War Fleet: Resistance

Yet here it was, a remarkable feat of engineering, unlike anything Olsen had ever seen before.
It had no visible ordnance, but Olsen guessed that if the ship could cloak its body, it could also cloak its weapons.
“Hail it,” Olsen said. “And let’s hope they’re friendlier than our last visitors.”

8
If the ship was strange to Olsen, the alien he saw on his screen was even more bizarre. Humans, since discovering they weren’t alone in this galaxy, had gotten used to bipedal crocodiles, and wraith-like creatures with laminated pools of mercury inset into their skin. But neither of those two intelligent races tended to glow in the dark.
The creature that appeared on screen was of naked humanoid build, surrounded by darkness save for a line of flashing green lights on its left-hand side and another line of flashing red on its right. It had a small torso and a large head. Other than two completely dark streaks down each side, its skin glowed like one of those fancy therapeutic lightbulbs that changed color to soothe your mood. The creature also had no face.
“Greetings, human,” it said rather unnervingly, since without a mouth it was impossible to tell where it spoke from. The voice had such a neutral cadence that it was impossible to detect whether it was male or female. Clearly, it was speaking through a translator.
“On behalf of the United Republic Space Association, I welcome you,” Captain Olsen said. “Who are you, and what brings you to a human-controlled sector?”
“Ah yes, introductions. You can call me Ambassador Oort, and I come on behalf of the Tauian race to help protect your galaxy.”
Dammit. This was a first-contact situation, and surely it should be managed by something more than an on-the-fringes mining vessel. Olsen considered opening a channel to connect the Tauian to Fleet Admiral Brownstone, but then he thought he’d rather see how this panned out.
“That’s very kind of you, Ambassador. May I ask from what?”
Oort tilted his featureless head. “The object will determine that.”
The object. Olsen didn’t need a translator to know he was talking about the cube.
“It’s certainly making us popular,” Olsen said. “Maybe you can shed a little light on what it is?”
“It is a technology far more advanced than anything your civilization has encountered, and I’ve come here merely to warn you of its dangers.”
Great, Olsen thought, a first-encounter situation and the new race has turned out to be pompous as hell. “And what exactly is it? A beacon, perhaps?”
“It’s a weapon of vital importance. We have kept it sealed beneath a lump of heavy radiation-shielding for millennia. But now that you have uncovered it, it is your duty to ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”
Olsen flicked a button on the touchscreen that protruded out of his armrest to put the communication link on hold. Instead of seeing events on the bridge unfold in real time, the alien would see a computer simulation that emulated everyone onscreen, as if they were listening intently to what he would say next. But the Tauian said nothing and didn’t move one wrinkle.
“Schmidt, are you running en-scans?”
“Yes sir,” the big weapons officer replied. “No sign of any charged weaponry or raised shields.”
Olsen turned to Rob. “What do you think?”
“I have no reason to believe the ambassador is hostile. Nonetheless, I’ve reported the situation to Admiralty AI, and they think that you should listen to Ambassador Oort’s requests.”
Olsen raised an eyebrow. Finally, it seemed that Admiralty was getting interested. “He’s not made any requests yet. Wouldn’t it be better to listen to what he wants first?”
“The ambassador has requested that we take care of the weapon, sir.”
“But we don’t even know what it is. You say it’s emitting radiation, so surely taking it on board would harm the crew.”
“But we’ll find a way of shielding the radiation before taking it on board.”
“I’m not sure we have the equipment to shield it.” Although admittedly, Olsen was sure his brilliant ship’s engineer, Ensign Chang, would have a solution.
“This is non-negotiable, sir.”
Non-negotiable. There it was.
“How helpful,” Olsen said. He toggled the switch on his chair to resume the connection.
The Tauian raised its head as soon as Olsen did, clearly not having been tricked by the hold simulation; yet the alien didn’t seem in the remotest annoyed by the act. “If you have further questions, then on behalf of the Tauian civilization, I’m quite willing to answer them.”
“Yes. I want to know first if you pose any danger to us.”
“I am not here to harm you,” Oort said. “And I believe your scans already show that I have not come armed.”
“I see.” Olsen scratched at his neck. “The thing I don’t understand is, why would you want us to look after the weapon? If you’ve been protecting it for years, why don’t you secure it yourself?”
“Its high-energy nature makes it incredibly dangerous to remove it from this galaxy.”
“What’s it even doing in this galaxy in the first place?”
But before the Tauian had a chance to answer Olsen, an intensely bright flare shone through the window.
“Another ship coming out of warp speed, sir,” Lieutenant Santiago said. “This one’s massive.”
Olsen felt his poker face slip as incredulity washed over him. An attack. A strange object. An alien encounter. And that wasn’t enough for one morning?
“Okay, who’s the smartass that sent out the invitations for a galactic party?” He got a few chuckles from his crew. “Well, put it on screen.”
A view of space replaced the Tauian’s lithe glowing body on the overhead monitor. On the left, the Tauian warship disappeared, and the channel to the Tauian ship cut out.
Meanwhile, on the right of the screen, the glow faded to reveal a fully-armed Arstan warship. Olsen would know it anywhere: a bulky ship of modular design, with enough firepower to take out a current-generation dreadnought.
Damn. He knew exactly which it was before they’d even completed a sensor sweep.
“It’s the Okranti,” he said. “Hail Captain Kraic, if he’ll answer.” He’d not seen this Arstan CO since the Grashorn