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currency, personal equipment, clothing, vehicles, animals, covertly deliver their message to local authorities or other
and so on to support further operations. They may be selected groups, leaving them to decide whether to best break
assigned to gather recordings of local gatherings, political the news of first contact to their people . . . or to keep it secret.
meetings, stories, or dramatic presentations, as well as col- The latter amounts to a de facto alliance between the visitors
lecting scrolls, books, newspapers, downloads from computer and one or more native factions, often involving the exchange
networks  anything that improves the expedition s grasp of of advanced off-world technology for the right to study and/or
language and culture. Naturally this means interacting with exploit the populace or resources and potentially leading to
the local population or resorting to stealth and theft of arti- various covert operations.
facts (which in some circumstances may be the only practical If the visitors intend a peaceful takeover or assimilation,
option!); finding open-minded locals with whom to make they might instead dramatically overawe the natives with
overt contact; or even kidnapping  specimens. When the advanced technology  the  flying saucers on the White House
team interacts with residents, GMs should remember to lawn scenario. There are risks, though: Depending on the soci-
apply all usual penalties to social skills for lack of language or ety, an entire civilization might overreact, resulting in wide-
Cultural Familiarity. spread panic and possible social collapse! Also, since surprised
Depending on the team s goals it may take one or several locals may attack, this approach works best if the visitor s ves-
missions of varying duration before they decide to conclude sel is confident in its defenses! With primitive locals, another
the covert stage of a contact operation. In some cases, this approach is to pretend to be gods or other supernatural enti-
phase may proceed for many years, especially if authorities ties, which can be most effective if study allows the newcom-
decide overt meetings are dangerous to either party. Successful ers to employ motifs based on local beliefs. Not all contact
covert contact missions enable the exploration team to teams care about local stability or perpetuating existing power
improve their language database (or simply get more practice) structures. If conquest is planned,  overt contact may be a
so members can buy up to an Accented language comprehen- surprise attack on any space forces, followed (in some cases)
sion level. Cultural Familiarity may also be purchased. by orbital bombardment, troop landings, or both. In such
cases, causing a panic is an objective rather than something to
be avoided.
Once local authorities or populations have dealt with the
Contacting new worlds
initial shock of contact (or have been defeated by an invasion),
the overt contact team makes agreements to secure whatever
always involves unexpected
they re after. Some may be open about their goals; others may
find it expedient to limit the information presented immedi-
risks.
ately to the natives, for sociological, security, or economic rea-
sons. For example, high-technology items may be
 Sub-Commander T Pol,
demonstrated as a means of proving the team s claims or extra-
terrestrial origin, but how devices work is left to later technol-
Enterprise #1.24
ogy-exchange agreements.
First contact teams may avoid entangling themselves in
existing social and political power struggles, at least until they
have a good handle on what s going on. But backing one fac-
OVERT CONTACT
tion or organization (and perhaps even helping it take over the
Once covert contact is finished, or if the step was skipped
planet) is a useful strategy to secure influence, and may be a
entirely, the exploration team moves to open, overt contact.
necessity if the team is the  front end of an attempt to colo-
Some societies have  non-interference doctrines or laws pro-
nize, conquer, or assimilate the native society. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]