Jameson Expedition Goes Missing

Sol Account

The Jameson Expedition did not receive an update on the proposal for another two weeks. During this time, the fleet continued their expedition and surveying of planets in their current system while the alien vessel remained in contact in the vicinity. When the Empire's response did arrive, the Jameson was instructed to reject the proposal, on grounds of having just met this alien race and their alliance and needing to learn more before committing their empire. Jameson transmitted an acknowledgement, coupled with another payload of research data from the recent surveys performed. This was the last transmission the Empire received from the expeditionary fleet. Further attempts to re-establish contact were met with silence and, eventually, the Jameson Expeditionary Fleet was declared lost, and the aliens identified as the Dovolish and Varkesh Alliance were deemed responsible for their destruction.

These events were highly publicized, from the first report of alien contact, and the entirety of the Empire had been watching closely with both fear and excitement. When the news reports came out of the expedition's loss, however, the entire nation united in anger against this alien threat that had destroyed a peaceful research fleet. However, in following years, some dissenters within the Empire claimed the entire incident was staged, that the Empire was lying to the citizens. Such people found themselves arrested for defaming the government, or just outright disappeared.