The convoy reached Arrak Station on the sixth day.
It emerged from the final matrix at the edge of a frontier system, a dozen ships moving together in their loose formation, and the forward hub came into view almost at once. The pilots in the passenger hall crowded toward the narrow viewing strip to look at it, and for a few moments, even the veterans fell silent.
Arrak Station was enormous.
It was larger than the hub above Truimal, larger than Halden, and larger than any of the stations at Kessrin Command.
It was built in a vast, irregular cluster around the shattered remains of a small moon, its structures sunk deep into the broken rock and bristling with weapons. Heavy gun batteries lined every face of the station, their barrels pointing outward in every direction.
Warships were berthed along its outer edges in long rows, and squadrons of Mechas moved constantly through the space around it, flying patrols in tight formations.
