For a good hour or more, the Shipmaster and I sit there sharing old war stories. We are seemingly both careful to obscure any information about our technologies, but there are certain things that we both understand. Things like commanding a ship, zero-G maneuvers for offensive or defensive reasons, and the many battles we faced during the wars we served in. As ship captains do best, we embellish our roles and make our grand assaults seem like the linchpin of whatever battle we took part in, even if we were tasked overall with what is effectively backline supply escort.
After a lull in our stories, the Shipmaster asks me,
"So tell me Shipmaster Commodore. To me, it sounds like you've been the shipmaster of multiple different ships. I don't mean to assume as our cultures appear to have some gaps. How is it you are able to be the shipmaster of multiple vessels without being completely stripped of any honor and even being disowned by your family?"
This question does catch me off guard but it did come from a man who is in charge of a 5000-year-old ship, and their years are probably quite similar to ours considering the habitable zone has its limits. I try to answer in a way he may understand,
"I don't know how your ships are constructed... I mean this vessel is beyond beautiful and it is an understatement to call it art. Our vessels are quite drab and gray. Our interiors are bare metal and our furniture is designed to fulfil a role instead of being comfortable. Considering our biggest combat and shipping vessels are about half the size of your ship here at the biggest. While we do have large orbital habitats much larger, they aren't really considered ships since they can only barely move. I think our abilities of construction and materials may be different as we produce and lose ships quite quickly, we are in a period of rapid development so some ships are made obsolete on a year-to-year basis. Of course, I have lost ships, but only one of them was fully destroyed and I did get in trouble for it because I was using it improperly. My other ship changes were station shifts or the vessel was damaged and needed month-long repairs, or was being entirely decommissioned. If I had my way I wouldn't change from one or two of my vessels but here we are."
This makes the shipmaster rub his chin and he says in a low voice,
"I see... how interesting. It appears your people are in a state of rapid growth in capability and territory. We haven't encountered another race in a similar state as yours since the initial founding of the Eternal Kingdom. I have a feeling our peoples can gain much from interacting with one another."
I nod along and I respond,
"Also, most of our ships are built along a specific template at mass scale so there isn't too much uniqueness about each ship."
The Dwarfs eyes go wide for a moment and he asks,
"So the ship you arrived in is not your own?"
I shake my head and respond,
"Nope, I am simply put in charge of it. It is owned by our government."
The dwarf responds, mostly talking to himself,
"I see... so their ships are not family heirlooms... they make them in batches."
He asks me carefully,
"How many ships like yours exist?"
I shrugged and sent an inquiry to the AI onboard the catfish. It gives me an answer and I reply,
"About one hundred and sixty-two of these exact ships exist under US control. Of course, my ship, the USS Catfish which I arrived in is heavily modified for this diplomatic mission."
The dwarf looks at me for a while, staring with incredulity before shaking his head and grabbing a bottle from the table. He takes a long drink from what I assume is alcohol. Once he stops and gasps he asks me,
"I understand we are still in the phase of contact where we cannot disclose much information about our ships and weapons and the like. But please inform me what materials your vessels are composed of?"
I raise an eyebrow in confusion and respond flatly,
"Largely steel contstruction with bits of tungsten, ceramics, and osmium... the armor is classified but all those materials are utilized. I'm sure those materials are old school for your kingdom."
He takes another long drink and once done he laughs loudly and responds,
"Ah! Steel makes sense, it's quite easy to shape and the stars hold lots of iron. The other materials aside from ceramic I do not know of. I am guessing you use the ceramic for defeating heat-based attacks that would normally melt steel?"
I nod and he offers me a swig of his drink. I hold up my hand and respond carefully,
"I am sorry and do not mean to offend in any way but I am unable to accept that drink, as much as I would like to partake in it."
He frowns, shrugs, and finishes the bottle before asking,
"That suit of yours. It is very strange. Is it your cultural diplomatic uniform? If you are under orders to not take it off I understand it would get in the way of food and drink."
I bow my head and respond downtrodden,
"No. The problem is your air has something in it that is toxic to my kind. When I lost my hand last time I was wearing a suit like this and when the air touched my bare flesh it scorched me. We have found any object produced in your part of space contains this poison and unfortunately, we are required to wear these suits when outside of our ships."
The dwarf strokes his beard and responds sadly,
"That is most unfortunate. If I may ask, would your air be toxic to my kind?"
I shake my head and respond,
"We simply lack what kills us. You should be fine without it."
He nods seemingly content and asks,
"Would I perhaps be allowed to embark on your vessel Shipmaster Commodore? I wish to see what a royal-owned and mass-produced space vessel looks like."
I nod and don't correct him. From the language he has used so far, and their nation being called a kingdom, I can tell their society has some manner of Feudal rule. I will let the diplomats break the news of our differing governance styles. I respond,
"That would be lovely, but we would probably require you to wear a suit similar to mine as your flesh simply radiates what kills us, and we don't want anyone to get hurt as it is very painful."
The man pauses for a second, deep in thought before he asks flatly and incredulously,
"Do you mean my mana streams?"
I lock eyes with him, looking for some sort of other meaning in those words. I ask the AI who assures me that is a direct translation. I ask,
"Like magic?"
He nods while eyeing me like I'm stupid and responds with another question,
"Yes... what else could it be? Is your knowledge of our language lacking?"
I shake my head and decide to leave it to the diplomats and scientists. I respond,
"I guess... maybe... I think it is your mana that is toxic to us."
He looks at me as if I just put a flashbang in front of his face and he goes to speak but the door Shariah went through opens with fanfare, literally. A chorus of trumpets plays from somewhere unseen as an odd goblin-looking creature waddles out with a scroll. He then announces to all four of us in the room in a deep bass voice,
"Let it be known. Today marks the end of the first official meeting with the new species known as Humanity, and their nation of the United States of America. From here diplomatic and cultural relations may now commence so that they may reach us to their full extent."
Then he was gone. Simply disappeared. One moment there, next non-existent. I blink a few times trying to understand but Shariah comes out from that door with the same blue secretary bird bitch walking next to her. They are laughing and making merry until they see me and I stand up. I give them both a wide smile upon seeing my chance to avoid an awkward situation that was slowly starting to unfold. The bird seems to recognize me as her pupils dilate in and out rapidly. She then speaks in a slow and haughty tone,
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Ah... the little interloper from before. Well met. It appears you have recovered from the injury you sustained after your grave mistake. "
I nod and respond,
"Yes and better for it. "
She seems satisfied before stating,
"As of now, our peoples may begin to meet and embrace one another."
Then she turns around and leaves. What a fucking bitch, or maybe it's upbringing? I can't tell...
The ride back to the USS Catfish is quick but quiet. Shariah spends the whole time sitting quietly, tapping away at some sort of tablet. Her face is neutral so I can't tell if what happened was good or bad. I mull over my conversation with the Shipmaster, I don't know his name or what he even is, but he seems like a pretty good dude. I wonder what he meant by mana or whatever but I'll leave that to the scientists.
We dock and return onboard and remain silent. The marines are silent, but I know damn well those SOBs have a private channel open and are joking around since I see their shoulders heave every now and again. I wish they would let me join in. We strip back into our normal uniforms in the armory and I replace my pistol which never was questioned. When we are undressed Shariah says to me in a strangely flat and respectful tone,
"Sir, may we meet in your stateroom ASAP?"
I nod and reply,
"Yes. I'll send orders to the pilot to get us back to the fleet. Why my stateroom?"
She doesn't budge but replies,
"It's private enough... and no funny business."
I nod, ignoring the last part. I send the message mentally and walk with her to my stateroom.
Inside I give her the only chair in my room as I choose to sit on my bed. She doesn't sit. I lock the door and turn on sound-proofing and when I turn around she squeals with delight and begins bouncing up and down. I am confused as hell when she suddenly leaps forward and gives me a big hug. She doesn't leave me waiting as she explains,
"I did it! I did it! I successfully achieved diplomatic relations with an alien power! My name will go down in history! I'm going to be famous! Can you believe it?"
I can't help but chuckle as I pat her on the back awkwardly. I guess it makes sense that she would want to be private in this situation. I pry her off of me and ask,
"So tell me, how did it go? Mind you that is the bird woman who did order my hand to be removed. "
She calms down and straightens herself. She then explains the situation,
"I started talking to Lady Skarshoul, it was a fine meeting and we greeted one another in their way rather than a human handshake. We discussed what our nations wanted with one another. She is a rather uptight and cold woman, but she explained that was more the culture of their higher culture. I managed to figure out that they do have a feudal society to an extent and she is a big deal, like people of her rank are second only to the royal family or something. Archduchess would be the closest English word for her station, with a focus on a sector-wide authority.
They simply stated they wanted us to reach out to them so that we may eventually connect our people. I think we are overall in a good position. I negotiated passage onto the world below for me, the diplomats, and the science teams. We were granted a fairly free reign to explore and negotiate with them. They will also be researching us this whole time as they still are unsure about us. I think that is fair.
I also got us permission to park our fleet deeper in the system as to facilitate proper security and of course, they will be taking surface-level readings of our ships. That's about all I have now."
I nod and respond,
"I'll write a report and send it back home. I will park my fleet nearby where you all will be located and will follow what orders I receive from there."
She nods and seemingly notices she is inside my stateroom and takes a look around. Her eyes lock onto the shredded and blood-stained baby-blue flag I have hanging on my wall and the color drains from her face. She asks,
"where did you get that?"
I shrug and respond,
"Classified, but I am over 60, I've been around."
I start to gently guide her out of my room before she can ask more questions about my captured United Nations Central Authority flag. I follow her out of the room and head to the bridge to start writing my report. I lock eyes with Shariah and tell her,
"Please don't ask questions about that flag... if you start mentioning them...as what you are... it may end badly for your reputation and I will perform disciplinary actions. Those wounds are still fresh for many... and everyone but your kind still suffers."
She shudders for a moment before quietly asking,
"Are there any reports of... it happening?"
I shake my head and respond,
"No, everyone has passed their medical screening too. It's not a radioactive subject at the moment, but let's not remind everyone."
She nods and tries to leave but I say,
"Send me your report, I'll combine ours both while I look through all the footage from our helmets. Better to only start up the ol' Insta-link once."
She nods and hurries away, her once happy demeanor changing to one of slight fear. I really didn't like doing that, especially damaging her happy mood like that. It was nice to see how happy she was. If things go well we may have a very powerful ally. Although I am concerned about both the apparent feudal system utilized by these aliens as well as the mention of mana. That is an odd thing to say, possibly it's a term for some esoteric technology, or maybe that's just what they call radiation or something? I mean advanced enough technology is indistinguishable from magic, and potentially they could be a really repressed society where captains don't even understand how their ships work. Their not knowing osmium or tungsten could be evidence for this, all he knows is his captain's duties and zero-g combat doctrine, leaving materials and tech to specialized individuals. I'll leave these deeper thoughts to the scientists.
I sit down on my captain's seat and tap away on my console writing my report. While I could do it mentally, I prefer the stimulus of typing. I do send the orders to the rest of the fleet to move up with us and reveal to the science vessel they are allowed planetside. I'll have Shariah take care of the rest of that, but for now, everyone can sit around the Catfish, and overall I feel safer with a destroyer and cruiser screen.
Satisfied with my report and all the information I gathered I began converting all of my helmet video into a compressed format for FTL communication. I then go through the Diplo-Colonels footage mentally and find she told the entire truth aside from some girl talk with the noble bird woman. Those two apparently got along very well. They both talked mad shit about me after Shariah revealed my identity to the bird who simply laughed and said some unkind things. With a huff, I remove the unprofessional parts from the video before compressing it as well. Soon after this Shariah sends her report which matches the video with some notes and recommendations being put down on it as well. My name is absent aside from means of contact and approach. I take this report and attach it to the nice little packet I'm putting together. I then send it to the communications officer who quickly gets to transmitting the message.
FTL communication is entirely instant as it uses quantum entanglement to communicate. For most ships, it is switched off as it takes a ton of power. How it works is it either entangles or doesn't entangle a small bit of copper. This copper completes a circuit in a central communication hub which then decodes the message being sent. The message is sent in binary with the copper appearing and disappearing creating the 1s and 0s. This information is transcribed and decoded where text, video, and sound can be transmitted across impossible distances. Every ship in the navy has its own little bit of copper in the massive facility. The military central communication hub is different from the civilian one and has much more space for every ship over a certain size to have its own little copper piece.
As the communications officer sends the message, the terrible sound of binary fills the bridge. There is no way to soundproof this process as the sound is actually coming from the walls and frame of the ship so even putting the entanglement communication device in the void of space wouldn't help unless it is completely disconnected from the ship, but the power draw required makes this impossible. The only other problem is the time it takes to send the message. While the message is sent immediately across the distance, the time it takes for the data transfer is brutal. Even with all the technology humanity has the largest data stream ever sent in this manner was 2KBS. The USS Catfish is sitting at a blistering 1.5KBS. With two videos, this takes a while. I watch as multiple bridge crew members put headphones on, which somewhat helps.
Hours later our message is sent and then we get a response. This takes a few minutes as it is only text and I go over the new orders, and the start of a whole new operation. My role is now officially separate from Shariah's and she is no longer in command of any part of my ship and has been entirely moved to the civilian science and diplomatic team. I will oversee this new operation and I have now been granted further executive powers, even over the civilians.
So begins...
Operation Courtier
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End of Operation Force Composition
1 Viking Class Large-Cruiser- USS Catfish- Role: Flagship and Fire Support
3 SF-21 Fighters- 6 support wingmen each
2 UD-12 Dropships- Gunship Configuration
Marine compliment- 100
2 Preist Class Support and Fabrication Vessels- USS Shovelnose, USS Palid- Role: Auxillary
Marine Compliment- 50
2 MacArthur Class Heavy Cruisers- USS Terrapin, USS Snapper- Role: Battleline
2 UD-12 Dropship
Marine Compliment -100
4 Bowman Class Missile Cruisers- USS Quillback, USS Hognose, USS Redhorse, USS Buffalo-Role: Long Range Combat
Marine Compliment- 100
4 Cutter Class Destroyers- USS Bluegill, USS Longear, USS Redear, USS Shellcracker- Role: Escort
Marine Compliment- 80
4 Teach Class Destroyers- USS Largemouth, USS Smallmouth, USS Spotted, USS Neosho- Role: Backline Disruption
Marine Compliment- 100
2 Hellstorm Class Frigates- USS Eel, USS Lamprey- Role: Naval Raiding
Marine Compliment- 50
1 Arsenal Bird Class Drone Carrier- USS Heron- Role: Drone Carrier
400 MQ-25 "Parasite" attack Drones
20 MQ-30 "Plover" Bomber Drones
Marine Compliment-25
6 Boohag Class Marine Transports- USS Bullfrog, USS Peeper, USS Daddys Belt, USS Toad, USS Newt, USS Salamander- Role: Marines
8 UD-12 Dropships- Gunship Configuration
1200 Marines
800 Shipbreakers
4 M3A1 "Stonewall" MBT
24 M8A3 "Gavin" IFVs
8 M112 MRTWP (Multi-role Transport Weapons Platform)
12 M8 "Bunny" Fast Attack/Recon Vehicles
Total Force:
26 Capital Vessels
12 Dropships
3 Manned Fighters
420 Drone Fighters
2505 Marines (Including Shipbreakers)
48 Ground IFVs (Crews included)
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