[h3][center][b][u]Heavy Cruiser [i]Star-Borne[/i], Kasius System, Solaran Federation[/u][/b][/center][/h3]

“Bring us to battle stations! Power up our weapons and thrusters!” Captain Ruag whistled frantically as he watched the light cruiser [i]Argent[/i]’s demise. Commanding the heavy cruiser [i]Star-Borne[/i], the protection of Senator Fayyer and the diplomatic team was ultimately his responsibility. One that he had just failed. The likelihood of Fayyer having survived was low at best.

“Did the Federation destroy them?” One of the officers on the bridge quietly asked, bringing out to the open what Ruag himself believed to be true.

Ruag simply grunted before saying “Contact [i]Dagger[/i] and [i]Star-Savior[/i]. Have them join up with us.” [i]Dagger[/i] and [i]Star-Savior[/i] were the two Broadsword-class destroyers that had come with them, remaining outside of the star system along with six Sentinel-class corvettes. Someone had had the foresight to prepare for the worst case, realizing that should things turn sour having those two ships on hand could prove invaluable. “And have the marines prepare plans to rescue our citizens still on that station.”

He waited a few moments before adding “Engage main drive. Set course for the [i]Argent[/i]’s wreck at battle speed.”

“Aye. Setting course for [i]Argent[/i]’s wreck at battle speed.” His helmsman stated.

“Captain” The communications officer spoke up. “[i]Dagger[/i] and [i]Star-Savior[/i] report that they are five minutes out. They will be coming out of warp ready for combat.”

“Excellent” Ruag responded. “Inform them that I don’t want them opening fire unless I either explicitly order them to or they are fired upon.”

Five minutes later [i]Star-Borne[/i] had come considerably closer to both the [i]Argent[/i]’s wreck and the human space station [i]Vigilant[/i]. All the while [i]Star-Borne[/i], along with the two Confederate destroyers and six corvettes that had just dropped out of warp, had shown increasingly hostile behavior towards the human ships in the area. [i]Star-Borne[/i] had even locked on to a human freighter that had drifted too close for comfort, although the captain warned the freighter off instead of opening fire. Even so it would be apparent to all present that the Confederate forces were quite suspicious towards their Federation hosts.

“Captain! I’ve established a solid connection with one of the escape pods!”

“Excellent. Patch me through.” Ruag took a moment to compose himself before speaking again. “This is Captain Ruag of the heavy cruiser [i]Star-Borne[/i]. What’s your situation?”

There was a long pause before a reply, barely audible through static, came back. “This…. Lieutenant… The [i]Argent[/i]… destroyed by… from inside the ship.”

“Confirm. [i]Argent[/i] was NOT destroyed by an outside source.” Ruag demanded.

“Correct…” Ruag wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. It WAS good that the Federation was not at fault. But that meant that this had been an attack from inside the Confederation itself, which was NOT a good thing. In his suspicions towards the Federation Ruag might have also caused irreparable damage to their relations.

“What’s the Senator’s status?” Ruag asked.

“…wounded… shot twice…. His….. hit… debris from… explosion. Urgently needs medic attention.”

If the Senator had been shot… Ruag’s eyes widened as he realized what that could mean. This was a major terrorist attack with the likely objective being the Senator’s death. But towards what end? It was something he would have to contemplate later. For now he had a badly wounded Senator and his heavy cruiser most likely did not have the facilities needed to save his life. Which left him only one option left.

“Connect me to the Federation space station [i]Vigilant[/i].” Ruag ordered. He waited a moment for the connect to be established before speaking again, confident that his ship’s systems would translate to their language automatically. “This is Captain Ruag of the Cormyrean Confederation heavy cruiser [i]Star-Borne[/i] to the Solaran Federation authorities on the space station [i]Vigilant[/i]. We have confirmed that the light cruiser [i]Argent[/i] was destroyed from an internal source. We will be standing down from combat stations and hope that the Federation will aid us in our rescue efforts. We believe Senator Fayyer is badly wounded and needs immediate and extensive medical attention. His medical needs may exceed the capabilities of this heavy cruiser. Therefore, I am requesting that you allow us to send a few of our surgeons over and that you provide the support and facilities we need to save the Senator’s life. Any assistance given will be appreciated and remembered. May the Living Stars watch over us.” He ended his transmission as he turned to the officers on his bridge. He had a rescue effort to oversee.

[h3][center][b][u]Seraphim-class Assault Carrier [i]Dauntless[/i], Unknown Star System[/u][/b][/center][/h3]

“What do we have here?” Crex asked as the [i]CCS Dauntless[/i] dropped out of warp into the uncharted star system formally called 5A7511A-2. Crex, captain of the Dauntless and something of a war hero back in the Cormyrean Confederation had been tasked with the open ended mission of exploration. Of course there were more specifics to his orders, but simply summing it up as exploring more or less was the sum of those orders.

Thus far his mission had been fairly boring. He had found a lot of barren worlds and gas giants. Occasionally he and his crew found themselves staring at something a bit more interesting such as a pulsar or black hole, but for the most part the mission had been uneventful. That was until the AI on board the ship, referred to by the same name as the ship itself, answered Crex’s question.

“There are signs of an inhabited world” Dauntless reported. “The civilization present is confirmed to in the early space age at least.”

“How could you possibly know that already?” Crex asked.

“I can see their satellites” Dauntless answered without missing a beat.  The bridge was dead silent, none of the crew willing to comment on how their captain had made himself sound like a complete idiot.

“Oh” Crex finally broke the silence. “Well shit. Send them the communications packet.”

“Aye captain. Communications packet away.” Dauntless responded with a hint of amusement in “her” tone. The communications packet was something that had been developed to help ease some of the problems involved in making first contact. Mostly it concentrated on helping the recipients convert some of the Nalloth language and concepts into their own. It started by focusing on the universal language of mathematics and all involved. First it would show a dot of light followed by the word “one”. Then it would show two dots of light followed by the word “two”. It would repeat this process using different numbers and other objects, such as stars or rocks. Then it would work on showing the recipients what the Confederation used for math symbols and measurement. 


The communications packet had proven to greatly reduce the time needed to make some of those first few and, arguably, most vital attempts at communication when making contact with other civilizations. It also allowed Crex and his crew to put bulk of the burden of translations on the recipients, at least initially. Having sent the package all Crex and his crew could do was wait and observe while those who lived in the system received and responded to the packet.