Darkworld: Earth

2.15.

“In summary, the Yonohoans are denying direct responsibility for both the shuttle which the American Air Force shot down and the Lagrange Point jamming device. They were very interested when they learned about the Jamming incident and claim to be investigating the signals sent by the device independently. Apparently they’ve sent out sensor probes to pick up the signals that it emitted before it was destroyed,” Major Mary Phillips said. “They have pledged to share the findings of that investigation with us. But like everything involving Yonohoans and their technology, at this point we’re largely taking their word for it that they’re playing us straight.”

Mary stood in the front of the lecture hall which was filled with military and corporate big wigs from around the globe. She had a glass of water in front of her and a clicker in her hand to control the powerpoint, which was currently showing a picture of Eolai, the alien leader. She clicked the button and it changed to show the images of the bogey spacecraft as taken by the fighter jets during their dogfight.

She paused to take a sip of water, then continued. “As far as the shuttle goes, it is the belief of their leader, Eolai, that the entire incident was an infiltration attempt by a rogue agent. The agent, identified as Eodar, is supposedly a clone of one of the Yonohoan’s historical heroes. They are requesting that if he is captured, that he be turned over to their custody. They do not believe that he died in the crash, but that the entire engagement with the Air Force was an attempt to disguise an infiltration attempt.

She clicked a button, and the image of a figure in black armor appeared on the screen. “This is the only image they have of their rogue asset that they’re willing to share with us. They claim that only genetic technics are a reliable means of identifying the subject reliably. Or at least of the techniques that we possess, genetics are the only method which will work. Apparently he can modify his outward appearances with the use of advanced technology to the point where even his fingerprints are mutable.

“The Yonohoans do not believe that we are in danger from the rogue asset. They say that he is likely disoriented and believes that he is on a mission from an organization which was disbanded millennia ago. That mission was to secure the future and freedom of mankind from its alien overlords, which would make the asset a threat to ruling classes of the lizardfolk and the grays of area 51, if they existed. They believe, however, that he will attempt to lay low and blend into human society as a sleeper agent.

“One possible explanation that they’ve provided for the jamming device is that it contains data and mission objectives for the rogue sleeper agent. They have proposed that much of the jamming signal data was in fact mission and objective instructions sent to Eodar. They are unwilling to specify whether or not they believe destroying the Jamming Device was the right call until they’ve examined the signals that they intend to recover from it. They say that there’s a chance that the message contained Eodar’s deactivation code, and which may have led to him turning himself in to his authorities rather than proceeding with his infiltration efforts.

“They say that overall the presence of Eodar or the fact that we shot him down does not change the official Yonohoan stance on Earth. They still want to give us advanced technology in exchange for youtube access. Are there any questions at this time?”

One of the general’s aides raised a hand. “How are they resolving the issue with light-speed delay between their ships, which are parked in Saturn’s orbit, and Earth. My calls go through with almost zero latency since they arrived.”

Mary nodded at the question. “When the fleet arrived, they sent ahead a handful of probes which are currently in orbit around earth. They’re using those probes, which have FTL datalinks, as relays with our systems on Earth,” she explained.

Another aide raised their hand. “How about the quarantined researchers from the Seeker and the fleet? Has there been any sign of infection or disease?”

“Not at this time,” Mary reported. “We are reviewing and verifying the medical data sent to us by the Yonohoans. They claim that the antibiotics they provided our people will keep them from picking up the Yonohoan germs while simultaneously protecting the earth-born variety. They claim that their own people are likewise protected. They did raise the issue that viruses from Earth might infect Yonohoans, but claim to be actively screening their people so that they don’t do the same to us.”

“By their own admission, they have access to some very nasty bioweapons,” one of the generals pointed out. “What do they have to say about that?”

“They claim that they do not possess those weapons in the form of stockpiles, but rather they contain the ‘imprint’ of the weapons which could be used to create them. They have also volunteered to share with us the countermeasures that they have developed for any and all of the most common and dangerous chemical and biological weapons so that we might prepare ourselves for such tactics being used against us,” Mary explained. “But once again, we’re largely stuck taking their word for things on this matter.”

“What about the fleet of ships that they promised us,” a woman questioned. “When do they arrive?”

Mary clicked the button through the presentation to bring up images taken of the Yonohoan fleet.

“In addition to the twenty Toormonda ships which are presently en route to sol, including the one that the science team used to complete their mission objectives and the nineteen additional ones which have recently been manufactured, the Yonohoans have also offered to give us half of the shuttles which arrived carrying their diplomats and the remaining members of the Seeker’s crew,” she explained. These shuttled are largely not equipped with weapons, but possess an engine which apparently creates energy by rubbing interdimensional forces together, meaning that they require no fuel and run until they are retired from service after about four hundred years for safety.

“They are capable of atmospheric landing and orbital insertion. They are faster than the current theoretical maximum speed that we are capable of achieving with the Tunnel Drive using a technology which is said to have none of the drawbacks of our own FTL method, such as cumulative damage to the nervous system. All of the offered vehicle have been manufactured in the the last ten years. They are self-piloting smart vehicles. The ESF is just waiting on official permission to accept the gift,” she explained. She clicked the button again, and the image of an egg-shaped spacecraft appeared.

“The Toormonda vessels are, as noted, presently en route. They do possess advanced weaponry, including an EMP weapon and an ion canon that is apparently capable of turning an asteroid the size of a semi-truck into gravel. However, they seemed to be amused by the listed capabilities of the weapons on these vessels, stating that these vessels are not intended for combat and that they are only armed to provide the occupants with some form of protection in case the worst happens and they are attacked. The Toormonda vessels are primarily used for scientific inquest and data gathering. Our egg-heads are chomping at the bit to get access to one of these ships.”

Another hand raised. “What about their offers to provide us with the means to defend ourselves?” a corporate leader asked. “What weapons will they give us, and who gets first pick as to the inevitable efforts of reverse-engineering them.”

“That’s three questions by my count. The answer to your final question is above my pay grade. The answer to the first is that they want to give us orbital emplacements with advanced scanning technology which will help us detect incursion events such as the rogue agent Eodar much faster, possibly hours before they arrive in system.

“They’re reluctant to give us any weapon that is too powerful, but the class of weapons attached to the Toormonda are to be made available to any government or non-government agency upon a formal request. They’re also offering to provide the countermeasures to those weapons at the same time. They are not worried about any attempts at reverse engineering the weaponry that they’re offering us and are, in fact, encouraging us in the attempt.

“They claim that they will be making a list of technologies that they can manufacture available to all governments and corporations of earth public. The flagship that arrived in system is apparently also a factory in addition to being a floating fortress of death, and they say that all it needs in order to fulfill any requested technological items is an equivalent amount of mass, which they have suggested they can obtain from mining our asteroid belt or pulling mass from our gas giants.”

The questions continued for some time, but eventually Mary’s presentation came to an end. The lecture broke up as the movers and shakers of the ESF broke down into their committees to digest the information among themselves.

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