The arrival of 281 Saiyans on Vesper was a cultural earthquake. They emerged from the portal not onto a barren field, but into the heart of a thriving, alien city. The air, thick with the scent of strange flora and the hum of the Anchor Nexus, was a shock to their systems. They saw non-Saiyans—humans, reptilians, others—moving with purpose, their auras weak but their spirits bright. They saw children playing without fear.
They saw a world that did not need to be conquered, because it had already been built.
Astra stood before them on the steps of the central communal hall, Captain Elara at his side. The Saiyans, still clad in their battle armor, shifted uneasily. They were warriors in a garden, and they didn't know the rules.
"Welcome," Astra's voice echoed in all their minds, a calm, immense pressure. "You have chosen life. You have chosen a future. This is Vesper. This is First Stone. These people," he gestured to Elara and the gathered colonists, "are your allies. They are the architects of this world alongside me. You will treat them with respect."
A low grumble went through the Saiyan crowd. Respect for weaklings? It was a foreign concept.
Elara stepped forward, her voice clear and unwavering, amplified by a small device. "We have food. We have shelter. We have a society. What we lack is your strength. Not for conquest," she said, anticipating their thoughts, "but for protection. For building. The Architect has saved us all. Now, we must learn to save each other."
The integration was not smooth. The Saiyans, led by Borg who had naturally assumed a leadership role among them, were given their own sector on the plateau—a district they promptly named "Sunstone." They were given prefab habitats and access to the food synthesizers, but they chafed at the structured, communal life.
Fights broke out. A Saiyan warrior, frustrated with the "bland" synthesized paste, tried to hunt one of the large, six-legged herbivores that grazed the plains. He was intercepted by a security team led by a determined human engineer. The confrontation nearly turned violent until Astra appeared, his mere presence freezing the Saiyan in his tracks.
"That creature is not prey," Astra stated, his voice cold. "It is a part of the ecosystem that sustains this world. You do not hunt here. You learn to farm. You learn to build."
He was forcing an evolution upon them. It was a more brutal process than any gravity training.
But slowly, grudgingly, it began to work. Borg, pragmatic and weary of constant war, enforced a strict code of conduct. Saiyans with technical skills, once looked down upon, found themselves working alongside human engineers on the expanding power grid. A young Saiyan mother, her infant in her arms, was taught how to tend the purple grain by a reptilian botanist. The sight of their children playing with the non-Saiyan children in the safe, green fields was a more powerful argument than any speech.
Astra observed it all, his Cognitive Partitions analyzing the social dynamics. He saw the two tribes—the builders of First Stone and the warriors of Sunstone—slowly, tentatively, beginning to intertwine.
The System provided its quiet validation.
[FACTION MANDATE PROGRESS: Saiyan Exodus - Phase 1]
[Current Population: 512/500.]
[Infrastructure Level: Developing. Viability: 75%.]
[Social Cohesion: Fragile but Stable.]
[Reward: "Pioneer's Resolve" effect strengthened. +5% to all growth and construction rates.]
He had done it. He had met the quota. He had a viable, hidden colony. But looking out at the two communities, he knew the true test was just beginning. He hadn't just saved 500 Saiyans; he had taken the first, fragile step in re-engineering the soul of an entire race. The Two Tribes were now one people, bound not by blood, but by the shared will of their Architect and the desperate hope for a future beyond the sword. The foundation was complete. Now, he had to teach them how to build upon it.