Andrea nodded her acceptance of the Olan's words. This did not mean she had any intention of accepting what they told her at face value. Setting aside the possibility of deliberately prejudicial testimony from someone who was clearly no friend of the Protectorate of Galyon, It was a near certainty that the Olan's point of view would have a bias against an adversary of their country, whether they themselves realized it or not. Andrea was wise enough to not openly question the honesty or validity of the Olan's words.
Andrea messaged Lin, informing her that she was about to get some sort of briefing on the group heading towards the valley. Lin was in the process of examining and dissecting a new mushroom specimen when the message came in. She pinged Andrea with a thank you and a pictogram of an ear to let her know she'd be listening in. While the majority of her focus was on her lab work and the high altitude monitoring of the convoy, Lin had enough spare attention to pick up a little bit of information, she could always review the recordings later to glean all the details.
Olan Lunere began their explanation. "First of all the Protectorate of Galyon is not actually a protectorate. Around 1800 years ago a small monarchy was engulfed by the Galyon Empire. Rather than resist and be completely destroyed, the royal family chose to cooperate and became a client state, a protectorate. When the Galyon Empire broke apart a few hundred years later, the royal family chose not to follow the example of most of the other warlords and governors. Rather than declaring themselves fully independent of the fragmenting Empire, they chose to lean into their ties to the Empire by referring to themselves only as the Protectorate of Galyon. This gave them an appearance of continuity with imperial rule that quickly attracted many of the nearby peoples who were used to imperial rule and saw the Protectorate as the most legitimate heir of those institutions. Over time the Protectorate worked to grow and maintain this perception as the inheritors of the empire and by now have become an Empire of their own."
Andrea was fascinated, she had studied history of and on while earning her doctorate degrees and had developed a fascination with the subject. The prospect of learning about millennia of alien history was exhilarating. Andrea mentally shook herself, now was not the time to get lost in the past. “That is fascinating Olan, and I would love to learn more about such history in the future. However, none of what you’ve mentioned so far seems terribly relevant to a simple explanation of the current political situation.”
Olan Lunere’s purple blue face flushed in chagrin. “I beg your pardon Andrea. I write historical treatises as a hobby and have recently begun to study the Protectorate and other Galyon successor states. My enthusiasm for the subject carried me away. I will try to be more succinct considering the circumstances. To begin with the Protectorate is not a local state, the capital Garnegal is about 35,000 kilometers to the south south east from Malepre. This means that direct interaction between the Protectorate and the Maleprian crowns has been limited until quite recently. Despite this, our long standing trade with the Tahtrik League meant that the Protectorate was not a complete unknown when their tendrils of expansion finally reached us.” With the mention of the League, Olan Lunere nodded to Unla-Ela, who took the opportunity to interject. “The Tahtrik League is roughly equidistant from Malepre and the Protectorate, roughly 20,000 kilometers from each. Historically both Malepre and the League happen to have had direct access to the Coemen Ocean and the seaborne trade that flows around it. This is access which the Protectorate only gained ten years ago.” With that Unla-Ela fell silent and returned Olan Lunere’s nod.
Andrea was interested to note the vast distances they were describing, and silently messaged Lin “I'm redirecting the high altitude drone that's monitoring the area around this camp, I'm confident my other resources in the area provided adequate sensor coverage to make do for an hour or two.” After alerting Lin, Andrea directed the drone in question to begin ascending until it reached the highest altitude it could, before returning her attention to Olan Lunere as they picked up their part of the lesson again.
“Though they are relative newcomers to this part of the known world, the Protectorate hasn’t been shy about throwing their weight around, both economically and militarily. Most relevant to our current circumstances is the fact that the Protectorate has claimed this unexplored region, despite its location on the border of Malepre. The general convention between states is that those with borders on the edge of the known world can claim sovereignty over a roughly wedge shaped area projecting outward into the unexplored region. There has yet to be a limit to new territory that anyone has determined, so conflicts over these unexplored, unpopulated, and undeveloped regions are vanishingly rare. That’s what has made the aggression of the Protectorate frankly bizarre. All the more so as they are laying claim to a region so remote from their own borders with the unexplored world. Our expedition to this valley, which lies near the heart of the region the Protectorate is claiming as their own, is in part an attempt at discerning what possible motivations the Protectorate might have. If we can learn that, we might be able to determine why they are being so blatant, and so aggressive, in their efforts to secure this region.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Andrea sent Lin another message. “Are you listening in at the moment?” Lin sent Andrea a nod “I am, and I have an unfortunate suspicion that the aperture is somehow related to a strange and seemingly unproductive interest in this specific region. We may wind up in conflict with this Protectorate purely out of a need to maintain control of the site where the aperture will reopen.” Andrea shifted with discomfort at the idea. “We’re not soldiers Lin, not anymore, I signed up for the Surveyor Corps because I was done with the Imperial Navy and done killing thinking beings. I really hope you’re wrong.” Olan Lunere wrapped up their briefing, none the wiser to Andrea’s brief distraction and growing concern. “There have been some incidents of armed skirmishes near the armed colony that the Protectorate has installed by the mouth of a river that we have speculated gives quick access to this region, if what you reported earlier is correct than our speculations were accurate. We will attempt to maintain the peace, but my monarchs have made it clear that our territorial integrity is to be enforced. At the very least I’ll be reporting this incursion and asking for reinforcements, though they will not arrive anytime soon. Unla-Ela’s team and their safety are still my highest priority, so if it comes to violence we’ll be evacuating. I am certain that it will come to violence because the Protectorate have been shockingly bold when it comes to their attempts to secure this region, and I very much doubt our attempts at determining what has captured their interest will be treated with benevolence, they may attempt to silence all of us, just in case we discovered something they wish to conceal.”
It was clear to Andrea that Olan Lunere, and to a lesser extent Unla-Ela, were both dead set on convincing Andrea to side with them against this expedition from the Protectorate, she needed to set their expectations; their word alone was not enough reason to take their side before talking with the Protectorate of Galyon. Andrea shook her head as she responded. "My government does not approve of military adventurism, participating in conflicts of those outside the empire is viewed with deep suspicion at best. I am required by my own ethics as well as the laws of my people to attempt to speak with these people and learn of their intentions. On the other hand I have no ethical or legal obstacle to defending myself if attacked. I will not strike against them on your word alone, but if they prove to be as aggressive and unscrupulous as you have indicated then you will have me fighting by your side."
Olan Lunere and Unla-Ela took Andrea’s preemptive rebuff of an immediate alliance with good grace. Unla-Ela replied for both of them. “I understand Andrea, and I do not blame you for being cautious, but I beg you to be extremely cautious when you attempt to approach the Protectorate team. Their armed forces have a universally bad reputation when it comes to their treatment of foreigners who are subject to their ‘mercy’.” Andrea smiled at the genuine concern she could hear in her new friend's voice. “I will be careful. For the time being I’ll discuss what I know about their expedition with you in exchange for some enlightenment on both their etiquette and their capabilities.”
The next several hours were a productive exchange of information, incidentally Andrea learned that the language Unla-Ela had been teaching her was actually one frequently used in trade and diplomacy. Most people with any degree of learning would certainly have at least a smattering of the language, so Andrea would have no translation issues when attempting to speak with the leader of the Protectorate expedition. As the shadows deepened in the valley and the distant snow covered peaks took on rosy hues, their meeting was adjourned with promises to meet again the next day. As Andrea hiked her way back to her escort of combat drones her introspective and melancholy mood was disrupted by Lin’s voice, shaking with uncharacteristic tension. “Andrea, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. This world, It can’t be a natural planet!”