The Black Crown docked at Helion Bastion Twelve without any trouble.
That alone made the arrival feel different from most of Aurelian's earlier visits.
The first time he had come here, large parts of the bastion had still been dark, damaged, or controlled by systems that nobody fully understood.
Now the docking arms moved normally, cargo crews were already working in the nearby bays, and several locally crewed patrol ships were preparing to depart from the opposite side of the station.
Helion no longer looked like a place waiting to be rescued.
It was starting to look like somewhere people actually lived and worked.
Aurelian stepped off the boarding bridge with Astra beside him.
Rhoswen followed a few steps behind, while Yelena, Mirei, and Katsura came after her.
Meridian was waiting near the end of the docking area.
