Who Blinked First...

"What's this?" McLean asked as he flew out of the boiling water. His force field had protected him. Full environmental force fields. A dream come true.

"Guests darling. You have the stone." Her eyes narrowed, "the glowing stone."

"HA!" Yuri laughed, "Is too late now." The amused Russian was not about to show weakness in front of the beautiful woman who has been teasing him for years. He was willing to play the long game. Too bad she only liked weak wines. Vodka would have broken her defenses long ago. "Ah. More people...things."

A squad of five armored beings, of various shapes and sizes, exited the dropship and hovered in front of the UN recovery team.

One being approached cautiously. The armor gleamed. Blue with orange and silver highlights. It opened a chat with the Recovery team.

"I am Strike officer Ja'ssie. You are in possession of prohibited technology. Please turn it into the authorized officers of this Strike team." Inside her power armor Strike officer, Ja'ssie trembled. She was expecting at most of the alpha first user. What her scanners were telling her was absolutely different. The first user was in fact at least a mid-level Omega class power. On either side, two low-level Omegas were on either side. Flying next to the first user. On the ground, one more Omega powered individual and an Alpha soldier taking support positions.

"Strike leader Ja'ssie. My instruments are detecting a very dense exotic energy field emitted from the prohibited target." Officer B'ker warned her.

"Are we in danger of contamination?" She kept her eyes on the earthling team.

"If we do not put it in a proper containment field soon it will breach our defenses," B'ker warned her.

"Greetings officer Ja'ssie. I am Captain Eleanore Hastings. I am the highest ranking officer in this recovery team."

"Greetings Captain Eleanore Hastings. You must turn over the prohibited object in the first user's hand. It is emitting a dangerous amount of exotic energy. It must be contained in a proper containment field as soon as possible." Ja'ssie warned.

"I don't need to do anything under stress or duress. I and my people are just ducky. No danger here Strike officer Ja'ssie." Lady Eleanore laughed and raised her hands above her head and twirled in the air to show that she wasn't suffering any discomfort.

"Strike leader the earthing speaks true. The exotic energy is not harming them. They are saturated. The energy is flowing in and out of their bodies without resistance and if the instruments are to be believed it is energizing them." Officer B'ker's voice trembled.

"How about a trade?" Offered the first user.

"What kind of trade?" Strike officer Ja'ssie replied.

"The dropship for the artifact." He proposed.

Lady Eleanore paused before she rejected the offer. It was, in fact, a very good trade. She let Richard continue to bargain. This first user title they gave him seems to be a position of power in their society.

"I can't authorize such a trade." Ja'ssie answered.

"Who can?" McLean asked.

"I will submit the request for a trade." She put the earthling chat on hold and contacted the Federation's counselor assigned to the Far Justice. He was the only one on the ship who could allow such a trade to take place.

"What are you up to luv? There is no way they would allow such a thing." McLean kept looking at the Strike leader when he answered.

"It's not whether they allow this trade or not. It's about establishing a protocol." He informed her and the team.

"What protocol is that Richard?" Andy asked.

"The protocol that says nothing on Earth is free." Everyone knew this protocol by heart. It looked like Richard McLean wanted to send that message to the Galactic Federation.

"This is councilor Repeat. I have seen the proposal. Give him the dropship and get that thing into a proper containment field as soon as you can." The councilor dropped the chat after giving his advice. The cheapest produced dropship operated by the Galactic Federation, for an artifact that can be used as evidence against the being that was attacking the Federation from within. Not a hard decision to make.

"The Galactic Federation councilor has agreed to the trade." As soon as Jessie said that, the loud shouting from her squad almost deafened her. Until she muted them.

"Excellent, you can have the artifact. Please send the instructions necessary to maintain and operate the ship to my chat address." Richard wanted the ability to produce more ships like the one he just received. He knew that the global quarantine would not last long. A decade at most. By that time the UN would be ready to go out and claim the rest of the solar system. If they are to survive to join a Galactic community, they needed to meet that community as equals. In space.

"Well played luv. Well played." Eleanore praised Richard in front of everyone. Especially Russian. She couldn't help herself. She just loved teasing the big lug.

"I hope it's enough for Colonel Allister. That's who I am worried about." Richard would know if his bacon was going to be thrown into the fire or not soon enough.

The Strike team moved quickly to contain the artifact. McLean and party stayed with them until another dropship landed. During that time McLean asked for information about the ship. How to pilot, how to maintain and repair it if necessary.

Strike Leader Jessie didn't see a reason to not educate the first user. He was a smart and reasonable being. Giving out a bit of friendly advice might be repaid in kind in the future. The Far Justice was going to be assigned to this star system for a long time. Having access to a friendly contact like a planet's first user was nothing to scoff at.