Exploring the Gate

"Entering the gate now." Ethan announced. His Rapier disappearing as it crested the edge. A few minutes went by. "Transit successful. No immediate hostil- SHIT." That didn't fill you with confidence. You were thinking of calling Selina back to send after him, her corvette was asset but even then it would be at least a day before she could make the transit and you'd be sending her into an unknown situation. As soon as this communication reached her she'd likely make her turn immediately.

"Ethan are you there?" You asked, feeling a bit helpless. More time passed, the satellite relay speeding the rate the message could go out and return. Just as you were about to give Selina the order the silence broke.

"I'm alright your highness." Ethan said, "But uh, there's someone who wants to talk with you." His sensor data finally started arriving, you determined that your first priority after whatever this was would be to get a satellite set up on the other side of the gate to prevent this kind of gap in the future. Ethan's Rapier was not alone. You quickly had the system try to do a search on the other vessel and to your surprise there was an immediate match. It was an Argon scout fighter called a Discoverer. Essentially their version of the Rapier. From the image that was sent back it had seen better days. According to your system it was from the same era as your own fighters but it looked even worse. There wasn't any actual damage that you could see but something about it tickled your memory. Something Maria had told you once but you couldn't quite put your finger on it. From what you could tell from Ethan's sensors the ship had been on it's way to the gate then sharply broke off when he'd gone through. Both of them had then started maneuvering before settling at a distance outside of standard weapons range. You didn't bother to check the comm log, you could do that later when your pilot wasn't facing down a potentially hostile situation.

"Put them through." You said. A woman's face appearing.

"Good planetary day or evening to your prime minister and or president." She started off, "My name is Vivian Weast of the True Argon Federation. I am pleased to inform you that you are being formally re-annexed into the True Argon Federation. I know these many years apart have been trying for your people but you are once again part of our glorious future among the stars. I will be sending word immediately back to True Argon Prime of your discovery and they will immediately dispatch a legislative team to bring your constitution back into compliance from any drift it may have suffered. Please note that the suspension of your legislature will only be a temporary measure and fair and free elections will be conducted in accordance with Argon Law. In the interest of public safety we will also bring a **** of peacekeepers to help oversee the free and fair elections. All True Argon Citizens are guaranteed the right to vote under the True Federation Constitution." Vivian said, clearly reading off a script in front of her. "Pause and ask if they're the presiden-" Reading a script badly it seemed. "Ahem. Do I have the pleasure of speaking with your world's president or prime minister?"

You took a moment to glance at the greater sensor logs, 'True Argon Prime' was clearly not in the sector they were in. The only planet you could see was some kind of gas giant. There wasn't an immediate hit for any sector that had been known before the shutdown either. In any case that was something to consider later. Right now you had to decide on how to respond. One thing you had to consider was that there were no other gates in your system. If they attempted to lay claim to the sector beyond and then had the capacity to fortify it they could essentially cut you off from the rest of the network. There was a lot you didn't know.