(From the perspective of DRN-5571)
The foundations were holding.
Three pylons now. Anchored in a triangle across the dunes, each casting a soft blue shimmer into the dust-laden air. Between them, the Nexus pulsed — her first real center of command since Aiur.
The Jawas avoided the Nexus now. They respected the energy, but didn't understand it. Perhaps that was good.
She worked alone.
Her fingers moved through golden lines of projection — shaping, commanding, adjusting. The Cybernetics Core rose like a crown of blades beside the Gateway. Next came a Robotics Facility, humming with unstable dimensional readings.
This world resisted order. Its energy was wild, noisy, filled with echoes she didn't recognize.
But her will imposed structure.
---
Resource levels: Acceptable. Power flow: Stable. Memory integrity: 88%.
She began the summon sequence.
The first attempt birthed a Dragoon. Or something close. Its shell shimmered and shifted — partially formed, flickering between phases.
She terminated it instantly.
The second try succeeded.
A Stalker emerged from the Gateway, silent and perfect.
It turned toward her. She felt no connection.
Not like the Khala.
But it obeyed.
She marked the process: partially reliable. No Khala-link, but quantum allegiance through builder-ID imprinting.
She could work with that.
---
Then her Observer pinged.
Two heat signatures converging. Different profiles. Distant from the base, but within surveillance range. She redirected the sensor lens.
One: the tall female biped she had seen before. The survivor of the earlier crash. The one who watched her from the dunes.
The other: new.
Armored. Scarred uniform. Metallic insignia — Empire.
They faced each other across broken stone.
---
No one spoke at first.
The male drew a weapon — compact, glinting under the suns.
The female didn't flinch.
She said something. Fast. Aggressive. Cautious.
The man hesitated.
They circled each other.
From above, the Observer logged motion patterns. Threat levels. Body language. Possible outcomes.
Model output: 64% chance of conflict. 21% chance of fatality.
DRN-5571 considered intervening.
But she didn't understand their codes.
Not yet.
So she watched.
Studied.
Prepared.