First Contact with Mei'ra
The NLE pursued another hunt for islands to colonise as it had done during the Scramble for Oceania, this time focusing on the southern ocean. During these ventures they came across something peculiar near the South Sandwich Islands, a series of metallic platforms and 'cities' built onto stilts. The pale and flat-affected inhabitants of these structures soon noticed the NLE's expedition and instructed them to leave as 'intruders weren't welcome there'. The NLE considered this rude and stated how they both shared a planet so they weren't intruders, eventually convincing the people to answer their questions. The NLE demanded that they join the NLE and that they reveal who they are, to which they refused and explained that they were "Mei'ra". Due to a oncoming storm, Mei'ra reluctantly let in the Luxurian team, revealing a futuristic series of internal habitats all coated in the same blinding white colour. Mei'ra questioned the team on why they were even out here, to which the Luxurians explained they were sent to find more islands and got lost off course. Mei'ra asked what had happened to the world while they had been isolated, to which the NLE explained that it had largely just been constant warfare, emboldening Mei'ra's belief that it should remain isolated. The Luxurians decided to go back to convincing Mei'ra to join their empire, to which Mei'ra stated that it was not interested in 'joining' the empire but was open to an alliance in return for resources and materials due to its difficulty in harvesting them from the ocean floor. With the storm over, the Luxurians agreed and headed back to the NLE to get materials and head back to deliver them to Mei'ra, which lead to them finally agree to join the Anti-Anti-NLE Pact.