The Dawn of a Galactic Era

"UNE Scout Fleet Discovery"

UNE Scout Fleet Discovery - 2091

**Date:** September 10, 2091
**Location:** Varoria, G9.5V System

***Lead Ship:*** UNS *Aurora*

Deeper than ever before, the UNE Scout Fleet-flagship UNS *Aurora*-pressed into space and discovered what may be the single most important find in UNE history thus far: Varoria. Lying 3.70 billion light-years from Earth, Varoria is a lush, vital world, sharing some remarkable likenesses with Earth but teeming with life and landscapes of another era. It orbits a G9.5V star, which is itself estimated to live for 11 billion years, and therefore form a very stable environment for this planet.

Varoria's natural beauty was a sight to behold. The planet was covered in thick jungles, boundless savannas, golden plains, stretched steppes, dense forests, and even icy tundra-like regions. Well over the towering trees, some of them as high as 50 meters into the sky, their canopies shaded a whole host of different species. Over 35 million types of species called this world home-a repository of rare biodomes that sent shockwaves among the UNE researchers and scientists flying aboard the fleet.

But what set Varoria apart was its home-grown sentient species: the Valourians. A native mammalian species to the planet, they had long since evolved to form a thriving civilization reminiscent of Earth's Industrial Age. While the Valourians were centuries behind the UNE in basic technology, resources were managed incredibly well, they knew their surroundings, and organized themselves in such a manner that tall factories could stand beside sprawling forests, with meandering railways set into emerald landscapes.

They had developed a high culture in which art, music, and literature extolled their relation to the planet and its resources. There was an efficient and lucid system of government in which several nation-states cooperated and competed for power-a situation not too different, by galactic standards, from global politics in early Earth history. In their industrial development, the Valourians were unobtrusively connected with nature; they applied what humanity now terms "sustainable development" many millennia before it even became an ideal on Earth.
Afterwards, the UNE Scout Fleet began a series of very gentle surreptitious observation—being careful not to influence the natural development of the Valourians. The scouts studied culture, language, and technology; they mapped the surface of the whole planet and researched peculiar ecosystems.

**Planetary Overview: Varoria
• **Star System:** G9.5V, 3.70 billion light years from Earth
** Age: ** Slightly Older Than Earth
• Biodiversity: 35+ million species

Key Biomes: Dense Jungle or Tropical Forest, Jungle Savanna, Golden Plains, Steppe/Grassland, Lush Veilwood or Forest, Tundra and Taiga

- ** Nation State: Valourians:** Industrial Age

Initial Contact Protocol for UNE The UNE Council debated on this acknowledged symmetry of development from the possible first contact of Varoria, and so came the decision to keep an eye on the Valourians but not interfere directly with their development. That's, of course, apart from the many decisions lately taken at the UNE meetings. Of course, the possibility of contact one day wasn't ruled out but it could be made only on mutual respectful terms and mutual principles of non-interference. The revelation of Varoria and its teeming civilization shook the roots of both the scientific and diplomatic communities of the UNE. Confirmation that Varoria existed meant the theory of intelligent life being able to arise in Earth-like environs was correct, and therefore, the galaxy was teeming with people who could become allies, each with their unique experiences and insights. While UNS *Aurora* and the Scout Fleet familiarized themselves with Varoria, UNE was preparing paths for that time when the Valourians would, when the time came, find the fold of interstellar civilizations on their own path through the stars.