TO: Ambassador Perim | SUBJ: Report on Ravenite First Contact

[Neospirifer]

Security Level 1 - Open TO Ambassador Neema Perim CC n/a FROM Attaché Lev bim Bozgid SUBJ Report on Ravenite First Contact

Ambassador Perim,

Last night we had the opportunity to make first contact with a people who call themselves Ravenite, in the Boreth sector. They recently achieved warp capability, and while Starfleet was eager to point out that their system poses a strategic asset in our conflicts with the Tholians, I was simply happy to go and say hi because that's what the Federation is about.

We didn't know much about them except that they are religious and worship a Raven deity, so I was eager to learn more, though I was disappointed that they didn't turn out to be bird people. Their technology is relatively primitive; when we entered the system they hailed us on radio frequencies, and it took the brilliant minds on the Endeavor several minutes to link it up to their subspace relays. Anyway, they were rather on guard at first, and once we began talking to them it became apparent that they thought they were 'the Faithful,' a group (presumably of the same species, but reflecting back on it now I'm not sure that was positively confirmed) that the Ravenites have been at war with for about two thousand years. We discovered that they had arrived in the system and established the Protectorate of Cuervo Verde together, but shortly afterwards they discovered an anomaly in the system, which they call the Bridge, that allows travel to a neighboring system; the Ravenite planet is practically uninhabitable, with most citizens living in biodomes or in orbit, and the Faithful were apparently exiled to this other system. Since then they've been using the Bridge to wage war on each other. The leader we spoke with, High Admiral Xan, told us that the Faithful had declared the Ravenites heretics.

But here is where I found that it got complicated. Approximately 20 years ago, the Bridge was shut down from the Faithful's end, and the Ravenites haven't had contact with them since then, despite attempting to send messages through the Bridge. But the Ravenites developed warp capability, or as they call them Akk sails, ostensibly as a defense from the Faithful. And he claimed that the Ravenites never started a war, they were fighting defensively. Yet at the same time, he made a few comments that seemed to indicate that the Faithful's government or society was unstable, including things like "unless they had another coup," or mentioning that the Faithful mix religion into their government structure, causing problems.

I find it somewhat hard to believe that the Ravenites are fighting a purely defensive war against what they apparently consider a very unstable entity, but I think it's even more concerning that they claim to have developed warp capability as a means of defense when they haven't even been in contact with their enemy in 20 years. There's maintaining your alertness, and then there's overkill.

I'd like to propose meeting with the Faithful and both making first contact with them and getting their side of the story. However I'm aware there are complications to this as well. The Ravenites and the Faithful would be considered one society experiencing an internal conflict, yet not only has only one side developed warp capability, there is no evidence that the other side is even aware of such developments. In order to make first contact with the Faithful, we would have to explain our reasons for doing so, and thus potentially expose the Ravenites' warp capability and influence the conflict in the Faithful's favor. On the other hand, to avoid contacting the Faithful while the Ravenites are aware of our existence, our technology, and the general state of the galaxy would mean influencing the conflict in the Ravenite's favor. I'm interesting in hearing what approach you might take here, besides just lying to the Faithful about why we initiate first contacts (unless that's the approach you'd take, in which case, no).

All that being said, I've attached a datafile with the info we've collected so far, but here are some random observations: the Ravenites are humanoids, and are very similar to humans except they have solid-colored eyes. After the High Admiral realized we were not the Faithful, he and the other senior officers that met with us seemed surprisingly unfazed at our existence, besides commenting on our diversity. We did receive some odd looks from other members of their military as we were led aboard their ship, though for the most part it seemed pretty normal for first contact. The senior staff did appear rather taken aback when some of the other Starfleet captains introduced themselves, I'm not entirely sure why but my two thoughts are they thought it was some sort of breach of chain of command, or that it had something to do with gender (as I first noticed in when female Captains began to speak). All of the senior staff were men, and I'm fairly certain that everyone else we saw aboard their ship were also, but I don't know if their military is biased towards the recruitment of men or if they don't actually have a female gender in their species (the topic was, to my great relief, not broached by the Starfleet officers present). Otherwise, despite Captain Bishop subjecting an unfortunate Ravenite Lieutenant to a barrage of small talk, cliches, and backhanded compliments, some other officers talking in the back of class during the meeting, and the esteemed Ambassador not attending, this first contact went rather swimmingly.


//SIGNED//
Lev bim Bozgid
Attaché
Federation Diplomatic Corps
Deep Space 13


P.S. I already have two first contact missions under my belt now, clearly I'm punching above my weight as an Attaché here. I'd appreciate if you put in a word at the FDC about a promotion for me.

//ATTACHMENT// Ravenites.dat

[kermit]

Security Level 1 - Open TO Attaché Bozgid CC -- FROM AMB Perim SUBJ Report on Ravenite First Contact

Mr. Bozgid,

This is a tricky one. Even without having developed FTL technology, the Faithful could meet first contact criteria if they are already aware of other civilizations. By the strictest definition, their previous and potential ongoing interactions with the Protectorate of Cuervo Verde could be used to justify contact.

I'd be hesitant to make contact based on this alone, but having already made contact with a parallel civilization, I see no reason not to attempt it with the Faithful, after Starfleet's established the current state of their civilization. I would not recommend lying to them, but it is not our place to inform them of the Protectorate's state of development. Contact can be made without divulging specifics.

If both factions are open to mediation to put a formal end to their conflict, that would be the ideal scenario for the Federation. As long as the conflict continues, both are ineligible for Federation membership consideration, so in any other case we're limited to external diplomatic contact. With the technological gap, the very most we can offer either group is an acknowledgment of their claimed borders and establishing of channels for future contact.

More information is always helpful of course, but as things stand now, despite the unusual circumstance, whether we treat the Ravenites as a single civilization engaged in an internal conflict or two civilizations engaged in a local conflict, our stance is virtually the same.


//SIGNED//
Neema Perim
Federation Ambassador

[Neospirifer]

Security Level 1 - Open TO Ambassador Neema Perim CC n/a FROM Attaché Lev bim Bozgid SUBJ Report on Ravenite First Contact

Ambassador Perim,

Agreed. I'm assuming the fleet is already putting together an expedition to investigate the Faithful, I'll contact someone in command and arrange for one and/or both of us to go along with them, or at least for them to keep us apprised of what they find out so we can go ourselves later to make actual contact.


//SIGNED//
Lev bim Bozgid
Attaché
Federation Diplomatic Corps
Deep Space 13

[kermit]

Security Level 1 - Open TO Attaché Bozgid CC -- FROM AMB Perim SUBJ Observation of The Faithful

Mr. Bozgid,

I accompanied the Starfleet covert observation of the Faithful. I'm certain a full report from Starfleet will follow, however I wanted to keep you in the loop right away about a few of the more important developments.

First, it seems there was a bit of a misunderstanding regarding the state of the "bridge" anomaly. Though they stated it was 'shut down', there does not appear to be anything actually wrong with the anomaly according to sensor scans taken from the Yu System (the Faithful's end). Sensor records of the first contact mission similarly so no evidence that the anomaly is no longer functional. In the Yu System, we discovered a debris field near the mouth of the anomaly. The 'Armistice Station' was also not present, presumably destroyed. The conclusion that best fits is that the Faithful simply began destroying any Protectorate ships that emerged from their end and stopped replying to communications. Without a scientific understanding of the anomaly, the Protectorate's conclusion that the anomaly is nonfunctional/closed/shut down is understandable. Surveillance indicates that they're conducting a military buildup and an attack on the Protectorate/Ravenites is coming in the near future. While they don't seem warp capable, the fact that the bridge is still available to them means the Protectorate were correct to be concerned.

Second, two different previously unknown species were detected on the two inhabited planets of the Yu System. These are in addition to the Faithful, who have been confirmed to be the same species as the Ravenites. Both species are sentient and apparently native to their respective planets. Evidence suggests they are at least partially integrated into the Faithful's society, though likely not as equal citizens.

Third, and most notably, we detected a Tholian vessel arriving in the system and entering orbit of one of the planets. They beamed down to one of the planets, but we were unable to determine their specific intent without being detected. There was no mention that we could locate of the Tholians or any other aliens in the Faithful's media or communications.

Despite being the same species as the Ravenites, I'm inclined to consider them separate civilizations, given the length of time that's passed since their split and the involvement/integration of other species into the Faithful's society. The introduction of the Tholians removes any previous uncertainty on whether or not first contact could be permissible, now that another power has already involved itself in their affairs. If you, or Starfleet, wish to pursue a standard first contact mission with the Faithful, I will raise no objection. Further, I would be amenable to offering neutral mediation to the Protectorate first, and if accepted, then making contact with the Faithful in that capacity from the start.


//SIGNED//
Neema Perim
Federation Ambassador