaction knowing that other intelligent races exist in the cosmos."
"Pre-flight checks completed Admiral," the pilot interrupted. "Taking off now."
"How old are you human?" Elathana asked.
"Me? I'm forty-five years old. Everything I've told you comes from the multitude of books I've read that detailed humanity's early expansions into the cosmos. You?"
"I'm nine-hundred and fifty human years old," Elathana replied, to which Williams raised his eyebrows while the sound of the engines activating permeated through the cabin.
"Really? Well, that's not surprising at all, given how we found extensive genetic tailoring in your blood sample," Williams said as he leaned back in his seat. "Quite impressive, I may add, the level of alterations that are present in your species."
Elathana huffed. "Everything our kind creates is superior to yours in every conceivable way. "
Williams laughed, much to the annoyance of Elathana. "What's so funny? It's the truth."
"Oh I agree, it's that we don't try to be better than everyone else. We develop at the speed we feel like, while everyone else in the galaxy has their own pace of development. Besides, no one's perfect and trying to achieve perfection is a fool's errand that will only result in catastrophe."
Elathana had to admit that the human had a point, as primitive as he was. It was a far cry from the Imperium brutes who had zero regard for the lives of others, including its citizens.
Maybe there's still hope for the Mon'keigh after all, she thought.
Two hours later, Elathana was gazing out of the "window" of the transport and Williams was inspecting his pistol when the pilot spoke up.
"Admiral, we're fifty kilometres from the craftworld and I'm receiving their hail. Should I answer it?"
"No," Williams said while holstering his pistol. "Redirect it to me."
"Copy, comms open admiral."
"Craftworld Asheria, I read you, we are-"
"Do you have Elathana aboard?" The voice on the other side asked, cutting Williams off.
"...Yes. Where should we dock?"
"Docking bay three. Try anything and-"
"-and you'll destroy us. Yeah, you've made that abundantly clear. See you on board," Williams said before shutting off the comms." He turned to face Elathana. "You ready?"
"Are you?" She asked back. "They won't be nearly as tolerant as I am."
"Don't speak unless spoken to, mind my tone and don't prove humanity's superiority, got it."
"Docking now admiral," the pilot said. "We've got some angry people outside."
"Stay calm, so long as you stay in the cockpit, you'll be fine." He looked at their guards. "With me."
The two guards nodded and followed. Williams took deep breaths as his negotiation skills would be put to the ultimate test.
Farseer Caennyl stood in the docking bay and looked at the Mon'keigh's vessel. It was sleeker than the normal ships he associated with their race and lacked the gold as well. A hiss sounded before a section of the hull began to open outwards. Six guardians and three banshees readied their weapons as Elathana walked out along with three Mon'keigh who were taller than her by half a head. One of them was dressed in a uniform and a cape with its hands raised while the others were in some form of power armour with capes attached.
"Caennyl," Elathana said while nodding.
"Elathana," he said back. "You had us all worried. We all thought that you were slain during your mission."
"I was on the brink of death, but then I was saved by the Mon'keigh behind me," she pointed at Williams.
Caennyl stared intensely at Williams, who still had his hands up.
"Is that so?" He asked her before facing the human. "Can you understand what I'm saying, Mon'keigh?"
"I can indeed, sir," it said in Aeldari, much to the surprise of Caennyl.
"My fellow farseer had told me that you found her and saved her life. Is that true?"
"Yes, sir."
"Did your corpse emperor command you to do so?" He said with disgust.
"No, we do not worship a 'corpse emperor' or any form of deity."
Caennyl considered this, but he still did not trust the human fully.
"Follow me, if you would," he said. "Our council has much to ask you."
Williams started walking as his escorts followed.
"Only you, please."
Williams looked at his escorts. "你们两个，在这里等我。 不要惹麻烦."
They nodded.
"Sorry about them," he said. "They're just here for security reasons."
Before they moved, however, two guardians approached him and started to search him, taking away his sword and pistol.
"Were you really planning on fighting us with this?" One of them asked as they waved his pistol around while they both laughed.
"I wasn't planning on fighting you. Like I said, I only came here to talk." Williams then noticed the other guardian trying to unsheath his sword. "Don't bother, it's biometrically locked."
At this, the Aeldari holding his sword grabbed his hand and forced him to grip the handle, unsheathing it. They made a noise between disgust and disinterest before sheathing it again.
"Move, Mon'keigh," they said as they nudged Williams with their weapons.
As Williams followed Caennyl through the craftworld, he couldn't help but look at their constructs in fascination. They were obviously metallic but had an organic quality to it. As they walked, he also noticed the inhabitants looking at him in a mixture of curiosity or disgust, with some hurling insults at him, not that he cared. After a few awkward minutes, the four of them reached the council building. Caennyl had left to join his fellow seers, while Williams prepared himself for questioning.
The room was surprisingly utilitarian for a race known for creating such beauty, but it was still unnerving for Williams to be in the presence and judged by such an advanced race. Soon, the entire upper seats were filled with various Aeldari members. One of them spoke up.
"Mon'keigh, you are in the presence of the council of Asheria. You are to explain how and why you betrayed the Imperium of Man and how you managed to translate our language."
Williams took a moment before responding. "My name is Victor Williams, co-Admiral of the Beijing Battlegroup, standing commander of the 102nd Punitive Corps and captain of the ITS Dominion. As for your second question," he began to tear at his neck and lower face, removing a long metallic device. "你现在无法理解我, 是吗?"
This caused the conversations in the crowd to rise in volume before the Eldar who was speaking to him silenced them.
Williams reattached the device. "As for how we translated your language, we simply cross-referenced samples with samples of our known alien languages. It was fascinating to gain insight into a marvellous race such as yours."
The crowd above him began to argue, with some laughing in disbelief. Williams spotted Elathana amidst the crowd and snuck a smile at her, to which she rolled her eyes. The crowd went silent again.
"As for your first question," Williams said as he pulled out a medium-sized disk and placed it on the floor. It projected an image of the galaxy above it.
"This is the universe that we're currently in," he said before waving his arm right. "This is the universe that I originate from," he said as he moved his hand down. A red line highlighted about 1/4th of the new galaxy along with various multicolored lines highlighting various other portions. "And this is the Interstellar Solar Technocracy, full of bright and brilliant humans seeking to explore the unknown, with our beautiful alien neighbours."
The crowd was about to talk again when Williams continued.
"Around three years ago, our scientists discovered something that connected various universes," he placed the two galaxies in parallel and shaded the space between them in purple. "We call this "the Shroud," but perhaps you know it by another name. Around two months ago, our engineers completed a project known to us as Project Riftjumper, meant to allow two-way travel between our universes," he created a cylinder through the purple that narrowed towards the second galaxy. "However, this is currently a one-way trip for us as we still need to connect the gate in our universe with the gate we are creating in this universe."
"You travelled through the warp?!" An Eldar yelled in disbelief.
"If that's what you call the Shroud, yes."
"Without any form of protection?"
"The tunnel generated by the Riftjumper gate grants us a decent level of protection despite not being complete. My scientists report that full protection will be granted once we link the gate in this universe with the one in my universe." Williams avoided mentioning the various hallucinations and fainting that had been occurring since then.
"How should we believe a word you say? Your kind slaughter every alien you encounter and wage war against us every day!"
"I am not asking you to believe me, I just want relations between us to be as smooth as possible, since unlike my kind in this universe, we actually show respect to our elders."
There was a fierce debate for a while before the council began a vote on whether to trust the Mon'keigh or not; 10 supporting, 10 opposing.
"Well then, Farseer Caennyl, Farseer Elathana, your votes shall decide how we will proceed."
Caennyl spoke up. "While I do agree that this Mon'keigh has been... different than the rest of their kind, I still do not fully trust it until they show further proof. I am abstaining."
Elathana then spoke. "I must admit that this Mon'keigh had treated me with the respect I didn't believe their kind could have, I will not let my experiences cloud my judgement. I abstain as well."
ITS Absolution bridge, Iliad system
Admiral Conner was lazily sitting at her command console, feet up on the screens and browsing fanfictions. It was her guilty pleasure, one that she would ever admit to Williams or any other of her fellow admirals. It had been a couple of days since Williams left to return Elathana to craftworld Asheria and since then she'd done nothing but wait for the gate to be finished. She sighed, it should have been her who had gone with Elathana, they even looked alike! But, she guessed it was important that a human talked to them first.
"Admiral Conner, ma'am," a voice said which caused her to fall from her seat. "The gate's construction is complete, we will begin activation on your command."
"Acknowledged," she said as she pulled herself up. "Initiate gate ignition."
"Copy, initiating ignition now." Julie watched as the gate drew energy from the star it orbits, a thin line of stellar matter connecting the two. The left side of the gate detached from the right and drifted horizontally for a few seconds before stopping. The familiar purple light filled the frame.
"Gate ignition complete ma'am. We're receiving a message, stand by," The technician said. "It's from... It's from Imperator Yang, ma'am."
Julie did a double take.
"Repeat that," she said, anxiety obvious.
"Imperator Yang is sending you a message, ma'am," the voice repeated. Julie took some deep breaths before ordering the message to be forwarded to her.
The holographic console in the center of the room projected the image of Imperator Yang, dressed in his standard uniform. Every single person, including Julie, turned and saluted.
"I-Imperator Yang, sir," Julie nervously began.
"Admiral Juliet Long," the Imperator said. "Your relatives from the Regime are very proud of you."
"It's a-an honour to hear from you, sir. The Riftjumper progress was a success."
"I know that, what is the status of your fleet?"
"T-the fleet is currently split, sir. We encountered an unknown alien race on the third planet of the system, rescued it and Williams is currently en route to return it home, sir." If the Imperator was dismayed, he didn't show it.
"Tell him to rejoin you at once, I wish to speak with you both personally," he said before terminating the connection.
Craftworld Asheria council room
Williams was still in the council room packing up as the rest of the crowd started to leave. He was picking up the projector when Elathana came up to him. He glanced at her.
"Hey Elathana," he said. "So how'd I do?"
"What do you think?" she replied.
"I assume I did good since I'm still alive."
"I must admit, you were quite convincing if you managed to persuade 10 of the council."
"But not you since you abstained despite us saving your life..."
A beeping in his ear interrupted further conversation.
"Excuse me, Elathana. 喂? 是的，我在这里。对不起，谁?" He suddenly looked extremely anxious. "是-是的先生, 是的，我马上就到，先生." He turned to Elathana.
"I need to return to the hanger bay, now," he said nervously.
"For what reason?" She asked.
"The Imperator is coming."
Information Data Logs
HT-988 "Thunderstorm" Assault Rifle: During the beginning of the Unification War, the Technocracy wanted an assault rifle that would be simple, easy to use, cheap and durable enough to withstand any type of combat environment. As the AK-47 had been phased out during the consolidation of the three major powers, each one needed a standard infantry rifle for preparation for the coming conflict. Since then, the Thunderstorm hasn't gone through a redesign in over 500 years, aside from an update to become compatible with current technology and neutronium rounds. It is cheap, easy to maintain and is durable. To prove its durability, a stranded Planetary Guard member from a routine patrol had to survive two days and nights in a forest surrounded by hostile wildlife. He had found an old rusted HT-988 which was his only weapon. It still fired despite later being found it hadn't been maintained for over fifty years. It has a slanted magazine which has thirty-five rounds and has auto-fire and single-fire options. It is standardly issued to Imperial Planetary Guard forces and field research teams and is the main export weapon to other empires. While some think ballistic weapons are outdated and primitive, "the gun that conquered a planet" is still popular.
LH-777 "Last Hope" Pistol: An evolution of the Glock 9, the LH-777 is the standard issue handgun for all Planetary Guard and field research teams, as well as many civilians. It was also developed before the beginning of the War for Societal Unification by the Asiatic Sovergin Technocracy, and is also one of the top exports of the Technocracy along with the HT-988, making it one of the biggest arms dealers in the galaxy. Due to its low range, stopping power and penetration despite the introduction of neutronium rounds, the LH-777 is meant for one's backup weapon rather than the main one.
IT-245 "Sparrow" Transport: Roughly half the length of an old Earth 747, the Sparrow is the main transport for important heads of state and persons including, but not limited to; the current Chief Research Overseer, the Minister of Security, the Chief Foreign Relations Officer and the Imperator/Imperatrix themselves. VIPs also have the privilege to ride in a Sparrow, enjoying its comfort, luxury and top-level security. There was one incident, however, where a Sparrow carrying an alien diplomat was entering the airspace of what was once Washington D.C.. It vanished off of radars and no one remembers having visual contact on it. It still has not been found.
Galactic Hesukar Regime: The Galactic Hesukar Regime, or 银河赫苏卡政权, is a matriarchal society and the second most powerful empire in the galaxy, behind the Interstellar Solar Technocracy. It was the first alien contact humanity ever had and the most steadfast, supportive and profitable ally even well into the future and the discovery of other alien races. It all started when a science ship came across another, obviously alien, ship while surveying a system. Three years of both sides translating each other's languages later, the first envoys with their respective guards met for the first time. A year after that, the Imperator met the Hesukar Empress on Mithra, the Empress visited Earth and multiple agreements were signed. Unfortunately, a civil war broke out between pro-democracy rebels and the current government, and the government was being beaten. The Technocracy came in with weapons, troops and military reinforcements, and after a combination of space combat, vicious ground combat and orbital bombardment, the rebels were crushed and order was restored. As of this entry, the Regime has twenty-five planets, eighteen citadels and ten fleets, the majority of which was made with the assistance of the Technocracy. Unfortunately, due to recent crisis events, the Regime's economy is currently in shambles and despite generous donations from the Technocracy and other allies, it is not expected to recover within this century.
Imperator Adrian Yang XIV: The current defacto leader of the Interstellar Solar Technocracy, Imperator Yang XIV inherited the throne after staging a coup against his father, Imperator Yang XIII, in the year 2193 after realizing that his father was leading humanity down a path a hedonism and debauchery. After he forcefully took control, he placed his father in a lavish prison cell while he worked to undo every single one of his father's policies and replace them with more progressive and permeated the military throughout all aspects of life. While he is a benevolent leader and a master tactician, he is wanted for 198 counts of war crimes in the Greater Symitria Union, the Technocracy's largest rival. While many others think that Imperator Yang wants to be god worshipped, many in the Technocracy simply think of him as the leader of the military and often join them in battles. "Those who declare war yet refuse to take part in the conflict are the greatest form of coward. They are spineless hypocrites that are seen by their population as weak."