The academy group gathered at the assembly point a few minutes before three in the afternoon, galactic standard time, and most of the cadets looked considerably more alert than they had upon arrival, though a few were still stifling yawns behind their hands.
The guide led them through a series of corridors to a smaller hangar on the far side of the station, where a sleek transport craft was waiting with its engines already warm.
It was designed for short surface flights rather than the long journey they had taken from Truimal, with rows of simple seats along both walls and a narrow viewing strip running the length of the cabin.
Once everyone was strapped in, the craft lifted off and slipped out through the hangar doors into the darkness that had settled over the station during the long night.
They flew west, and they flew far.
