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Chapter I

We Come in Peace

2508.04.08

1435 SET

Terran Command Center

The Void

"Jim?" Fleet Admiral Matthew Horner called over the comms from the Hyperion's bridge, "You might want to see this."

A live video popped up on one of the command center's many screens, showing the view of a small flotilla of six ships against the blood-red background of the Void. There were four ships seemingly escorting two ships in the center of their inverse tetrahedral formation, with the design of the ships familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Five of the ships seemed similar to Terran designs—angular edges, antennae and lights all over, and extruded weapons turrets in the case of the apparent escorts—but they lacked the exposed components and rectangular shaping found on Terran ships, and they were no design he had ever seen before. The last ship—seemingly the largest and most important, being in the center of the formation—is far sleeker with graceful curves, reminding him far more of a luxury star cruiser or a Protoss vessel than a Terran warship.

"So… are ya gonna tell me what this is? In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little busy making sure Amon can't break through right now."

Matt cleared his throat. "Right. Hyperion's sensors just picked up these ships seemingly appearing out of nowhere about fifty thousand miles away just a few moments ago, and I figured you should know right away. They don't seem to be any of Amon's shadows, but I frankly have no clue what they are or why they're here, now of all times. I'm moving the fleet to weapons hold for now, but I moved Iapetus and Aegir—two of our Minotaurs—to picket duty just in case."

"Hey, Darlin', you wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?" He said, knowing that Sarah is listening… somehow through some psionic fuckery he can't be bothered to understand.

"Not much, but I am sure this is not Amon's doing, since his psionic assaults would've weakened if it was." She said in his mind, "The ships seem to have some sort of shielding against psionics, and I don't have the spare power nor focus to break through without giving Amon an opening. I can sense they seem to be not hostile though, so maybe don't blow them up just yet. Go deal with this first, I'm sure Artanis, Zagara, and I can hold the line in the meantime."

"Darlin', I can get Matt to deal with this. I- I can't lose you again."

"Jim, look at the defenses you set up. Like I said, we can hold the line." Sarah replied, "Besides, it's not like you're going to another galaxy, you're still here, and I can alert you to any of Amon's offensives."

"I- Fuck, I hope I won't regret this."

"You won't. Amon's best chance of stopping us was before, and we have the defensive advantage now."

"Alright." Turning back to the screen showing the ships, he said, "Alright Matt, tell me everything you know about these ships."

"Yes sir. As I said previously, the ships seemingly just appeared, likely from deactivating stealth systems. The flotilla consists of two ships, around a hundred fifty meters long, seemingly unarmed, and four ships of about the same size acting as escorts. The escorts seem to be heavily armed, with a number of turrets on the dorsal and ventral hull and what seem to be more weapons systems spread throughout. We know nothing about the capabilities of these ships, but the gun turrets are elevated and bearing forward, seemingly in a nonaggressive position, so I assume they are not hostile for now."

As Matt was talking, Jim stared at the screen, trying to find anything Matt or the bridge crew could've missed. Just as he was giving up, he noticed that the lights on the ships seemed to be synchronized and blinking in a very peculiar pattern.

"Hey Matt? Take a look at the lights. Isn't that blinking in Norse code or something?"

"Wha- you mean Morse code?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

Matt didn't respond for several more seconds. "Holy shit, you're right! Give me a few seconds."

As Jim waited for Matt to translate the message, he thought about what this ship could be. If the ship is truly communicating in Morse code, then it probably means the crew is Human. But since the ship designs have never been seen before, it wasn't from the Koprulu cluster, which leaves the Commonwealth of Man. But that doesn't match up either, as the ship designs don't seem to resemble the graceful curves of the Commonwealth invasion force during the Brood War, and Sarah said this flotilla isn't hostile, which seems to go against the Commonwealth fleet's actions.

Before Jim could think more about it, he was interrupted by Matt. "Adjutant, translate this from Morse code to English."

"Yes, Admiral Horner. Translation: C-T question mark break. W-E space C-O-M-E space I-N space P-E-A-C-E period. P-E-R-M-I-S-S-I-O-N space T-O space A-P-P-R-O-A-C-H space F-O-R space C-O-N-T-A-C-T question mark break. W-E spa-"

Matt interrupted it before it could repeat further. "Stop. So, Commander, orders?"

"Well, Sarah said they aren't hostile, and they seem to be Human, so they might help us." Jim thought aloud, "Tell them to come closer and see if we can establish radio contact."

"Aye sir, I'll inform you when we establish contact."

Well, no use worrying about this when so little is known, might as well work on shoring up the defenses for now.

Minutes later

"Commander, we've established contact." Matt reported, "I can get you connected if you'd like."

"Do it," Jim replied, trying to remember every bit of protocol Matt and Valerian drilled into him since the Raiders' absorption into the Dominion armed forces command structure two years ago, after the end of the Second Great War.

"Alright Commander, you're live in three… two… and one."

"Attention, unidentified vessels. You are intruding on a military operation of the Terran Dominion and her allies. Identify yourself and state the reason for your presence here, or you will be fired upon."

After a few seconds, a female voice replied, "I am Diplomat Liu Anxing on board UNS Otto von Bismarck, representing the United Nations of Earth on a peaceful exploration and contact mission. Escorting Bismarck is an Enterprise-class long-range exploration vessel, Johannes Kepler, and four destroyers of the United Nations Navy. We were investigating an anomaly in Sol, and entered this plane through a rift located near the exit of the anomaly. Upon seeing the Arabic numerals and Latin letters on your ships, we decided to initiate contact using Morse Code to see if you are Human. If you so wish, we shall retreat into the system on the other side of the rift and await further contact. However, I would like to formally request an in-person meeting to discuss any issues. We come in peace for all mankind."

Well, it being the UN isn't too much of a surprise. They had to be Human, given the Morse code and hull numbers, so it's either the Commonwealth, the Earth government, or some other faction. The rift and the megastructure are obviously the Void portal and Ulnar, respectively, and it is nice to get further evidence that this (probably) isn't one of Amon's schemes.

Deciding to take a risk—after all, from what Sarah and Ouros said, it'll probably be several days until the essence transfer is completed, and the more help, the better—Jim replied, "Diplomat Liu, I accept your request as a representative of the Terran Dominion. Would you happen to have a smaller craft on board? We do not have enough space for you to land your ships."

"We do. Would some fighter escorts be acceptable?"

"Aye. I shall have a landing site cleared out. I look forward to our meeting."

After the connection cut off, Matt spoke, "Damn, Jim. I didn't know you had it in you to be so formal for so long."

"I know right? Who are you, and what have you done with my James Eugene Raynor?" Sarah said in their minds.

"Darlin', you have no idea the amount of PR shit Junior pulled me into these last few years, and he-"

The Adjutant interrupted him. "Incoming hyper-velocity missiles detected. Deploying automated countermeasures."