This new race, level 3 deathworlders, were skittish of humans. Their first encounter with them were, unfortunately, dereggers, who nearly got killed. This first contact with Alliance humans was going to be difficult to say the least. -- BKF
First Contact is always a crapshoot. You never know who is going to meet whom nor what kind of person is going to be the first official representative of their people. Things like that happen when the first to meet the Alliance becomes the first Ambassador.
Unfortunately, the Nauvegians met a Deregger military vessel.
The battle was brief and one-sided. The Dereggers barely survived and went limping back to their home planet in a panic. As for the Nauvegians, they believed firmly that Humanity were a bunch of neurotic, self-destructive, and aggressive people.
They weren't entirely wrong... at least, about the Dereggers. The problem was that they made that judgement about the entirety of the Human race. The natural result was that they bolted for safety the instant they realised that Humans were there. They wouldn't even travel through areas where they knew Humans could be present.
The decent Humans were understanding about this, and went out of their way to help without being seen. Case in point, the Nauvegian colony planet, Tiikeikia. Suffering under a terrible famine and isolated from their normal routes by plasma storms, they were without a hope.
The Humans of the CRC pulled a classic from one of their own numerous wars. Not to assault the Nauvegians, but to feed them. They used the knowledge from other species' contacts to concoct a perfect nutrition package for the Nauvegians. They used their engineering expertise to create vessels that would glide gently down to surface level while seeking out settlements to land near. Vessels made of easy-to-use materials.
In brief, they biscuit-bombed the entire planet.
They did it anonymously. No covert notes that the effort was from the Human race. No decodable pictograms with the message that Humanity was mostly harmless. Not even one handprint to betray who had made them.
The Human vessels returned to the Alliance the instant the Nauvegian wormholes were clear again. Quietly and without fanfare, they made their records before returning to their normal jobs. Most of them were in other humanitarian efforts.
Human Zhon proudly put what looked like a plain, brownish-grey rectangular prism in hir display case. It was labled simply, Tiikeikia. There were others, lined up neatly in the same display. "Job's done," ze announced.
Companion Xorq tilted his head at Zhon's satisfied sigh. "You do not seek praise from those you rescued."
"Don't need it. If they knew it was us, it'd only frighten them."
"You cannot keep it secret. Many people know. It will, as you say, escape containment."
"True," said Zhon. "That'll take a few of years. Years to get used to the idea that nothing was poisoned or otherwise dangerous. Years to think of those ration gliders as an act of benevolence, something that deserved gratitude. And maybe years to figure it out and get used to the idea."
"This is a greater plan, then? What do you Humans hope to win?"
"A second chance for a first meeting," Zhon grinned.
[Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash]
If you like my stories, please Check out my blog and Follow me. Or share them with your friends! Or visit my hub site to see what else I'm up to.
My Prompt Forum is currently down, but if you want to send me a prompt, post it on my Discord's emergency prompt supply.
