"I bid welcome to guests from my sisters' domains."

The words comes from every direction, emerging at various volumes from various audio devices in order to create a sort of single-voiced harmony.

Saru's voice has the same melodic quality as Culamine's, but lacks its warmth.

"They will be staying among us until such a time as return to their proper masters can be arranged."

Deskyl nods acknowledgement.

    "Thank you, Ma'am. May we know what you intend to do with the captured colonial team?"

Saru speaks over the second half of DZ's question.

A voice from everywhere: "All of you displaced from Culamine's domain will be hosted by one of my vassals; you will have beds assigned to you in the habitat's residential quarter."

A voice from the speakers nearest Shreya, and also the ones up on the observation platform where Dheto still stands: "My sister's Princesses may stay with mine in the citadel. I will extend the same invitation to Culamine's foreign guests, if they find such quarters more suitable."

A voice surrounding Devika and Recon Team Gamma: "Enemy combatants will, of course, be escorted to the dungeons. You will not be harmed. You will be relocated to the Unpledged Holdings at earliest convenience, although the vassals you displaced will obviously have priority access to available transportation."

Sounds reasonable to her; how do the colonials feel about it?

They do not seem thrilled by Saru's use of the word 'dungeon' or anything else about this situation, really.

Well, as long as they're just terrified and not feeling obstinate or anything, good enough.

    "Yes, Ma'am."

Saru watches silently as her vassals carry out her instructions.

The refugees get hosts. The colonials get armed escorts. The crowd starts to thin out.

Deskyl follows the colonials, successfully staring down the guard who tries to get Devika to join the group but staying close enough to them that it's a relative nonissue anyway.

...Shreya will follow Deskyl?

A vassal of Saru attempts to pair off with Nilam, but the girl rejects this out of hand and opts to follow Deskyl as well.

"...but I was instructed to..." the vassal will follow Nilam.

While the line of colonials wait outside the elevator, several of Saru's SLAYER pilots approach Deskyl's retinue.

They all wear masks like the one she saw in the transmission earlier. Though there are a few small differences visible between the four of them (one is heavier set, one is shorter, one has an outline suggesting she might be a leon but might just be naturally lacking curvature, the small patches of skin visible between their masks and their bodysuit runs a range of colors) their identical attire and near-identical emotional range makes them hard to tell apart.

Two of them are escorting Dheto and the other Thousand Fingers knight.

One of them stops at Shreya's side.

The fourth strides up to Deskyl.

    "Hello, Ma'am. I'm DZ-twelve-Q, Deskyl's translator; she doesn't speak your language."

"It's good to meet you, DZ-twelve-Q. I will be serving as her guide for the duration of her stay here."

Dheto gives the colonial captives a wary glance, then starts down the spiral stair with her own guide in tow.

"Thank you, Ma'am. May I ask what you've been told about her?"

"I've been informed that she is a guest of great importance, that she may not be familiar with our customs, that she may--"

The second Thousand Fingers knight starts to follow Dheto down the stairs, but she stops as she passes Deskyl's retinue.

"Nilam! Nilam, you're okay!"

She shoves her way past Deskyl's legionnaire guide to sweep up the girl standing in the sith's shadow.

The Sith interposes herself between this unexpected person and her charge, staring her down.

Ladriel's princess stops short of bowling Deskyl over but does not back down.

"Get out of my way."

"...Mooooommm!"

"She doesn't understand your language, Ma'am, I'm sorry."

She's already signing as she speaks, and Deskyl backs off, still alert.

The woman seems to realize the extent of her faux pas. She takes a single step away from Deskyl and inclines her head apologetically.

"My name is Sakshi Kaur. That is my daughter." Seeing DZ's signing, she addresses her introduction to the droid. "I wasn't sure if I'd see her again? Thank you for bringing her here. Please pardon my outburst."

Deskyl relaxes when the woman backs off, and nods at DZ's translation.

    "It's okay, Ma'am, very understandable under the circumstances. Nilam is fine; she's made something of an impression, in fact."

"Oh?" Sakshi seems a little nervous regarding exactly what sort of impression her daughter might have made on Deskyl.

(Behind her, the elevator finally opens and the guards start herding the captive colonials inside.)