The planet they were approaching had no official name or designator as of yet. Even among the political upheaval that had split the Confederacy in two and left most of the governmental apparatuses completely crippled into inaction, Starfleet Research and Science Division, and the Office of Planetary Exploration that fell under their direction, was still cheerfully plugging away at their mission.

The planet the Icarus was now chasing in its orbit had been discovered by an unmanned exploration drone just prior to the first confrontation between a Phage “Super Alpha” and the Terran destroyer, TCS Blue Jacket. The drone dutifully performed its function of surveying and cataloguing the planet, spending most of the duration of the Phage War observing weather patterns and sending down small, disposable landers to survey the various flora and fauna. By the time the war had wound down some years later, the probe was finally ready to make its initial report back to Fleet that it found the planet to be almost eighty-two percent ready for human habitation.

Eventually, once Fleet was able to begin standing down from wartime footing, R&S Division sent a cruiser out to the planet to corroborate what the probe had sent back. What they found was that the probe had indeed accurately reported that the planet was eminently suitable for colonization. They also found someone else in the skies over the planet, someone who had been expecting them since discovering the probe during one of their own survey missions.

The discovery of another alien species was not welcome news to a war-weary Starfleet whose only interactions with extraterrestrials had been either to be manipulated or be slaughtered by them. But, after many tense months in orbit during which the survey scientists and their alien counterparts tried to devise a method of communication, it seemed the newly discovered species was genuinely pleased to meet them. As time went by, and the translation methods improved, the scientists of both species were relegated to the background as the politicians and diplomats stepped in.

Everything appeared to be on the level with their new “friends,” but most veterans of the Phage War, Celesta Wright included, felt like the crew of the R&S cruiser should have been court-martialed for taking it upon themselves to open a dialogue with another unknown alien species given all they’d just been through. But, like the proverbial genie that had been let out of the bottle, there was no going back.