Command Studies 1492: Introduction to First Contact

[Jorus Merrill]

This wasn't one of your big-pull classes, the kind that had three hundred students and ten teaching assistants. Enrolment here was about a dozen, seminar-level, and he'd opted for seminar format as a result. A ring of narrow tables, each with two or three chairs; a discussion circle, with him as facilitator. He was out of uniform, or rather in a different one: the Captain's uniform of the Levantine Frontier Corps.

"All right, it's five after the hour. I'm Captain Merrill, and this is Command Studies 1492: Introduction to First Contact. We'll be running on a seminar format, which means you'll all be expected to give presentations on case studies this semester. Now, I'm not one for big open-ended questions; I like the more grounded approach, though we'll definitely be covering some coloniality theory.

"Let's start by going around the circle. Introduce yourself, tell us what your area of focus is here at the Academy, and tell us if you've been in, or close to, a first contact situation before. Reconnecting with worlds lost in the Dark Ages absolutely counts. Doesn't have to be silicon-based sentients from Wild Space or Unknown Regions hive minds."

 

[Brooke Waters]

First Contact! She wasn’t late. That was good. She had heard a lot about this [member="Jorus Merrill"], because Token was that girl. The one who did her research on people and especially people she was going to be learning from. She needed to know where the knowledge was from so that she could see if it would help her. And she had the whole print out of Merrill. Mara Corridor creator, and captain in just about every light-side leaning faction there was. She was, of course, in her uniform, even if her arms had a lot of bracelets and hair ties, because the girl loved accessories, under the sleeves.

For whatever reason, she expected a huge turn out for this class, because of the instructor, but… Well, that was fine if it was going to be a smaller class. But first contact! How exciting was that? She loved going to new places, and that was sort of really her deal. Maybe she should change her focus… She liked interacting with new groups. Maybe she could add it to a minor?

After all, search and rescue was important. She’d have to go speak to her advisors after this.

She bit her lip and spoke up. “I’m Token Waters… Well, Brooke, but y’all can call me Token.” See? She did have a real name, just her family always called her Token. Loooong story. “I’m focusing in planetary science and Search and Rescue, but I’ve got a big interest in meeting new groups of people.” New to her or the galaxy again. Yep. That was Token. “And no… I’ve not really been in a first contact situation.” Most of her flying was on established lanes.

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[H3xle]

[member="Token Waters"] [member="Jorus Merrill"]

After Token introduced herself, Sam stood up and cleared his throat. He was in the academy uniform, with the addition of his pair of pistols hanging at his hips. For a silent moment, Sam looked around the room at the various people, then looked at Jorus. Finally, he spoke in his soft, slow way.

"I'm Samwise Turain. You all can just call me Sam. I am fairly new here at the academy, but I hope to focus in Command, piloting, tactics, engineering, science..." He grinned and chuckled to himself. "Well, I pretty much want to learn it all. I've lived a fun, if rough life so far and knowing more than the other guy is usually what keeps you from floating out an airlock." He paused for a moment, remembering the last of the questions Jorus had said. "Oh, and I've never been involved with a first contact." He contemplated adding a joke in there, but thought better of it and sat down after a moment.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Token Waters"] [member="Sam Turain"]

The seminar participants were the usual mix, eclectic even in cadet uniforms. So far it seemed like the only two with a sense of humor were the blonde, Waters, and the good-ol'-boy Turain, who he knew from the Underground.

"We've got a few more on the roll, but we can just have them introduce themselves when they show up. I'm not expecting that you've done the syllabus readings for the first day; if you have, great, if not, no worries. Let's make sure to do the readings; at the very least, make sure you've read the first and last pages, the abstract and conclusion, and can say what the author's main points are. It's a manageable load, pretty mild -- about thirty pages a week. Uh, standard points I have to cover -- the syllabus has learning support resources, and don't cheat. Seriously, don't. I may not be the kind of Jedi Master that can read your mind, but you skim on the readings and cheat to make up for it, you'll be putting my name on an inferior product when you go out to run a first contact op.

"So. 'Primitive' planets. 'Civilization' as a coreward direction. Why are these concepts a problem in a first contact situation? Why's it trouble to center your orientation on the Core or the other 'civilized' parts of the galaxy -- or even on this station?"

 

[H3xle]

[member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Token Waters"]

Sam looked around a bit, then raised his hand. When Jorus called on him, he paused a moment before speaking.

"The way I see it is, 'Primitive' has a negative connotation to it in such circumstances. Civilization is what everyone, barring language, calls their society. When first meeting a new anything, from species all the way down to a person, you want to be diplomatic. You don't just hang a thumb behind you and say...'I'm from civilization, you're something new in these Unknown Regions.' You say something along the lines of...'I'm from a great distance off, I'd like to possibly propose an exchange of information. You teach me about your culture and ways and I will teach you mine.'" Sam paused, biting his lip as he thought. "It's the difference of going into a situation with an open mind and a closed mind. Open, you are willing to receive information. Closed, you just want to give information, assimilate new things. Least ways, that's how I see it."

 

[Brooke Waters]

Wait… Syllabus reading wasn’t needed? But… Well, Token was crazy. Lets establish that. Token was insane and liked to learn. And how were people late? Token never quite understood. She liked to be where she could learn, it was a… thing with her. And this class could be very interesting. Reading, thirty pages, she could do. But [member="Jorus Merrill"] was a Jedi Master? And he couldn’t read minds? Did that mean there were other stunted-in-the-Force families? She knew her mother’s family was very stunted, her father’s… well not so much.

Listening to his questions about civilization and the Force, Token wanted [member="Sam Turain"] as he began speaking. They might end up being the top two in class, and she was going to need to be better than him. Just because she was not one bit competitive.

“He’s right. When you look at the Rim worlds, even Tatooine, famous for too many things for the population size, it has its own… civilization and society. But its at times removed from the galaxy? You can have civilization for your own circle but you may lose the connection to galactic civilization. Isn’t that part of why the Sanctum was created? To bridge the gap from the civilizations that were lost to galactic society during the Dark Age?” Or whatever it was called. She was switching Society and Civilization, but it was the fact that one was galactic and one was planetary.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Sam Turain"] [member="Token Waters"]

"Good answers, and they touch on some things that every explorer has to decide alone. This semester we'll be looking at some of my failures, mine and others'. Times when connecting a world to the rest of the galaxy just led to exploitation. Not just a matter of technological advancement, either. That way lies the trap of seeing all cultures as lying along one continuum between 'primitivity' and 'modernity'.

"For example, think about cultures like the Dathomiri Witches, pre-technological and clan-based -- they get exploited, sure, but Dathomir hasn't. Dathomir's maintained its identity on its own terms, even though it's been in heavy contact with the galaxy quite a few times. It's a success story, and we'll look at some of the possible reasons for it, but what's most important about Dathomir and cases like it is the idea that worlds with objectively lower tech levels aren't inherently disadvantaged in what I call the big equilibrium, if they play their cards right.

"See, it's not just about that, it's also about center and periphery. It's about others and othering. A tall order, when your first contact is with, say, a species of fifteen-limbed amphibians. It's about never going into another culture believing you know how to fix their problems, believing you can find the solutions. It's about knowing you don't know.

"Frankly, what I'm asking of you is pretty tough. It's a step beyond the level that most humans in the galaxy don't get to. That level is being able to interact with all the millions of other sentient species in the galaxy as equals, friends, lovers, superiors, family, anything that's about personhood. And those people speak Basic, or have translators, and know how to exist in a human-dominated galaxy. If we're talking first contact...you follow?"