285 Welcoming Committee

By the time the museum pieces had arrived at the station, everything else had been loaded, including over a thousand civilians as part of the Tarith Family retinue.

How they got that many people off the planet without anyone noticing was a mystery to Max, who was still back toward the aft of the ship with Dave, while the old veteran smoked and told war stories to every technician willing to listen. He had been a bit lonely since Max left, taking all the noise and activity of a preteen boy with him.

Nico and Major Miller were watching the door, with a squad of mixed Mecha from the Fifth Battalion stationed on the other side of the internal doors, in case there was trouble with the station.

A line of large transport dollies came into view, with a young man in a suede jacket riding in the lead cart along with a member of the station staff. The man was waving happily, clearly not in the loop on the fact that this was actually a clandestine departure.