as written by barney_fife
"Bring our Heading two nine seven carom one three eight." Commander James ordered, while the Helmsman carried the orders out and the ship banked slightly starboard. Trepidation crept into her mind as she envisioned the gleaming skyscrapers of her home city. She knew Tal'dor lacked the prestige of the Imperial home world, but none the less it was an important asset in the Aschen Empire's expanding fold. Her attention was broken briefly from the happening in the Bridge as Colonel Kassa, the Marathon's Executive officer approached, another young aspiring officer from Tal'dor with a mug of hot Ironwort tea, which was a staple in the rugged mountains of Tal'dor.
The serenity was shattered in almost an instant when a crystalline chime echoed through the bridge, long range sensors couldn't possibly have missed the massive Lanze class cruiser, the wedge shaped vessel easily half as large as the mighty Reverence II. Everything seemed to culminate in an instant. Immediately following the alarm, Lieutenant Alanis turned at the chime.
"DRADIS Contact, CBDR, unidentified alien vessel.... by the lords this thing is massive! Maybe an assault carrier? Three One Nine Carom Two Two Six!" Alanis called out, as James turned to the Lieutenant.
"On screen."
Immediately following, long range visual sensors pulled up the hulking form of the Hegemony's Lanze class cruiser, as Commander James surveyed the ship, she swallowed, having never faced vessels that so wildly outclassed hers. The Intrepid class was a formidable ship, armed with an advanced suite of countermeasures, but she was an exploration vessel, not a warship."
"Commander, Incoming transmission, the AI's translating it now." Alanis called out, while James nodded. "Very well, patch it through." She replied, lowering herself back into the command chair.
Translating the language was fairly simple, the message itself being pushed up in text on the screen.
"Attention unidentified vessel. You are now within the jurisdiction of the Scatterran Hegemony. You will power down engines and weapons until we can ascertain your purpose in our territory, or you will be destroyed."
Kassa frowned, as he placed the tea on the table besides the XO's chair, before lowing himself into the chair as well, turning to face Commander james. "Well, Commander; how do you want to play this?"
James frowned, before she turned to her Colonel. "It's against protocol, but we don't exactly have the Imperial Fleet to back us up, nor do I want to start an incident. Bring us to a full stop and power down the engines. We never brought our weapons online, so let's not start. Keep weapons powered down unless we absolutely need them."
The Bridge crew all nodded in response, various 'Aye sir's following. And the Marathon first came to a complete stop, and then it's impulse engines powered down to standby, weapons remained un-powered, but it's shield remained active.
"Alright let's see if they can communicate, open a hail on all frequencies, have the AI Translate it into binary so it will be easily translated, piggyback the translation matrices onto the audio hail." Kassa nodded, and an image of the ship's AI Flickered on screen.
"All channels open." Lieutenant Marin reported.
"This is Commander Iyana James, of the Aschen Imperial Starship Marathon We are peaceful explorers and come bearing tidings of peace and friendship, we mean you no harm and seek out meaningful contact. If we are trespassing, we merely request we be allowed to leave, and will do so peacefully. If not, then we request further contact if possible, I await further instructions."
"Well said." Kassa said, while the AI Translated and broadcast the message on all frequencies, and in all known languages, including several computer and mathematical languages for ease of translation.
"Now we wait." James said, sinking slightly into her chair.
____
Brenner had already set about to redeploying the forces under her command on her display, pulling about the hologram with her hand, zooming in and out as needed. Already she'd given orders through her display here to other ships in her contingent to plug the gap left by the Puissance, two Klammer class cruisers moving to fill its place in the sentry-line. They couldn't match the firepower of the Puissance, but they could at least hold the line until she could get her cruiser back into position, in the case that this was some feint or deception by the Collective.
It wouldn't be out of place, luring the command vessel of the sentry line out to engage it en masse, and that was why Silke had ordered that the Interdiktor bring up the rear. If for nothing else, in the case that this rogue vessel tried to turn tail and run, they could see to locking it down and boarding it properly. "Konteradmiral, response incoming." Came the heralding words of Leutnant Odal, who set about to letting Hrethgir loose on the message, both to dissect it in its original form as well as translating the more basic forms of it that was broadcast. The AI began to work at translating and beginning a database of the Aschen's spoken language, but required more data to produce any reliable results. "Shall I have Hrethgir put it on speaker for us, ma'am?" With a nod the Konteradmiral confirmed the suggestion, Odal soon allowed a processed voice, neither distinctly male or female, to speak over the intercom on the bridge.
"This is Commander Iyana James, of the Aschen Imperial Starship Marathon We are peaceful explorers and come bearing tidings of peace and friendship, we mean you no harm and seek out meaningful contact. If we are trespassing, we merely request we be allowed to leave, and will do so peacefully. If not, then we request further contact if possible, I await further instructions."
For a few moments silence reigned on the bridge of the Puissance, aside from the natural white noise of keyboards and duty, as no spoken word broke the air. It took the admiral a few moments to even process what the other commanding officer even meant by what she'd said. Through Hrethgir's translation came a word that she was unfamiliar with, as were many others on the vessel. Friedensforscher - the AI's substitute for 'peaceful explorers'. It smacked of trickery. "... is that even a word?" Reinhardt asked, brow furrowed, glancing to the admiral as if she, in her greater age, might have heard such a thing. Brenner simply shook her head in response to the Maat, her hand moving towards the ship-wide intercom in response to the message.
"All hands, yellow alert." Brenner sighed heavily once she closed the channel, biting her lip as she debated on how to proceed with these people. Of course she was to respond to them personally, but to risk her ship in such a manner unsettled her greatly. "Odal, prepare to broadcast a response." Protocol in dealing with the Collective was something she was all-too-familiar with, but with foreigners, assuming that these people weren't puppets of the demons that they so often fought, she was at something of a loss. "In the meantime, get Sturmbannführer Horten up here. I need a diplomatic specialist." Or someone who at least knew state policy better than she did. She was a warrior, a tactician, not an emissary.
"They've complied with our requests, Konteradmiral." Came the chiming voice of another Fähnrich, monitoring the vessel on the Puissance's sensors, keeping a careful eye on it regardless. A surprised look came across Brenner's face at such news, some part of her having honestly not expected such a response. Regardless, that meant that the situation proceeded as it stood, and with a brief glance to Odal, she soon saw to replying to the Aschen.
"Attention Aschen Imperial Starship Marathon, this is Rear-Admiral Silke Brenner of the Imperial Starfleet, you are in a restricted area, but you are presumably ignorant of such a fact. We are willing to entertain your... pursuit of peace. Please be patient while I confer with a diplomatic specialist on matter of your presence."
Brenner cocked her lips to one side once the transmission was sent, unsure whether the Landwächter officer was even awake. It could take some time for him to even get to the bridge, depending on the location of his quarters. Perhaps it'd give her time for another cup of coffee, it seemed like she would be needing it today.
____
The reply came swiftly upon the speakers, once again the AI translating a few things here and there that were out of context, and pushing the reply in text on the main screen. James bit her tongue slightly in anticipation, before quickly regaining her composure.
"So far so good, Commander." Kassa said, gesturing to the words on the screen.
"Attention Aschen Imperial Starship Marathon, this is Rear-Admiral Silke Brenner of the Imperial Starfleet, you are in a restricted area, but you are presumably ignorant of such a fact. We are willing to entertain your... pursuit of peace. Please be patient while I confer with a diplomatic specialist on matter of your presence."
"What did I tell you, Colonel? I'm not a McGregor, though we'll inevitably need to confer with the Emperor on this matter, speaking of McGregors." James replied, while Kassa nodded. "I have a feeling we'll be here for awhile, shall I establish a transmission with Central Authority before we proceed?"
"Not yet, I don't want to spook our new friends, given the situation and the disposition... and the fact we're in restricted space. I don't want to spook them too much." She said, making a face. "We'll call for Chairman Inviere once I've managed to establish a rapport with these people. You'll want to let them know ahead of time before the Reverences start showing up, otherwise things can go south very quickly." James said, before she leaned back in her chair.
In order to be assigned to an Intrepid class ship, one needed to not only be a skilled tactician, but also a capable diplomat. Fortunately James was able to demonstrate cunning on the battlefield as well as around the policy table. She listened to the reply carefully, before she turned to the AI.
"Send another reply." She ordered, and the AI's visage nodded.
Once the appropriate connections were made, James replied to the transmission.
"We receive your transmission, Admiral Brenner, It's a pleasure to make your contact." Commander James replied. "We will remain as instructed until you've instructed us otherwise, however in time we would need to inform our Government that we have made peaceful contact with your society, so they may dispatch someone who is more qualified to speak on behalf of the Aschen Empire, however I will not send any outgoing transmissions unless permitted." Iyana replied.
"AI, Broadcast our diplomatic data package to the alien ships." James ordered, and the AI promptly carried out the order.
What followed was a burst of data towards the Belkan ship, containing messages from across the Aschen Empire, from citizens to government officials, a codex on the Aschen Languages of Anquietas, Gemonese, and Tauron, in addition to written languages of the three major languages. Following the codex were names of major Imperial worlds, Langara, Tal'dor, Molecay, among others. There was an overview on the Aschen Empire, compiled from publicly available sources. The style of Government, currency systems, laws, customs, social constructs, demographics and religion. Concluding the data packages were statements from Commander James, her XO, and several key crewman.
It would be quite a bit of data, and likely verified safe and devoid of any malicious software. James hoped that the diplomatic package would put the aliens at ease, and give them a place in which to start with setting the tone of contact.
____
"... so you're telling me they're allowed to decide what to do, from here on?" Brenner asked, honestly surprised, one hand tucked behind the small of her back whilst the other held fast to her coffee. The massive Belkan cruiser had closed the distance with the small Aschen vessel, and was holding its position opposite the Aschen ship's bow. It was not a thing that the rear-admiral had expected from a government that liked to keep such a tight lid on anything they could. Regulation was the philosophy of the Emperor, after all. Horten leaned his head as he bit his lip, thinking that the admiral's words were simplifying the matter too much, but she wasn't entirely incorrect.
"Yyyyyes and no, admiral. It's not quite as simple as them deciding to do whatever they like. They only have two choices." Which were honest and free choices, they wouldn't force the foreigners' hands for risking an unnecessary international incident. "Either they are free to go back from whence they came, with starcharts conveniently outlining our borders - which are not to be disturbed without permission - or they can proceed with their... what did you call it?" The Sturmbannführer asked, concerning the Aschen's objectives in the sector. Silke paid the small conference room a glance over as she steeled herself for speaking such a preposterous thing.
"Meaningful contact." She spoke, shaking her head as she did. The rather quizzical look on the Landwächt's face elicited an explanation from the admiral, who drew up her hands as if to show that they were clean of any wrongdoing. "It's what Hrethgir translated it to, I know it makes no sense." That these people would simply search out others to meet them? It seemed far too innocent to be plausible. There had to be some ulterior motive to it, but Brenner wasn't sure if that was the Rear-Admiral or the ex-wife thinking.
"... and they can proceed with their 'meaningful contact' within our borders with an appropriate escort. Likely an Interdiktor and a handful of destroyers." Just to make sure that they didn't get any ideas, and to keep them where ever the fleet, and the Emperor, wanted them. "It's entirely up to them, though I must report the developments to my superiors as soon as this meeting is concluded, you understand." He wouldn't be free for some time, he suspected. Horten sighed, rather wishing this hadn't come up. Still, one could hardly predict these sorts of things.
The rear-admiral looked somewhat unsure of herself, obviously not a diplomat. "So I offer them the choices?"
"Well, there is the unspoken third option, if they refuse to comply, but that will remain unspoken." The man gestured in the air, something that an Austran was want to do occasionally, before he took a rather generous sip of coffee. The Sturmbannführer greatly preferred his doctored, unlike the good admiral, having something of a sweet-tooth. "But... that will remain unspoken, for propriety's sake." One was never short or improper, even if they were commoners - they were Imperials and, beyond that even, Imperial Officers.
Brenner wasn't such a stickler for tradition, but understood that this was the first encounter these alien people had with what all righteous Scatterrans considered the center of culture and learning in the galaxy. They had a reputation to maintain, and she wouldn't be the one who sullied it. Her brother, aspiring would-be knight that he was, would never let her live it down if she failed here. Her chest heaved as she sighed once more, draining what remained in her cup before she straightened her tunic beneath her belt. "You will be accompanying me, Sturmbannführer." She spoke, knowing it wasn't a question. Horten nodded absently, rather wishing he was back in bed with his wife.
"Konteradmiral!" Reinhardt greeted once Brenner emerged from the conference-room, Horten not far behind her, his beverage still in hand. The Maat offered Brenner a single holosheet, a rather heavily summarized briefing on the digital package that the Puissance and Hrethgir had received from the alien vessel and had analyzed. "Hrethgir informs us both that the other vessel is requesting permission to broadcast a long-range transmission and that it has a strong enough grasp on their language now that it is able to translate our communications in real time, if you would prefer such interaction with the xe-... foreigners." Both Brenner and Horten caught that the young man had almost called them xenos and looked to him with a curious glance, to which he responded a might nervously. The Rear-Admiral rolled her eyes in the other direction while Horten shook his head.
"It's what they are son, don't worry about it." It wasn't like they were dealing with Scatterrans of any caliber here. "A natural slip." It wasn't like Horten was part of the Verhör, but still, the uniform of House Kampf had a way of bringing intimidation even within imperial ranks. A gentle clap of the elder man's hand on the enlisted sailors shoulder dismissed him, as he soon moved to flank Brenner once more.
"Put us through, Odal." She spoke plainly, gesturing to the comms officer nearby. The display on her table shifted to what amounted to static, which could broadcast an image of sorts, were it that the others would do such a thing. Both the camera and the holographic scanners presented the image of Brenner flanked by her political officer, the admiral standing at parade rest while Horten simply sipped at his drink with his other hand's thumb tucked into his belt. "Attention Marathon, this is the Puissance. I apologize for the delay, I was being briefed on procedure by Sturmbannführer Horten here," Silke gestured over her shoulder to the man who soon nodded. "As to our situation. My men tell me that you wish to broadcast a transmission, of sorts?" Perhaps back to their superiors.
"We have no qualms with this, so long as you let us receive it first. Ah-... as a warning, there will be another vessel joining us here, momentarily, another ship from my command, a simple contingency plan, you understand."
____
Following a long bout of preparations on the Aschen ship, the aliens finally responded to their communications.
"Commander, we're receiving visual data." Lieutenant Andrews reported, and Commander James nodded promptly.
"On Screen." She ordered, and the transmission from the Puissance, which in it's close proximity vastly dwarfed the small Aschen vessel, many were still digesting the sheer size of the wedge shaped Cruiser, but others likened it to the infamous Reverence IIs.
The Transmission appeared on screen, and the Aschen's Shipboard AI Bridged the two connections, taking a one way video feed and turning it into a two way feed. Likewise Brenner and her Officer would be greeted by the dark skinned Commander James, clad in a dark grey Imperial duty uniform, with it's pipped high collar, and dark blue accents, crossed by a leather strap, and the patch of the AHSC Intrepid on the right shoulder. The bridge behind Commander James was large, brightly lit, and quite airy. Several Command personnel worked diligently at their stations, with a pair of Bridge security officers clad in a distorting fractal camouflage with shades of grey, blue, and white, strange weapons that were radically different from any Scatterran weapon slung at ease across their torsos.
While Admiral Brennan was at parade rest, Commander James was seated, a pair of chairs with James, and her Executive officer in view of the camera as well. The Aschen shipboard AI was still trying to decipher the languages, while James listened to Brenner's response.
"Per Imperial Protocol, we're to notify our superiors that we've made contact. While I'm trained to handle diplomacy, I can't exactly make decisions on behalf of the Empire. I'm just a Commander, I am far below the station required to interact meaningfully with your people. As for your ship, I understand, the tone of this exchange overall has me surmising that this was probably not the best of times." James admitted, while the Colonel took a sip of a liquid from a metal canister.
"And on that note, send a transmission to the fleet on an unsecure channel, that way our new friends don't have any suprises."
A Lieutenant nodded, before James turned back to Brenner. "One moment.."
At that point the unsecure transmission was being broadcast from the Intrepid class ship, on a powerful superluminal subspace frequency that was typical of Aschen Communications, with the same channel being broadcast on traditional frequencies.
James turned just slightly to the console where she would make her transmission to the Aschen Fleet, the outgoing transmission pointing in the direction of the Aurora, and Isiria
"Legatus Stygies Actual, this is Marathon Actual, priority one communication." James said calmly, while a few moments went by, the crackling response was heard, another female voice, this one slightly accented. "Marathon, this is Legatus Stygies actual, we read you, Commander." The Voice replied.
"Chairman Inviere, I've made contact with an alien civilization, so far they've shown us no hostility, and have been very hospitable in our arrival into their national boundaries. So far they seem willing to continue with diplomatic contact, I'd like to move forward with Protocol if you have a Diplomat available." James replied, a pause followed.
"Acknowledged, Commander, standby... I've verified your coordinates from your datalink jump logs, we'll be there in one Millicenton."
At that point the transmission was terminated by the party in Aschen space, while James turned to the viewscreen. "Speaking of ships, we'll probably have one more guest, She's the Chairman of our Military, someone who answers to the Minister of Defense, and has the political authority to better negotiate with you. I'm not sure what unit of time you use, but she will arrive very shortly. In the meantime, this is my Executive Officer, Colonel Aaron Kassa, and this is my crew. As you can see we mean no harm, and are willing to answer any inquiries you may have until my superiors arrive."
It was at that point another transmission came through, this one was bounced off the Marathon, much like a relay and directed to the Puissance
"Puissance Commander, this is Chairman Gina Inviere of the Aschen Imperial Navy, Flagship Legatus Stygies, we request permission to jump to your location, or alternatively we may meet in a neutral location. I've made contact with our government and they have given me the green light in furthering diplomatic relations."
____
It wasn't so much that it wasn't the best of times but that it wasn't the best of places, Brenner mentally noted. Part of her thought to explain such a thing to the foreigners but decided, after a moment or two, that the detail of their on-off wars with the Collective could wait until they'd established legitimate diplomatic relations. It was something that could prove a massive strategic faux pas, and the admiral didn't want that kind of failure on her conscience or on top of her desk, knowing that she likely wouldn't be reprimanded for such a thing but rather sacked from her station.
Still, with no small curiosity, Brenner and Horten both looked over what they could see of the other ship's interior as well as its crew. The use of camouflage on board a ship eluded Brenner, and the weapons seemed, well, appropriately alien to her and Horten both. They should have expected such from an unknown culture, she reminded herself, but she couldn't help but be bewildered and curious about a variety of topics. "Konteradmiral, they're broadcasting their transmission back to their superiors unencrypted." Odal offered to Brenner's flank, to which Brenner nodded. They had no reason for deception yet, but one could never be too sure. "... Hrethgir's finding nothing unsavory ma'am. No codes or double-meanings." Again the rear-admiral nodded, shifting slightly on her feet.
Of course, to hear that the second-in-command of these people's military was coming to meet her, a rear-admiral, made Brenner pay something of a worried glance to Horten. Either this nation wasn't terribly large, or she was very much so outclassed in terms of diplomatic capacity. The Landwächter man simply nodded, indicating that she was free to proceed. "I'll interrupt if I need to, Konteradmiral, don't fret." He was watchful if nothing else, and even despite his casual appearance and demeanor he was very much so paying attention. "You are clear to proceed in negotiations." Perhaps she could think of it as a field-test, to see if she was worthy of moving up in the political machine.
With a sigh the tawny-haired woman turned back to the holographic display, nodding at being introduced to the small portion of James' crew. "The pleasure is mine, commander James, colonel Kassa." She addressed the both of them, "I fear I don't quite know what I should ask, it's much more a matter for the Landwächter to deal with, I confes-" Brenner's words were cut short by a quick, but polite interruption from Odal. The Leutnant leaned over his display, waving to the admiral.
"Konteradmiral, a transmission, bounced from the Marathon, from their command." Silke blinked at this, unsure what to make of such. "To us. Shall I put it through?" The Austran had his finger over the key command to do so, figuring that his superior would want to hear such a thing immediately. Almost immediately she nodded, though she held up a hand for Odal to wait, that she might not appear overly rude.
"Pardon me, commander, a transmission from your..." A brief inquiry to Odal gave her the name she required, the Leutnat doing his best to pronounce it from the transcript that Hrethgir had provided of the transmission. "... chairman Inviere." With that she saw to Odal playing the message that she might hear it, Hrethgir doing its best to account for the accented speech of the chairman. "Permission is granted, chairman Inviere, though I fear we might not have much to offer in the way of diplomatic talks for now." All she was was an admiral, at that a lower one. Still, first contact was first contact, she supposed.
Mere moments later the Interdiktor arrived, as it had been ordered to do, dropping out of FTL and moving to flank the Lanze, the bulbous mounds along its otherwise sleek surface marking it as a vastly different class from the primary vessel present. She hailed the Puissance, Brenner accepting the transmission, momentary shifting the feed from James' bridge to another gothic command center, a rather pale man soon offering the Konteradmiral a quick salute. "Konteradmiral Brenner!" He nearly barked. "His Imperial Majesty's Interstellar Vessel Intolerance greets you. This is Kaptiän Richter, how may we serve?" One of the new Interdiktors assigned to her task force, an unknown face.
Silke returned the salute quickly, barely biting her lip for a moment as she pondered the thought. "Hold position for now, I do not believe we will need force of arms here, but it never hurts to be cautious." The admiral spoke, switching communications back to the Aschen for now. "... again, I apologize. I didn't plan on such interruptions. As said I don't quite know what questions to ask, though I offer the same to you, feel free to inquire, though I might not be free to answer all of your questions."