[TWO DAY AFTER THE ROYAL MEETING..]
The port of Aderis was quieter than usual that morning. The tide was calm as usual, the docks still damp from last night's rain.
Captain Reku stood at the edge of the pier, watching the faint reflection of the Horizon's silhouette in the waters.
The peace accord had been signed only days ago, and though it was far from full trust, it was the closest thing to calm since their arrival.
Behind him, a small convoy from the royal side unloaded sealed crates, a gifts from the royal family, according to the steward as a gesture of goodwill. Reku didn't say much, as if he was waiting for a signal.
A soft crackle came through his earpiece a few seconds later.
"This is Shepard to Horizon. You're clear for transmission," said the voice from the Resolute.
Reku straightened.
"Sir, the peace treaty is holding. The King and the port governor has granted us provisional access to the coastal stretch east of the docks. Requesting permission to establish a joint observation post. For purpose of environmental study, communications stability, and continued cooperation with the Kingdom."
There was a brief pause. As the line carried a low hum of background and the chatter of officers exchanging data or verifying maps. Then Shepard's voice came back, even and clear.
"Understood. Limited post authorization is granted. Keep all systems in low output mode and ensure the royals have observers on-site. We can't risk them thinking it's a hidden base."
"Yes, sir," Reku replied. "Name recommendation sir, i think Horizon-1 would be fitting. "
Shepard chuckled softly through the channel.
"Very well captain. Get it operational. You'll have four Ospreys inbound in forty minutes carrying prefab units, sensors, and personnel."
"Copy that. Horizon-1 Phase One will begin."
Reku turned toward the waiting group of scholars and guards sent by the royal court. Their leader, a young man named Sir Havel, stepped forward, his armor polished but unadorned."So it begins," Havel said.
"His Majesty agreed to your request, Captain. But I am to remind you, the land you'll use still belongs to the crown."
Reku gave a small nod.
"Understood. Everything we build here will be transparent. You'll have access to the operations."
Havel studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Then let us see what your people can do."
By midday, the coastline was alive with motion.The deep sound of rotor blades echoed across the cliffs as the first Osprey descended.
Villagers from Aderis gathered along the shore, shielding their faces from the wind and sand. As the aircraft hovered, then slowly lowered its landing gear onto the prepared clearing.
The crowd murmured, some in fear, some in awe.
Four Ospreys landed in sequence, kicking up spray and dust. UEN engineers jumped out imediately after landing, securing crates and guiding power lines.
Panels unfolded as walls extended, and within an hour, a metallic shelter began to take form, rectangular, low-profile, and efficient.
The locals whispered among themselves, pointing at the symbols and humming machines. One child tugged at his mother's sleeve, eyes wide."Are they building a temple?"
Reku heard the question through the translator unit, which hung on his belt. The system still lagged, but it was improving. He smiled faintly and answered in the simplest words it could process.
"Not a temple. But a window. For looking and learning."
The woman bowed slightly, uncertain but respectful.
By the second hour, the first field lab was up, compact modules linked to a small power generator. Atmospheric analyzers extended their thin antenna, taking readings of pressure and air quality.
A pair of Horizon's biologists began unpacking soil scanners, setting up beside the Kingdom's assigned scholars.
Sir Havel stood beside Reku, arms crossed. "Your people move fast."
"They've done this before," Reku said.
Later in the afternoon, one of the technicians, a short, scruffy man named Alvarez, walked up to Reku.
"Captain, can I ask something off the record?"
"Go ahead."
"Some of the crew's been talking," Alvarez said, scratching his neck.
"About back when we unloaded a few of the cargo and equipment back when we first arrived at port. Some think it was reckless to offload supplies before full authorization. No security, no formal contact. It's been bothering some people."
Reku didn't answer right away. The wind off the sea carried the sound of the Ospreys lifting off in the distance."You're not wrong," he said finally.
"It was risky. But it was neccesary i was testing what would happen if those supply got expose to the elements. Now we know that we can place boxed supplies outside, but i rather not if we can."
Alvarez nodded slowly. "I understood now sir."
That evening, Shepard sent a short transmission to confirm supplies had been successfully established.
As the post settled, the first real cultural exchange began.
The Kingdom had assigned three scholars, two older men and one young woman named Lira, barely in her twenties, with ink stains on her fingers and too many scrolls for her satchel. She approached the UEN's lead physicist, Dr. Vance, with polite curiosity.
"You study the world by numbers and light," she said through the translator. "We study through essence and flow. In our texts, the land breathes aether, the invisible force that moves storms and fire."
Vance smiled. "Aether, huh? We call it electromagnetic radiation. Energy that moves in waves."
Lira tilted her head, thinking. "Then we are both blind to what we study, and yet, both see it move."
The exchange went on for hours. UEN scientists showed her a simple microscope, focusing it on a leaf sample. She gasped when the veins came into view."This lens. it sees the hidden?"
Vance laughed lightly. "Not hidden, just too small for the eye."
Nearby, Reku observed the group. For once, there were no raised voices, no tension. Just people, curious about each other.
Still, not everyone welcomed it. Word spread among the nearby villages about "the lights of the sky gods."
Some called the machines holy. Others said they stole the spirit of the land. Reku overheard one of the palace guards mutter, "Too much knowledge invites divine punishment."
Reku made a note in his report:'Curiosity grows, but so does fear. Both are natural. Both must be managed.'
That night, he held a small meeting with the royal observers, urging them to share information with the local elders. "Let them see what we do here isn't weaponry or conquest," he said.
"It's understanding."
Sir Havel listened carefully. "Words can calm some," he said.
"But not all. Fear is stubborn."
"Then we'll meet it with patience," Reku replied.
Two days later, the translator AI received its next update. Horizon's language team had refined the neural patterns from their daily conversations. The device now processed dialects faster, syncing with tone and rhythm.
During a test, Reku noticed something new, he started catching fragments of their language even before the translator spoke. Certain words were becoming familiar: sky, honor, learning, trust.
He smiled faintly at the progress. "Feels less like a wall now," he muttered.
Dr. Vance looked up. "Language or diplomacy?"
"Both," Reku said.
The first real problem came on the fifth day.
A mapping drone, part of the topographic survey, drifted off-course and flew near the temple district on the hill overlooking Aderis. Within minutes, bells rang, and villagers gathered outside, shouting prayers and warnings.
The local guards almost fired their crossbows before the scholars intervened.
Reku was notified immediately. He ordered all drones to be grounded and walked to the envoy station himself to deliver an apology.
Before the council, he spoke simply. "It was a mistake in navigation. No harm was meant to your people or your sacred ground."
One elder studied him carefully.
"Machines move without soul. Yet they fly where only spirits should."
Reku bowed his head slightly. "Then we'll make sure they stay below the spirits path."
The tone of the room softened. The apology was simple and direct and seemed to ease the tension.
When Reku returned to camp, Lira was waiting near the observation dome. "They accepted your words," she said.
"Few men of power admit fault so easily."
"Where I come from," Reku replied,
"admitting fault prevents more of it."
By the end of the week, the Horizon-1 stood complete a ring of shelters, labs, and antennae along the coastline. At night, its faint lights glowed beside the torch-lit tents of the royal outpost.
The air carried the smell of salt and metal. The low hum of generators mixed with the distant rhythm of waves.
Inside the science module, a UEN astronomer compared the digital star chart with an old parchment map brought by the scholars. Lira pointed at one cluster of stars drawn in thick black ink."We call these the Dragon's Spine," she said.
The astronomer rotated the holographic map and smiled. "We call that Orion's Belt."
She looked up at the sky, then back at the display.
"So it is the same, only named differently."
Reku watched from the doorway, arms crossed. The translator's voice echoed softly between them, but even without it, he could sense the meaning.
He turned his gaze to the horizon, where the faint reflection of the Resolute's lights shimmered on the sea.
"For the first time since we arrived," he wrote later in his report,
"we look at the same sky not as strangers, but as seekers."