Consultations regarding Luwiyan Commonwealth

[Felenn]

To: Commodore A. Nimitz @Nimitz,
CDR K. Sedai @Katriel
CC: CAPT A. Mirazuni @Sam,
CAPT A. Timoreev @Timoreev
From: CAPT W. Lesyak
Subj: Consultations regarding Luwiyan Commonwealth

Commodore Nimitz, Commander Sedai!

While providing assistance to USS Attar due to propulsion issues, USS Endeavour and USS Aspasia received a distress call a few light years into newly designated sectors targeted under Tupaia Initiative Exploration.

The encounter is described in detail in the first attached AAR (Sons of Luwiya). In short, vessels of Luwiyan Commonwealth were attacked by a star-shaped vessel which Luwiyans identified as belonging to a faction called Ashuri.

The rescued crews are Humans, whom I firmly believe are ancestors of ancient Luwiyan tribes from Earth. My suspicion is they were transported from Earth in similar way like native tribes on Amerind and, in your most recent encounter, Daleike Bolians.

We have proceeded with First Contact protocol with Luwiyans and initial introduction of United Federation of Planets, as noted in my second AAR (Lord of Luwiya). I have briefly spoken with one of the individuals who serve in “head of state” capacity (head of state institution is performed by three persons in Triumvirate).

We agreed to take a brief pause for a second round of talks in order to consult our respectives commands/governments, but I am uncertain how this second round will go. As I already expressed these concerns earlier to Captains Mirazuni and Timoreev, I will not hide them here - it is not easy to keep a completely objective approach to this First Contact simply on the grounds that Luwiyans are indistinguishable from Earth Humans.

Had we encountered them under peaceful conditions, I would have no doubts how to proceed. However, I am concerned that Luwiyan government may request assistance in containing what may be a re-emerging threat by the Ashuri and they may base this request on their ancestral connection to Earth. Not out of ill will, but simply out of natural desire to survive.

Of Ashuri, we know nothing yet except that the star-shaped vessel which we had encountered had no crew aboard (at least not carbon-based one) and that it was heavily armed.

Therefore, any indications of cooperation against the Ashuri would be based on our currently “one-sided knowledge” of Luwiyan-Ashuri conflict.

I am seeking advice on a following question: How should USS Attar, USS Endevaour and USS Aspasia respond in case of another Ashuri-Luwiyan skirmish while our vessels are in Commonwealth-claimed territories and, especially, during the currently ongoing diplomatic efforts?

I am aware there is no straightforward answer and the best one can provide are general guidelines for different sets of circumstances. Prime Directive has broad interpretations but not many cover displaced populations like Luwiyan Humans or Daleike Bolians.

I will be grateful for different perspectives in this matter.

Thank you for your time.

//SIGNED//
Wanya Lesyak
Commanding Officer,
USS Aspasia

—

//ATTACHMENT// AAR: Sons of Luwiya, AAR: Lords of Luwiya

[Nimitz]

To: CAPT W. Lesyak
CC: @38th.Command, CAPT A. Mirazuni, CAPT A. Timoreev, CMDR K. Sedai
From: CDRE A.H. Nimitz
Subj: RE: Consultations

I’ve taken time to review the reports, I can’t say I have much to offer upon the subject of actual consultation. It is clear that before the Federation can provide any real assistance to the Luwiyans, there must be a permanent peace with the Ashuri.

In the event of another outbreak of hostilities, we must remain a neutral third party, humanitarian efforts and aid can and must be rendered after hostilities cease to both parties. Efforts to protect Civilian population centers should be taken into consideration if possible without violating our stance of neutrality.

That’s said, should either side take hostile action against your vessel, you are expected to take any and all measures necessary to preserve your commands and the lives of your crew.

At this time, should the Luwiyans wish to explore Federation protectorate status or annexation based on their Earth origins, we can not open discussions until the state of hostilities between the Ashuri and the Luwiyans have been permanently settled. If needed, we can try to send a team of Horta diplomats to open negotiations with the Ashuri should they wish for a non-Humanoid party to avoid favoritism from the Federation due to their connection to Earth.

//SIGNED//
Alistair H. Nimitz
Strategic Operations Officer
38th Fleet

[Katriel]

To: CAPT W. Lesyak
CC: @38th.Command, CAPT A. Nimitz, CAPT A. Mirazuni, CAPT A. Timoreev, CAPT Kermit, J. ((@kermit))
From: CMDR Sedai
Subj: Re: Consultations regarding Luwiyan Commonwealth

Good evening, Captain Lesyak.

What a remarkable set of events. While I appreciate being consulted, however, this is a drastically different set of circumstances from Daleike to the point where I find comparisons to be fairly meaningless. The Luwiyans, Earth origin or not, have independently evolved through thousands of years of civilization, to the point of developing working starship and warp technology, so though I understand the impulsive emotional kinship that may be felt, the diplomatic strategy cannot follow any policy except ones we would use for any new alien species we encounter. Earth has no right or claim to these people and any application of the Prime Directive here would be borderline preposterous.

To that end, any assistance rendered to the Luwiyans should be generally limited to defensive measures; under no circumstance would sharing in an offensive against the Ashuri be condoned. Priority and resources need to go towards studying and tracking the Ashuri so that they and their motives can be better understood. This goes hand in hand in understanding more about Luwiyan history: as the ‘displaced’ civilization, there remains the uncomfortable possibility that their presumptive claim to the Luwiyan star cluster could be superceded by some more ancient claim that none of us (including the Luwiyan) are aware of.

Finally, the coincidence of two displaced civilizations in neighboring star sectors is straining all credibility and I am frankly wondering if a proposal to halt all free exploration in Tupaia should be considered. It begs the question if there are other displaced populations located in the immediate vicinity and whether or not we might be near an epicenter of Progenitor or other less known or totally unknown supercivilization’s interfering activities. One has to ask if even the Ashuri themselves might be displaced from somewhere!

//SIGNED//
CMDR K. Sedai
XO/Science, USS Reyga

[Timoreev]

To: COMMODORE A. Nimitz, CDR K. Sedai
CC: CAPT A. Mirazuni, CAPT W. Lesyak
From: CAPT A. A. Timoreev
Subj: RE: Consultations regarding Luwiyan Commonwealth

To all those concerned,

While I generally agree with the assessments already made by Cmdr. Sedai and Commodore Nimitz, as another of the Commanding Officers present, I would like to also offer my own idea on how to proceed.
It is clear, as Capt. Lesyak already extensively reported, the extreme sensitivity of the situation we have found ourselves into. The only possible solution out of the conundrum I can see right now is to collect as much intelligence as we can, concerning the Luwiyans, the Ashuri, their histories and their capabilities. Without intelligence, we risk running blind, and currently the information in our possession is scant at best.
Capt. Lesyak has already done much to improve this situation, but I believe we could do more, by working on two different, yet parallel, lines of operation.
The first of such line is the Commonwealth itself: their government seem willing to explore cooperation with the Federation. Without getting ourselves involved in their conflict, this still offers an opportunity for a cultural exchange that would signiticantly improve our intelligence.
The second line of action revolves around enhancing our data collection capabilities in the area of space involved. We have the means to achieve this, without touching the overall current deployment of the fleet, by using the assets already in place, namely the Attar, Aspasia, and Endeavour. Their combined capabilities should be enough to obtain a clearer picture of the area, both from an astronomical and astrophysical point of view, not to mention the possibility to detect further Ashuri activity, increasing the possibility of a new contact (possibly, a more peaceful one) with them in the near future.
I have already ordered my crew to prepare a new set of probes, together with a possible pattern for their deployment.
Cordially

//SIGNED//
Capt. Andrej A. Timoreev
Commanding Officer,
USS Attar

[Felenn]

To: Commodore A. Nimitz, CDR K. Sedai
CC: CAPT A. Mirazuni, CAPT A. Timoreev, CAPT J. Kermit
From: CAPT W. Lesyak
Subj: Re: Consultations regarding Luwiyan Commonwealth

To all concerned!

First and foremost, I am grateful for each of the instructions and insights provided on this matter. It is clear that the next step is to investigate the Ashuri further and attempt to establish a peaceful contact. In that regard, and depending on what Attar’s deep space probes gathered thus far, I would like to volunteer my crew into the further investigation (but necessarily the First Contact, as advised by Commodore Nimitz) of Ashuri.

Commander Sedai has spoken of “impulsive emotional kinship” concern and it is a valid one. I believe that, given my personal immersion and that of my crew in the First Contact with Luwiyans, Aspasia should take a step back (or a step further) from them at this time. Besides, further exposure of Luwiyans to non-Human cultures might be beneficial at this point given that they have believed, for a long time, that they were the only species in (this region of) the galaxy.

However, I disagree with the Commander’s notion to halt the Tupaia Initiative. If this region of space really is a kind of “sanctuary” created by the Progenitors/Preservers or their immediate successors, it would be in Alliance’s interest to learn and study this possibility. With the loss of Lae’nas Archive in the Iconian War, this region may be our only opportunity to study the ancient humanoids further.

//SIGNED//
Wanya Lesyak
Commanding Officer,
USS Aspasia