The chaos of the past few weeks had finally slowed, leaving Akiko with something rare. Free time.

She drifted back to the lounge, drawn again to the window that had revealed Erythraea's endless swirl. Her ears twitched as she caught sight of something new. A speck of metal against the gas giant's stormy backdrop.

At first, it was just a glimmer. But as the Driftknight closed the distance, the shape resolved. Jagged, sprawling, and unmistakably built from salvage.

The Outer Shipbreaking Yard emerged from the dark like a sleeping titan. Docking arms stretched out from a central mass. An amalgam of old ship hulls, makeshift platforms, and bristling scaffolding. Lights flickered across its surface, hinting at crews in motion. Freighters, shuttles, and salvage vessels swarmed around it like bees to a rusted hive.

Akiko floated closer to the viewport, breath catching as the Yard swallowed their approach. It wasn't Erythraea's size, not even close, but it loomed just the same. Closer. Cruder. Real.

She shook her head, a faint smile curling at her lips.

Perspective was a hell of a thing.

"First time seeing the Yard?" Lila's voice broke in softly, her tone warmer now.

Akiko didn't look away. "Yeah. It's... massive. Feels like it shouldn't even be possible."

Lila chuckled. "It's held together by stubbornness and ingenuity. That's how we survive out here. Patchwork and grit."

Akiko's tail flicked lazily. "Looks like a fortress."

"Not just a fortress," Lila said, her gaze lingering on the Yard. "It's the artery. Metal, oxygen, water, fuel. It all flows through here. Without the Yard, the colonies bleed out."

Akiko didn't answer. The structure was impressive, but fragile too. One point of failure. One well-placed hit. It reminded her of a tricked-out cart with too many patched wheels. Functional, but always one rut away from collapse.

She left the lounge and made her way toward the bridge, the hum of the Driftknight a steady pulse through the walls. Curiosity tugged at her. Tanya had kept her too busy to visit before, but now she wanted to see the Yard from the ship's nerve center.

The bridge was nothing like the Sovereign's polished command deck.

It was cramped, cluttered with consoles that looked cobbled together from whatever parts were available. The lighting was dim, utilitarian. The air carried a faint scent of oil and ozone.

Akiko hovered near the entrance, taking it in.

At the helm, Quinn sat strapped into the pilot's chair, fingers gliding over the controls with practiced ease. A smirk played at his lips as he adjusted their trajectory. To the side, Kara stood near the comms console, one hand braced against it as she spoke into her headset.

"Requesting clearance to dock at Berth Seven," Kara said, her tone leaving no room for argument. "We've got cargo to unload. I'm not here to wait in line."

The reply came a moment later, clipped and professional. "Berth Seven is occupied. Redirecting you to Berth Twelve. ETA for confirmation: five minutes."

Kara's fingers tapped a slow, irritated rhythm on the panel. "Twelve?" she repeated. "That's across the Yard. It'll double our offload time."

"Request noted," the voice replied. "Maintain current velocity."

She muted the channel with a flick. "Typical," she muttered.

"Trouble with the locals?" Akiko asked, floating in with a lazy drift.

Quinn turned just enough to flash her a grin. "Bureaucrats with too much power and nowhere to be."

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"They're running an entire yard," Kara said flatly. "To them, we're just another ship in the queue."

"Sure," Quinn said, chuckling. "But we know better, don't we, Cap?"

Kara shot him a look sharp enough to silence the grin. Still, there was a flicker of amusement in her eyes.

"Stay on course," she said. "If they want us at Twelve, fine. But we're not wasting more time than we have to."

"Yes, ma'am," Quinn replied, focus returning to his console.

Akiko drifted to the viewport again.

The Yard stretched across her vision. Patched metal, blinking lights, endless scaffolding. It looked like it had been built one crisis at a time, every part bearing the scars of survival.

"This place is... something else," she murmured.

Kara crossed her arms, following her gaze. "It's survival," she said. "Every bolt, every weld, it's the only reason the outer colonies are still standing."

The Driftknight jolted slightly. A docking arm locked into place with a faint metallic groan. Akiko braced instinctively, ears twitching at the vibration.

It wasn't smooth. It wasn't elegant. But it worked.

Kara unstrapped from her acceleration couch in one smooth motion and pushed off the frame, gliding toward the doorway with the ease of someone who'd spent years in weightless corridors. Her voice stayed sharp. All business.

"Normally, this is where I'd release you for shore leave," she said, glancing back at Akiko. "But since it's your first time at the Yard, there's something we need to handle first."

Akiko raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What's that?"

"Tarek," Kara replied flatly. "He insists on meeting every new face personally. And I'm certain your reputation has preceded you."

Her eyes flicked to Akiko's ears and tail. Subtle, but pointed.

Akiko smirked. "What, this look isn't standard outer colony chic?"

Kara didn't blink. "It'll make you memorable. And Tarek doesn't like surprises."

Akiko sighed and pushed off from the console. "Alright. Lead the way. But if he asks for my life story, I'm charging extra."

Kara's lips twitched, just barely. Then she turned and drifted through the doorway.

Akiko followed.

As they made their way through the Driftknight's corridors toward the airlock, a quiet tension settled behind her thoughts. She didn't know much about Tarek Solan, just the name, the reputation, the weight of implied importance.

She couldn't help but wonder what kind of man he was. And what, exactly, he'd already heard about her.

As Akiko pulled herself through the Driftknight's airlock, chaos greeted her.

The docking arm buzzed with motion. Workers drifted past in controlled bursts, wrangling crates, tools, and equipment. Voices echoed against the metal walls, sharp commands layered over the low hum of machinery. The air, though filtered, carried the faint bite of metal and grease.

Her gaze snagged on a crate marked with faint runic diagrams. Etched lines that once pulsed with the entity's power. Now they lay dormant, drained of mana and mystery.

Good luck figuring those out, she mused, lips twitching.

Kara was already moving, weaving through the corridor with the fluid precision of someone born to microgravity. Akiko launched after her, tail flicking as she dodged crates and elbows. The lack of gravity made every step a calculation.

Then, something shifted.

The dull throb of her migraine, present since leaving the Sovereign, lifted. Not gone, but easing.

"Connection established. Additional local features enabled."

Takuto's voice sparked in her mind, bright and cheerful after weeks of pain.

Her HUD returned. Not a surge, just a quiet unfolding. Like it had been waiting.

A local map appeared in the corner of her vision, complete with path markers and structural readouts.

"Convenient," she murmured.

No one noticed. Kara was still ahead, unbothered. The workers were too busy to care.

Akiko's smile faded. She'd have to be careful. The last thing she needed was questions about how she'd integrated into the Yard's systems, especially when no one had given her permission.

She pushed forward, the data feed making it easier to navigate the chaos.

The noise shifted as they neared the central hub. Less shouting, more machinery. The hum deepened. Energy rolled through the walls like a pulse.

She summoned a flicker of foxfire to her feet, just enough to glide forward. The dim flame wrapped around her soles, giving her a graceful boost through the air. It felt natural now, one of the few useful things she'd picked up from the entity's station.

But the moment soured.

The corridor lights flickered. Brief, but enough to cast the entire passage in flashing emergency red before they steadied again.

Akiko frowned. The flicker barely registered to the others. No one slowed.

Her ears twitched, and she doused the foxfire with a quick gesture. Somewhere behind the walls, a motor groaned. The Yard wasn't built for magic.

It was a miracle the place ran at all.

Better not push my luck, she thought, flexing her fingers as the magic faded.

Ahead, Kara reached a wide, circular doorway. The reinforced doors hissed open to reveal the central hub.

Akiko drifted in behind her.

Inside, the hub thrummed with purpose. Workers moved between consoles in slow arcs, clipped voices relaying data, coordinating cargo, adjusting flow. Screens blinked across every surface. None of it elegant, but all of it alive.

Akiko lingered near the threshold, watching the flow of it all.

The hub wasn't polished. It wasn't beautiful. But it worked.

And in its own way, it was just as impressive as the magic-infused halls she'd left behind.

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