"My domain does not have clearly marked borders, due to the evershifting nature of the dysofrag fields. It can perhaps be best defined as 'the three small settlements where most of my vassal population resides, plus the surrounding volume of space that my knights are responsible for patrolling'? We are currently near the outer edge of that volume."

DZ relays this, and the pair discuss it. (Deskyl is flagging, and exerting herself both to have the conversation and to hide how much it drains her to do so. She's good at the latter - even a fairly perceptive human would have trouble noticing - but not perfect.)

    "Deskyl would like to go to one of your settlements to recuperate, Ma'am, unless you'd like us to go someplace else in particular."

"Your request is entirely agreeable."

Culamine lets go of the SLAYER, letting herself drift slowly away so that both she and it have room to maneuver again.

(As she does so, some of the additional overlays to the holographic panorama blink off, though it continues to competently display a photorealistic simulation of their surroundings).

"Shreya, please deliver the newcomers to Procyon Station."

Shreya beams.

"Yes, Master!"

"I will search the vicinity for any further signs of anomalous events. Farewell. May your flight be tranquil."

Culamine spreads her wings and glides off.

And Deskyl retreats to a corner and curls up loosely to nap.

Shreya gives them the smoothest ride she can, despite the constant course-corrections necessary to dodge oncoming fragments of orbital debris.

And then, perhaps an hour or so later, she starts decelerating to match velocity with an oddly shaped space station in the distance.

It's a delicate procedure--the engine technology in this place seems cruder than what they had back in the far, far away galaxy that Deskyl came from--but at length Shreya brings them gliding up towards a set of SLAYER-shaped docking clamps at a speed that will make a link-up possible.

"Be careful, we're about to experience some rotational inertia... you'll want to get close to the opposite wall from the docking hatch if you can..."

DZ wakes Deskyl when it's clear they're making their final approach, and guides her into position when instructed.

The Sith counters the press of inertia on the three of them, when it comes time; not completely, but enough to be very noticeable.

The docking clamps lock in place. The room shakes. And yet, strangely, its occupants barely budge.

(Shreya has performed similar maneuvers dozens of times--thousands if you count simulator training--and it's immediately evident to her that her body isn't moving the way it's supposed to?)

The wall Deskyl and DZ lean against has now effectively become 'down' and the one across from them has become the ceiling.

The pilot removes the plug in from between her shoulderblades, ejects herself from the suspension harness and drops to the padded floor beside them.

She asks them if they're able to move under their own power given present inertial conditions. The conditions in question are actually pretty mild: less than half the weight that one would experience on the surface of the average inhabited planet.

Deskyl cushions the drop, as well.

"This is fine, thank you, Ma'am. I might have trouble in a place with less force than this; Deskyl can tolerate any conditions that humans find habitable."

Shreya walks to another wall of the cockpit and reaches into the cushioning for a recessed panel.

A ladder snaps out of the wall, leading the way to a small hatchway overhead.

"Okay." She starts to climb the ladder. "Follow me."

DZ follows; Deskyl peers at the hatch, but doesn't.

Beyond the hatchway is a narrow crawlspace. Beyond that crawlspace is a docking umbilical, and beyond that umbilical is an airlock set into the exterior of the space station.

Shreya pauses at the lip of the docking umbilical. Glances back and says to DZ: "Is she alright?"

"She'll be up in a moment, yes."

And as she's speaking, Deskyl hauls herself over the edge of the hatchway, on the side opposite the ladder.

It is not Shreya's job to ask questions.

She leads the way into the airlock, sits down within and opens a comm channel with someone in the station overhead.

"I've got two unexpected guests with me. One of them has injuries of an undetermined nature. Culamine has asked that they be given access to quarters, provisions and medical facilities."

A reply comes a couple seconds later: "Yes ma'am. I'll send a team down to meet you at the airlock."

DZ translates; Deskyl scowls, slightly.

The lower airlock door closes. The upper airlock door opens. The three of them now have free access to the interior of the structure.

"So this is it." Shreya gestures to the grey halls branching out from their entry point, dotted with irregularly spaced doors and interfaces and elevator shafts. "Procyon Station."

"Thank you, Ma'am."

Deskyl leans casually against the wall and extends her senses to get a look at the emotional tenor of the place, while she waits for whoever's coming to meet them to make themselves obvious to her.

It's a happy place.

Sure, there's a certain background tension of the sort that you'd expect to find in any settlement situated in such an Absurdly Lethal Locale but aside from that the space station contains a rather carefree-verging-on-lackadaisical emotional aura.

"You know, there's no rule saying we've got to wait on a welcoming committee. If you'd like to be somewhere else we could just... go?"

Deskyl produces a single sign in response when DZ translates this for her.

    "Do you know which room has been assigned to us?"

She nods.

"My master actually planned to give you a choice of four rooms, depending on your preferences between high/low-inertial conditions and high/low-access to social interaction."

"It will be best for Deskyl to be someplace quiet. Higher inertial conditions are better but that's less of a concern."

"Alright, this way."

Shreya leads them along the outer circumference of the space station, first via one of the main halls and then off along a side passage. She points out a couple essentials as she goes: the nearest gymnasium to the quarters in question, the nearest cafeteria, the nearest bathing facilities.

"And here you are." She stops at a door near the end of the the side passage.