Memory transcription subject: Governor Tarva of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized aurigan time]: Heather 10, 1 AA

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The journey to Aafa had been a tense one. As soon as we crossed the Zurulian border, two Federation patrol ships intercepted us and escorted us to our destination. It was clear that the Venlil people were no longer trusted by the other species of the Federation.

Now we were there, and it was all feeling much more real. This was the moment of truth, as soon as we stepped off this shuttle, anything could happen.

Taking a deep breath I turned towards Recel and Serz, the latter of which was meditating. "We're pulling up to the planet now, get ready for what may come."

I then turned to the comms unit, and opened a public channel to the planet below. Hopefully the open nature of this communication would prevent them from just shooting us down and pretend we were never here.

"This is Governor Tarva of the Venlil Republic. I request to speak to the presiding chieftain about an urgent matter."

My station should hopefully afford me some leeway, even though no doubt we were now seen as a breakaway state, or worse.

"The Chief will be with you shortly, Governor." Came back a dull reply, very monotone and robotic. "Please be patient."

Pawing at the comm controls, I turned on the camera feed, and motioned for Recel to come over, before whispering over for Serz to "Put the helmet on."

"This is Chief Nikonus of the Kolshian Commonwealth. Why are you here, Governor? To spread your predator disease off-world?"

As he spoke, Nikonus eyed Recel with even more contempt that he seemed to have for me.

"No, Chieftain... I came here to present our scientific studies on the aurigan species, as well as a detailed breakdown of what occured during, and after, first contact. It is unfair that we have kept silent this long."

And thus, with a single button press, I released the Aurigan First Contact package to the Kolshian internet. Hopefully this would help us present our case to the summit.

"Hmmm... And what does Recel have to say about his mutiny against Captain Sovlin?" The chief motioned for his fellow to speak up.

"Captain Sovlin is blinded by his past, my Chieftain. He sees forward facing eyes and the trauma of having his family killed in front of him by the Arxur poisons his mind. I've seen the empathy tests, and I've seen how the aurigan prey are friends with the aurigan predators. I believe that we must give them a chance, which is why we're here."

"Very well, we will examine the data you provided, and you will be allowed to speak at the summit for the aurigans."

I had to intrerupt him at that point, since it was best he knew now, rather than later. "We will not be speaking for the aurigans, Chief Nikonus. I will be speaking for my people's experience with the Aurigans. It will be Serz that speaks for the Aurigans."

"Who is-?" Nikonus began, but was unable to finish as Serz finally revealed himself, wearing a helmet not too disimilar to Opbot's head, an angular, pointed thing, with a thin eyeslit going all the way around, protected by opaque glass. "Is that-?"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"He is one of the aurigans, a mezari, but he's not just any mezari, he's the very man that Sovlin tortured mere days ago. The same man who refused to lift a hand to defend himself from anything short of an execution." I paused for a moment. "He insisted that he come here to plead his case."

"Are you mad!? What if it goes feral? Are you even thinking straight?"

"All we want is to talk. You’re about to attack my planet in order to 'cleanse' it of his kind. Shouldn’t you hear from them first? Don't they have a right to defend themselves?"

"Absolutely not. If you weren’t on that vessel, Governor, I’d order it shot down!"

"You permitted us entry, before you knew of the mezari’s presence. Do the Venlil have a right to address the galaxy?"

The Chief flared his nostrils. "You have a right to speak, and to state your version of events on record. You’re still a member of the Federation… at least, for now."

"Well, then I wish for Serz to speak in my stead, and to be treated with the same rights as a Venlil citizen. He is a citizen of Venlil Prime now, whether you like it or not."

"You have snapped, Tarva! There’s millions of people down here, who don’t want that thing to set foot in our capital. Some of us still value our lives."

"It’s one predator versus all of you. You have him well outnumbered."

"I can’t let a dangerous beast into the governing chamber. What’s to stop it from eating the nearest leader on television? To stand and gloat about the taste of our children’s blood?"

"He won’t."

"But what if it does?"

"Then you’ll have documentation of what the aurigans were like, when the Federation is asked by future generations why we made this decision," Recel interjected. "But I’m telling you, these predators are more civilized than they look."

"Please, Nikonus. Let Serz say what he’s come here to say. You don’t want people to think you have something to hide, do you? What harm can a few words do?"

"Ugh. It can speak for five minutes, and not a second longer. If it so much as stares at anyone the wrong way or stumbles in its footing, it will be shot." The Kolshian chief waved a tentacle assertively. "Nor will I pledge for its safety after that time frame, even if it complies. Understand?"

Five minutes was virtually nothing. Of course Nikonus wanted to sabotage the aurigans' chance at presenting their case. This was a farce, but it was our best shot. I sighed and nodded. "We accept. But please, before you jump to any conclusions, go through the data I uploaded. Not just you, Chieftain, but everyone listening. The entire data package is available on my social media account. For everyone to see."

"You’re pushing your luck, Tarva. I have a lot of preparations to make. Do not disembark until my next transmission." Nikonus replied wtih indignation, before cutting off the call entirely.

Once it was over, Recel slumped over the command console, grabbing his head in his tentacles. "This is going to be a disaster..." He groaned out, and I felt oblinged to wrap my tail around one of his tentacles, comforting the poor soul. "We'll be fine, we have a Hero with us."

"A- a what?" Came Recel's confused response, but I merely gave him a noncommital wave with my tail.

"Don't worry about it." I said, before pulling the ship into a docking terminal, one near the governance hall, and waited for permission to disembark.

The landing area was already filling up with journalists, everyone having gotten wind of us having a predator on board. This would be a media scandal regardless of how it went, and I needed to be ready for the aftermath.

While we waited, Serz glanced out the window, and a red dot appearead on his helmeted forehead. I was about to shout for him to get down, but he was already on his back before I could say anything.

"What were you thinking? You're not invulnerable!" Recel asked in shock.

"I wasn't expecting them to shoot at the shuttle, ok?" Serz retorted, before pulling himself back up, wary of the windows.

"So what do we do now? Play with our thumbs while we wait?" The predator then asked, causing me to snicker.

"Some of us don't have thumbs." Recel interjected, before sitting down in the pilot's chair, crossing his tentacles.

"We may as well get some rest. Since we can't leave this shuttle, here is as good a place as any to sleep." Serz mused before taking his helmet back off, resting it next to his chair. He then closed his eyes and placed his hands on his chest, crossing his fingers, and dozed off to sleep.

I wasn't sure if I was ready to fall asleep next to a predator, even though the rational part of my brain told me he was harmless, so I did my best to stick close to Recel. Despite my reservations, sleep quickly overwhelmed me, and the world went dark...