Chapter 389: Return Back To Crownward March 2

A surviving command-support relic.

The wording had been vague.

The possible reward had not been.

If recovered, it could significantly improve large-scale data processing and fleet coordination.

That immediately made Aurelian think of Eirenne.

He kept the System out of the explanation.

"Helion’s old route records and the sanctuary archive both mention this area," he said. "The references are incomplete, but there was once a Vhaloric command-support facility somewhere beyond the Ashen Veil corridor."

Eirenne studied the route.

"I remember the Helion record. It was dismissed because the final coordinates were corrupted."

"They may not be completely corrupted."

Lysara’s image appeared after Aurelian called her.

She was still at Helion Bastion Twelve, overseeing the captured ships with Meridian.

Aurelian showed her the map.

Her attention sharpened immediately.

"I know this route."

"You’ve been there?"

"Not that far. Directorate patrols avoided the deeper section after several navigation beacons failed."

"Why?"

"Unknown. Records were restricted before the Directorate collapsed."

That made it more interesting.

Rhoswen leaned closer.

"So we are exploring."

"Some of us."

Her expression improved.

Aurelian continued before she could volunteer herself.

"The fleet cannot all leave. Sanctuary Ardent still needs strength nearby, and Solenne’s carrier group needs repairs."

Solenne joined the channel from orbit.

"My main hull is ready for normal movement. My strike groups are not."

"How long?"

"Five days before I am comfortable taking them into another serious battle."

"Then you stay here."

Solenne did not argue.

That was exactly the answer Aurelian expected from her.

"Rhoswen stays as well."

Rhoswen stared at him.

"What?"

"You are one of the fastest responses we have if Drann tries something."

"I could also respond very quickly to whatever is in the ruin."

"This is not a combat expedition."

"That has never stopped combat from happening."

Astra looked at her.

"That is exactly why you are staying."

Rhoswen looked personally betrayed.

Aurelian ignored it.

He had another reason.

The expedition needed ships with technical knowledge and enough independence to operate without him.

Lysara was obvious.

She understood old Vhaloric systems better than anyone else in the fleet.

The Thornwake sisters were also finally reaching the point where limited operations became useful.

They had been recovering for too long to remain permanently hidden inside repair docks.

Aurelian opened a connection to Meridian.

Her image appeared from one of Helion’s engineering bays.

Behind her, two of the Thornwake cruisers were visible inside separate maintenance frames.

"How ready are Selvarin and Veylora?"

"For exploration?"

"Yes."

Meridian thought for a moment.

"Selvarin is ready. Veylora is nearly ready. I would not send Maelis into an extended operation yet, and Liora still has an unstable secondary power system."

Aurelian had expected something similar.

"Combat?"

"They can defend themselves. I would not put them in a fleet battle."

"Good enough."

Selvarin appeared in the channel not long afterward.

Her posture was as formal as ever.

"Commander."

"I have a reconnaissance mission."

She listened while Aurelian explained the route.

Veylora joined halfway through and immediately became interested in the references to the old facility.

"If this was a command-support site," she said, "it may contain surviving navigation archives even if the main systems are gone."

"That is part of why I want you there."

Selvarin looked toward Lysara’s map.

"Who leads?"

"Lysara."

Neither Thornwake sister objected.

Lysara had far more experience with old Vhaloric systems and the Mournveil routes.

Aurelian continued.

"You are not there to clear the entire site. You confirm the route, inspect what you safely can, and leave a navigation marker if the location is worth returning to."

Veylora nodded.

"And if the facility is occupied?"

"Withdraw unless the threat is minor."

Rhoswen made a quiet sound of disappointment from the side.

Aurelian looked at her.

She stopped.

Lysara studied the deeper map.

"How far?"

"Eirenne?"

"Seven to nine days depending on storm movement."

That was longer than Aurelian liked.

Not because he doubted Lysara.

Because losing contact for that long inside Mournveil was never comfortable.

"Maintain scheduled check-ins at every safe relay point," he said. "If you miss two, we assume something went wrong."

Lysara nodded.

"Reasonable."

Aurelian looked toward Eirenne.

"Can we improve their navigation support before they leave?"

"I can prepare updated storm models using Sanctuary Ardent’s old astronomical records and Helion’s current sensors."

"How much difference?"

"Enough to reduce unnecessary route corrections."

"Do it."

That was where the Continuity Vault’s equipment and the Morozova navigation work became useful again.

Yelena had already sent Meridian the adapted stargate navigation designs.

They were nowhere near building a stargate, but the route-stabilization mathematics could improve long-distance beacon placement.

Aurelian sent the same material to Lysara.

She examined it briefly.

"This will help."

"Good."

The expedition was small by design.

Lysara.

Selvarin.

Veylora.

Two support vessels.

One scout cutter.

Enough supplies for more than a month.

No large fleet.

No medical transports.

No force that would tempt anyone into turning reconnaissance into conquest.

Rhoswen looked over the list.

"You really are not sending me."

"No."

"Not even as emergency support."

"No."

"What if they find something enormous?"

"They report it."

"What if it attacks them?"

"They leave."

"What if leaving is impossible?"

Aurelian looked toward Lysara.

She answered before he could.

"Then I will survive long enough for you to complain about not being invited afterward."

Rhoswen considered that.

"Fine."

Aurelian suspected that was the closest he was going to get to acceptance.

The meeting continued into the afternoon.

Neris received responsibility for reorganizing transport routes between the three major Crownward positions.

Astercourt began working with the Sanctuary council on a proper population schedule instead of emergency intake.

The first two hundred reserve survivors selected earlier were approved for awakening over the next several days, mostly doctors, engineers, teachers, and administrators who could help the sanctuary function without outside support.

Aurelian also ordered the process slowed after that first group.

He did not want thousands of people awakened simply because the pods could be opened.

Housing had to grow first.

Medical capacity had to stay ahead of the population.

Food production needed to increase.

The same rule applied everywhere.

Growth only mattered if the territory could support it afterward.

By evening, Aurelian finally had enough time to inspect the latest report from the Destiny System privately.

No one else was in the room.

Eirenne was working through the sanctuary network elsewhere, and Astra was checking the Black Crown.

The System’s message remained simple.

Opportunity confirmed.

Old Vhaloric command-support site.

Primary surviving asset probability: moderate.

Threat level: uncertain.

Aurelian stared at the final line.

That was not especially reassuring.

He closed the System.

There was no reason to change the plan.

Lysara’s group was not going there to fight.

If the site was dangerous, they would leave.

Aurelian had learned enough by now to understand that not every opportunity needed to be taken immediately.

Some were better marked and returned to later.

He left the private room and found Astra waiting outside.

"Everything ready?" she asked.

"Yes."

"The exploration group departs tomorrow morning."

Aurelian nodded.

"And after that?"

"We keep building."

Astra looked toward the active command displays farther down the hall.

Sanctuary Ardent’s shield strength continued rising.

Helion Bastion Twelve was absorbing captured ships and new industrial equipment.

Larkspur Haven was receiving construction frames and agricultural processors.

The five Arcturus patrol ships would arrive soon.

The Morozova technical package was already improving navigation planning.

Drann’s outer positions were slowly distancing themselves from him.

For once, there was no reason to force the next major event.

The Crownward March had enough momentum of its own.

"We have time," Astra said.

"For now."

She gave him a look.

"You always add that."

"Because it is usually true."

The next morning, Lysara’s exploration group left Helion Bastion Twelve and entered the first Mournveil route.

Selvarin and Veylora followed close behind her, their restored Thornwake cruisers leaving the repair docks on a real mission for the first time since Aurelian recovered them.

They were not fully restored.

They were not being sent into a war.

But they were finally moving under their own power toward something beyond the territory they already knew.

Aurelian watched the departure through Helion’s long-range feed.

The ships disappeared one by one into the edge of the nebula.

Rhoswen stood beside him.

"I still think I should have gone."

"I know."

"If they find something interesting, I get the next mission."

"We will discuss it."

"That means no."

"It means we will discuss it."

Rhoswen narrowed her eyes.

Aurelian ignored her.

Somewhere beyond the mapped Mournveil routes, an old Vhaloric facility might still be waiting.

Maybe it held the command-support relic the records suggested.

Maybe it held only ruins.

Either way, Aurelian did not need to chase it himself.

That was another sign the Crownward March was changing.

His fleet was becoming large enough, experienced enough, and trusted enough that not every discovery required him to stand at the front personally.

The territory could keep growing even while he stayed behind and made sure everything they had already gained did not fall apart.

For now, that was exactly what he needed.