The ship shook violently as it entered the upper atmosphere. Several of the colonists gripped their armrests, some paling. Several prayers could be heard being muttered. 'We are coming in to the landing zone now. We shall be down in approximately 10 minutes. We request all personnel remain seated until the doors are opened.' The captain's voice boomed across the crew compartment. The ship approached the identified landing zone, the windows clearing the dark, stormy clouds to give the colonists their first glimpse of their future home. As the captain did a fly past of the landing zone, one of the colonists called out: 'By The Stranger, look at that!' Several, ignoring the crews orders, unclipped their belts and rushed to a window. A giant quadruped towered several bovine-like creatures, slowly moving towards the nearby forest before disappearing in the gigantic trees. 'If all can return to their seats, we can begin the landing. We will have plenty of time to observe and learn about the creatures on this planet.' A crew member called out. Talking excitedly among themselves, the colonists settled back down. In no time, the ship had landed, doors had opened and the captain, Paul Lomack, became the first colonist to step foot. He took a deep breath of this alien world, turned around to where the rest of the colonists were waiting. 'Welcome to Mesozia!'
Our first colony!
'We have the dating results. This site appears to have be a few centuries old! We are looking around 1800-1900 in Earth years.' Jack handed the report to Julia as he spoke. She took it and glanced at it, before putting it to one side. She picked up her tools and continued to dig as she spoke. 'It's hard to believe how little time appears to have passed. Whatever happened here was total. We will need to make sure we pay close attention to decon routines. The background radiation level is very high.' She paused, standing up and dusting herself off. Her excitement building. 'Technology wise, we are looking around 20th Century Earth. With the level of destruction and the background radiation we believe we are looking at nuclear warfare.' She glanced around, noting several other teams deep in discussion before looking up and the mulit-coloured sky. 'Thank you for the report, Jack.' she turned to face him, forcing herself to stop looking up. 'There is more to learn here. I think we need to run checks to see if that sky is natural or a result of the cataclysmic events. Imagine living under such a beautiful sky. If only the ground was lush and green, instead of barren and dry.' She smiled, her eyes returning to the sky. This is why I left Earth, she thought to herself. We know so much of our own history, now we can learn about others and what could have been. 'It is odd.' Jack replied, finishing passing the orders in to his comm system, 'So far, all we have found are destroyed, dead civilisations. I wonder if we will ever find a living civilisation?' Julia could only agree as they both returned to work.
Step one complete
Lauri moved the ship, noting the shadow against the planet. Once she had managed to match the velocity, stabilising the ship in orbit, she activated the scanner as well as the lights on the ships hull. The hull of a large ship became illuminated on the view screen. Data began to pour in from the scanner. 'What we got?' Giorgio asked, walking into the bridge. He paused as he saw the view screen. 'Incredible! Do we have an age yet?' He asked. 'Coming in now... It would appear to be the same age as the previous Yuht find... And the materials match as well! It is Yuht! We have finally found another artifact!' Giorgio walked towards the screen. 'Look at that thing! Let's get full scan details. Can we get on board?' He asked. 'I can't be certain of the safety if we were to try... I am working on integrity of the structure now, but given... Oh!' Giorgio looked from the screen to Lauri, not making any comment as he noted her hands quickly moving across screens and dials. The view on the screen shifted further up the hull, towards the bow. Large holes appeared in the hull. 'Readings indicate a combination of laser and missile weaponry, the ship was hit hard! Integrity lowers rapidly as scans move closer to the bow section.' Lauri continued to adjust the scanners as Giorgio looked on. Another Precursor find! 'I want a team prepared. I don't want to waste any time should we be able to get over there.'
The Yuht cruiser
The cavernous tube lay open, the contents no longer inside. A short distance away lay the remains of what was reasoned to be a control centre and, just beyond that, a large impact crater and wreckage from some sort of flying machine. Julia was sat on the edge of the impact crater looking at the strewn pieces a short distance below. A team was working on trying to piece the contraption together whilst others were looking over the primitive computer systems in the control centre. She took a sip of her coffee, her gaze constantly drifting to the sky. As she looked she noticed something odd. There! 'Jack, come here!' She called, jumping up and waving at him. He came jogging up the crater lip, dust completely covering him and flying off his hair as he moved. 'Hey, what's up, boss?' He asked, following her gaze to the sky. 'Watch... tell me what you see.' Bewildered, Jack turned to look up again to the sky. A short while passed and he began to wonder what he was looking for when he saw it. 'It repeats itself... there's a definite pattern there!' He grabbed his comm system as he spoke. 'We need to get a recording of the sky. And begin analysis of it.' Julia nodded as he spoke. This could be another breakthrough. She picked up her plasti-paper and walked off a short distance. She turned to look over the site and pressed record. 'Cast your minds back to the late 20th century. The threat of nuclear war hung over Earth. Attached are some images of what could have been. This planet clearly succumbed to the weapons they created, the threats and posturing of the different nation states culminating in absolute destruction. Whether one side believed they could overcome the other without repercussion or if they were prepared to face the inevitable we do not yet know.' She paused to gather her thoughts. 'What we do know, however, is we ourselves were not far off this fate. Even into the 21st century, our planet remained splintered in factions, each pursuing their own agendas, separated from each other. With the coming of The Stranger, we overcame our fears and combined our knowledge, we evolved and moved forward, recognised that we are one species, not a collection of tribes. But, despite our more advanced mindset, we must never forget how close we came to sharing this fate.' Julia stopped recording for now, putting her plasti-paper to one side. She would edit later.
Part two complete
'... And there are still new frontiers to push, and new discoveries to find! Our vessels have brought new wisdom and mysteries, aiding mankind in learning more about this universe in which we live. But, with each new mystery, with each step, more awaits us. And the workload of our vessels increases. So it is us, the crew of the Newton, who will go and explore the unknown regions. We will bring the light to the darkness!' Ibrahim al-Samarrai finished his speech and stood as his crew cheered. He waited until they stopped then nodded to his helmsman: 'Antonio, take us out. Let us go and seek our destiny.'
With various research and exploration taking so long, I decided a third vessel was in order.
Qian Wu walked in the assembly, her plasti-paper filled with open tabs of notes from various research projects. She was muttering to herself as she breezed past Sean, who was waiting for her, an amused expression on his face. As she approached her usual space at the table, she looked up, her face turning scarlet as she realised everyone had been waiting to start the meeting. 'I... M... My apologies. I must have g... gotten distracted.' She stammered. Her gaze settled on the Prime Citizen and she soon lowered her eyes and took her seat. Sean sat, trying not to laugh. 'No worries, we are all here now. So, you wanted us to meet?' He said, leaning forward. 'Yes, Prime Citizen.' Qian replied. She paused, as she looked around the table once more. 'Our technology continues to advance at an incredible pace. I have a proposition that I would like to discuss. If we are to keep developing we need to focus our efforts sooner. What we would like to see is an increase in training and development of the sciences at university levels.' She paused, focusing on the Finance Minister and this time mostly speaking to him. 'Whilst we appreciate that this will involve an initial cost, development of advanced technologies will lead to better, more reliable equipment that will lead to a decrease in replacements and therefore reduce spending in other areas.' Gustavo didn't reply, but continued to stare at her, making her uncomfortable. Sean broke the silence that had followed. 'Well, I think we can all agree that it is a fine suggestion. After all, The Stranger himself promoted the sciences as one of our highest priorities and, if we are to find him, new discoveries will aid us in that.' He smiled at the Grand Cleric who was nodding as he spoke. 'Indeed, Prime Citizen, indeed. It is a commendable initiative.' He replied. His support was already brought with the new temple being built to The Stranger. Sean had been discussing this for several weeks with Qian Wu and had finally assured her that the council would support her proposal. Gustavo looked between the two, already knowing any argument he had against would be defeated. He sighed before speaking, 'Well, the new colony, Mesozia, is almost up and running. We have yet to build up research facilities there.' He paused, running some figures on his plasti-paper before continuing. 'Yes... I note that the facilities in the old Ivy League have long fallen behind with modern practices, as well as several key positions on the European continent. Very well. Finance has no objections.' He glared at Sean as he spoke. Sean just smiled back as Qian Wu rushed out to share the excited news with the rest of her team.
First perk - Technological Ascendancy, to help get Psionic Theory
'Scanners coming on... What the hell!' Lauri looked in shock as a large creature filled the viewscreen. The creature noticed the ship and quickly turned towards them. Several projectiles came away from it, streaming towards the Lief Ericsson. 'Evasive action! Get us back in the lane now!' Giorgio called out. 'Record all the data you can before we jump.' The projectiles streamed past the ship as it turned around sharply, thrusters firing on full. As the ship entered the jump lane, the crew breathed a sigh of relief. Mankind's first encounter with a living being in this universe and it nearly ended in disaster!
Some 'unknown' alien beings...
The construction ship Ganges drifted next to their current project. Kianti yawned, idly reading through the construction report. Middle watch always dragged. The mining station was nearing completion. A quick resupply and some drone repair would be required before the next project. She looked over drone performance, noting X-43 was lagging behind the others. She noted this down and stifled another yawn. Suddenly a klaxon rang out across the ship. 'What the hell!' She exclaimed loudly. 'What is it?' a voice came over the comm. One of the other three crewmembers, Zack, calling in from his break in the galley. 'I'm not... hang on.' She opened a ship wide communication and hit the general alarm button. After three blasts she spoke: 'Action Stations! Action Stations! Sensors report something coming out of the jump lane!' In a short while the rest of the crew had come into the control room. 'What is it?' the bleary eyed captain asked as he came up to Kiant's station. 'I'm not sure. It looks like a ship, but the design is alien.' Kianti looked over her shoulder. 'Vlad, this could be it... first contact!' Vlad rubbed his eyes, looking over the report. 'Contact the station, warn them to be on high alert. Continue the construction efforts, we are in range of the stations guns. And try to communicate with them.' He turned to go and paused. 'Oh, and shut that damned klaxon off!' he walked to the comms center and began to prepare his report. This was not remotely in his training!
First Contact!
'We note that the creature is something else. It is beyond our current understanding, yet clearly alive. We surmise it may be trying to communicate, but what we don't know. What role did it play in the destruction of this world? Did it come afterwards, was it already here? These are some of the questions we may never had answered. It is time for us to move on, however. We record all this information for future generations. Perhaps one day we may be in a position to answer these questions. Further information from the history of the planet to the creature in question are in the accompanying annexes.' Julia read back her words, squeezing her stress ball. With the word spreading about a possible first contact, the crew were eager to continue their exploration, particularly as the aliens came from their sector. 'Computer, save and submit the report. Mark it as Secret - Project Romanus, priority Beta-3.' She grabbed her jacket and walked out of her cabin. Classifying her work always seemed pointless to her, especially as the council usually declassified it almost immediately, yet it was standard procedure. She walked into the corridor and headed to the bridge. The local station had resupplied them and it was now time to get back to exploration.
An enjoyable first dig!
'We are limited in time! How this has escaped notice is already being investigated, but the blame must be put aside. We request the fleet immediately!' Miriam shut the video and Sean returned to the screen. 'As you can see, it is quite urgent. We can only hope our weaponry is sufficient!' Sean looked tired and worried. With the reports of aliens, both sentient and otherwise, the council had been meeting almost daily to discuss various COAs. 'We are on our way. The combat drills focused mostly on ships and these 'amoebas'. I am sure we can tackle this asteroid.' Miriam replied. She turned to leave. 'Wait. Miriam... Be careful. Things are.. moving quickly.' She smiled, turning back. 'You too, Sean. Oh, and go to bed! No need for both of us to lose out on sleep.' She shut of the vidtel as she walked out. 'Admiral to Bridge. Call the fleet. We move to the Alpha Centaurai system.'
Well... This could be bad...
The Council sat, Qian Wu remaining standing. 'Thank you all for coming at such short notice. We... Well, that is to say our...' she stopped, looking around. Taking a deep breath she started again. 'As you recall back in the 20th, mankind sent out probes everywhere, with a lot of information on them, not least trajectory and, therefore, the location of Earth. We believe these probes are still out there.' The rest of the council sat, silent. 'We need to recover them?' Qian prompted. 'Yes, yes of course! But why are you bringing us this information now?' The Grand Cleric spoke up. 'We believe we have tracked them and know where they are.' She replied. 'I see. We must do everything we can to find and recover these probes. Miriam is out dealing with another matter. We need to send out what ships we can spare to find these probes and then recover them.' The Grad Cleric looked over to Sean, who nodded. 'Yes. This needs to be dealt with as a priority. Having discovered we are not alone the threat this poses is serious indeed. Send the co-ordinates of the probes to my office and I'll have the ships prepared.'
Well, I'm sure it was a good idea at the time...
The ship slid into the dock of Ullus Station. A full honour guard was arrayed to meet the visitors. The Tal'Akkur stepped out from their ship, their representative, Zup'Forn, at the head of the delegation. The station Commander, Ishmael Valsignor, stood waiting for the group. It was a quick, simple ceremony with an exchange of territorial charts and a promise to respect each others territorial integrity. 'So, we are agreed. May this be the first of many great meetings between our people.' Ishmael concluded the official aspect of the meeting. 'Ambassador, we would like to welcome you to a meal. We have prepared what we believe is a traditional Tal'Akkur dish, a Zenfrie Ismal'ak?' He offered. 'Thank you, human, but we must decline. The pursuit of knowledge waits for nobody and our mission is to bring that knowledge back to the homeworld.' They turned to leave, Ishmael stood surprised. As the ship left, he shook his head. 'Aliens.' he muttered, then moved to tell the kitchen the meal was cancelled. They wouldn't be happy! The ingredients weren't exactly easy to procure...
The Tal'Akkur Interstellar Empire
The galaxy as we know it.