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You've decided to fund <span class="mu-s">Ingar's</span> program. His eyes light up- he blathers about instant communications... whatever. He apologizes about the expense, and you sign the check. Phew, now you feel a lot better.
In the meanwhile- you don't want to waste the opportunity. The Esaal respond to your hails with a generic message.
<span class="mu-r">”WE ARE ESAAL!”</span> It blares- it seems they always open their communications with shouting. You aren't exactly how that gets through the translator.
<span class="mu-r">”We received your comms a few days ago- we were unsure of its purpose. We normally don't keep open communications with hostile or unimportant species; but our Aannel advisor has vouched for your species, hence you must be strategically significant. We welcome you Jaaxtians.”</span>
The message includes a short list of bullet points in data- mostly propaganda, but a highly militaristic bent. Alavis can piece together the truth from reading between the lines. The Esaal are a military dictatorship, with a hierarchical society remarkably similar to your own Jaaxtian power structure. They go by a strict hierarchy of military ranks, with everyone not in the military a “civilian” and treated as a second class citizen. Their society is headed by a “Eight Star Admiral”, the quintessential Supreme Ruler from a foreign culture.
The Esaal themselves are a race of aliens who seemed to evolve on a planet with extensive canyon and cave networks- they have a unique binocular vision using two vertical eyes instead of horizontal ones. You are lacking more significant bio data- the Esaal wouldn't want to give out their genetic code to give other species a chance to develop bioweapons against them. You should probably do the same.
While you have nothing else to compare it to, a rough estimate of their technology puts their military strength, in terms of numbers, ships, and technology as being <span class="mu-i"><span class="mu-s">above</span></span> your own. It would be very unwise to pick a fight with them- after all, their entire society is ordered around it. Their industrial capacity, in terms of raw manufacturing and population, seem to roughly equal to yours. As for their technology and cultural / quality of life development- they seem to be behind yours.
<span class="mu-r">”We will leave a comm link open with your species- as a token of our acquaintance. Over and out.”</span>
...It is only after you let off some steam and accept reality do you actually start to face the facts. The truth is that you're getting old and it's time to start thinking about your legacy- or more accurately, your replacement. Every since your lifespan was <span class="mu-i"><span class="mu-s">artificially extended</span></span> with technology to the average age of about 100 years of age. All Jaxtians get tested at 90 for the lethal <span class="mu-i">GPCS</span> to tell them how long they have left to live- but Alpha types like you never live as long, so you get tested at 80 instead. You have eight years.
