With his dark-grey uniform on, Denys left the Maid Marian and began to make his way to the Shipyard's command center. Along the way, he would see that just about everyone was dressed in the same uniform as him. Dark-Grey with no distinguishing features, they were clearly private's uniforms. The Wakefield-Council clearly wanted to give the Colonel a grand military reception but didn't want to seem disrespectful by dressing non-security personnel as officers regardless of their rank on the shipyard. Denys didn't quite understand why management couldn't just where their suits or why the dockworkers couldn't wear their overalls. Perhaps it was to make everyone seem beneath the Security-Officers, or maybe Denys was just overthinking it.

Denys got up to the elevator door that would take him up to the Command-Center. It wouldn't be a good idea to use Frank's card here, so he just pressed the buzzer and looked up at the camera. After a moment the doors opened up and Denys stepped in. It didn't take long for the elevator to get up to the Command-Center. A large square room that gave a bird's eye view of the entire Wakefield Shipyard. Denys could see the stars, all the ships that were docked by boarding tunnel, and all the men scrambling on the platforms, It was quite the view.

"Denys." Elliot Harcrow said under breath signaling his son to come over. Denys didn't respond, he just walked over as his father quietly asked. "Where the hell have you been?"

He shrugged. "Oh, you know...around."

"Don't be a smart ass. Just stand next to Frank and don't say or do anything disrespectful."

Denys did as he was told. He stood over next to Frank as their father walked over to his boss, Chief Victor Thorn. And next to Thorn was the Joseph Connor, the Commander of Wakefield's Union-Security forces. Chief Thorn and Elliot were dressed in lieutenant's uniforms, presumably with the Commander's permission, to give them rank over the rest of the shipyard. And then, of course, it was the Wakefield City-Council. Headed up by Mayor Xavier Harland. They were all dressed in suits and ties, obviously meant to distinguish them from the Shipyard workers.

Some of the families were here as well. In addition to Frank and Denys, the wifes and children of Chief Thorn and Mayor Harland were in the room. Commander Connor's family was probably waiting elsewhere on the shipyard. All the women in the room weren't in military uniform but in dresses that, while not as extravagant as the ones Denys was bound to see at the Gala, were badly out of place with what Mayor Harland was clearly going for with the welcoming ceremony.

There was one notable exception and that Mayor Harland's daughter, Josephine Harland. She stood there in a lieutenant's uniform with her light-brown hair shaved along the sides with the center done in a short military cut. Denys had heard stories about the fierce daughter of Wakefield's Mayor. She spent her time, not at the galas of the Upper-Station elites, but at the training facilities of Union-Security. She fancied herself the future of the Union Military as opposed to a future wife to be given to one of the other elite families of Wakefield. The 'Princess of Wakefield' is what people called her but, from what Denys had heard, she didn't like being called 'Princess'...or even 'her' for that matter.

The wealthy 'welcoming committee' all chatted amongst themselves until they received the alert from one of the men at the radar station. "Commander, multiple ships incoming."

The room fell silent as several simmering lights flashed out in space amongst the stars. It took a while for Denys to make out the shapes of the ships now approaching the shipyard. Three of the ships were frigates obviously sent to escort the large battlecruiser that was presumably transporting the Colonel. The Cruiser was huge and seemed very advanced. The 'Battlecruiser' was the newest ship-model in the Union Fleet, designed and built in direct response to the Madralen threat. Only five of them were currently in service, though Wakefield was about to launch the sixth one.

A voice came on over the radio speaker. "City of Wakefield, this is the S.S Nottingham requesting permission to dock."

Commander Connor grabbed a radio from a console at the front of the command center. "We copy, Nottingham. Request granted, You may begin docking at Security Platform 1."

Connor then led the welcoming committee out of the Command-Center and down to Security-Platform 1. Located in the area reserved for Union-Security use only, SP-1 was the largest platform in the Wakefield Shipyard. It was usually filled to the brim of large shipping containers but today it was empty. The platform had been cleared out to make way for the welcoming committee which was much larger than just the people from the command center. Dozens upon dozens of dockworkers had lined up in neat rows behind the Wakefield Council, Upper management, and their families. And they all watched through the large overhead window as the Colonel's battlecruiser slowly rotated to bring its starboard side horizontal with the platform. Several support beams extended from the platform to anchor the ship to the city, then came the docking tunnel to connect the platform's airlock to the ship's. The lights on the airlock changed from Red to Green as an announcement came over the intercom.

"The S.S Notingham has successfully docked."

"Everyone at attention." Commander Connor declared to the room. Everyone stood straight with their chests pumped out as the airlock doors opened.

Several Union-Security soldiers marched out of the airlock from the Battlecruiser and formed a single file line before the Wakefield welcoming committee. They were followed by a man in an officer's uniform, it wasn't the same as the uniforms upper management were wearing but Denys recognized that it wasn't a Colonel's uniform. Probably a Major. The Colonel's uniform came into sight behind the Major, it's long black military coat with a chest adorned with several medals and shoulders given the strips of the man's rank.

"Mayor Harland of Wakefield." The Major stated as the Colonel stood behind him. "May I present the Commander of Nottingham and the Direc-"

Colonel Basileus Ryker walked up from behind and placed his hand on the man's shoulder. "At ease, Major."

The Major nodded and took a more relaxed stance as the Colonel took a glance around the room. He smirked, apparently amused by the militaristic display the Mayor had organized. "That goes for all of you. At Ease!"

Everyone in the room dropped their stern military poses as Colonel Ryker removed one of his black gloves from his right hand. "There is no need to stand on such ceremony here. There will be plenty of opportunities for that on this solemn weekend."

Denys was surprised by the Colonel's candor but Mayor Harland wasn't. He walked up to Ryker and shook his hand. "Basileus, it's good to see you. Welcome to Wakefield."

"The feeling is mutual, Xavier." Ryker smiled. "And I can assure you it is a pleasure to be in your city."

Harland sensed Ryker's sarcasm. "Oh, I'm sure you'll find this place much more enjoyable than Rome."

Denys could see what all hype was about with Ryker. Standing a little over six-feet-tall with his strong chin, pronounced chest, and sharp blue eyes, the Colonel looked handcrafted by the recruiting agency of Union-Security. And, even with his relaxed demeanor, Ryker was still an imposing figure who absolutely commanded the room as he shook hands and charmed the Wakefield Council and their families without breaking a sweat. And they all hanged on his every word. To them, he was truly 'Captain Humanity'.

"Chief." Ryker turned to Thorn. "I would like to thank for clearing out space in your shipyard for me."

"It was an honor, Colonel."

"I assume those ships are well staffed." Commander Connor chimed in.

"Only with what the Chancellor deems appropriate for his Director of Special Operations." Ryker answered.

Connor sighed. "So a small army then."

"I'm afraid so, but don't worry. We brought our own supplies." Ryker turned and pointed to the man who attempted to announce his arrival earlier. "And Major Martius will be sure to keep the men in line. Isn't that right, Major?"

Major Martius saluted the Colonel, "Yes, sir."

Denys' father gave a few orders to some of the dockworkers to assist the Colonel's men with unloading the Nottingham and docking the rest of the ships. Ryker took notice of Elliot Harcrow. "Thorn, you've gotten yourself a new deputy since I've last seen you."

Thorn nodded. "Yes, sir. Allow me to introduce you."

"No need, Chief." Elliot stepped forward and shook the Colonel's hand. "We've met."

Ryker seemed confused. "Have we?"

"Yes, sir." Elliot reaffirmed. "Several years ago when you were last on Wakefield. It was before you became Director-"

"Oh, yes." Ryker interrupted. "I remember now. You had red hair then."

Elliot laughed as he stroked his now grey head. "Yes, I did. I wouldn't recognize me either."

"I wouldn't judge too harshly, Basileus." Mayor Harland teased. "I see some grey mixed in with your brown hair."

"Old age, Xavier. It comes to us all eventually." Ryker turned back to Denys' father. "I received updated files on the staff here before leaving Rome. They mentioned your wife. My condolences."

Denys' mother had died just over a year ago. His father just nodded and said. "Thank you, Colonel."

The Colonel exchanged a few more pleasantries with the welcoming committee before the Mayor decided it was time to move. "Alright, let's get out of the dockworker's way. I imagine your ships need refueling."

"Indeed." Ryker walked along with his new fawning entourage. Denys heard only a few more bits of their conversation.

"Alright, let's hear it." Harland elbowed the Colonel. "What did you do get sent out here?"

"You know our Chancellor." Ryker answered. "Sometimes he has a sense of humor and sometimes he doesn't."

"He sent away one of his top men because of a bad joke?" Commander Connor asked in disbelief.

"Does that surprise anyone here?"

"Well now, you must tell us this joke." Harland eagerly urged.

"I'll explain it in excruciating detail...in a more private setting." There was laughter.

Elliot turned back to Denys and whispered. "You go back home and stay there until I get back."

Denys didn't say anything in response. He just turned and walked away from the welcoming committee. Frank had gone off to assist Major Martius, so there was no one to monitor Denys' journey back home. It would be hours before his father got away from the committee anyway, nothing wrong with taking a pit stop by the Wakefield Factory.

It didn't take to long to make his way from the Shipyard to the Factory, but Denys decided to be quick with checking to the salvage boats for spare parts. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a lot of good parts today. Denys was disappointed but he still managed to fill his bag up with a few good bits. He thanks the factory worker who let him today and began to make his way to the Transit-Terminal when someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder from behind. "Hey, Denys."

Denys turned and suddenly saw Mara standing there.