This message is directed towards representatives of select factions with influence in the Western Border Worlds.
Greetings, representative. My name is Harrison Herring, 42 years old, PhD in astrophysics from the Manhattan Institute of Technology, and an independent scientist. In this message, I will detail about findings me and my crew made about the Tau Nomads. Findings that could very well change the stability of the Sirius sector for the better.
I'll start with the history of our excursion to the Tau systems. After the fruitless scouting assignment towards the Omicron systems for technology, anomalies and means to contact the Nomads, It came to our knowledge about anomalous signals all around the Tau border worlds. System by system in search of those signals, we eventually detected a silicon-based space-faring life form - a Nomad of enormous size. A brief scan revealed that its electrical activity signature was different from the Omicron Nomads, with its behavior further reinforcing the result of the scans - it acted passively and with interest. Despite our ship standing no chance against it, the nomad did not harm me, my crew or the ship. Instead, it entered telepathic contact.
On such contact, I listened to its thoughts. Said that they're acting defensively and are not related to the Omicron Nomads. They're exiles, Their biological arrangement and neural pulses that differ from their omicron counterpart confirming this. Soon after, I was met by a nomad council, where they expressed their concerns regarding their survival. Surrounded by humans with nomad-murdering intent, they must fight like cornered animals to protect their species - If we were in their position, we would do the same. And just like us, they can think for themselves. Some are shy, others, inquisitive. This preservation of individuality puts our species on common ground for communication and diplomacy. As we are, they're also tired of the conflict and want to be left for themselves. I'm confident that if human hostilities cease, they will also do the same.
While not every faction will agree to the cessation of hostilities, an increasing number of cease-fire abiding factions will surely bring attention of more conservative flags, and make them reconsider.
Video surveillance of the Exile council
I understand that a cease-fire might be difficult to be accepted - but it is the first step. I am not asking for the factions to be carefree about the Exiles, but to remain vigilant until the tensions wither. With enough time elapsed, and with no confrontation, trust will be built by both species.
It is of the Exile's interests diplomacy, as they, like us, prioritize their survival - and they can not afford losses. With a diplomatic bridge between the species, confrontation shall cease, bringing peace to the Western Border Worlds by ending a conflict that can be avoided. I urge the receptors to consider the benefits of this truce.
As a token of transparency, I've annexed the medical examination and bio-scans of all crew members, properly authenticated: HorizonCrewMedEx.ssb
This should conclude. Reply to this message if any questions or concerns arise.
From: Eduardo Montalban To: Starship Horizon Subject: Strategical findings Classification:Confidential
Hola Señor Herring,
I am Eduardo Montalban, Alpha Conqueror of the Malta Hyperspace Starfleet. This report of yours is certainly interesting, but there are several points upon which I am uneasy, as they run contrary to our own experiences. Such clear communication with the Nomads, no matter which supposed group they belong to, is unheard of in our records. The aliens speak in riddles and images, out of which meaning must be inferred or guessed at. Never forget, the Nomads are not human. Their minds are as alien as their physical forms. We have no common ground, no understanding. To endow them with human motivations, reasoning, and even correlating social structures is to lie to yourself.
Such close contact, with such clear communication is a cause for alarm to us. Many people have been influenced by these creatures, changed, corrupted, made to do their bidding to the detriment of humanity. Our fears might be allayed if you could provide a record, ideally with a full transcript, of your encounter with these nomad ships. This would allow us to investigate not only the accuracy of your report, but look for evidence of alien manipulation. There is an undeniable risk of deception, these creatures could be using you as a tool to have us drop our guard. Other of your propositions have such sweeping implications that they require a very high burden of evidence
As far as a cease fire with these "exiles" is concerned, we will go as far as to say that we are primarily interested in trade routes through the Taus. If the aliens keep themselves well away from our bases and transports then we are unlikely to cross paths. However, any interference in the trade of ourselves or our allies will be met with immediate and overwhelming force.
Sender ID:Fiorella Arianna de Marco Recipient ID:Starship Horizon Subject:Aliens in Taus Location:MNS Amalfi Encryption:Medium
Signor Herring,
Grazie for your report, scientific findings and you even managed to fill some of our blanks spots. As a woman of science, I am pleased, yet as a woman protecting what matters for me the most, these are not the good news.
Do not forget that these creatures are the masters of manipulation as they have already shown during the events of the Nomad War. There is no guarantee that they are just wanting to negotiate a cease-fire in order to regain their strength and continue in their goals of subjugating or eliminating humanity later, since, even humans would do the same if they would be losing their fight and being cornered.
After all, their lifespans, mindsets and ultimate goals remain largerly unknown and the little we have understood or experienced was an infestation, slaughter and even the planet's destruction deeper in Omicrons.
Their presence in Taus not that far away from Malta is threat and unless we will be absolutely sure that they do not and cannot pose threat to Malta now and in the future, our stance will remain unchanged.
The crew of the Horizon receives your messages with great honor. Your concerns are most valid, and our engineering section has already provided our vessel with a possible solution regarding the validation of our experiences and gathered data using bio-monitors.
These devices will actively monitor the vital signs of the crew, including brainwave activity, during next encounters. The data will be collected and analyzed by the ship's onboard AI, and once processed, will be stored as empirical data. This will allow us to share the experiments with integrity.
Regarding the questions about their morality and ultimate goals, it is still an unexplored area. I reinforce that humanity shouldn't lay down their tools of defense, but to remain watchful, and use their current methods as deterrence, and avoid conflict whenever possible, using also de-escalation. We will remain observant on their movements, and our scientific team already placed redundant safeguards into the ship's AI, in case of any attempts of manipulation from their part.
Our next step is re-entering contact and collecting more data, which we will immediately forward to the representatives upon collection and analysis.