In Mars orbit, all officers and soldiers aboard the warship tasked with docking the Courage held their breath. From an external perspective, the ICA's warships resembled civilian spacecraft like the Star of Entrepreneurship, being slender and elongated, simply equipped with heavy armor and numerous weapons. However, the vessel before them, named the Courage, was considerably more aesthetically pleasing than any of the ICA's warships.
"Direct all cameras at this spacecraft, capturing every detail from all angles without blind spots!" The order from the ICA's board of directors was transmitted to every ship. Almost instantly, every inch of the Courage was photographed. The officers and soldiers on-site, aware of their limitations, did not attempt to directly scan the vessel.
"Currently, 20 external weapon points have been identified; the number of internal weapon points is unknown." This report was sent in real-time to the ICA conference room on Earth. "Analysis of specific weapon types is underway and will take some time." After all, it was impossible to determine a weapon's specific type just by its appearance. ICA analysts needed more information. Who knew if the Courage's cannons fired physical projectiles, laser weapons, anti-matter weapons, or perhaps an even higher level of technology they couldn't comprehend?
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the Courage's hatch slowly opened. The first to emerge were not typical human crew members. Instead, they were large, burly, unarmed T103 Tyrants. It's worth noting that, through the research and training by Wesker and others, the T103 Tyrant's appearance had become increasingly human-like. The wrinkles on their skin had vanished, leaving only their grayish-white skin to indicate their non-human identity.
"Humanoid?" Although the ICA officers and soldiers present were somewhat surprised, they didn't dwell on it. After all, the Na'vi natives on Pandora were also humanoid. However, the immense pressure exerted by the burly T103 Tyrants, whose deep black military coats seemed almost to burst, was far greater than that from the slender Na'vi.
Just when everyone thought these grayish-white, burly creatures were members of an extraterrestrial civilization, the figures who subsequently emerged from the cabin left everyone dumbfounded. Led by Alex, the crew of the Star of Entrepreneurship lined up and walked out of the cabin, their work badges sufficiently proving their identities. The Ishimura crew then appeared behind them. The docking site in Mars orbit erupted in an uproar.
The same commotion was occurring in the ICA board of directors' conference room. "Quickly, thoroughly investigate RDA's database! Confirm the identities of these people!" In the ICA conference room, Executive Chairman Barry abruptly stood up. He had recognized some of the Star of Entrepreneurship crew members but still couldn't believe it. These people should have already arrived at Pandora to carry out mining and colonization missions! Why were they here!?
In less than a minute, the data of the Star of Entrepreneurship crew members who had emerged was laid out on the conference table. "Through facial recognition and work badge identification, those are indeed the crew members of the Star of Entrepreneurship. Only those without work badges—we cannot find any trace of their identity."
"How is this possible?" Some directors couldn't believe it. The ICA's database was arguably the most comprehensive, recording the identity information of every human. So how could it not find the identities of those people?
"There's only one possibility: they are not from Earth," Barry said in a deep voice.
"But they look exactly like us." A director raised a question.
"Either they are descendants of some wanderers who secretly left Earth and developed technology beyond ours, or they simply resemble us but are not the same on the inside." Barry leaned towards the latter.
Although filled with countless questions, the officers responsible for receiving the Courage crew members still stepped forward and began the contact according to the predetermined procedure. The diplomatic personnel from the Biochemical Crisis world stepped forward and initiated the first formal contact between the two worlds. During this time, people continuously looked at the Star of Entrepreneurship crew members, hoping they could reveal some information.
However, the captain of the Star of Entrepreneurship could only force a bitter smile. Without orders from Alex or other senior personnel, he dared not speak carelessly, for if he violated the Psychic Contract, his head would truly explode.
"Respected guests, we—" The ICA official responsible for reception had just opened his mouth, preparing to introduce himself, when he was interrupted. "Our understanding of you far exceeds your imagination, so please, do not waste time," the leading Ishimura diplomat said coldly. Their pure English completely stunned everyone. Coupled with their words, everyone felt a chill down their spines.
"N—" This unexpected situation left the ICA official speechless for a moment. However, he quickly recovered, and with a brave face, led everyone who had disembarked from the Courage to the spacious conference room that had been prepared. As for the Star of Entrepreneurship crew members, they were arranged into rooms and guarded by ICA soldiers. To prevent the ICA from making any small moves, under Alex's command, a dozen T103 Tyrants followed the Star of Entrepreneurship crew members.
Inside the conference room, there was silence. The ICA officials were conducting an urgent liaison with the board of directors, requesting instructions on the direction of the upcoming communication. Meanwhile, the Ishimura crew members remained calm. Finally, Alex slowly spoke.
"As we conveyed in our message to you, we, the Ishimura, come with goodwill."
Far away on Earth, ICA Executive Chairman Barry projected his virtual image directly into the conference room and said in a deep voice, "Who exactly are you?"
"There's no need to doubt; we are indeed human."
"I hope your side can be more sincere," Barry clearly didn't believe it. At this point, he was going all out, somewhat aggressively.
"What? You want to perform a full body scan on us?" Alex chuckled. "Dwelling on our identity is meaningless. Now, let's talk about what truly matters."
After a moment of silence, Barry gave up on the idea of dwelling on the identities of these people and slowly spoke, "Why have you come?"
"Cooperation." Alex slowly uttered two words.
"What kind of cooperation?" Barry asked calmly; he hadn't lost his head. Who knew what these people meant by "cooperation"?
"You know better than us that your Earth is already overwhelmed, and the environment is no longer suitable for human survival." Alex's words revealed the greatest crisis currently facing humanity in the Avatar World.