[Episode V - NR][O12 - Reytha - AI] Seeds Beneath the Ash

Seeds Beneath the Ash

Prologue

The low sun cast warm light across the dirt road in front of the Q4 Agri Hub, shining through the golden fields behind them. The Tholothian lowered her macrobinoculars as the red-haired human stepped closer, setting her toolbox down and brushing a hand lightly against her arm.

“You’ve been staring out there all evening,” the human said softly. “Something on your mind?”

“Just traffic… feels a little different today,” the Tholothian replied, though her gaze lingered on the horizon.

The human smiled, leaning in just enough to rest her shoulder against hers. “Things always shift. Fields change. We plant again.”

The Tholothian exhaled, a small smile forming as she turned toward her.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “We always do.”

The yellow Agri Hub stood undisturbed beneath Reytha’s gray sky, its blue holosign humming softly above the door. The Aurebesh marking Q4 was still crisp, untouched by fire or blast—only a few faint scorch marks near the entry hinted that anything had happened at all. The corn fields beyond the dirt path swayed gently, golden and intact, stretching toward the relay tower where cables crossed the road in neat, deliberate lines.
Whatever had happened here… had been quick.

Inside the half Quonset hut, the old speeder remained parked where it had likely sat for years, surrounded by neatly stacked crates of ordnance and sealed Rhydoniom canisters. Nothing was overturned. Nothing looted. The Imperials stationed here had never gotten the chance.

ARGO scientists moved through the outpost in silence, their rebreathers hissing softly with each breath. They worked with methodical precision, scanning crates, tagging canisters, and transferring them onto low-hover pallets.

“Rhydoniom reserves intact,” one of them noted, voice filtered and calm. “No signs of ignition or tampering.”

“Good,” another replied. “Begin full recovery.”

Outside, an ArgoSec ranger stood watch near the path, helmet tilted slightly as they scanned the horizon. The absence of bodies was notable. Either removed… or never left behind. The kind of work that left no mess.

The kind ARGO preferred not to ask about.

At the base of the communications relay, the Pantoran lead scientist had opened an access panel. Cables were rerouted, interfaces exposed. She knelt beside the terminal, plugging in a compact slicing unit.

“Link established,” the tablet said. “Reythan Comms Hub is still synced to the agri network.”
A pause as streams of data scrolled across the display.

“Pulling crop yield projections… irrigation cycles… soil composition maps.”

“Take it all,” the Pantoran responded. “And prepare the patch.”

Inside the Agri Hub, the main console flickered to life as the slicing signal pushed deeper into the system. A new
directive was quietly inserted—buried beneath routine updates and seasonal planning protocols.

Next cycle: integration of ARGO-engineered crop genome strains.

No alarms. No alerts. Just another line in the system.

Outside, a crate of Rhydoniom was sealed and lifted onto a transport pallet. Another followed. Valuable, volatile, and now entirely ARGO property.

One of the scientists glanced out across the untouched fields.

“They were going to burn it,” one said quietly.

“Not anymore,” another replied.

The relay dish above rotated slowly now, its connection stabilized. Data flowed outward—to orbit, to ARGO networks, to places far beyond Reytha.

The Agri Hub remained standing. The fields remained whole.

And by the next harvest, Reytha would be growing something new!

///

Thanks for watching and reading! 🙂

This was fun and a bit nostalgic to do. I got the idea to try to redo the yellow house I did a few seasons ago. I thought the yellow would work well as a theme for the agri-world. Please let me know what you think.

Please check out a few more photos below...