Chapter 438: Harrow's Rest 2

“Don’t arrest anyone based only on that,” Aurelian warned, looking between Rhoswen and Oren to make sure neither of them moved too quickly on the little evidence they had.

Rhoswen gave him a questioning look. “He’s not even here.”

“I know,” Aurelian replied, already expecting that answer. “I’m saying it before someone decides to solve that problem by going after him.”

Oren thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll request an internal warrant for his records and communications. That should give us enough to check whether he was involved without making any accusations yet.”

“Share anything relevant with Valeris,” Aurelian added, and Oren agreed without hesitation.

With that settled, Eirenne moved the discussion to another problem.

The anonymous ship that had warned them remained unidentified, even after several attempts to trace where it came from or where it went afterward.

That warning had almost certainly prevented the beacon from reaching the conference station.

Without it, Orison’s transport probably would have docked with the device still aboard, allowing the attackers to locate the ship precisely among all the other traffic around the station.

Whoever had sent the warning knew enough about the operation to interfere with it. At the very least, that suggested the people involved were not completely united.

“Someone inside their group might have changed their mind,” Astra suggested, studying the known movements on the display.

“Maybe,” Aurelian replied with a slight frown, though he wasn’t convinced enough to treat that as the answer.

Eirenne brought up the short transmission again. “It’s also possible someone discovered the plan too late to stop it directly. Warning us may have been the only option they had left.”

Rhoswen immediately looked more interested. “Can we find the warning ship?”

“Not easily,” Eirenne explained. “We would have to leave Valeris and search several possible routes, and we still wouldn’t know which one it used.”

Aurelian shook his head before Rhoswen could suggest volunteering. “We’re not doing that yet. We already have three captured ships and twenty-two prisoners. Start with what we actually have.”

Rhoswen sighed and leaned back. “Less exciting.”

“Probably more useful.”

She gave him an unimpressed look, but even she couldn’t argue much with that.

The prisoners were soon transferred into Valeris’s custody, with the injured receiving medical treatment before questioning began.

The first few refused to provide anything useful, either staying silent or claiming they knew almost nothing about the operation.

The sixth prisoner finally gave them something.

His name was Pel Arven, an engineer from Harrow’s Rest. He claimed he didn’t know who had planned the entire attack, but he did know what they were trying to accomplish.

Their target had been Orison’s transport.

Not the conference station.

Not the Valeris delegation.

The attackers had specifically been ordered to destroy Orison’s ship and make it look like the cooperative or another independent recovery group was responsible.

The hope was that the attack would end negotiations and push Orison into tightening control over the outer wreck fields.

Aurelian listened to the recorded statement twice, then turned toward Eirenne. “Did he mention Dane at all?”

Eirenne shook her head. “No. According to Arven, his orders came through Harrow’s Rest, but he doesn’t know who originally issued them.”

“So we still don’t have whoever is at the top.”

“Not yet,” Eirenne confirmed.

Aurelian wasn’t particularly bothered. They had enough information for now, and the investigation could continue without holding up everything else happening around Valeris.

Before the Orison delegation departed, Aurelian contacted Oren again to discuss their transport.

“Your ship will remain under inspection until Valeris finishes collecting evidence,” Aurelian explained, watching for any objection.

Oren simply nodded, looking like he had expected that from the beginning. “That’s understandable. I wouldn’t trust the ship again until the inspection is finished anyway.”

“Valeris can provide another vessel for your return if necessary.”

“That would probably be wise,” Oren admitted with a tired smile.

Aurelian watched him for a moment before asking the question that mattered more. “Does any of this change Orison’s position on the negotiations?”

For the first time during the conversation, Oren looked genuinely surprised. “No.”

“Even after someone tried to kill you during them?”

“Especially after someone tried to kill us during them,” Oren replied, calmly adjusting one of the documents on the table.

“If people are willing to attack a diplomatic meeting to preserve the current situation, Commander, then perhaps the current situation shouldn’t be preserved.”

Aurelian raised an eyebrow but said nothing. There wasn’t much to argue with there.

By the following morning, Valeris and Orison had prepared a joint notice confirming that the ceasefire would continue for another thirty days while the recovery agreement was completed.

Two civilian corridors would open under temporary rules, giving Valeris traffic safe access through the disputed region.

The disputed wreck fields themselves would remain untouched until the historical review was finished, preventing either side from changing the situation while negotiations continued.

Crownward would help monitor only the areas approved by both sides, and the observation platforms would remain under the restrictions they had already discussed.

Most importantly, Valeris had still not accepted Crownward protection.

Aurelian made sure the announcement said that clearly. He had no intention of letting a temporary security arrangement quietly become a political commitment nobody had agreed to.

Once the notice was released, the conference station slowly returned to normal operations.

Civilian traffic resumed, repair crews went back to work, and most of the security ships moved away from the immediate meeting area.

Rhoswen remained at Valeris while the investigation continued.

Harrow’s Rest had not yet responded to the request to surrender Malrec Dane for questioning, and Orison was preparing its own delegation to travel there.

Aurelian refused to send Crimson Bulwark with them.

Rhoswen had complained about that decision, but he wanted to see whether Harrow’s Rest would cooperate before anyone arrived at their doorstep with a battleship.

If the settlement refused or tried something, they could deal with that afterward.

Back at Helion, things were considerably calmer, although Aurelian’s growing fleet had created a different kind of problem.

Seraphiel’s formation trials were finally ready to begin, while Vaelith had completed her last controlled accelerator test and received clearance for normal deployment.

Meridian had still placed strict limits on repeated maximum-output firing until more data could be collected, something Vaelith was clearly unhappy about.

Caelira had also received enough medium missiles for training exercises.

She wanted more.

Neris had already told her no, and from the messages Aurelian had seen, that argument was nowhere near over.

Talyra’s destroyer was now fully operational as well, which meant that for the first time since recovering the new shipgirls, Aurelian had several repaired vessels available at once instead of having them scattered around Helion in different stages of maintenance.

He gathered them in Helion’s outer training zone for their first proper formation exercise.

Black Crown would serve as the command ship, with Seraphiel managing the coordination network.

Vaelith would operate near the front as the main direct attacker, while Caelira stayed farther back and practiced long-range missile support using training rounds.

Talyra would move ahead of the formation as the scout, gathering targeting information and feeding it back through Seraphiel’s network.

Astra studied the completed formation on the tactical display, her eyes moving from ship to ship. “This is the first time we’ve put all of them together.”

“Exactly why we’re doing it here instead of discovering problems during a battle,” Aurelian replied as he checked the planned distances between the ships.

Before Astra could answer, Vaelith appeared on the communication display with an unusually hopeful expression.

“Can I use the accelerator at full power?”

“No,” Aurelian answered immediately.

Her expression soured just as quickly. “Why?”

“Because this is an exercise.”

Vaelith frowned as though that somehow made his answer worse. “That sounds like an excellent time to test it.”

“Meridian said no repeated maximum-output firing until she has more data.”

“I only asked for one,” Vaelith pointed out, looking far too pleased with that argument.

Aurelian glanced toward Astra and caught her trying not to smile. He ignored her and returned his attention to Vaelith. “Use the approved setting.”

Vaelith stared at him for another second before finally giving in. “Fine.”

Her communication window had barely moved aside when another opened, this time showing Caelira.

“How many missiles may I fire?” she asked, already looking suspicious of whatever answer he was about to give.

“Training missiles?”

Caelira gave him a flat look. “Obviously.”

Aurelian checked the exercise plan even though he already knew the number. “Thirty-two.”

Her expression froze.

“Thirty-two?”

“Yes.”

Caelira leaned slightly closer to the screen. “I can launch five hundred and twelve.”

“I know.”

“Then why am I only getting thirty-two?”

“Because Neris approved thirty-two.”

Caelira looked genuinely offended by that answer, and before she could respond, Neris’s voice came through another channel without her even bothering to appear on the display.

“Don’t involve me. I already told her.”

Aurelian couldn’t help laughing, while Caelira somehow looked even less pleased.

Seraphiel finally interrupted before the argument could continue. “Commander, the formation is ready.”

Aurelian’s amusement faded as he returned his attention to the tactical display.

For the first time, the ships they had spent weeks recovering and repairing were all moving together.

There were still limitations. They had supply problems, unfinished tests, weapons that couldn’t yet be used at full output, and systems that needed more work.

Some of the shipgirls still needed time to learn how the others fought.

But they were no longer just recovered hulls sitting in Helion’s docks.

They were becoming a fleet.

“Begin the exercise,” Aurelian ordered, watching the formation move immediately.

Talyra accelerated ahead and took her scouting position while Seraphiel’s relay network came online around the other ships.

Vaelith moved toward the front, keeping within the approved distance from Black Crown, while Caelira settled into her support position behind them.

Everything spread out almost exactly as planned.

Then Caelira’s voice came through the channel.

“Commander.”

Aurelian didn’t even look away from the tactical display. “No.”

A short silence followed before Caelira answered, sounding genuinely offended. “I haven’t asked anything yet.”

“You’re still only getting thirty-two missiles.”

Another pause followed.

“Unreasonable.”

Astra finally failed to hide her smile, while Aurelian simply shook his head. “Begin the exercise, Caelira.”

Her cruiser immediately started launching training missiles.

All thirty-two of them.