Announcement Date: April 2nd, 153AF
From: Triumvirate Secretary General's Office
Subject: First Contact
Priority: HIGH
My Fellow Solarians,
It is with a heavy heart that I must come to you today to announce that what should have been a joyous occasion for our species was turned, brutally, into a potential nightmare. Several days ago on March 29th, while in orbit of what we have identified as Barnard's Star, a ship in the Venusian Survey Corps was suddenly and deliberately attacked by an unknown force consisting of five vessels. These vessels, to the best of our knowledge, share no origins with anything seen in Sol, and so we must conclude that they are in fact alien life forms. Unfortunately, before our ship was destroyed, no attempts were made by these unknown forces to initiate communication and so the Triumvirate is forced to assume they are hostile towards Humanity. The implications of this act are, of course, dire for all of humanity; If they will burn a Venusian ship from the stars with no provocation, what will they do to a Martian? To a Jovian?
With this in mind, we are announcing this loss as part of a formal request that the other Factions of Sol prepare themselves for the possibility that our home system may be invaded by these Outsiders from Barnard's Star. We intend to establish a picket force and defend the Sol end of the Jump Point, and would welcome assistance in protecting all of Humanity from this scourge.
Signed,
Secretary General GidoranMikhail Orlov
Triumvirate of Venus