The twin suns had long since dipped beneath the alien horizon when Adam returned to the settlement.
The fast-travel beacon at Echo Point had pulsed warmly when activated, instantly transporting him back to the Core Zone's perimeter. The moment he arrived, the faint hum of energy and the soft ambient glow of the settlement met him like a welcome-home gesture.
And in truth… it felt like home.
Buildings lined the base's main path now, laid out according to his early gridwork. Four modular homes stood in formation, their alloy frames woven with glowing latticework. The Water Purification Pod buzzed quietly, drawing liquid from an underground reservoir and filtering it with tech-enhanced enchantment coils. A long, rectangular Communal Hall glowed gently in the center of Zone A, its walls laced with smart crystal panels and warm lighting.
The drones zipped by overhead, working tirelessly on the final project in his queue: the Resource Sorting Station. Three-quarters finished.
[TOTAL BUILDINGS ONLINE: 8][MILESTONE TRACKER: 10 UNIQUE STRUCTURES TO UNLOCK TIER 1 SUMMONING SYSTEM]
He was close. So close he could feel it—his first real leap forward from isolation.
As he walked through the newly placed structures, the Construction Log updated in real-time:
Housing Cluster: COMPLETE
Water Pod: COMPLETE
Communal Hall: COMPLETE
Generator: COMPLETE
Watchtower: COMPLETE
Barracks: COMPLETE
Greenhouse: COMPLETE
Sorting Station: IN PROGRESS (88%)
He paused at the Barracks, stepping inside for a brief moment. The neural combat pod he'd glanced at before now gleamed with a ready status light. The place smelled faintly of metal and charged air. In time, it would train future recruits—but for now, it served as his personal testing ground.
He set a few new constructions to the queue before sleeping:
Arcane Relay Node – a magitech beacon to extend power and spell conductivity across Zones
Basic Medic Bay – small, self-contained healing facility
Auto-Turret Node (Mk I) – second unit, for overlapping perimeter defense
Those three, once built, would push him past the 10-structure mark.
But for now, he needed rest—and time to process what he'd found in the wilds.
The cave had been hidden behind a thick curtain of moss, nestled against a cliff wall at the base of the far ridge. At first glance, it had looked like nothing more than a shadowed crack in the rock. But as Adam had drawn closer, the system had reacted.
[MAGICAL SIGNATURE DETECTED – ARCANIC FREQUENCY MATCH: 74% (Elder Scrolls Resonance)]
When he stepped inside, the cave glowed.
The walls were studded with pale blue crystals, humming softly with an inner energy that resonated with the magicka in his body. He could feel it—like static electricity on his skin, drawing power from his very presence.
He'd run a scan, and the system had confirmed it: Mana-Rich Crystal Deposit, capable of being harvested and refined. Uses included enchantment amplification, power focusing, and magical tech infusion. It was pure potential.
But the deeper he went, the stranger it became.
The path sloped downward, then opened into a domed chamber far beneath the surface. And there, resting in silence like the bones of a forgotten beast, was the ship.
It was half-buried, its hull blackened and cracked. Most of its markings were worn, but not all.
Adam had recognized the design instantly—though he couldn't place from where.
Sleek. Angular. Too small to be a cruiser, too large to be a fighter. The emblem on its scorched plating had caught his attention: a symbol resembling an ancient Jedi Order insignia—but with slight differences. Beneath it, the partial lettering in Aurebesh suggested an old Republic registry code.
And inside the cockpit, though the systems were long dead, he'd found a data crystal—cracked, but intact enough to record.
[Recovered Data Fragment – Timestamp: BYC 41.3]
It had meant nothing at first. But when the system had tried to cross-reference the year, it returned only this:
[Galaxy Reference Year: Before the Naboo Crisis. Galactic Senate Active. Jedi Council Established. Outer Rim Territories Unstable.]
Adam hadn't said it aloud—but in his heart, he understood.
He wasn't just in the Star Wars galaxy. He was in its past. Before the Clone Wars. Before the Empire. Before Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader ever breathed.
And that meant one thing.
He had time.
Time to build something before the galaxy knew his name.
Time to prepare.
Time to choose how he would shape the future.
He returned to the present with the faint smell of ozone in the air. The Sorting Station completed with a quiet ding, and the system flared:
[ACHIEVEMENT COMPLETE: FOUNDATION LAYER ESTABLISHED – 9 BUILDINGS ONLINE][BONUS: Resource Efficiency Increased +3% | Unlock Progress Boost: +10%]
Just one more to go.
He walked toward the central plaza and summoned the new blueprint—the Arcane Relay Node—placing it in the heart of the base.
He watched as the drones buzzed into action, weaving circuitry and crystal together with surgical precision.
As the foundations locked into place, Adam stood silently, watching his city begin to breathe on its own.
The hum of energy. The soft flicker of light. The structure of a dream becoming real.
And beneath it all… the echo of forgotten history stirring deep in the world below.