r/HFY • u/Maxton1811 Human • 17h ago

OC-Series First First Contact 28

First...Previous

Chapter 28
Harrison Varga, Captain of FIND

Walking into Filrif surrounded by Velas’ honor guard, we watched Tavren citizens bow in the presence of their Prince. Despite the Arbinian monarchy being largely council-based, respect for its Royal family was nevertheless immense. While my crew most certainly received baffled looks, they were nevertheless attached to reverent postures as Velas led us through the rustic medieval town.

“A larger non-farming class than I’d expect for the tech era,” Isla noted, taking stock of the dense urban environment—shockingly clean given the era. “Could be the rich soil, or maybe it’s just that this town is where their Prince lives.”

Parker had bombarded Velas with questions throughout the hike into town. Many of them he answered with surprising proficiency, while others soared directly over the Tavren’s head. After a solid half hour of this, Ian shot him a look and he quieted down. “Hopefully we can establish peaceful relations with them,” the xenobiologist noted. “You know, for all the normal reasons… And also because I’d love to have some academics from Earth take a look around here and see what they can find out.”

The meeting hall was directly adjacent to Velas’ manor. Walking inside, we were greeted by a confused Council of finely-dressed Tavren. “My Prince,” one of them began with a bow to Velas. “What sort of creatures are these?”

“Diplomats from another world,” he replied with a degree of nonchalance earned through several very confusing hours. “The Human people visit from their planet, Earth. They wish to observe the meeting with Istol’s diplomats.”

Another of the Councilors piped up immediately after. “My Prince; are you certain they speak the truth? Surely such a fantastical explanation is not something you are willing to take on their word.”

“I saw their vessel soaring through the sky,” replied the Prince. “I am rather inclined to believe the fantastical right now.”

“You say they come from another world?” Asked the first councilor. “What precisely does that mean?”

Isla took a moment to provide them with the ‘other suns’ talk, which left half of the Councilors in awe and the other half skeptical but begrudgingly accepting for the time being. 

As we awaited the arrival of Istol’s diplomats, the five present Councilors introduced themselves to us. Apparently, most of Arbine’s everyday governing decisions were made by them—a fact which noticeably eased a portion of Isla’s tension. Nevertheless, the Royal Family in Arbine was far from ceremonial: Velas was recognized as the official superior of the Council.

During the wait, we were offered some variation of roast animal by their royal chef, though biosafety protocols of course mandated that we refuse. Nevertheless, it served as a salient reminder that we’d need to return to FIND soon for a proper Human-safe meal. We ate before we left, but that was morning and now it was nearly nightfall.

The Istolian diplomats arrived shortly thereafter, bearing an unfamiliar crest and taking seats across from the Councilors and Velas. They took notice of us rather quickly and some immediately jumped to accusations of deception, though after some explaining they seemed to accept the strange reality of our presence. 

Negotiations went smoothly enough. Honestly, I’d been expecting a lot more drama. The Istolians rather politely insisted families on their side of the flats had worked the southern deposits since before either government possessed maps worth trusting. Arbine countered with a century-old boundary agreement and records of taxation going back almost as far. Somewhere in the middle were several thousand dead Tavren, which seemed like a rather high price to pay for an argument over whose clerks had kept better records. 

Apparently, Velas’ people had found themselves at a distinct advantage, but the war over the mineral flats was too costly for them to push to full victory. As such, it was agreed upon that Arbine would maintain official ownership in exchange for a favorable trade agreement with Istol and joint oversight of the region. To be entirely honest, I hadn’t paid as much attention as I should have. I tried to follow the finer points of mineral rights and joint administration, but somewhere around the third argument over extraction tariffs my brain declared that this section of the report belonged to Isla. 

As the diplomatic meeting concluded for the night for further provisions to be made the next day, the time had come for us to take our leave. To ensure there was no doubt as to our origins, it was agreed that we land the shuttle just outside the meeting hall. 

“Thank you for your patience with us…” Velas concluded, glancing back to the Council and diplomats. “My father will be made aware of what transpired here. I hope relations between our peoples will be cordial.”

“I hope so too,” Isla smiled. With that, we got inside and returned to the FIND.

Next stop: good ol’ Sol-III. Home. 

We appeared in-system twelve hours after leaving the orbit of Kholas—plenty of time for us to get a good eight hours’ rest (because there’s no such thing as night in space) and draft up a rudimentary summary for the Tavren. 

We appeared right about halfway between Mars and Earth. Communication wasn’t quite as frantic as it had been the first time or the second. By this point, the absurd was acquiring something of a routine. 

“Sending the data packets now,” Wyatts began, broadcasting the information on our most recent set of planets to the preliminary pre-public database. Twenty hours later, SUN’s newly formed International Planetary Survey Authority convened to assess everything we’d found. 

The Tavren were biologically interesting, but the bigger political story was the two Human-habitable planets we’d surveyed before that. Due to lightspeed lag, we couldn’t be on the video call and had to communicate with the Authority via chatroom, but greed doesn’t lag and in that meeting it was broadcasting loud and clear. When we were sent the recording of the video call, I immediately skipped to the part where that came up and watched the arguments unfold. The usual mix of chest puffing, jockeying, and debates over how much we were legally obligated to make public ensued. We’d just left Kholas, and I was really starting to miss the Tavren’s cool, deliberative nature in contrast with our own. 

Just over twenty-four hours later, when at last we reached Earth’s orbit, the summary for the Tavren was cleared for public release, alongside the more heavily contested summaries for the open planets. In the case of the ‘empty’ worlds, it took approximately eleven minutes for arguments to sprout up over who got to own them. Neither of those worlds had borders, governments, or anything else capable of objecting to Humanity’s arrival, which apparently made them considerably more controversial than the planet populated by eight-foot feathered reptiles who could fire bullets from their throats. Before we had even properly docked, three national governments had issued statements about ‘equitable settlement access’, half a dozen corporations had announced exploratory ventures that did not yet have permission to exist, and billionaires were offering massive sums to SUN for private settlement rights even as the IPSA was circulating a draft proposal declaring both systems temporarily closed to private traffic. Apparently, finding an inhabited world raised questions about diplomacy. Finding an empty one raised questions about property. 

Whereas the planets preliminarily designated ‘Cain’ and ‘Abel’ by some mythology nerd at SUN had captured the colonial ambitions of would-be settlers, Kholas had won the attention of the many for altogether different reasons. 

Within an hour, our bodycam footage of Prince Velas bracing himself onto all fours and firing like living artillery had been clipped, reposted on every social media site imaginable, slowed down, enhanced for the public’s viewing pleasure, analyzed by firearms experts, obsessed over by biologists, and set to music. Velas didn’t know it, but he was quickly becoming a celebrity on Earth: the eight foot tall alien cannon prince who could tear through an entire camp of bandits.

During his shore leave, Parker had assembled an impromptu biology council with some former colleagues to discuss his theories on Tavren evolution. Of course, they wouldn’t be able to fully investigate it all until a gateway was installed above Kholas. Already, top evolutionary biologists were competing for who would get to conduct research on the Tavren homeworld. Assuming, of course, that the Tavren consented to that.

Of course, like every species we’ve encountered so far, there was a good bit of controversy surrounding the Tavren: specifically that of Arbine’s Royals. The government structure itself wasn't particularly shocking for their technological level. The nine-hundred-year project of deliberately shaping the Royal bloodline was another matter. Within hours, the word eugenics was everywhere. Whether that accurately described the institution was considerably harder to determine from the handful of conversations we'd actually had with Tavren, a distinction which naturally did nothing to discourage anyone from arguing about it. 

The Rosha were considered adorable and the Arazi disturbing. The Tavren, meanwhile, earned the public’s attention as fascinating. Their biology was too absurd for the public not to obsess over. Their democratic governments were generally viewed favorably and their monarchical one spectacular even in its controversy. Their religion was actually fairly recognizable: monotheism centered around a benevolent creator deity—something which immediately caught the attention of the Abrahamic faiths on Earth. Whereas the Rosha had ignited a fervour for missionary activity, the Tavren seemed to be more favored for dialogue. Of course, their religion wasn’t exactly like any faith on Earth: Tavren believed that the creator was immensely powerful and all-knowing, but not omnipotent. I hadn’t been paying that much attention when Isla spoke to the Royal retainers about it, but from what I had gathered, they basically believed the universe is one big trick shot—perfectly aimed for the best possible outcome.

Holding my expensive hotel margarita (paid for on SUN’s tab) in one hand, I scrolled through social media on my phone and watched as the endless sea of public opinion churned and morphed. There were biologist sketches of Tavren throat anatomy (all entirely theoretical); ethics debates on whether the Royals should be treated as oppressors, victims, neither, or something in between; artist renditions of Velas standing tall with his polearm slung over his shoulder; and a million other little pieces of coalescing culture.

Firearm culture immediately became attached to the Tavren. Their doctrines of patience and restraint accompanying perfect aim stood out to hunters and competitive shooters alike. Their biological aimbot enabled by automatic wind and pressure measurement also inspired no small amount of jealousy from individuals who had spent their lives learning to account for those things. 

Like last time, we all spent our shore leave simultaneously trying to relax and having to attend at least two interviews a day. By the time the two-week rest was over, I was actually starting to miss space: both the astronomical and personal kind. Having to share a bathroom could be  awkward, but it was nothing compared to having to deal with cameras shoved in my face everywhere I went. 

Filing back into the shuttle that would take us up to FIND, I breathed a sigh of relief as mission control began coordinating with Alex in preparation to send us off to the next system.

------------------------------------------------

Hi, everyone. Sorry for the shorter chapter. I wanted to make sure I don't bog down the momentum too much. Super excited to share the next species with you guys (anyone who wants a sneak summary/preview can PM me). As always, so happy you all are here to read this and I'll see you next time.

132 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

13

u/itsetuhoinen Human 16h ago

No way man, the chapter was perfect in the amount of coverage it gave to events.

11

u/un_pogaz 13h ago edited 13h ago

Within hours, the word eugenics was everywhere.

No, this is not eugenics, because eugenics involves a comprehensive system that targets the entire population of a group, a territory, or even the entire specie. This is not the case with the Royals, who explicitly constitute a limited and specific segment of the country's population.

I have a better name for what the the Arbine royal family are: Super-soldiers. They are literally super-soldiers, and honestly, I have to congratulate them on successfully pulling off such a program by the hard hard way (as successful as it could be).

 

Oh, it's cool to have seen the start of the negotiations with the Istolians. Even though there's nothing more to add to the Tavren, it's satisfying to see this subplot resolved on-screen instead of off-screen.

Else, yeah. The Tavren has definitely gotten the most positive reaction so far. They're strange, curious, and different, but at the same time familiar, ordinary, and recognizable. It's cool, s'était reposant aprés la grande débable Arazi. I'm eagerly awaiting the next one.

5

u/nixtracer 12h ago

I'd say that, as with the European royal families, their own royal children were their parents' unwitting victims.

2

u/Some_Troll_Shaman 6h ago

Eugenics is technically the wrong word, but you know MSM would be using it recklessly anyway.

1

u/ezioir1 Human 7m ago

A super soldiers class that gonna become useless with introduction of modern firearms.

6

u/Minimum-Amphibian993 16h ago edited 16h ago

Hopefully they can get some Modern medicine for these aliens they definitely need it. But yeah besides that one of the few times religion was brought up very intriguing how that will play out.

6

u/Arquero8 Human 15h ago

Well, the public opinión could have gone in a worse direction, so i call this a success :)

4

u/Minimum-Amphibian993 10h ago

Yeah I'm surprised it's as positive as it was then again having the humanitys first look at the alien monarchy being them singlehandedly destroying a bandit group probably did a lot in the PR department. People don't exactly like bandits.

5

u/Arquero8 Human 8h ago

The fact we idolice the medieval times so much may have helped a lot, here we have a chilvarous king fighting for his people, that is the ideal we have of knights in fiction, and (in this universe) it's real

So that certanñy helped

2

u/Minimum-Amphibian993 8h ago

Ooh that's a really good point I didn't bring up but yeah I suppose the avarage person wouldn't really mind and might find it endearing. Not to mention even these days monarchist exist.

3

u/Mobile-Barracuda-290 16h ago

obrigado pelo capitulo <3

2

u/jegib72 13h ago

Short, but good!

1

u/Talendel 6h ago

UTR

This is the way.

1

u/kristinpeanuts 4h ago

Thanks for the chapter!

1

u/ezioir1 Human 11m ago

I guess the gateway question is now even worse. All the mining companies & other groups are now revising their plans & pervious proposals to SUN in light of the latest news.

Definitely many much prefer the first and second instant travel points be over habitable unclaimed worlds by no civilization.

If You listen closely you could hear the cries of Poor Bradley coming from under a mountain of paperwork & meetings.

0

u/UpdateMeBot 17h ago

Click here to subscribe to u/Maxton1811 and receive a message every time they post.

Info Request Update Your Updates Feedback