Great — we will continue rebuilding the novel properly, keeping the tone and continuity established in the Prologue. I will also maintain the canon details we set:
The station AI is Standard Safety Base and Docking AI Unit (not Stacy yet)
Kael and Ryven are Major-ranked ace mech pilots
The base is Research Station Theta-Nine
Aurora-X is still secret
The twins are not yet born in Chapter 1
This chapter expands life on the station and introduces the main crew.
Steel Hearts
Book 1: Twin Gemini
by Da🌼sy Green
Chapter 1
How It All Started
Research Station Theta-Nine was rarely quiet.
Even during its calmest hours, the station hummed with activity. Air circulated through kilometers of ventilation ducts. Cargo drones moved supplies between decks. Maintenance robots crawled through the outer framework of the station like tiny mechanical insects.
But the loudest place on the entire station was Hangar Deck Three.
This was where the Federation stored and tested experimental mechs.
Which meant this was also where Major Kael Ardent liked to spend most of his time.
At the moment, Kael stood on the shoulder of a twenty-two-meter combat mech while holding a wrench in one hand and arguing loudly with someone below him.
"That is absolutely not how thruster calibration works."
Below him, technician Mara Juno crossed her arms.
"You literally wrote the calibration manual."
"Yes," Kael said, "and you're still doing it wrong."
Mara sighed.
"I'm not doing it wrong."
"You rotated the vent stabilizer ninety degrees."
"That's what the diagram shows."
Kael leaned over the mech's shoulder.
"That diagram is upside down."
Mara stared at him.
"…you're kidding."
"I am not."
Mara looked back at the console.
She turned the diagram around.
There was a long pause.
Then she looked up again.
"You know what? I'm blaming you."
"That seems unfair."
"You wrote the manual."
"I also assumed engineers would recognize gravity."
Mara rubbed her face.
"Why do I work with you?"
Kael grinned.
"Because I'm charming."
"You're insufferable."
"Also charming."
Mara opened her mouth to respond when a calm voice echoed across the hangar.
"Attention. Safety notice. Unauthorized personnel are advised to clear the calibration zone."
The announcement came from the Standard Safety Base and Docking AI Unit.
Kael glanced toward the ceiling.
"You say that every ten minutes."
"Yes," the AI replied calmly.
"Because every ten minutes you ignore the safety perimeter."
Kael pointed a wrench upward.
"I respect safety."
The AI paused.
"Recorded data suggests otherwise."
Several mechanics nearby burst into laughter.
Kael looked offended.
"I am deeply misunderstood."
Across the hangar, another mech stood inside a reinforced docking frame.
This machine was very different from the one Kael currently occupied.
Where Kael's mech was sleek and white with aerodynamic armor plating, the other mech was dark, angular, and intimidating.
Its armor looked almost predatory.
Major Ryven Voss stood on the floor beneath it, reviewing a diagnostic screen.
Unlike Kael, Ryven rarely raised his voice.
Unlike Kael, Ryven rarely needed to.
A junior engineer approached him nervously.
"Major Voss?"
Ryven looked up.
"Yes?"
"The reactor stabilization test is ready."
Ryven nodded.
"Good."
The engineer hesitated.
"…should we tell Major Ardent?"
Ryven glanced across the hangar.
Kael was now hanging upside down from the mech's shoulder while explaining thruster alignment with wild hand gestures.
Ryven considered the situation.
"…let him finish arguing first."
The engineer nodded.
"That seems wise."
Commander Elias Halberg watched all of this from the control deck above the hangar.
He stood with his hands behind his back while observing the activity below through a massive observation window.
Beside him stood Sebastian Vale.
Sebastian had served as Halberg's administrative secretary for nearly six years.
He had also become something of a station legend.
This was mostly because Sebastian behaved less like a secretary and more like a perfectly trained butler.
At the moment he held a tablet while calmly reviewing the station schedule.
Halberg sighed.
"They're arguing again."
Sebastian glanced down.
"Major Ardent and Technician Juno?"
"Yes."
"That happens frequently."
Halberg nodded.
"I am aware."
Below them, Kael had now climbed onto the mech's head.
Sebastian made a small note on his tablet.
"I will log this as 'routine maintenance disagreement.'"
Halberg leaned against the railing.
"Do you remember when this station used to be quiet?"
Sebastian considered.
"No."
"That seems accurate."
Down in the hangar, Kael finally jumped down from the mech and landed beside Mara.
"Alright," he said. "Let's run the thruster test again."
Mara adjusted the console.
"If this explodes I'm blaming you."
"That's fair."
Across the room Ryven activated his mech's reactor test.
The two machines powered up at the same time.
White light glowed along the armor of Kael's mech.
Dark energy pulsed through the frame of Ryven's.
These machines were not ordinary combat mechs.
They were experimental prototypes.
Kael's mech:
Valkrieg-0
Ryven's mech:
Umbra Rex
Both machines had been assigned exclusively to them.
Because the Federation believed these two pilots were the only people capable of handling them.
The thruster test lasted thirty seconds.
When the engines powered down again, the hangar filled with cheers.
Mara leaned back in her chair.
"Success."
Kael stretched his arms.
"See? No explosions."
"You sound disappointed."
"I was expecting a small one."
Mara pointed at him.
"You are banned from explosions."
"That feels restrictive."
Ryven walked over from across the hangar.
"Test results?"
Mara pulled up the data.
"Stable."
Kael clapped Ryven on the shoulder.
"See? Perfect engineering."
Mara looked offended.
"I did the engineering."
"Yes," Kael said.
"With my supervision."
"You supervised from the ceiling."
"That was tactical."
Ryven looked at both of them.
"…I regret asking."
At that moment the hangar doors opened again.
Chef Marta entered pushing a floating food cart.
Every mechanic in the hangar turned immediately.
Chef Marta was beloved across the entire station.
Mostly because she fed everyone.
"Lunch break!" she announced loudly.
Half the hangar crew abandoned their work instantly.
Mara grabbed a sandwich.
"Best part of the day."
Kael picked up two.
Ryven raised an eyebrow.
"You already ate."
"That was breakfast."
"You ate three breakfasts."
"I was busy."
Ryven sighed.
"You're always busy."
Kael shrugged.
"Piloting is exhausting."
Sebastian's voice echoed from the hangar speakers.
"Major Ardent."
Kael looked up.
"Yes?"
"You have a medical appointment."
Kael froze.
"…what."
Ryven smirked.
"You forgot again."
"That appointment is unnecessary."
Dr. Park's voice suddenly joined the announcement system.
"It is extremely necessary."
Kael groaned.
"This is harassment."
Ryven started walking toward the exit.
"Come on."
Kael grabbed another sandwich.
"I'm bringing snacks."
Mara shook her head.
"You are impossible."
Kael smiled proudly.
"I know."
High above the hangar, the Standard Safety Base and Docking AI Unit monitored the scene quietly.
Across the station, hundreds of systems operated under its supervision.
Docking corridors.
Cargo elevators.
Security sensors.
Environmental controls.
It recorded everything.
Including the growing activity around Major Kael Ardent.
And the unusual increase in medical monitoring scheduled for him.
The AI did not yet understand why.
But it recorded the pattern.
Because soon…
everything on Theta-Nine was about to change.