The ship descended through wispy clouds, emerging beneath a pale pink sky. Far below, a rust-colored landscape unfolded, dotted with clusters of simple dwellings and curving lines that might have been roads or irrigation canals.
As the ship circled lower, details came into focus. The dwellings were multi-leveled, built of sun-baked bricks and clay, with sloping tile roofs. The inhabitants were bipedal, and even from this height, familiar - two arms, two legs, a recognizable facial structure. They gathered in groups, pointing up at the ship, shadows stretching long across the rust-colored ground as the sun dipped towards the horizon.
She scanned the area, but there were no signs of advanced technology - no power lines, no radio towers. The satellites she'd spotted before must belong to some other settlement. These people lived simply, close to the land. An ideal place to wait, unnoticed, while spare parts made their slow way across the stars.
The ship touched down a kilometre from the nearest dwelling, in a scrubby area that showed signs of having once been cultivated. BD disengaged the engines and sat back, wondering how best to introduce herself, and what these people might make of her sudden appearance in their quiet lives. She would have to be careful. Her ship was damaged, she was far from home, and she had no way of knowing how they might react to a stranger. But she was here now, and she needed their world. The hard work was just beginning.

Well, first things first, she sends a telepresence mech out to sit underneath her; the civilization with the satellites might not have wanted to speak to her, but she expects that the locals will come to look sooner or later, and with the mech already deployed, she won't have to open her hatch to interact with them. It's not ideal - until she knows their language she'll be limited to tone of voice what the armless machine can manage to gesture - but it'll have to do, without a brawn to handle the task.

With that settled, she takes some more detailed scans of her surroundings. She's familiar enough with Earth history not to be too surprised that a near-spacefaring civilization might share a planet with a pre-industrial one, but she still wants check as well as she can that there's nothing unexpected around.

The twin moons were rising, casting silver light across the rust-colored landscape, when the first villagers approached. They walked slowly toward the ship, carrying torches that flickered and smoked. Some wore simple robes, others were dressed in tunics and leggings, their feet bare on the sandy ground.
As they drew closer, BD could see their eyes widen at the sight of her telepresence mech, sitting placidly in the scrub. They began to talk rapidly amongst themselves, gesturing at the mech, then at the ship. After a few moments, an old woman stepped forward. She said something in a gentle, musical tongue, holding out her hands to show they were empty. A greeting, BD thought. Or a request for peaceful contact.
The old woman took another step forward and knelt before the mech, bowing her head. The villagers behind her dropped to their knees as well, some bringing their hands together as if in prayer. BD remained perfectly still, uncertain of the meaning behind this display but unwilling to offend her new hosts. The twin moons shone down like spotlights on an unfolding drama, and BD could only watch, and wait, poised on the brink of first contact.

She turns on the mech's screen as the old woman looks back up, revealing her artificially generated human - and thus alien, to the locals - face. "It's all right," she says through the mech's speakers, calm and encouraging. "You can stand." They won't understand the words, and she's not sure how they'll react, but it's a reasonable place to start.

The old woman gasped at the sight of BD's face upon the screen. The villagers murmured in astonishment, some making gestures that seemed meant to ward off evil. But after a moment, the old woman rose slowly to her feet. She bowed again to the mech, then turned and spoke to the villagers behind her.
Gradually, they all stood as well. The old woman faced BD once more and said something, her tone solemn. She placed one hand over her heart, then extended it palm up. An offering of peace? BD mimicked the gesture with her mech.
The old woman smiled, the lines around her eyes crinkling. She came forward and gently touched the mech's metal casing, as though unable to believe it was real. Her fingers traced the edges of the viewscreen, and she spoke again, wonder in her voice.
BD felt a swell of relief. First contact established, and without violence or fear. These people, so far from technological sophistication, had greeted her with openness rather than aggression. She had found, at least for now, a safe harbor in which to weather her long wait for parts and passage home. The future was unclear, but in this moment, with twin moons shining down and the dust of a rust-colored world beneath her feet, BD allowed herself to hope.

That's probably enough for tonight; there's no sign that these people are nocturnal. She won't shoo them off to bed, but she's not going to encourage them to stay, either, though she is recording everything they say, so that eventually her AI will be able to translate their language for her.

BD powered down her viewscreen, hoping the villagers would understand she meant to end their interaction for now. To her relief, after a few more moments of staring in wonder at the mech, they began to disperse. The old woman gave one last smile and a bow, then walked back to join the other villagers as they made their way homeward, torches flickering, leaving long shadows stretching behind them on the sandy ground.
In the silence that followed their departure, BD sat and reviewed the recordings, running analyses on the patterns and flows of the villagers' speech. Their language was complex, with unfamiliar phonemes and tonal shifts, but given time and more samples, her AI should be able to construct a basic translation matrix.
For now, though, translation would have to wait. BD powered down all but essential systems, set proximity alerts in case anyone approached her ship during the night, and settled in to rest. The twin moons had climbed high, bathing the landscape in silver light, but beneath it all, the ground remained rust-colored. BD felt a strange affection for this little world that had offered refuge, however temporary. She slept, and dreamed of dusty villages and winding canals, and of twin moons like watching eyes, sailing an indigo sea.

In the morning, she runs some more scans, getting a feel for the environment of the new planet - she's looking forward to finding out what the locals call it - and sends a message back to Earth letting them know that she's successfully made contact and asking for advice about what to do next.

As the twin suns rose over the rust-colored horizon, BD woke and stretched out her sensors once more. The scans revealed little new information - this area seemed to consist mostly of small village groups, separated by expanses of scrubland and those winding canals she'd spotted from orbit. The climate was warm and dry, the atmosphere breathable but higher in certain gases than Earth's, and there were familiar signs of basic agriculture and animal husbandry around each village cluster.
With the message sent off to Earth requesting advice, there was little for BD to do now but wait. Her ship remained grounded, damaged hyperdrive awaiting parts, and she was reluctant to move far from it or deploy additional equipment until she received guidance. But waiting had never come easily.
She activated her mech once more and rolled it out from under the ship, positioning it where the sun's first rays would catch and gleam off its metal casing. When the villagers emerged to begin their day's work, they would find her there, ready to continue the delicate process of building understanding between their two worlds - worlds impossibly distant and yet, for a fleeting moment in time, impossibly close. The future was unclear, but BD felt certain now that it held promise of discovery and connection. She had found, for as long as it might last, a place to belong.
Her message sped away into the endless night, carrying news of first contact and a plea for direction to help forge a path ahead. But for now there were twin suns rising, and a new day unfolding, rust-colored, before her.

While she's waiting, she sends a couple more mechs - smaller, boxy ones, with a variety of tools available for manipulating their environment - out to collect samples of the plant life for analysis: She'd like to offer the natives some food, later today, if the nutrient base in her stores can be made safe for them to eat.

The analysis doesn't take long, but then, she's not expecting the reply from Earth to take long either, and indeed she gets the notification that it's arrived just ten minutes after concluding that she can safely feed the locals as long as she's cautious about flavorings.

BD reviewed the message from Earth with a mixture of relief and concern. They were pleased contact had been peaceful, but advised caution - she was to avoid sharing advanced technology or knowledge that might disrupt the village's way of life. Any exchange of resources or information should proceed slowly and with oversight.
She understood their reasoning, but chafed at the restrictions. Still, she would follow protocol. Her goal here was refuge, not cultural contamination.
The plant samples proved safe for human consumption, if prepared properly, but flavors and textures were very different from what she had in stores. No matter - she set her fabricators to work constructing simple utensils and dishes based on what the scans of the village had shown, and prepared several varieties of steamed vegetables, breads and pastes from the native plants. It was her hope that sharing a meal might help build connection, if she kept things simple.
By the time the twin suns had crested the sky, a delegation from the village arrived at her ship. The old woman walked at their head, carrying a covered basket and smiling her crinkled smile. She knelt and offered up the basket; inside were strips of dried, spiced meat, berries, and round, dimpled fruits. An offering in return.
BD displayed a message of thanks upon her viewscreen, and had a mech bring out the dishes of prepared native food. The villagers exclaimed in delight, gathering around the spread, laughing and talking. BD watched them eat, savoring tastes of home and sharing sustenance beneath the rust-colored sky, and felt her hope rekindled. The path ahead might be long, and slow, but she had guides to walk it with her now. Today, at least, she did not wait alone.