(8x11) Terra Resurgent: Part 1, Episode 2
Metis and her expedition travel down the west coast of America until they reach the equator, from where they intend to then head east, inland, in search of a passage up the Andes to the old base of Starbridge America, where they hope to find Xio. But along the way there, they encounter unknown settlers of a higher technology level than the survivors in Columbia, beyond even the preserved military might of the old Redstone Empire.
They identify the lands they occupy as the Pacific States of America, a colony of the Empire of Pacifica. Claiming to be on a mission to reunite and restore humanity under their rule, they take an initially dominant and aggressive stance to the "savage natives" that they mistake Metis and her expedition for. Metis tries to make peace with them, and explain that they are representatives of another surviving civilization in Columbia who are more than happy to meet and befriend survivors from elsewhere. She explains that they are not here to challenge Pacifica's claims to America, but they and only on an exploratory mission, searching for the base of the Starbridge America.
But the Pacificans claim ownership of all Starbridges, the ancient Pacifica (or at least, the Internation that began with them) having been the ones who built them. They take the not-so-savage Columbian expedition to be a foreign threat, obviously intent on claiming Pacifican property, despite their claims to the contrary. As hostilities begin to heat up, the expedition hastily retreats back north up the coast so as to avoid an unnecessary armed conflict, especially one that they did not come prepared for.