ForsytheRhea expected that, she had just made a general broadcast after all. She hoped they didn't all want help, the Intent was a small ship and wouldn't be able to provide assistance to more than one other ship at once. “Alright, lets see the first one.”
RogerD said “This is Captain Peter Weston of the USS Aurora. We and I suspect most of you have been attacked by the Imperial ships more-or-less without provocation. When we intercepted some messages it appears they have gone through some form of Civil War vying for control of the Senate. So although we had no choice but to resist, it will now mean we will now all be hunted at least until this situation is resolved. So I would suggest no one goes back into the system. And perhaps we all agree further rendezvous coordinates as I would suspect they’ll track us down within a day or so – if not sooner.
I would like to formally open communications in which to discuss how to resolve our situation, and what we should do from here on in."
Rhea’s first impression was that the man's uniform was rather gaudy. Of course she quickly got past that minor detail, becoming rather impressed with the delivery. “Now thats a first contact message” She muttered to herself with a hint of both admiration and ridicule. She would leave replying for after though, as the other messages might be more pressing. She signaled for the next one to be played.
An audio message from a ship with the name Andromeda. That stirred up memories… One of the early casualties of the war with the Nietzscheans had been an XMC class ship by the name of the Andromeda Ascendant. One of the heroic High Guard officers lost with it had been the Nietzschean first officer, one Gaheris Rhade. A man Rhea had quite admired. She quickly shook off the memory though, that was in the past. The Andromeda was accepting her offer of assistance. That was good. “Valerie, handle the docking, then assist the repair team in person.” She said before signaling for the next message to be played, another audio only one.
Sep said "Attention unidentified vessels, this is the Battlestar Columbia. Identify yourselves immediately or we will be forced to take aggressive measures. Repeat, this is the Battlestar Columbia, Identify yourselves immediately or we will be forced to take aggressive measures."
The communication was suffering from considerable distortion consistent with very primitive radios, and Rhea was baffled at how a culture could construct a megalithic ship yet still have such primitive technology. Still, in the interests of keeping this from turning into another battle before she could gain sufficient leverage with her new allies, she would reply. “This is the Systems Commonwealth starship Valorous Intent to the Battlestar Columbia. We are engaging in humanitarian activities-” Not quite true, as they were repairing an allied warship, but since they were also providing medical aid, it wasn’t quite a lie either. “-and do not wish to fight. However, we will not hesitate to return fire if attacked.” As soon as the communication was cut, she found herself willing the engineers to go faster. Combat with a ship that size would be unpleasant, even if the enemy was technologically hampered, and Slipstream would be their best option. Time to make another ally. “Hail the USS Aurora.”
“Captain Weston, a pleasure to meet you, I am Captain Rhea Shohashi. I agree with your assessment of the situation - It seems this Empire has declared war on us all simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, though, how we arrived at that place is a matter for further discussion. I propose that in the immediate future we gather as many of these ships as are willing to cooperate and make a hasty escape. As the old earth saying goes, ‘Safety in numbers.’”