LCRUA International Relations (IC, LCRUA only)

[Poulton-with-Fearnhead]

To: The Former citizens of the Nimbus System,
Encryption Level: 7 EXTREMELY HIGH
Code: Black
Dear, The former citizens of the Nimbus system,
we have just heard about your recent broadcast, and your threat against the leader and in general Poulton-with-Fearnhead. We must inform you that this type of behavior will not be tolerated and we will not hesitate to act justly in accordance with the defense act at our nation. As you have made what we would call a war offense. You're threats to destroy my navy as it were, are not in the best interests with our people. You must understand that this will lead to terrible consequences. I am dreadfully sorry, but for our valor and nation, I have no choice but to declare war on you.

So the declaration of war was made, what would've been an ordinary day turned into panic very quickly. Many citizens struggled to hear the news on TV or the radio, as this was, yet again, just another nation to fight against. The army are already gearing up, ready for a possible invasion, their beautifully camouflaged uniforms placed over their skin as they prepare for war. I can now confirm that Poulton-with-Fearnhead, is now at war with The Former Citizens Of The Nimbus System.

The Nimban Ministerial Office for Diplomacy is quick - incredibly quick - to respond.

To Sauhava Xalrrlan, Leader of Poulton-with-Fearnhead,

Having received the message of your declaration of war, we would like to ask for this situation to be reversed on the account of it being based on what appears to be a misunderstanding.

Minister Walker's statement was that the Buccaneer ultralight strike and boarding vessels located on board Etrian ships in the Frozen Sea would be launched in the event that your fleet did not halt their attacks on the Salomonistic States' vessels in order that your ships be boarded, not destroyed, so as to forcibly end the exchanges of fire. Our soldiers, in the event of this occurring, would be ordered to entirely avoid causing casualties; it is not our desire to kill the citizens of any nation. A separate threat was made against the Salomonistic States in the hope that, both forces ceasing combat simultaneously, the hostilities could be resolved without violence.

Let us be clear in our intentions; we do not want and never have desired to be at war with you, a friend and ally in these uncertain times. To this end, we still do not consider the state of war between us to exist and will not deploy any military force against you other than the capturing of your ships described above if it is necessary to end the combat, after which they would of course be returned to you, repaired of all damage by our best engineers and fully restocked with supplies to demonstrate our continued goodwill towards Poulton-with-Fearnhead. We have already declared the false military government in Krypton Nova to be our enemy, a power many times stronger than ourselves; it would be highly irrational for us to seek out other opponents at this time, even if such a thing was not already morally unacceptable.

We hope that this may be resolved swiftly and peacefully for the benefit of our citizens and the world in general.

Simon Berkeley, spokesman for the Ministerial Office for Diplomacy of the Colony of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System

Dear Simon Berekely, While i agree that fighting isn't the answer, we as a nation have taken your threat to remove our ships as a military act of war. Yous still risk war if you do not remove your threat within the next 24 hours. We would like our ships to remain where they are until our battle with the SSS is finished. You have 24 hours to remove your threat to remove our ships. If however the war ends then no further action be need taken. Please review your desicion once again. We as much as you would not like to fight you, so please leave our ships alone.
Yours Sincerely Haolack Zarpdae 1st military general.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

The Nimban Ministerial Office for Diplomacy is quick - incredibly quick - to respond.

To Sauhava Xalrrlan, Leader of Poulton-with-Fearnhead,

Having received the message of your declaration of war, we would like to ask for this situation to be reversed on the account of it being based on what appears to be a misunderstanding.

Minister Walker's statement was that the Buccaneer ultralight strike and boarding vessels located on board Etrian ships in the Frozen Sea would be launched in the event that your fleet did not halt their attacks on the Salomonistic States' vessels in order that your ships be boarded, not destroyed, so as to forcibly end the exchanges of fire. Our soldiers, in the event of this occurring, would be ordered to entirely avoid causing casualties; it is not our desire to kill the citizens of any nation. A separate threat was made against the Salomonistic States in the hope that, both forces ceasing combat simultaneously, the hostilities could be resolved without violence.

Let us be clear in our intentions; we do not want and never have desired to be at war with you, a friend and ally in these uncertain times. To this end, we still do not consider the state of war between us to exist and will not deploy any military force against you other than the capturing of your ships described above if it is necessary to end the combat, after which they would of course be returned to you, repaired of all damage by our best engineers and fully restocked with supplies to demonstrate our continued goodwill towards Poulton-with-Fearnhead. We have already declared the false military government in Krypton Nova to be our enemy, a power many times stronger than ourselves; it would be highly irrational for us to seek out other opponents at this time, even if such a thing was not already morally unacceptable.

We hope that this may be resolved swiftly and peacefully for the benefit of our citizens and the world in general.

Simon Berkeley, spokesman for the Ministerial Office for Diplomacy of the Colony of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System

Dear Simon Berekely, While i agree that fighting isn't the answer, we as a nation have taken your threat to remove our ships as a military act of war. Yous still risk war if you do not remove your threat within the next 24 hours. We would like our ships to remain where they are until our battle with the SSS is finished. You have 24 hours to remove your threat to remove our ships. If however the war ends then no further action be need taken. Please review your desicion once again. We as much as you would not like to fight you, so please leave our ships alone.
Yours Sincerely Haolack Zarpdae 1st military general.

This response takes slightly longer to arrive.

To Haolack Zarpdae, 1st military general,

We are grateful to see that our wish to preserve peace between us is reciprocated. After some discussion, we would like to propose that we will not board the Poulton-with-Fearnheadian fleet in the Frozen Sea in exchange for confirmation that, should the fleet of the Salomonistic States cease firing upon your own, you will respond by also ceasing fire and urging your Syadec allies to do the same. This should bring about the bloodless resolution to the conflict that we hope for without the need for any threats.

Simon Berkeley, spokesman for the Ministerial Office for Diplomacy of the Colony of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System

[Larnion]

The Larnioni delegation, hearing the news of "kidnapping" minutes prior Bion's speech from the Chief of the CoII, remained silent, observing the expressions of the other nations' delegates, most notably the confusion and shock. The unified reaction was somehow inducing hope in Maalio's eyes, now that the Empress was taken hostage. He felt a slight buzz in one of his pockets. Knowing it is against the rules to use any unindentified electronical devices during the conference, he knew it was his pocket holovision vibrating; he saw it strange at least to exit the room twice when every other government official stayed in the room for the whole time. A short glimpse on the bright display revealed a message from the oe person he was concerned about the most. He took a decision. Before the program could resume after a slightly off-topic debate on the news of President Bion, Sethrac Maalio stood up to draw the attention of the present delegations.

"As far as I'm obliged to obey the rules of this meeting," he took out the device from his pocket, "this personal holovision of mine I have unlawfully brought here might contain something that will cast some light on the shadows covering the unknown whereabouts of the Empress of Larnion and, hopefully, put an answer to what's actually going on."

Whatever there is in this message... please be it good news.

The Chief went straight up to the computer underneath the two screens that have been being used for broadcast; essentially cut off the signal to Streth and plugged in the device to play a video message sent to be seen by his eyes only at first. However, he realised he could not keep information as such secret. In the meanwhile time, he was approached by three Nimban security guards. "Sir, we urge you to explain what are you trying to do now. This is a huge breach of the procedure and it shall result in a punishment for your delegation," said Harry Walker to the Chief. Maalio eyed the people in the room, all piercing him with cold looks. He took a deep breathe-in and said: "I'm showing you the truth." With these words, he slipped out of the guards' hands and pushed the button on the computer before being essentially tackled down; but as the message started playing, the concentration of everyone aimed at the screen. The guards sat the Chief at his table, surrounded him there but let him watch.

It was the longest sixteen minutes of the summit, and to the Larnioni delegation, the things seen were carved in their minds forever.

[Malutia Lusia Cialty]

Today the General of State, Fredrik Kjønsen has welcomed the Royal family of MLC back after 42 years in exile. The family where flown from New Stalingrad to Spero. When the family arrived, the leader of the "Monarchist Freedom League" Yrksa Sadgnag was the first person to welcome the family back home. After this many rebel groups in Northern MLC have been contacting the government to start peaceful negotiations to dissolve the groups. Notable groups are "Teskin Monarchist Republic", "Northern Army of the oppressed" and the "Freedoms of the Nolad views" to note the last two ones where formed after the documents about the massacres where leaked. With this the government is planning to open 80% of secret documents for the people, 6 days after the planned coronation of Henrik IV the new king of MLC.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

The Larnioni delegation, hearing the news of "kidnapping" minutes prior Bion's speech from the Chief of the CoII, remained silent, observing the expressions of the other nations' delegates, most notably the confusion and shock. The unified reaction was somehow inducing hope in Maalio's eyes, now that the Empress was taken hostage. He felt a slight buzz in one of his pockets. Knowing it is against the rules to use any unindentified electronical devices during the conference, he knew it was his pocket holovision vibrating; he saw it strange at least to exit the room twice when every other government official stayed in the room for the whole time. A short glimpse on the bright display revealed a message from the oe person he was concerned about the most. He took a decision. Before the program could resume after a slightly off-topic debate on the news of President Bion, Sethrac Maalio stood up to draw the attention of the present delegations.

"As far as I'm obliged to obey the rules of this meeting," he took out the device from his pocket, "this personal holovision of mine I have unlawfully brought here might contain something that will cast some light on the shadows covering the unknown whereabouts of the Empress of Larnion and, hopefully, put an answer to what's actually going on."

Whatever there is in this message... please be it good news.

The Chief went straight up to the computer underneath the two screens that have been being used for broadcast; essentially cut off the signal to Streth and plugged in the device to play a video message sent to be seen by his eyes only at first. However, he realised he could not keep information as such secret. In the meanwhile time, he was approached by three Nimban security guards. "Sir, we urge you to explain what are you trying to do now. This is a huge breach of the procedure and it shall result in a punishment for your delegation," said Harry Walker to the Chief. Maalio eyed the people in the room, all piercing him with cold looks. He took a deep breathe-in and said: "I'm showing you the truth." With these words, he slipped out of the guards' hands and pushed the button on the computer before being essentially tackled down; but as the message started playing, the concentration of everyone aimed at the screen. The guards sat the Chief at his table, surrounded him there but let him watch.

It was the longest sixteen minutes of the summit, and to the Larnioni delegation, the things seen were carved in their minds forever.

OOC: I fail to see why having what is effectively a wifi-enabled combination memory stick and video player would be against the rules of the summit; the Colony is highly amenable to technology in general and such things as this would frequently be used in the House of the Assembly.

Also, I know that this isn't an IC post; my plan is to edit the post to be so once Larnion has done so.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Venture League Corsairs are the first of the Nimban forces to approach Feratus City; their coilguns begin precise kinetic missile strikes, targeting the anti-air weaponry of the enemy forces and any of their aircraft that might be present in a corridor from the outside of the city to its airport in an attempt to establish air dominance over that area. If they should achieve this quickly and do not find themselves under attack from other enemy aircraft, they move onto their next objective: explosive bombardment of the Novan ground forces attempting to breach the city walls. Through all of this, the Corsairs are also automatically using their scanning capabilities to create a real-time, three-dimensional picture of the battlefield to be used by almost all elements of the army that is now fast approaching.

OOC: Briefly, Corsairs carry three types of coilgun-launched projectile: kinetic, which have no explosive component to them and are normally used to destroy military hardware and buildings without causing collateral damage; semi-kinetic, which utilise only small amounts of explosives and are a compromise between the former and latter types; and explosive, which explode like your typical modern missiles.

[Jovian Artemisia]

OOC:

• This counts as my introduction I guess.
• This is also a school writing project, so quality posts will be included in my short story, thank you.
• For more information on the spatial distortion drive, see my factbook "Artemisian Technologies".

Meanwhile, as the nations of Arcadia conducted their politics and war...

[Orbit of Arcadia, Astral System, Andromeda Galaxy]
The dark, empty space above the planet suddenly became bent in a spiral fashion, and observation posts stationed around the globe detected waves of unidentified and instantaneous gravitational pull. Although confusion ensued, everyone dismissed the phenomenon as a natural occurrence, speculating whether it is caused by microscopic shards of a neutron star or just a especially large comet.

As the light distortion subsided, a pitch black mass emerged from the anomaly. Its shell seems to be highly reflective, which alienates it from a natural meteor, yet it doesn't look like spacecrafts either as no visible exhaust is to be seen anywhere on its smooth, frictionless surface.

"Destination reached, current location: Planet V7C4TP, System V7C, Constellation XXVI, Spiral Arm Epsilon, Andromeda Galaxy." The navigation construct announced with a flat tone that is heard throughout all ships of the First Expeditionary Force.

It was quite the milestone, a congratulation from reality for the monumental effort that brought the Artemisian people to where they are today. For one, it announced that the experiment is a profound success. For the first time in archived history, mankind possess the power to reach every corner of the universe in their foreseeable future, all thanks to a unlimited, yet controllable spatial distortion drive. Most importantly, however, it is the confirmation of a real alien signal, ensuring that the effort is not wasted on something dead for millions of years. Everyone aboard the fleet was crazed by the possibilities and opportunities that this may bring to them and the rest of the nation.

Ten months earlier, a mysterious signal was intercepted within the Vagian Cloud, and it appears to be a response signal to the intergalactic broadcast that Jovian Artemisia have been hosting since the days of Exodus Era. Following the contact, the Macrosentience and both parties of the Administrative Forum unanimously agreed upon the reinitiation of a massive project that was laying abandoned for decades ----- an intergalactic spacecraft.

For that purpose, the ADS Curiosity was built, a gargantuan capital ship that is larger than any other ship of civilian or military class. Within its 36km long hull is an entire expeditionary force composed of hundreds of thousands of military, technical and medicinal personnel. It was equipped with the most advanced technology to date, and it moves with a experimental version of the controllable long-range SSD. With all things set and prepared, the mobile colony began its voyage at 90:75, Nivosei 38th of epoch 723.

Though ADS Curiosity's appearance above the planet was initially unnoticed, evidence suggests that the stealth will not last for long given the presence of high level technologies detected on its surface. Right now, all the crews have to do is wait. Under the homeworld's orders, the mothership's weapon system is armed and a reverse teleportation charge is maintained in case of alien hostility.

[Etrius]

OOC:

• This counts as my introduction I guess.
• This is also a school writing project, so quality posts will be included in my short story, thank you.
• For more information on the spatial distortion drive, see my factbook "Artemisian Technologies".

Meanwhile, as the nations of Arcadia conducted their politics and war...

[Orbit of Arcadia, Astral System, Andromeda Galaxy]
The dark, empty space above the planet suddenly became bent in a spiral fashion, and observation posts stationed around the globe detected waves of unidentified and instantaneous gravitational pull. Although confusion ensued, everyone dismissed the phenomenon as a natural occurrence, speculating whether it is caused by microscopic shards of a neutron star or just a especially large comet.

As the light distortion subsided, a pitch black mass emerged from the anomaly. Its shell seems to be highly reflective, which alienates it from a natural meteor, yet it doesn't look like spacecrafts either as no visible exhaust is to be seen anywhere on its smooth, frictionless surface.

"Destination reached, current location: Planet V7C4TP, System V7C, Constellation XXVI, Spiral Arm Epsilon, Andromeda Galaxy." The navigation construct announced with a flat tone that is heard throughout all ships of the First Expeditionary Force.

It was quite the milestone, a congratulation from reality for the monumental effort that brought the Artemisian people to where they are today. For one, it announced that the experiment is a profound success. For the first time in archived history, mankind possess the power to reach every corner of the universe in their foreseeable future, all thanks to a unlimited, yet controllable spatial distortion drive. Most importantly, however, it is the confirmation of a real alien signal, ensuring that the effort is not wasted on something dead for millions of years. Everyone aboard the fleet was crazed by the possibilities and opportunities that this may bring to them and the rest of the nation.

Ten months earlier, a mysterious signal was intercepted within the Vagian Cloud, and it appears to be a response signal to the intergalactic broadcast that Jovian Artemisia have been hosting since the days of Exodus Era. Following the contact, the Macrosentience and both parties of the Administrative Forum unanimously agreed upon the reinitiation of a massive project that was laying abandoned for decades ----- an intergalactic spacecraft.

For that purpose, the ADS Curiosity was built, a gargantuan capital ship that is larger than any other ship of civilian or military class. Within its 36km long hull is an entire expeditionary force composed of hundreds of thousands of military, technical and medicinal personnel. It was equipped with the most advanced technology to date, and it moves with a experimental version of the controllable long-range SSD. With all things set and prepared, the mobile colony began its voyage at 90:75, Nivosei 38th of epoch 723.

Though ADS Curiosity's appearance above the planet was initially unnoticed, evidence suggests that the stealth will not last for long given the presence of high level technologies detected on its surface. Right now, all the crews have to do is wait. Under the homeowrld's orders, the mothership's weapon system is armed and a reverse teleportation charge is maintained in case of alien hostility.

In a border security post in northwestern Etrius in the late hours of the night, a handful of radar and orbital sensor technicians watch the screens of their equipment, keeping an eye open for foreign attacks from any of the nations in the Frozen Sea conflict or the war in the crescent. In recent days all of the facility's personnel have been on edge, running rapid response drill every opportunity.

As one of the armed guards does his patrol in the monitor station, he stops to look at a tech worker that looks to be having trouble. The guard asks "everything alright here?", the technician is scrambling around his station franticly and responds "something is off, I don't know what, but it isn't normal".
The guard begins walking away speaking into his microphone "we need a techy in the radar room, possible activity in the air". As more personnel enter the large room, the base alarm sounds and guards begin locking down the outer gates.

After the base is locked down, the radar monitors have confirmed the disturbance was orbital and alert border guard command. Command issues orders to ready defenses but do not fire until threat is clear. The order ripples to all border outposts to do the same.

A broadcast is sent into orbit to communicate and find out if the massive object is of Arcadian origin and if the nation is under threat:
"Hello.please.respond."

[Jovian Artemisia]

In a border security post in northwestern Etrius in the late hours of the night, a handful of radar and orbital sensor technicians watch the screens of their equipment, keeping an eye open for foreign attacks from any of the nations in the Frozen Sea conflict or the war in the crescent. In recent days all of the facility's personnel have been on edge, running rapid response drill every opportunity.

As one of the armed guards does his patrol in the monitor station, he stops to look at a tech worker that looks to be having trouble. The guard asks "everything alright here?", the technician is scrambling around his station franticly and responds "something is off, I don't know what, but it isn't normal".
The guard begins walking away speaking into his microphone "we need a techy in the radar room, possible activity in the air". As more personnel enter the large room, the base alarm sounds and guards begin locking down the outer gates.

After the base is locked down, the radar monitors have confirmed the disturbance was orbital and alert border guard command. Command issues orders to ready defenses but do not fire until threat is clear. The order ripples to all border outposts to do the same.

A broadcast is sent into orbit to communicate and find out if the massive object is of Arcadian origin and if the nation is under threat:
"Hello.please.respond."

OOC: My suspicions were confirmed that LCRUA is indeed in a different time zone. Writing at 12pm, gotta sleep soon.

The first witness of the response message was not the epic dawn of a new era as everyone has envisioned, but rather through a accident. As the crew of ADS Curiosity impatiently waited for a detection to come, the atomsphere inside the ship is akin to a prison cell, and the unimatter barriers that separated crew from the vacuum had become its impenetrable walls. All of them, from the pilot to the mechanic, eagerly anticipated what an off-world culture may look like.

"They may have achieved unity with the machine just like those ascension cultists and had already become quirky robots or something!" One engineer loudly exclaim this fact to his partner.

"Dane no! Judging from their advancement, they could've already developed a perfect society that dwarfs our wildest dreams, a true utopia! His partner return an equally loud rebuttal. "There is absolutely no reason to fiddle with machines unlike those irrational guys back on Nova Gaia."

While thousands of similar arguments went on throughout the ship, Captain Drarou remain seated in his private monitor room, straining his mind for any updates in the data stream. Suddenly, a bar of words flashed through his optical connection, causing him to drop his magnetically-confined coffee that he's been sipping for well over an hour. The brown liquid, combined with the Captain's personal preference of zero gravity, worked against him in a instant as it spread uncontrolled and seeps into every piece of furniture in the cabin.

"Sacred whatevers, this is it!" This is the first thought that flashed through Drarou's mind. Immediately he began the decryption process while his imagination wandered wild with all levels of odd things and proceeds to completely forget his mission of notifying others.

30 minutes later...

The decrypted message reads as three words, "Hello", "Please", and "Respond". Not fully grasping the meaning of the alien vocabulary and unsure of what to do, the Captiain contacted the homeworld for instructions. He got three different responses:

"They are too advanced, we must obliterate the landmass with reverse-entrophy warheads immediately!"

"No we must not! This is supposed to be an exploration mission, not a military action, we come in peace, engage in diplomacy immediately!"

"Or whatever. Can't we just relax and wait for them to do something else, like proposing a trade agreement? Just keep waiting."

Though he liked the idea of having some free time to clean up his soiled cabin, the excitement is just too strong to be suppressed. Rapidly, he constructed a simple response:

"We mean no harm. Request further communication."

That'll comfort both groups. Drarou thought, as he reached for the button to alert all crew to a shipwide conference.

[Krypton Nova]

Venture League Corsairs are the first of the Nimban forces to approach Feratus City; their coilguns begin precise kinetic missile strikes, targeting the anti-air weaponry of the enemy forces and any of their aircraft that might be present in a corridor from the outside of the city to its airport in an attempt to establish air dominance over that area. If they should achieve this quickly and do not find themselves under attack from other enemy aircraft, they move onto their next objective: explosive bombardment of the Novan ground forces attempting to breach the city walls. Through all of this, the Corsairs are also automatically using their scanning capabilities to create a real-time, three-dimensional picture of the battlefield to be used by almost all elements of the army that is now fast approaching.

OOC: Briefly, Corsairs carry three types of coilgun-launched projectile: kinetic, which have no explosive component to them and are normally used to destroy military hardware and buildings without causing collateral damage; semi-kinetic, which utilise only small amounts of explosives and are a compromise between the former and latter types; and explosive, which explode like your typical modern missiles.

As heavy tanks are still trying to breach Feratus' city gates, Novan generals begin to give orders to counter the approaching Nimban aircraft. They erect 4 Defence towers and mobilise a division of light tanks to occupy the Nimban aircraft, before calling the airbase of Moldivatus to order in light and heavy drones.

Smoothly, four structures rise out of the ground on locations that previously blended in perfectly with their surroundings. Force fields emit a temporary humming noise as they engage, and heavy KEW-turrets deploy. The Novan army is readying itself to fence off areal attacks.

The division of light tanks was notified of the incoming aircraft and ordered to keep them occupied, until the four nearby Defence Towers could fully deploy. Loading in EPF75-rounds and F75-rounds (alternating between the two ammunitions) and driving across the terrain at high speeds to try to avoid being effectively targeted, they started to fire, leading at the middle of the group of incoming planes. Being tanks, their rate of fire was very low compared to conventional anti-aircraft weaponry, and their aiming capabilities at planes was not nearly as accurate, but the large area of effect of F-type rounds compensated sufficiently for this inefficiency.

As the EPF75 and F75-rounds detonate in midair and close enough to any planes, either their electronical systems go out of control in case of EPF-rounds, or they suffer explosive damage by the F75-rounds. The deadliest hits occur with a combination of the two, which was already evidenced by a couple of Nimban planes tumbling severely damaged and out of control down to the ground.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, the Feratus Loyalist Militia blow up both eastern bridges to prevent armed forces from crossing the canal, as the gates their have apparently been severely damaged. Two heavy tanks of the Novan army plunged into the canal, and were rendered inoperable because of this. Their crews remain locked up in their tanks, and will have to wait to be hauled out of the water. Luckily for them, the anti-gas measures equipped in their tanks will be able to keep them alive for a while.

After purging the AI's code of the installed malware, the FLM reactivates it. It will take some time to re-engage Feratus' defence systems, but things are looking up for the FML. This will also allow them to take control of the drones still stationed at the Feratus military airport inside the city's walls, something that could prove a huge contribution to their defence. Especially the light drones will come in handy if the walls are breached, as they are relatively small and are incredibly useful in city warfare.

(OOC: #Nimbus, and more information on the armed forces)

[Etrius]

In a border security post in northwestern Etrius in the late hours of the night, a handful of radar and orbital sensor technicians watch the screens of their equipment, keeping an eye open for foreign attacks from any of the nations in the Frozen Sea conflict or the war in the crescent. In recent days all of the facility's personnel have been on edge, running rapid response drill every opportunity.

As one of the armed guards does his patrol in the monitor station, he stops to look at a tech worker that looks to be having trouble. The guard asks "everything alright here?", the technician is scrambling around his station franticly and responds "something is off, I don't know what, but it isn't normal".
The guard begins walking away speaking into his microphone "we need a techy in the radar room, possible activity in the air". As more personnel enter the large room, the base alarm sounds and guards begin locking down the outer gates.

After the base is locked down, the radar monitors have confirmed the disturbance was orbital and alert border guard command. Command issues orders to ready defenses but do not fire until threat is clear. The order ripples to all border outposts to do the same.

A broadcast is sent into orbit to communicate and find out if the massive object is of Arcadian origin and if the nation is under threat:
"Hello.please.respond."

OOC: My suspicions were confirmed that LCRUA is indeed in a different time zone. Writing at 12pm, gotta sleep soon.

The first witness of the response message was not the epic dawn of a new era as everyone has envisioned, but rather through a accident. As the crew of ADS Curiosity impatiently waited for a detection to come, the atomsphere inside the ship is akin to a prison cell, and the unimatter barriers that separated crew from the vacuum had become its impenetrable walls. All of them, from the pilot to the mechanic, eagerly anticipated what an off-world culture may look like.

"They may have achieved unity with the machine just like those ascension cultists and had already become quirky robots or something!" One engineer loudly exclaim this fact to his partner.

"Dane no! Judging from their advancement, they could've already developed a perfect society that dwarfs our wildest dreams, a true utopia! His partner return an equally loud rebuttal. "There is absolutely no reason to fiddle with machines unlike those irrational guys back on Nova Gaia."

While thousands of similar arguments went on throughout the ship, Captain Drarou remain seated in his private monitor room, straining his mind for any updates in the data stream. Suddenly, a bar of words flashed through his optical connection, causing him to drop his magnetically-confined coffee that he's been sipping for well over an hour. The brown liquid, combined with the Captain's personal preference of zero gravity, worked against him in a instant as it spread uncontrolled and seeps into every piece of furniture in the cabin.

"Sacred whatevers, this is it!" This is the first thought that flashed through Drarou's mind. Immediately he began the decryption process while his imagination wandered wild with all levels of odd things and proceeds to completely forget his mission of notifying others.

30 minutes later...

The decrypted message reads as three words, "Hello", "Please", and "Respond". Not fully grasping the meaning of the alien vocabulary and unsure of what to do, the Captiain contacted the homeworld for instructions. He got three different responses:

"They are too advanced, we must obliterate the landmass with reverse-entrophy warheads immediately!"

"No we must not! This is supposed to be an exploration mission, not a military action, we come in peace, engage in diplomacy immediately!"

"Or whatever. Can't we just relax and wait for them to do something else, like proposing a trade agreement? Just keep waiting."

Though he liked the idea of having some free time to clean up his soiled cabin, the excitement is just too strong to be suppressed. Rapidly, he constructed a simple response:

"We mean no harm. Request further communication."

That'll comfort both groups. Drarou thought, as he reached for the button to alert all crew to a shipwide conference.

As the border control begins raising alarms all over the country, squads of fighters are put on standby in case of hostile action by the object in orbit or possible attacks using it as a diversion. About an hour after the initial broadcast, a response was received and the room in which the object was detected fell silent.

Ocean the message was read aloud in the radar room, it was sent to command in Bir Tawil. The matter was immediately sent to the security council and was made urgent to wake the prime minister. Once assembled in the Capitol, Prime minister Attar insists on making sure of the objects origins and intensions, as to avoid a national catastrophy.

A second broadcast is sent to the object:
"Please state your mission and place of origin"
"We wish to speak to your commander"
An answer is awaited for as the security council establishes a video link with the outposts that made the discovery

[Salomonistic States]

Nimban Summit

Jiao Piqanh, standing up and straightening his suit, addresses the Minister, saying the following: "Mr. Walker, sir. If you don't mind me saying, neither the Poultons nor the Syadecs have ceased their attacks, so I cannot keep the end of the deal you proposed of the Salominians. We must make to you the ultimatum that if in the next 24 hours you do not keep your offer, or threat, really, we will commence our attack once again. Until then, we will only fight on the defensive. But, should you keep your end of said bargain, and begin your attacks on Syadec and Poulton ships, as you said you would, we will continue our defensive, and nothing else. I apologize for putting this in such a threatening manner, but your delay in your threats has forced us to this. We cannot logistically continue the great loss of Salominian lives while not able to strike back, which is why I must break this to you. I reiterate my statement: Commence the attack you promised on Syadec and Poulton ships, and we shall not begin our offensive once again; Don't, and we will take matters of restoring peace into our own hands. Really, it shouldn't be a hard decision, considering that the Poultons even declared war on you. And sir, personally, without representing the state, I beg of you to make the right choice."

Cynos City, Syadei

A Salominian cropduster biplane with no weapons and a single passenger has requested entrance into Cynos airspace.

[Jovian Artemisia]

As the border control begins raising alarms all over the country, squads of fighters are put on standby in case of hostile action by the object in orbit or possible attacks using it as a diversion. About an hour after the initial broadcast, a response was received and the room in which the object was detected fell silent.

Once the message was read aloud in the radar room, it was sent to command in Bir Tawil. The matter was immediately sent to the security council and was made urgent to wake the prime minister. Once assembled in the Capitol, Prime minister Attar insists on making sure of the objects origins and intentions, as to avoid a national catastrophe.

A second broadcast is sent to the object:
"Please state your mission and place of origin"
"We wish to speak to your commander"
An answer is awaited for as the security council establishes a video link with the outposts that made the discovery

OOC:The contact has become painfully slow, I must speed up, sorry if I accidentally metagamed

[Artemis Central, Jovian Artemisia, Intergalactic Void]
After a ambassador exchange that clarified things up for quite a bit and through the establishment of a real-time communication link,several sessions were held throughout the Directorate on the future of Jovian Artemisia. Seeing that the first alien civilization that ADS Curiosity made contact with have a culture that is not so vastly different from that of the Confederacy, the people, life-joyers and corporate executives alike, rejoiced at the infinite possibilities that lies in the strange world far from home.

Through intense debates and careful analysis, a multitude of megaprojects are proposed and consolidated into a single form of request to be sent to the civilization, which is going to be Jovian Artemisia's first off-world trade partner since the Solar Confederation. It reads as follows:

Official Request of Economic and Technological Alliance
Between the Socialist Federation of Etrius and the Technocratic Confederacy of Jovian Artemisia
We request:

1. Permission for the entry of ambassador crafts and inspection personnel into Etrian territory.
2. Excavation rights (non-exclusive) for any possible specialized resources within Etrian territory and right of export for its processing.
3. Permission for the construction of a orbital elevator off the eastern coast of Etrian territory so that raw and processed materials may be efficiently transported.
4. Permission for the existence of an stationary curvature stabilization portal. For the purpose of long ranged transport from production zones in Etrius to the fabrication facilities of Jovian Artemisia.
5. Technical and labor assistance for the construction of the above two projects.

In exchange, the Technocratic Confederacy will agree to the following terms:

1. Provision of all non-class E singularity manipulation technology.
2. Comprehensive blueprint of the Version Mv47.3 controllable short-range spatial distortion drive.
3. Provision of Unimatter(material bound together by strong nuclear force) in rationed quantities.
4. Grant of monopoly to the Socialist Federation for all material export in a period of five Artemisian epochs.
5. Purchase rights for Artemisian military action according to the Mercenary Regulation Codex.

And the message is sent through Nova Gaia's gravity wave communication array, its disturbances traveled beneath the fabric of space and arrived at 15:30 Nivosei 40th of epoch 723.

[Etrius]

As the border control begins raising alarms all over the country, squads of fighters are put on standby in case of hostile action by the object in orbit or possible attacks using it as a diversion. About an hour after the initial broadcast, a response was received and the room in which the object was detected fell silent.

Once the message was read aloud in the radar room, it was sent to command in Bir Tawil. The matter was immediately sent to the security council and was made urgent to wake the prime minister. Once assembled in the Capitol, Prime minister Attar insists on making sure of the objects origins and intentions, as to avoid a national catastrophe.

A second broadcast is sent to the object:
"Please state your mission and place of origin"
"We wish to speak to your commander"
An answer is awaited for as the security council establishes a video link with the outposts that made the discovery

OOC:The contact has become painfully slow, I must speed up, sorry if I accidentally metagamed

[Artemis Central, Jovian Artemisia, Intergalactic Void]
After a ambassador exchange that clarified things up for quite a bit and through the establishment of a real-time communication link,several sessions were held throughout the Directorate on the future of Jovian Artemisia. Seeing that the first alien civilization that ADS Curiosity made contact with have a culture that is not so vastly different from that of the Confederacy, the people, life-joyers and corporate executives alike, rejoiced at the infinite possibilities that lies in the strange world far from home.

Through intense debates and careful analysis, a multitude of megaprojects are proposed and consolidated into a single form of request to be sent to the civilization, which is going to be Jovian Artemisia's first off-world trade partner since the Solar Confederation. It reads as follows:

Official Request of Economic and Technological Alliance
Between the Socialist Federation of Etrius and the Technocratic Confederacy of Jovian Artemisia
We request:

1. Permission for the entry of ambassador crafts and inspection personnel into Etrian territory.
2. Excavation rights (non-exclusive) for any possible specialized resources within Etrian territory and right of export for its processing.
3. Permission for the construction of a orbital elevator off the eastern coast of Etrian territory so that raw and processed materials may be efficiently transported.
4. Permission for the existence of an stationary curvature stabilization portal. For the purpose of long ranged transport from production zones in Etrius to the fabrication facilities of Jovian Artemisia.
5. Technical and labor assistance for the construction of the above two projects.

In exchange, the Technocratic Confederacy will agree to the following terms:

1. Provision of all non-class E singularity manipulation technology.
2. Comprehensive blueprint of the Version Mv47.3 controllable short-range spatial distortion drive.
3. Provision of Unimatter(material bound together by strong nuclear force) in rationed quantities.
4. Grant of monopoly to the Socialist Federation for all material export in a period of five Artemisian epochs.
5. Purchase rights for Artemisian military action according to the Mercenary Regulation Codex.

And the message is sent through Nova Gaia's gravity wave communication array, its disturbances traveled beneath the fabric of space and arrived at 15:30 Nivosei 40th of epoch 723.

As the border post receives the transmission and then forwards it to the security council, Prime minister Attar appears confused with the request. Whoever is in there seems to operate almost the same way Arcadians do, but appear very foreign. PM Attar says:

We can not agree to terms we do not understand, if we are to deal with these foreigners, we should meet them in person and in neutral territory"

a new request is sent from the outpost:

Etrius offers
-To meet with a landing party of your delegation off of our northern coast
-Term discussion
In return
-A show of non-hostile intention
-Your delegation prepared to negotiate
"Please understand our caution, as there is a large-scale conflict we are protecting ourselves at the moment"

[Jovian Artemisia]

As the border post receives the transmission and then forwards it to the security council, Prime minister Attar appears confused with the request. Whoever is in there seems to operate almost the same way Arcadians do, but appear very foreign. PM Attar says:

We can not agree to terms we do not understand, if we are to deal with these foreigners, we should meet them in person and in neutral territory"

a new request is sent from the outpost:

Etrius offers
-To meet with a landing party of your delegation off of our northern coast
-Term discussion
In return
-A show of non-hostile intention
-Your delegation prepared to negotiate
"Please understand our caution, as there is a large-scale conflict we are protecting ourselves at the moment"

[Northern coast of Etrius, Arcadia]
The beaches and dikes of the border town Etria Nova has always been its main attraction due to its fantastic view to the Strait of Fuflad. For three seasons of a year, masses of tourists are attracted to the coast to see the faithful occurrence of the land's famous equatorial aurora, these monthly solar wind disturbances has become the most beautiful thing to the foreign eye. Little do they know, there exists something else above that remains concealed by the aurora's bright glow and the Federation's secrecy.

No a single thread of information leaked since first contact between two worlds three weeks earlier, and the nation's government has largely hesitated to publicize the information for fear of civil unrest. A highly classified diplomatic mission was arranged at a remote location at three miles off the northern coast of Etrius, right beside a small town named Etria Nova. At 23:00 pm of Arcadian standard time, the ambassador convoy of both nations have arrived, the ambassador, Captain Drarou himself, along with three senior officers of the air, naval and ground force, stepped out of the sleek landing craft. They are unarmed except for an emergency teleportation device in case of hostile actions from the other side.

Before him is the Etrian ambassador...

OOC:The rest of the part is yours to decide.

[Etrius]

As the border post receives the transmission and then forwards it to the security council, Prime minister Attar appears confused with the request. Whoever is in there seems to operate almost the same way Arcadians do, but appear very foreign. PM Attar says:

We can not agree to terms we do not understand, if we are to deal with these foreigners, we should meet them in person and in neutral territory"

a new request is sent from the outpost:

Etrius offers
-To meet with a landing party of your delegation off of our northern coast
-Term discussion
In return
-A show of non-hostile intention
-Your delegation prepared to negotiate
"Please understand our caution, as there is a large-scale conflict we are protecting ourselves at the moment"

[Northern coast of Etrius, Arcadia]
The beaches and dikes of the border town Etria Nova has always been its main attraction due to its fantastic view to the Strait of Fuflad. For three seasons of a year, masses of tourists are attracted to the coast to see the faithful occurrence of the land's famous equatorial aurora, these monthly solar wind disturbances has become the most beautiful thing to the foreign eye. Little do they know, there exists something else above that remains concealed by the aurora's bright glow and the Federation's secrecy.

No a single thread of information leaked since first contact between two worlds three weeks earlier, and the nation's government has largely hesitated to publicize the information for fear of civil unrest. A highly classified diplomatic mission was arranged at a remote location at three miles off the northern coast of Etrius, right beside a small town named Etria Nova. At 23:00 pm of Arcadian standard time, the ambassador convoy of both nations have arrived, the ambassador, Captain Drarou himself, along with three senior officers of the air, naval and ground force, stepped out of the sleek landing craft. They are unarmed expect a emergency teleportation device in case of hostile actions from the other side.

Before him is the Etrian ambassador...

OOC:The rest of the part is yours to decide.

OOC: Could I please get you to write for my nation? XD that was awesome

As the Etrian navy nears the meeting point, the delegation consists of the prime minister and a small escort of guards armed with automatic rifles (due to the current war) aboard an aroura class destroyer. Prime minister Attar greets the foreigners as he would any other, with a shake of the hand and nod of the head. After the meeting he plans to release the information of the discovery in a speech, as transparency is the nations tradition.

"Welcome to my country" says the prime minister with a large smile. "I hope you understand the reason for our meeting here, and not say the Capitol, as security is very important at the moment". Known for being very enthusiastic, the now 29 year old hopes his hospitality will suffice for his guests.

"As far as we can tell, you aren't from around here." "Which is why we are trying to be careful, nowadays you have to be careful of your allies intensions"
Abdul offers each of the men of the delegation a small glass of local Breyem tea, a drink known in the country as the 'kiss of the East', for its sweet and citrusy taste.

"So please, take a seat and tell me about yourselves"

[Krypton Nova]

OOC:

• This counts as my introduction I guess.
• This is also a school writing project, so quality posts will be included in my short story, thank you.
• For more information on the spatial distortion drive, see my factbook "Artemisian Technologies".

Meanwhile, as the nations of Arcadia conducted their politics and war...

[Orbit of Arcadia, Astral System, Andromeda Galaxy]
The dark, empty space above the planet suddenly became bent in a spiral fashion, and observation posts stationed around the globe detected waves of unidentified and instantaneous gravitational pull. Although confusion ensued, everyone dismissed the phenomenon as a natural occurrence, speculating whether it is caused by microscopic shards of a neutron star or just a especially large comet.

As the light distortion subsided, a pitch black mass emerged from the anomaly. Its shell seems to be highly reflective, which alienates it from a natural meteor, yet it doesn't look like spacecrafts either as no visible exhaust is to be seen anywhere on its smooth, frictionless surface.

"Destination reached, current location: Planet V7C4TP, System V7C, Constellation XXVI, Spiral Arm Epsilon, Andromeda Galaxy." The navigation construct announced with a flat tone that is heard throughout all ships of the First Expeditionary Force.

It was quite the milestone, a congratulation from reality for the monumental effort that brought the Artemisian people to where they are today. For one, it announced that the experiment is a profound success. For the first time in archived history, mankind possess the power to reach every corner of the universe in their foreseeable future, all thanks to a unlimited, yet controllable spatial distortion drive. Most importantly, however, it is the confirmation of a real alien signal, ensuring that the effort is not wasted on something dead for millions of years. Everyone aboard the fleet was crazed by the possibilities and opportunities that this may bring to them and the rest of the nation.

Ten months earlier, a mysterious signal was intercepted within the Vagian Cloud, and it appears to be a response signal to the intergalactic broadcast that Jovian Artemisia have been hosting since the days of Exodus Era. Following the contact, the Macrosentience and both parties of the Administrative Forum unanimously agreed upon the reinitiation of a massive project that was laying abandoned for decades ----- an intergalactic spacecraft.

For that purpose, the ADS Curiosity was built, a gargantuan capital ship that is larger than any other ship of civilian or military class. Within its 36km long hull is an entire expeditionary force composed of hundreds of thousands of military, technical and medicinal personnel. It was equipped with the most advanced technology to date, and it moves with a experimental version of the controllable long-range SSD. With all things set and prepared, the mobile colony began its voyage at 90:75, Nivosei 38th of epoch 723.

Though ADS Curiosity's appearance above the planet was initially unnoticed, evidence suggests that the stealth will not last for long given the presence of high level technologies detected on its surface. Right now, all the crews have to do is wait. Under the homeworld's orders, the mothership's weapon system is armed and a reverse teleportation charge is maintained in case of alien hostility.

---

Engulfed by the utter silence of space, three Valkyrie-class warships and one Tyr-class warship de-accelerated quickly as they disengaged their quantum drives and engaged their forward thrusters to enter into a stable orbit. They came back from a regular patrol around the gas giant Cindia within the Astral System, where 12 Novan mining stations scooped anti-matter from it's very upper atmosphere. As their sensors adjusted to the new speed, their environment profiling sensors picked up the alien signature of the ADS Curiosity near-instantly. Two communications channels were opened upon this detection: one with the -to the Novans still unidentified- Artimesian ship, and one with the Novan orbital shipyard currently at it's periapsis, located at the opposite side of Arcadia.

While the second could not be decrypted, the first reads:

Dear visitors

you find yourself in the orbit of the planet Arcadia, stellar orbit of Astraea, a star in the Alkaanos Shroud within the Provincial Globule, which in turn is located within the Vivere-Cognatione arm of the Andromeda Galaxy. Whether you arrived in this particular location by accident or on purpose, we welcome your arrival. If your intentions are hegemonial, colonial, or imperialistic, we will escort you out of this system and recommend you do not return. If your intentions are to focus on trade, advancement or simply to seek camaraderie in this vast and somewhat lonely universe, our mutual effort will bring both our civilisations great prosperity.

Awaiting your response,
- Rear-Admiral Alexandra, Captain of the KNSF Hades

The Novan warships were only small specs compared to the Artimisian ship. KEW-turrets and missile batteries were loaded on the Rear-Admiral's command, but not yet locked on target to prevent provocation. The ships onboard AI's assumed the most efficient defence formation, being a horizontal A-formation in this case, and readied their drones for launch.

[Jovian Artemisia]

OOC: A response for both Krption Nova and Etrius, check the OOC thread for details.

Post by Etrius

OOC: Could I please get you to write for my nation? XD that was awesome

As the Etrian navy nears the meeting point, the delegation consists of the prime minister and a small escort of guards armed with automatic rifles (due to the current war) aboard an aroura class destroyer. Prime minister Attar greets the foreigners as he would any other, with a shake of the hand and nod of the head. After the meeting he plans to release the information of the discovery in a speech, as transparency is the nations tradition.

"Welcome to my country" says the prime minister with a large smile. "I hope you understand the reason for our meeting here, and not say the Capitol, as security is very important at the moment". Known for being very enthusiastic, the now 29 year old hopes his hospitality will suffice for his guests.

"As far as we can tell, you aren't from around here." "Which is why we are trying to be careful, nowadays you have to be careful of your allies intensions"
Abdul offers each of the men of the delegation a small glass of local Breyem tea, a drink known in the country as the 'kiss of the East', for its sweet and citrusy taste.

"So please, take a seat and tell me about yourselves"

"Very well, Mr. Attar." to Abdul's much astonishment, the Captain appears perfectly fluent in the Etrian tongue despite only a few weeks of communication. His voice contained a certain mechanical quality that is akin to the low humming of electronics.

"To put it simply, we, the Artemisian people, had been alone for quite some time. Our earliest recordings of alien contact and trading was in the mythical era known as the Era of Ascendancy, which is around one thousand seven hundred Arcadian standard years ago if my conversions are correct.

Directly after that is the Era of Exodus, in which we removed ourselves from our home system and sought refuge in the intergalactic void. As a result, isolationism reigned ever since. Thanks to the anonymous reply signal that was received nine months ago, we are able separate your world from the barren space rocks and arrive here with its coordinates.

Now, with the introduction gone, let's get to the point. We completely understand the stance of your decision, as native cultures do not generally react well to foreign interaction, and your approach is actually much more benevolent than we originally predicted. We had come to this world with two purposes, exploration and trade.

As our history tells us, violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, and exchange is usually a better option than robbery. I come today with the goal of achieving a peaceful economic and technological alliance between your nation and mine, so that prosperity and advancement may bless us with its progress.'

Post by Krypton Nova

Engulfed by the utter silence of space, three Valkyrie-class warships and one Tyr-class warship de-accelerated quickly as they disengaged their quantum drives and engaged their forward thrusters to enter a stable orbit. They came back from a regular patrol around the gas giant Cindia within the Astral System, where 12 Novan mining stations scooped anti-matter from it's very upper atmosphere. As their sensors adjusted to the new speed, their environment profiling sensors picked up the alien signature of the ADS Curiosity near-instantly. Two communications channels were opened upon this detection: one with the -to the Novans still unidentified- Artimesian ship, and one with the Novan orbital shipyard currently at it's periapsis, located at the opposite side of Arcadia.

While the second could not be decrypted, the first reads:

Dear visitors

you find yourself in the orbit of the planet Arcadia, stellar orbit of Astraea, a star in the Alkaanos Shroud within the Provincial Globule, which in turn is located within the Vivere-Cognatione arm of the Andromeda Galaxy. Whether you arrived in this particular location by accident or on purpose, we welcome your arrival. If your intentions are hegemonial, colonial, or imperialistic, we will escort you out of this system and recommend you do not return. If your intentions are to focus on trade, advancement or simply to seek camaraderie in this vast and somewhat lonely universe, our mutual effort will bring both our civilisations great prosperity.

Awaiting your response,
- Rear-Admiral Alexandra, Captain of the KNSF Hades

The Novan warships were only small specs compared to the Artimisian ship. KEW-turrets and missile batteries were loaded on the Rear-Admiral's command, but not yet locked on target to prevent provocation. The ships onboard AI's assumed the most efficient defence formation, being a horizontal A-formation in this case, and readied their drones for launch.

OOC: Superiority detected...

[ADS Curiosity, Orbit of Arcadia]
"Unidentified spacecraft detected, distance = 45000 SU."

"Detected ship class: military."

"Detected ship armament analysis: mass-propelled projectile, directed energy weapons, AI-controlled subvehicles

"Detected ship propulsion method: antimatter annihilation

"Hostility level: VIII"

"Recommended method of elimination: energized-singularity bombardment"

Complex clouds of information continue to fly all over the mental display field inside the head of everyone in control center zeta. As the ADS Curiosity's appointed Captain is down at the planet for a diplomatic mission, along with him are the three highest authority directors of the Artemisian military force, the ship is left headless at the most dire of moments.

Following the automatic self defense protocol after a lack of authorized order, the ship's AI injected the central spatial distortion core with concentrated tractic radiation, and activated the "Proactive Stasis" response. The core, a hollowed point in the fabric of space, rapidly expanded as the nucleonic containment field disappeared, and stretched itself thin after reaching a critical energy level.

The original singularity is transformed into a curvature, a massive field of low light speed, and a quagmire to the outside observer. The only noticeable evidence of its existence to the common Arcadian is an usually dark pinprick in the glorious night of stars. Within that field, the ADS Curiosity and a portion of the Novan fleet remain unmoving and frozen in time, as if a photo was taken and pasted over their place, and it shall remain dead until a code of authority is given by the Captain.

Meanwhile, Captain Drarou, unaware of the occurrence and engaged in conversation, continued his talk with Prime Minister Abdul Attar with a glass of Breyem tea in hand.

[Etrius]

OOC: A response for both Krption Nova and Etrius, check the OOC thread for details.

Post by Etrius

OOC: Could I please get you to write for my nation? XD that was awesome

As the Etrian navy nears the meeting point, the delegation consists of the prime minister and a small escort of guards armed with automatic rifles (due to the current war) aboard an aroura class destroyer. Prime minister Attar greets the foreigners as he would any other, with a shake of the hand and nod of the head. After the meeting he plans to release the information of the discovery in a speech, as transparency is the nations tradition.

"Welcome to my country" says the prime minister with a large smile. "I hope you understand the reason for our meeting here, and not say the Capitol, as security is very important at the moment". Known for being very enthusiastic, the now 29 year old hopes his hospitality will suffice for his guests.

"As far as we can tell, you aren't from around here." "Which is why we are trying to be careful, nowadays you have to be careful of your allies intensions"
Abdul offers each of the men of the delegation a small glass of local Breyem tea, a drink known in the country as the 'kiss of the East', for its sweet and citrusy taste.

"So please, take a seat and tell me about yourselves"

"Very well, Mr. Attar." to Abdul's much astonishment, the Captain appears perfectly fluent in the Etrian tongue despite only a few weeks of communication. His voice contained a certain mechanical quality that is akin to the low humming of electronics.

"To put it simply, we, the Artemisian people, had been alone for quite some time. Our earliest recordings of alien contact and trading was in the mythical era known as the Era of Ascendancy, which is around one thousand seven hundred Arcadian standard years ago if my conversions are correct.

Directly after that is the Era of Exodus, in which we removed ourselves from our home system and sought refuge in the intergalactic void. As a result, isolationism reigned ever since. Thanks to the anonymous reply signal that was received nine months ago, we are able separate your world from the barren space rocks and arrive here with its coordinates.

Now, with the introduction gone, let's get to the point. We completely understand the stance of your decision, as native cultures do not generally react well to foreign interaction, and your approach is actually much more benevolent than we originally predicted. We had come to this world with two purposes, exploration and trade.

As our history tells us, violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, and exchange is usually a better option than robbery. I come today with the goal of achieving a peaceful economic and technological alliance between your nation and mine, so that prosperity and advancement may bless us with its progress.'

Post by Krypton Nova

Engulfed by the utter silence of space, three Valkyrie-class warships and one Tyr-class warship de-accelerated quickly as they disengaged their quantum drives and engaged their forward thrusters to enter a stable orbit. They came back from a regular patrol around the gas giant Cindia within the Astral System, where 12 Novan mining stations scooped anti-matter from it's very upper atmosphere. As their sensors adjusted to the new speed, their environment profiling sensors picked up the alien signature of the ADS Curiosity near-instantly. Two communications channels were opened upon this detection: one with the -to the Novans still unidentified- Artimesian ship, and one with the Novan orbital shipyard currently at it's periapsis, located at the opposite side of Arcadia.

While the second could not be decrypted, the first reads:

Dear visitors

you find yourself in the orbit of the planet Arcadia, stellar orbit of Astraea, a star in the Alkaanos Shroud within the Provincial Globule, which in turn is located within the Vivere-Cognatione arm of the Andromeda Galaxy. Whether you arrived in this particular location by accident or on purpose, we welcome your arrival. If your intentions are hegemonial, colonial, or imperialistic, we will escort you out of this system and recommend you do not return. If your intentions are to focus on trade, advancement or simply to seek camaraderie in this vast and somewhat lonely universe, our mutual effort will bring both our civilisations great prosperity.

Awaiting your response,
- Rear-Admiral Alexandra, Captain of the KNSF Hades

The Novan warships were only small specs compared to the Artimisian ship. KEW-turrets and missile batteries were loaded on the Rear-Admiral's command, but not yet locked on target to prevent provocation. The ships onboard AI's assumed the most efficient defence formation, being a horizontal A-formation in this case, and readied their drones for launch.

OOC: Superiority detected...

[ADS Curiosity, Orbit of Arcadia]
"Unidentified spacecraft detected, distance = 45000 SU."

"Detected ship class: military."

"Detected ship armament analysis: mass-propelled projectile, directed energy weapons, AI-controlled subvehicles

"Detected ship propulsion method: antimatter annihilation

"Hostility level: VIII"

"Recommended method of elimination: energized-singularity bombardment"

Complex clouds of information continue to fly all over the mental display field inside the head of everyone in control center zeta. As the ADS Curiosity's appointed Captain is down at the planet for a diplomatic mission, along with him are the three highest authority directors of the Artemisian military force, the ship is left headless at the most dire of moments.

Following the automatic self defense protocol after a lack of authorized order, the ship's AI injected the central spatial distortion core with concentrated tractic radiation, and activated the "Proactive Stasis" response. The core, a hollowed point in the fabric of space, rapidly expanded as the nucleonic containment field disappeared, and stretched itself thin after reaching a critical energy level.

The original singularity is transformed into a curvature, a massive field of low light speed, and a quagmire to the outside observer. The only noticeable evidence of its existence to the common Arcadian is an usually dark pinprick in the glorious night of stars. Within that field, the ADS Curiosity and a portion of the Novan fleet remain unmoving and frozen in time, as if a photo was taken and pasted over their place, and it shall remain dead until a code of authority is given by the Captain.

Meanwhile, Captain Drarou, unaware of the occurrence and engaged in conversation, continued his talk with Prime Minister Abdul Attar with a glass of Breyem tea in hand.

"Well Captain, I suppose we can cut to your trade then" said the prime minister as he contacts the minister of resource management on his handheld. "Well as a gesture of good faith, we would like to open our borders to your people and ask some questions that come with that, any diseases or enemies, that sort of thing."

His resource minister replies to remind him of the new colony that has just finished completion. "you also wanted partial mining rights I understand, well that may be able to be aranged. However my people need work and would gladly extract anything you may need for trade."

"All we ask now is what you have to trade and what you would like to trade for?"

[Krypton Nova]

[ADS Curiosity, Orbit of Arcadia]
"Unidentified spacecraft detected, distance = 45000 SU."

"Detected ship class: military."

"Detected ship armament analysis: mass-propelled projectile, directed energy weapons, AI-controlled subvehicles

"Detected ship propulsion method: antimatter annihilation

"Hostility level: VIII"

"Recommended method of elimination: energized-singularity bombardment"

Complex clouds of information continue to fly all over the mental display field inside the head of everyone in control center zeta. As the ADS Curiosity's appointed Captain is down at the planet for a diplomatic mission, along with him are the three highest authority directors of the Artemisian military force, the ship is left headless at the most dire of moments.

Following the automatic self defense protocol after a lack of authorized order, the ship's AI injected the central spatial distortion core with concentrated tractic radiation, and activated the "Proactive Stasis" response. The core, a hollowed point in the fabric of space, rapidly expanded as the nucleonic containment field disappeared, and stretched itself thin after reaching a critical energy level.

The original singularity is transformed into a curvature, a massive field of low light speed, and a quagmire to the outside observer. The only noticeable evidence of its existence to the common Arcadian is an usually dark pinprick in the glorious night of stars. Within that field, the ADS Curiosity and a portion of the Novan fleet remain unmoving and frozen in time, as if a photo was taken and pasted over their place, and it shall remain dead until a code of authority is given by the Captain.

Meanwhile, Captain Drarou, unaware of the occurrence and engaged in conversation, continued his talk with Prime Minister Abdul Attar with a glass of Breyem tea in hand.

The curvature engulfed the KNSF Hades, Randgrid and Herja, and had expanded only metres short of the KNSF Reginleif, which was positioned on the rear-left flank of the Hades. The crew of the Reginleif looked in shock after the other ships disappeared from their sensors. Panic broke out. "Calm down and focus on your responsibilities!", the voice of Captain Kathor thundered across the command deck. "Reach out to the other ships in our fleet on all communication lines, and give me a full three-dimensional scan of the area. None of our ships can vanish without a trace like that, nor should that alien behemoth be able to."

The Reginleif got readings none of the crew, including the AI, had ever seen before. Communications signals in all spectra did not even give an echo, and the three-dimensional scan was even stranger. The latter showed a void in what should have been space filled with trace particles, dark energy and 4 ships. The captain ordered all data to be relayed to the orbital shipyard and surface, to have them determine what exactly might be causing this anomaly. As no direct hostilities were detected and the crew were left clueless as to what was exactly happening, they decided to hold their position until further notice.

The ships's AI, which had a rather curious attitude, decided to do some tests. It had three heavy drones disarmed and equipped with advanced sensory, and launched them. The drones circled around the curvature for a while, relaying their data back to the ship, but it proved futile. The data was exactly the same as what the ship had picked up so far. The AI then ordered the drones to fly straight into the bubble represented as a void on it's sensors...

Meanwhile, the Novan Orbital Shipyard forwarded the information of the alien arrival both to the Novan government and to Gnosis (AI), which in turn forwarded it to the Arcadian internet.

(OOC: I'll leave what happens to those drones to you)

[Jovian Artemisia]

OOC[For Krpton Nova]: I am still thinking on a plausible description of a distorted spacetime, will post on Friday.

Post by Etrius

"Well Captain, I suppose we can cut to your trade then" said the prime minister as he contacts the minister of resource management on his handheld. "Well as a gesture of good faith, we would like to open our borders to your people and ask some questions that come with that, any diseases or enemies, that sort of thing."

His resource minister replies to remind him of the new colony that has just finished completion. "you also wanted partial mining rights I understand, well that may be able to be aranged. However my people need work and would gladly extract anything you may need for trade."

"All we ask now is what you have to trade and what you would like to trade for?"

As a response, the captain made a three-fingered pointing gesture as if to signal something, which, soon after his supposed command, happened out of thin air. Three balls of light appeared simultaneously in the empty space before the two, and from them radiates a stream of bright, ethereal substance that changes color every second.

The hawk-eyed guards instantly reacted and drawed their semi-automatic weaponry. Within a single moment, twelve point of infra-red laser focus are aimed at the three light and all hands are on the trigger.

"It's harmless, Mr. Prime Minister, a little demonstration of our unimatter fabrication technology to inform you of the true nature of this deal. I hope that you can put your trust in us and see it continue. After all, your side of the deal will eventually receive much more benefit from it."

"Well then, I'll see it continue." Abdul Attar dismissed the guards with a wave of his hand, whom grudgingly lowered his rifle with a evil-eyed glance to the Artemisian personnel.

Then, a flickering, roughly defined, and skeletal shape of an object slowly unveiled itself. Arcs of electricity jumps across its unstable surface and from it produces a low electrostatic hum that is barely sensible to the ear. The light stream that was orbiting the lights was, either under instruction or by nature, drawn towards the structure at an ever accelerating pace. It soon began filling into the electromagnetic cage and, within minutes, a greyish cube was created out of the "blueprint".

"This happening before you is simple example of the fabrication of a silicon cube." the captain pointed his finger at the generic cube laying on the floor. "You see, Mr. Prime Minister, with a little gravitational manipulation of the nucleonic and nuclear-electric balance, gold can be made from lead, and data servers easily manufactured from raw earth. This is but one constituent of our industrial capability, and it is this capability that we will, hopefully, apply on the territories of your nation under your permission."

"As for your concerns for possible foreign contaminants, there is no need for worry. All Artemisian economical and military operations will be done by our computer-aided automation system, and the system components themselves will be manufactured within the periphery regions of Arcadia. For that, complete sterility is ensured."

"As a representation of good will, we present to you a common model of a unimatter fabrication index that contains example machinery and vehicle seeds, to act as a possible down payment for our deal." As he spoke, Drarou handed Abdul a perfectly spherical object with lights pulsing over its shell.

"Now, before we make our offer, I want to hear what your side of the deal want in exchange for the proposed extraction rights."

[Etrius]

OOC[For Krpton Nova]: I am still thinking on a plausible description of a distorted spacetime, will post on Friday.

Post by Etrius

"Well Captain, I suppose we can cut to your trade then" said the prime minister as he contacts the minister of resource management on his handheld. "Well as a gesture of good faith, we would like to open our borders to your people and ask some questions that come with that, any diseases or enemies, that sort of thing."

His resource minister replies to remind him of the new colony that has just finished completion. "you also wanted partial mining rights I understand, well that may be able to be aranged. However my people need work and would gladly extract anything you may need for trade."

"All we ask now is what you have to trade and what you would like to trade for?"

As a response, the captain made a three-fingered pointing gesture as if to signal something, which, soon after his supposed command, happened out of thin air. Three balls of light appeared simultaneously in the empty space before the two, and from them radiates a stream of bright, ethereal substance that changes color every second.

The hawk-eyed guards instantly reacted and drawed their semi-automatic weaponry. Within a single moment, twelve point of infra-red laser focus are aimed at the three light and all hands are on the trigger.

"It's harmless, Mr. Prime Minister, a little demonstration of our unimatter fabrication technology to inform you of the true nature of this deal. I hope that you can put your trust in us and see it continue. After all, your side of the deal will eventually receive much more benefit from it."

"Well then, I'll see it continue." Abdul Attar dismissed the guards with a wave of his hand, whom grudgingly lowered his rifle with a evil-eyed glance to the Artemisian personnel.

Then, a flickering, roughly defined, and skeletal shape of an object slowly unveiled itself. Arcs of electricity jumps across its unstable surface and from it produces a low electrostatic hum that is barely sensible to the ear. The light stream that was orbiting the lights was, either under instruction or by nature, drawn towards the structure at an ever accelerating pace. It soon began filling into the electromagnetic cage and, within minutes, a greyish cube was created out of the "blueprint".

"This happening before you is simple example of the fabrication of a silicon cube." the captain pointed his finger at the generic cube laying on the floor. "You see, Mr. Prime Minister, with a little gravitational manipulation of the nucleonic and nuclear-electric balance, gold can be made from lead, and data servers easily manufactured from raw earth. This is but one constituent of our industrial capability, and it is this capability that we will, hopefully, apply on the territories of your nation under your permission."

"As for your concerns for possible foreign contaminants, there is no need for worry. All Artemisian economical and military operations will be done by our computer-aided automation system, and the system components themselves will be manufactured within the periphery regions of Arcadia. For that, complete sterility is ensured."

"As a representation of good will, we present to you a common model of a unimatter fabrication index that contains example machinery and vehicle seeds, to act as a possible down payment for our deal." As he spoke, Drarou handed Abdul a perfectly spherical object with lights pulsing over its shell.

"Now, before we make our offer, I want to hear what your side of the deal want in exchange for the proposed extraction rights."

The Prime Minister and his guards are so awe struck by the implications of possessing this capability none speak for several seconds, simply staring at the foreigners and their cube. As Abdul considers what he could possibly offer his guests in return for such technology, he motions for more tea to be brought to the table.

"In exchange of a handful of facilities with this technology, we can offer your people refuge in our country as well as you provide a list of the materials you may need from our mines"

As the tea arrives a second time Abdul distributes each cup and motions for a toast. "To our new friends and allies" While in the back of his mind, the prime minister believes the implications of this deal could backfire on the world stage, but he remains in the moment.

[Jovian Artemisia]

OOC: "Finally I can merge the two storylines."

Post by Krpton Nova

The curvature engulfed the KNSF Hades, Randgrid and Herja, and had expanded only metres short of the KNSF Reginleif, which was positioned on the rear-left flank of the Hades. The crew of the Reginleif looked in shock after the other ships disappeared from their sensors. Panic broke out. "Calm down and focus on your responsibilities!", the voice of Captain Kathor thundered across the command deck. "Reach out to the other ships in our fleet on all communication lines, and give me a full three-dimensional scan of the area. None of our ships can vanish without a trace like that, nor should that alien behemoth be able to."

The Reginleif got readings none of the crew, including the AI, had ever seen before. Communications signals in all spectra did not even give an echo, and the three-dimensional scan was even stranger. The latter showed a void in what should have been space filled with trace particles, dark energy and 4 ships. The captain ordered all data to be relayed to the orbital shipyard and surface, to have them determine what exactly might be causing this anomaly. As no direct hostilities were detected and the crew were left clueless as to what was exactly happening, they decided to hold their position until further notice.

The ships's AI, which had a rather curious attitude, decided to do some tests. It had three heavy drones disarmed and equipped with advanced sensory, and launched them. The drones circled around the curvature for a while, relaying their data back to the ship, but it proved futile. The data was exactly the same as what the ship had picked up so far. The AI then ordered the drones to fly straight into the bubble represented as a void on it's sensors...

Meanwhile, the Novan Orbital Shipyard forwarded the information of the alien arrival both to the Novan government and to Gnosis (AI), which in turn forwarded it to the Arcadian internet.

(OOC: I'll leave what happens to those drones to you)

Post by Etrius

The Prime Minister and his guards are so awe struck by the implications of possessing this capability none speak for several seconds, simply staring at the foreigners and their cube. As Abdul considers what he could possibly offer his guests in return for such technology, he motions for more tea to be brought to the table.

"In exchange of a handful of facilities with this technology, we can offer your people refuge in our country as well as you provide a list of the materials you may need from our mines"

As the tea arrives a second time Abdul distributes each cup and motions for a toast. "To our new friends and allies" While in the back of his mind, the prime minister believes the implications of this deal could backfire on the world stage, but he remains in the moment.

I'm the great division line---------------------------->

[Orbit of Arcadia]
ND 437, ND269 and ND102 cruised within the strange space as they gradually descended into the deepest of darkness. The scenery directly around them was no different than normal space, yet everything in the distance seemed stretched and is moving at an increasing velocity as they drawn closer to the singularity.

They progressed further and further, until dim silhouettes of three objects differentiated themselves from the cosmic background.

Outside of the event horizon, reports from the probing drones are relayed back into the Novan fleet, which has had a silent confrontation with the curvature field for several hours. The fleet readied its weapons, but nothing happened and only the oddity of the event remained.

The signals were normal at first, but it quickly slowed down until the transfer speed decreased to the level of geological change, after which it stopped abruptly. As the shipboard AI analysed the last bit of information from the drones, its detection sensors suddenly noticed a change in gravitational pull around the planetary periphery, the field is fading from existence.

[Subdivision Sigma, Confederate State of Chevastium, Jovian Artemisia]
"Operation successful, sir. All servers are now offline, power resumption will occur in about five minutes."

A shadow draws his hands upon the mental connection pad of Terminal 79, one of the many neural link to the now deactivated Macrosentience network. Behind him stands a some of the most powerful people of the confederacy, ranging from high corporate executives to directorate officials. They come from radically different backgrounds but seems to share a common goal.

The terminal room responded to his touch, and the circuitry became energized by sources of redirected emergency power. However, instead of the wise sentience, the small crowd was instead greeted by the monotone voice of a system announcer.

"Emergency power restored, base systems online."

"Access basic structure of [Constitutional Bias Core], code of authority E6βLσ207δ." The shadow commanded.

"QIS identified. Confirming biometrics..."

"Access granted"

"Welcome back, Administrator Decederai"

"Mainframe, declare state of emergency, override Referendum authority and delete Fundamental Principle Article 1 of the Constitution."

"All alterations successful, authority has been transferred."

"And now we shall witness the dawn of this new era."

[Etria Nova, Socialist Federation of Etrius, Arcadia]
"May it last for our century and all the centuries to come." Captain Drarou raised his glass, "Excellent work, Mr. Prime Minister. Also, don't take that form of request earlier seriously, those idiots at the directorate hasn't engaged diplomacy for many millennias, I completely understand that negotiations cannot be rash."

"Now, let's discuss the specific terms of the contract... What the?!" Something seem to have caught Drarou's attention despite no physical change happening to the surroundings. "Sources indicate that an attack was directed at my ship while we're talking, I apologize but I must leave for the moment. Mr. Numerg, Mr. Potemkin, and "Mr. Ren, please continue the negotiation for me." He gestured for his accompanying officers to resume the conversation as he himself quickly reentered his personal spacecraft. One minute later, it blasted into Arcadia's atmosphere.

As Drarou's ship rapidly approached the curvature field, ADS Curiosity's AI recognized its captain's quantum identity signature and normalized a path in the low lightspeed space by changing its trace injection pattern. The smaller personal craft soon entered a materialized entrance on the configurable hull and an emergency teleportation is initiated.

"Mainframe, override proactive stasis protocol, resume natural lightspeed." The command was issued as soon as Drarou's body materialized from the higher spatial dimension. The AI responded, and In an instant, the injection cycle is terminated, while the unfathomable darkness in Arcadia orbit rapidly disappeared.

"Send a communication link in their format, say I wish to talk to their leader." Drarou gave a final order before he noticed something unusual, something that wasn't supposed to happen during his absence.

[Krypton Nova]

[Orbit of Arcadia]
ND 437, ND269 and ND102 cruised within the strange space as they gradually descended into the deepest of darkness. The scenery directly around them was no different than normal space, yet everything in the distance seemed stretched and is moving at an increasing velocity as they drawn closer to the singularity.

They progressed further and further, until dim silhouettes of three objects differentiated themselves from the cosmic background.

Outside of the event horizon, reports from the probing drones are relayed back into the Novan fleet, which has had a silent confrontation with the curvature field for several hours. The fleet readied its weapons, but nothing happened and only the oddity of the event remained.

The signals were normal at first, but it quickly slowed down until the transfer speed decreased to the level of geological change, after which it stopped abruptly. As the shipboard AI analysed the last bit of information from the drones, its detection sensors suddenly noticed a change in gravitational pull around the planetary periphery, the field is fading from existence.

[Subdivision Sigma, Confederate State of Chevastium, Jovian Artemisia]
"Operation successful, sir. All servers are now offline, power resumption will occur in about five minutes."

A shadow draws his hands upon the mental connection pad of Terminal 79, one of the many neural link to the now deactivated Macrosentience network. Behind him stands a some of the most powerful people of the confederacy, ranging from high corporate executives to directorate officials. They come from radically different backgrounds but seems to share a common goal.

The terminal room responded to his touch, and the circuitry became energized by sources of redirected emergency power. However, instead of the wise sentience, the small crowd was instead greeted by the monotone voice of a system announcer.

"Emergency power restored, base systems online."

"Access basic structure of [Constitutional Bias Core], code of authority E6βLσ207δ." The shadow commanded.

"QIS identified. Confirming biometrics..."

"Access granted"

"Welcome back, Administrator Decederai"

"Mainframe, declare state of emergency, override Referendum authority and delete Fundamental Principle Article 1 of the Constitution."

"All alterations successful, authority has been transferred."

"And now we shall witness the dawn of this new era."

[Etria Nova, Socialist Federation of Etrius, Arcadia]
"May it last for our century and all the centuries to come." Captain Drarou raised his glass, "Excellent work, Mr. Prime Minister. Also, don't take that form of request earlier seriously, those idiots at the directorate hasn't engaged diplomacy for many millennias, I completely understand that negotiations cannot be rash."

"Now, let's discuss the specific terms of the contract... What the?!" Something seem to have caught Drarou's attention despite no physical change happening to the surroundings. "Sources indicate that an attack was directed at my ship while we're talking, I apologize but I must leave for the moment. Mr. Numerg, Mr. Potemkin, and "Mr. Ren, please continue the negotiation for me." He gestured for his accompanying officers to resume the conversation as he himself quickly reentered his personal spacecraft. One minute later, it blasted into Arcadia's atmosphere.

As Drarou's ship rapidly approached the curvature field, ADS Curiosity's AI recognized its captain's quantum identity signature and normalized a path in the low lightspeed space by changing its trace injection pattern. The smaller personal craft soon entered a materialized entrance on the configurable hull and an emergency teleportation is initiated.

"Mainframe, override proactive stasis protocol, resume natural lightspeed." The command was issued as soon as Drarou's body materialized from the higher spatial dimension. The AI responded, and In an instant, the injection cycle is terminated, while the unfathomable darkness in Arcadia orbit rapidly disappeared.

"Send a communication link in their format, say I wish to talk to their leader." Drarou gave a final order before he noticed something unusual, something that wasn't supposed to happen during his absence.

The information the AI of the KNSF Reginleif had gathered with its sensors and drones was sent to the Novan research institutes back on Arcadia for processing. It had proven so interesting to the AI that it had kept a copy of it, which it planned to research on its own in its free time, which it had plenty of when the ship was docked in the Novan orbital shipyards for maintenance. But now, the void was gone, and the three ships where on its sensors again.

At first, there was major confusion. The KNSF Hades, Randgrid and Herja received transmissions from the KNSF Reginleif asking -almost desperately- for a response, while only seconds after those transmissions they received messages of joy and relief that they were "back". Rear-admiral Alexandra heard from one of the communications officers that they had been "gone" for hours. She looked at her watch. Mere minutes had past since she sent the message to the alien ship. After a few more minutes of confusion and disorganisation, the AI of the Reginleif interrupted the communications. It explained that the Hades, Randgrid and Herja -as far as it knew- had been engulfed in a distortion of space time for quite some time. It hypothesized that it had been a pre-emptive act of self-defence, and judging by the response time of the alien ship, had probably been executed by an on-board AI.

Alexandra scratched her head. She hadn't noticed anything strange the past few minutes, but quickly realised she couldn't have. Time was relative to the observer, after all. After restoring order and doing a quick re-synchronisation of the ship's clocks and internal database, she resent the message to the alien ship. She figured they'd still have the former copy, but she couldn't take any risks. She, and the whole of Arcadia, needed to know the stance of these aliens towards Arcadia, especially if they had as superior technology as the recent show-off suggested.

(Duplicated Message)
Dear visitors

you find yourself in the orbit of the planet Arcadia, stellar orbit of Astraea, a star in the Alkaanos Shroud within the Provincial Globule, which in turn is located within the Vivere-Cognatione arm of the Andromeda Galaxy. Whether you arrived in this particular location by accident or on purpose, we welcome your arrival. If your intentions are hegemonial, colonial, or imperialistic, we will escort you out of this system and recommend you do not return. If your intentions are to focus on trade, advancement or simply to seek camaraderie in this vast and somewhat lonely universe, our mutual effort will bring both our civilisations great prosperity.

Awaiting your response,
- Rear-Admiral Alexandra, Captain of the KNSF Hades

[Politiania]

Hello
Ministry of Trade wants to sell :
10 000 tons of wheat for only 3 970 000 NSD
Rice 95 000 NSD for 10 000 tons
And nickel. 1000 tons for 11 680 000 NSD
Any person whom is interested in buying should write telegram to me.
Thank you