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The New Species 26
🕑 Added 2023-02-13 15:00:07 +0000 UTCChapter 26
Subject: Ambassador Ulooni
Species: Urakari
Description: Reptilian humanoid, no tail. 5'3" (1.6 m) avg height. 135 lbs (61 kg) avg weight. 105 year life expectancy.
Ship: N/A
Location: Elira 2
"I have good news, Director 3," I said to the armored alien as I sat at the meeting table. "The Republic is mustering a fleet of two million ships that will be ready to jump to Sol in four days."
I couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the three aliens in the room. Two of them were absolutely massive. I could tell by their stance and their lack of movement that they were military. The Director had called them "Marines". They were were wearing olive drab armor but had removed their helmets. It bothered me how both of them stared straight ahead. Even as I walked in, their eyes didn't move. I had a feeling that they could still see me, though.
This effect was compounded by the slightly smaller human in the black armor. He had not removed his helmet at all. He also arrived before me and left after me. It gave the appearance that he hadn't left that chair since his arrival. At least he wasn't quite as stoic as the Marines, though.
"That is good news. I've received word that we were able to successfully defend Sol from another incursion, but we are expecting more attacks," he said.
"Were there any casualties?" I asked, fearing for my brother.
"Yes, one. A ship called the USSS Armstrong. The RSV Lowelana is fine," he said.
"I'm sorry for your loss," I said, embarrassed that I had been that easy to read. "And... thank you."
"You're welcome," Director 3 said. "Now, there is something that we have to discuss. In preparation for offensive action against the omni-union we sent scouts into their territory. Just before the attack on Sol we discovered an alien planet that had been attacked by the Omni-Union. There were no survivors of this alien race."
Silence filled the room as I struggled to comprehend multiple things at once. First, the humans were able to scout while also defending a system from Omni-Union attacks? Preparing offensive action? But also...
"What do you mean there were no survivors?" I asked.
"Just that," he responded. "The Omni-Union committed xenocide. There is no doubt that this is the case. The OU attacked the system, destroyed the defending fleet, commenced a planet wide orbital bombardment, and then landed an invasion force to eliminate any survivors."
I was stunned, "I... I don't..."
"Ship-head Uleena has already informed us that the Republic is unaware that the Omni-Union is xenocidal. Still, we need a formal pledge that that's the case. Preferably before we accept the Republic's reinforcements," Director 3 said.
This is a lot all at once. A formal pledge that we didn't know that the OU is xenocidal? Before our reinforcements arrive in Sol? Why?
"Yes, we can definitely do that. But... may I ask why?" I asked tenuously.
"If it is the case that the Republic intentionally withheld information regarding the fact that the OU is xenocidal, we cannot imagine a benevolent reason for doing so. At best it's willful negligence that could have cost the lives of billions. At worst it's a subversive act of hostility," he explained.
"I understand. I'll have the pledge ready by tomorrow. And I want to assure you that we were completely ignorant of the OU's xenocidal disposition," I said with all the sincerity I could muster.
We exchanged parting pleasantries and I tried my best not to run to my temporary office. High command needed to be informed of this immediately. The enemy is xenocidal, and our failing to find that out sooner has nearly cost us what may become a close ally in this fight. Oh shit, my poor brother. Our standard protocol if the roles were reversed would be to confine the potential enemies to quarters pending an investigation.
As I entered my office a thought occurred to me. Why would the United System's policy be any different? What investigation had they done? They obviously would have interrogated Uleena. But would they go farther than that? There IS a fully sentient AI aboard this station... No, I had been assured by the intel guy that the AI couldn't access classified files, because there aren't any and the station doesn't have extranet access.
I calmed down even further when I realized that I didn't exactly know what the extent of our own investigation would be. Interrogations and a handshake promise of innocence is probably all we'd be able to muster. But the US is so much more advanced than we are, so why would they leave it at that? To demonstrate their desire for peace? Or because such a potential diplomatic black eye mattered so little to them due to their overwhelming force capabilities? I opened a subspace text line to the main diplomatic corps office.
--
To: Diplomatic Corps Central Office, Senate City
The United Systems has discovered that the Omni-Union is xenocidal. They have evidence of this and will provide it if asked. They require a formal pledge that our government was ignorant of this fact and did not intentionally withhold it from them before they will continue to work with us.
Please draft the documents and have them signed before end of business day tomorrow, send immediately upon signature.
From: Ambassador Ulooni, Elira 2
--
I have no doubt that we didn't know about the OU's xenocidal disposition. Keeping a secret within the Republic is next to impossible, let alone one of this magnitude. It was only a question of whether or not the documents would be on time. All it would take is a bureaucratic delay to damper relations even further. Why the hell did I promise delivery by tomorrow? Must be nerves.
The humans definitely make me nervous. Their size and appearance notwithstanding, what I had learned about them has set me on edge. They've been in wars that make our conflicts look petty in comparison. Even before they entered their space age they were doing battle with each other on a scale that was unheard of among Republic species.
Even among the United Systems members the humans were only topped in bloody histories by the gont. And the history between the two species could best be described as murky. Apparently, the gont had a civil war regarding whether or not they should join the United Systems. The US sold arms to the side that wanted to join, which makes sense in a way, and resulted in that side 'winning'.
The two sides signed a treaty and joined the US. One would have expected that to be the end of it, but apparently the side that lost just bided their time. Then the humans had a civil war which lasted nearly one hundred years, in which they developed a classified weapon to force a surrender. This worked, but testing of the weapon caused a plague that humanity is still trying to deal with. The gont dissenters used this as justification to attempt a coup against their government, which failed. Their objective had changed from staying out of the United Systems to simply controlling the gont government.
However, since the gont were part of the United Systems, the US had to step in. The fighting was intense, with the gont rebels resorting to terrorist tactics to subdue colonies under their control. The US managed to fight them into surrender, only for them to try again three hundred years later. And again one hundred and fifty years later. But between the second and third 'pacification war', the AI rebelled which led to humanity creating yet another classified weapon. This weapon made short work of the third pacification war.
Things were relatively peaceful until about eighteen years ago, where the gont rebels once again attempted a coup. They were successful in assassinating several members of the gont government, but weren't able to finish the job. They also managed to infiltrate several US vessels before they triggered the coup, and have been using terrorist and guerilla tactics to wage a war of attrition against the remaining gont officials and the US.
Because of the constant issues with the gont, humanity had become the de facto military force of the United Systems. By far and large, it is human forces that are laying down their lives on gont planets trying to restore peace. Personally, I had no idea how much of this was propaganda and how much is unadulterated truth. It doesn't exactly cast the US in the best of lights, but I wonder if the atrocities committed and the bloodshed could be worse than they are telling me.
The reason I wonder this is because it's customary to glaze over certain parts of one's history when meeting another species for the first time. The urakari tend to not go into detail about our unification wars, the duhliki glaze over their uplifting of the maltovariakina, and even the juntor glaze over their horrifically failed attempts at genetic modification. But the human had presented me with a seemingly full history with actual casualty counts.
On the other hand, so what? There wasn't a single government in the history of the Republic who hadn't done SOMETHING that people would consider terrible. The thing is, if you look at the reasoning behind it while keeping your emotional reaction in check you can see why they all did what they did. Even if it was stupid, even if it was callous, even if it was selfish and greedy, there was reasoning behind it.
The urakari unification wars resulted in our ability to join the interstellar community and vastly improved the quality of life for our citizens. The duhliki had uplifted the maltovariakina so that they could trade resources with them instead of simply taking the resources. The juntor had attempted genetic modification to better be able to relate to their galactic neighbors and escape the limitations of their biology. Sometimes things don't work out and don't have a happy ending, but that's part of growth.
I decided that I wouldn't judge humans too harshly for whatever they were glazing over if and when I found out about it. Unless it were something unforgivable such as xenocide. By the sun, the thought that the Omni-Union was xenocidal hadn't even occurred to us. There were always factions within each species that would preach about xenocide as the optimal solution for interspecies strife, but those people were fucking crazy.
Only a fool would allow a xenophobe to rule. Their policies inevitably damage economies and risk causing war. And even xenophobes would hesitate to wage a war of xenocide. Once it's realized that that's your goal, it's easy to gather support against you. Your enemies will fight with all of their might and none of their morals, because they're no longer simply defending their way of life. They're defending their very existence.
I got a message confirming my request and decided to call it a night. It took me a bit to actually get to sleep, unfamiliar beds always made my sleep a bit restless. Despite this, I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. I took a shower, put on clean clothing, and performed other acts of hygiene before finally checking my messages.
--
To: Ambassador Ulooni, Elira 2
The request by the United Systems for a formal statement regarding the xenophobic disposition of the Omni-Union has been fulfilled. Please see the attached document and confirm that it meets their criteria before presenting it to the representative of the United Systems.
Your request for an action plan regarding permanent diplomatic relations with the United Systems has been approved and completed. Please present the secondary attached document to the representative of the United Systems for their feedback.
From: Diplomatic Corps Central Office, Senate City
Attachment(s):
Statement.txt
DRActionPlan.txt
--
I was surprised by how quickly things were moving along. The Executive must be paying personal attention to this first contact. Not that I blame him, if it's mishandled the US may become a formidable opponent. Even the sale of the navigation tech, something which usually takes nearly a year to be approved, had been streamlined and approved in record time.
On the other hand, I suppose it's not an equivalent situation to previous first contacts. First, both sides are actively at war with the same enemy. Second, and I keep forgetting this, we're not JUST dealing with the humans. We're dealing with three other species as well, and a fourth one that is being uplifted.
I double checked both documents to make certain that they were acceptable, then added my signatory code to them. Then I sent the documents to Director 3 along with a time for a meeting later in the day to discuss the documents if he had any questions. He immediately responded with a simple "thank you". I busied myself preparing answers to potential questions he may have until it was almost time for the meeting. I arrived at the meeting room fifteen minutes early.
He was already waiting inside. Was he just living in this room? Is he just stuck in the chair and too embarrassed to ask for help? Either way it has a creepy effect.
"Hello Ambassador Ulooni. I have submitted the Republic's response to the Directorate and Senate of the United Systems, and have some questions regarding the Diplomatic Relations Action Plan," he said.
"Of course," I responded.
"I am unfamiliar with the system outlined in the plan, Rigara. Could you tell me more about it?"
I began my prepared response, "Rigara is the system in which we used to house the interspecies conflict resolution forum, prior to giving the power to forcibly end conflict to congress. Since then it's become something of a trade system, where many people go to buy and sell goods. The forum station has been maintained but isn't currently used. This is where our permanent diplomatic embassies will be. It is also where the Republic fleet that will be sent to Sol is mustering."
"I meant more along the lines of the layout of the system," Director 3 explained. "The plan doesn't indicate whether this system has planets or what type of star it has."
"I understand. It has a yellow sun and four planets outside of the habitable zone. It also has an asteroid belt and several planetoids, also too hostile for colonization," I said, trying not to be embarrassed.
"A yellow sun is good, and the inability to colonize is also a plus. We wouldn't want civilian ventures to interfere with diplomacy," Director 3 said with a slight chuckle.
I had no idea what he meant, but didn't feel it would be wise to ask. However, he seemed to pick up on my confusion.
"There are several entities called corporations that occasionally act outside of governmental influence in an attempt to get wealthier. One of our fears is them attempting to colonize neutral territory in order to gain an edge on their competitors and causing a diplomatic incident," he explained.
"Has that happened before?" I asked, trying to mask my shock.
"Twice, so far. Different corporations, too. A human corporation and an alumari corporation. The political fallout was... taxing," he said. "Back to the subject at hand, how many personnel are we allowed to bring aboard the station? The document doesn't say."
Another one I was ready for, "Right, we would ask that you keep the amount of personnel to a minimum until everything is figured out in full. Just the people that you need. Also, we will have to request that all personnel that you bring aboard the station are organic in nature, at least for now. No offense, Omega."
"None taken," the speakers said.
"I also noticed that there is an embassy for each individual Republic species, but only one for the United Systems. I wanted to know why that's the case before I sign off," Director 3 said.
"The embassies were already in place, with one extra in case of another first contact. We think it would be best to initially treat the United Systems as a singular entity, and if this becomes a sticking point we can add more room to the station," I responded.
"Of course. Well, everything seems to be in order," he said as he pressed his finger to the tablet with the document on it, adding his signatory code. "Omega and I will remain here until one of our ships arrive to pick us up in two days. We will then rendezvous with the Republic fleet in Rigara."
He stood. I'm certain he had left that chair at some point during his time on the station, but this was my first time seeing it and I was a little shocked by his height. He wasn't as tall as the marines, but he was still taller than me by a head and a half. I shook the shock off and stood as well.
"Thank you for your visit, Director 3. I wish you safe travels," I said as I stood.
"It was a pleasure, Ambassador Ulooni," he responded as he left the room followed by the two marines.
