Chapter 347: Taran’s Failure 3

His lead destroyers opened fire as soon as they entered range.

The sanctuary cutters immediately spread out and used the old mining structures as cover.

They were too small and lightly armed to fight the Compact ships in open space, so Eirenne never tried to hold them in a fixed line.

Instead, she sent them through the debris in pairs, using the broken platforms and mining frames to hide their movements.

One cutter would draw enemy fire while the second moved around the side. Their short-range cannons aimed for exposed sensors, engines, and shield emitters rather than trying to destroy whole ships.

They did not have enough firepower for that, but they could still slow the Compact down and break apart its formation.

The Compact destroyers were larger, better protected, and much more dangerous. However, the narrow mining lane worked against them because they could not turn freely without risking a collision with debris, abandoned machinery, or one another.

The first sanctuary cutter lost its shield after taking several direct hits and pulled back behind a broken mining frame.

The second used that opening to pass beneath a Compact destroyer and fire into its lower engine housing at close range.

The destroyer slowed almost at once, forcing the ships behind it to change course. Some moved left, others tried to pass underneath, and one light cruiser nearly struck the damaged ship while trying to avoid it.

For several minutes, the hidden Compact group lost its clean formation.

That was all Eirenne needed.

She activated old mining charges placed along the edge of the lane. They were not military explosives and had originally been used to break apart large asteroids, but several Compact ships were passing close to the remaining charges.

Three exploded at the same time.

Rock, metal, and pieces of old machinery spread across the lane. Compact shields flashed as debris struck them from several directions.

One light cruiser took a heavy impact against its bow and spun into an abandoned mining platform, while two destroyers collided while trying to avoid the wreck.

The sanctuary cutters attacked again before the Compact ships could recover.

This time, Aurelian opened a surrender channel, and his voice reached every Compact ship in the hidden group.

"Your attack has failed. Lower your weapons, stop your engines, and transmit your command codes. Any ship that follows these orders will be taken into custody. Any ship that continues toward the transports will be destroyed."

The Compact commander immediately ordered the channel blocked, but not every captain obeyed him.

One damaged destroyer slowed and shut down its forward weapons. Another followed several seconds later.

A third tried to turn away from both the sanctuary cutters and the rest of its own formation, clearly no longer willing to continue the attack.

The remaining ships kept moving, but their commander no longer had full control.

Aurelian watched the disorder spread across the tactical display.

"Eirenne, mark every surrendering ship as protected. Disable them only if they power their weapons again."

"Understood."

Marshal Orvek Taran noticed the collapse of the hidden formation almost at the same time.

His surprise attack had failed, several of his ships had accepted the Human surrender offer, and Solenne’s fleet had remained together.

He had hoped to force her to weaken the main line by sending ships to protect the transports, but Eirenne and the cutters had stopped the attack without that happening.

Taran could continue fighting, but every minute now worked against him.

Sanctuary Ardent was still launching transports. Its defense cutters controlled the mining lane, and more of its main batteries were returning to service as Eirenne restored damaged systems.

The longer he stayed, the stronger the sanctuary became.

Taran finally issued new orders.

The second group turned away from the evacuation route. The hidden ships still under Compact control were ordered to withdraw through the debris belt, leaving the surrendering vessels behind.

At the same time, the first formation fired one final long-range volley before beginning an organized retreat.

Solenne watched them pull away on the tactical display.

"Do we pursue?" one of her officers asked.

"No," she replied. "Recover the cutters and continue covering the transports."

Taran had withdrawn twice from the same battlefield, but this time he did not stop at the edge of the system. His fleet continued toward the outer jump boundary.

Aurelian watched until the last Compact group began preparing its drives.

"He’s leaving," Rhoswen said.

"For now."

She looked at the surrendering ships drifting under guard.

"At least he left us something."

"Those crews are prisoners, not supplies."

"I know."

Aurelian gave her a brief look.

Rhoswen raised both hands.

"I know."

Eirenne updated the evacuation display.

"Twelve more transports are ready to launch. With Taran withdrawing, Solenne can escort them beyond the system without weakening the sanctuary’s defenses."

"And the civilians still waiting?"

"Most can be moved within one hour and eighteen minutes. The unstable patients may take longer because the medical teams cannot rush their transfers."

Aurelian looked around the command center.

They had survived another attack without losing the transport route. They had captured several enemy ships and learned that Taran could be forced to retreat when his plans failed.

That did not make him harmless.

During the battle, Taran had tested the sanctuary from three directions. He had found weak points in its weapon coverage and learned that Aurelian would not chase a retreating fleet without a good reason.

The next Compact attack would be better prepared.

But so would they.

"Send Solenne the latest repair priorities," Aurelian ordered. "Have Neris resume full transport launches, and move the surrendering crews into separate holding areas."

Eirenne nodded.

"What about the cutters?"

"Repair every one we can. They belong to the sanctuary, and we may need them again."

Astra looked toward the evacuation map.

"And after the final transport leaves?"

Aurelian considered the question carefully.

Sanctuary Ardent could not be abandoned. More than forty-three thousand people remained asleep inside the reserve halls, and the Continuity Vault was far too valuable to leave without protection.

At the same time, the people who had already awakened needed a safe place to recover. They needed doctors, food, housing, and time to understand everything that had happened while they slept.

"We hold the sanctuary," he said. "Then we decide who stays, who leaves, and how much support the Crownward March can bring here before the Compact returns."

Rhoswen smiled.

"So the difficult part begins now."

Aurelian looked at the crowded display filled with damaged ships, medical transports, prisoners, and half-restored defenses.

"It started hours ago."

Outside, the next group of transports launched from Sanctuary Ardent under Solenne’s protection.

The defense cutters returned through the debris field, two of them damaged but still moving, while the captured Compact ships drifted under guard.

The evacuation was not finished, and the sanctuary was far from secure.

But Marshal Orvek Taran had finally left the system, and for the first time since Aurelian entered Sanctuary Ardent, the people inside could look toward the stars without seeing an enemy fleet waiting to kill them.