Nerisuc Incident

The Nerisuc Incident is the first official instance of first contact between the Vaikan and another intelligent species.

Overview

Having encountered Omni relics in the past, the Vaikan suspected that intelligent life could still be out there. Clear indications that the Omni had a very powerful presence in the Twin Hearts Nebula were known for many years. However, SETI devices no longer detected any sort of interstellar transmissions or any evidence of faster than light travel in the nearby vicinity. As far as the Vaikan were concerned, the Omni either had long abandoned the Twin Hearts Nebula or encountered a grimmer prospect: they were all dead.

Hopes of meeting their predecessors were rekindled as evidence of multiple habitable worlds in nearby star systems were discovered. Specifically, a planet orbiting the quaternary system Eros. The planet was discovered to be covered in oceans boasting a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere which they called Nerisuc. Chances of habitability were also increased when Nerisuc was also discovered to have a moon that could stabilize its orbit which they called Roma. Even though Vaikan had difficulty surviving in humid environments, the Omni were known to have been an aquatic species. It was postulated that the Eros system had the potential to be an Omni colony where they could observe the Szon system remotely - explaining why there were not enough Omni ruins in the Szon system to warrant it being nothing more than research outposts.

Although the Omni were believed to be capable of faster than light travel, no examples of FTL engines had been discovered thus far, and the DFM had yet to find a way to replicate it for themselves. The DFM did however have the means for sublight travel, investing into constructing a solar sail that could travel to Eros.

The first interstellar expedition by the Vaikan consisted of constructing an observatory habitat on the planet’s moon. Researchers and scientists could safely study Nerisuc without interfering with the planet’s ecosystem. No evidence of the Omni or any ruins were discovered, but what they did find instead was a dangerous, shapeshifting life form known as the Lusari.

The Lusari were capable of imitating a Vaikan to take the form of what they find most attractive, then seducing them with a pheromone to become their prey. It showed a breakthrough in extraterrestrial biology - the ability to reconfigure an organism’s DNA very rapidly. However, when one Lusari attacked the researchers, the expedition went awry. The Lusari impersonated the other researchers, killing them off one by one and slowly driving the others to insanity, paranoia and hysteria.

Communication between solar systems was slow and difficult at the time. The researchers had no way of sending a timely distress signal. Worse yet, while the DFM did send supplies, they refused to let them return to Ucharpli fearing the Lusari could spread to the Szon system. Supposedly, if a rescue party were sent, they could unknowingly bring back a Lusari. Unfortunately, the surviving researchers were left to die, their final fates unknown as all contact was lost. It is believed they were either consumed by the Lusari or had taken their own lives. For seventy years, no other interstellar expedition was considered, and the DFM instead concentrated on building what they had in their own solar system.

---