Chapter 386: Moving The Captured Compact Ships To Helion Bastion Twelve

"Your ships will reinforce the same forces currently scouting Crownward territory and preparing another defensive concentration under Saevor Drann. You may surrender. You may not withdraw under arms."

Keln’s face hardened.

"So this is not about Sanctuary Ardent."

"It stopped being only about Sanctuary Ardent when Drann began scouting our settlements."

Keln seemed to understand the answer.

He did not waste time arguing.

The communication ended.

Within seconds, the Compact formation changed.

Instead of turning to fight Solenne as one fleet, the ships separated.

Cruisers broke toward different directions.

Destroyers accelerated away in pairs.

The three supply transports each took a separate route with escorts around them.

Rhoswen leaned over the tactical table.

"They’re running."

Aurelian nodded.

"Smart."

She looked at him.

"You approve?"

"I would do the same if I couldn’t win."

Astra studied the dispersing formation.

"They want at least one ship to reach Drann and report what happened."

That was the real objective now.

Escape mattered.

Information mattered more.

Solenne understood it too.

She did not try to keep her fleet together.

"All groups, divide by assigned target. Fighters mark anything attempting to prepare an emergency warp. Cruisers take the Compact cruisers. Destroyers pursue their equivalents. Do not waste time destroying ships that surrender."

The Human formation spread.

The difference in coordination became obvious almost immediately.

Compact ships were moving separately because they had to.

Solenne’s ships separated because they had planned to.

Her fighters already knew which targets to follow.

Eirenne shared sensor data across every group.

The first Compact destroyer tried to reach the edge of the system and begin an emergency jump.

Three fighters struck its external stabilizers before the drive finished charging.

The ship lost jump capability and surrendered soon afterward.

A second group turned toward the alternate route.

That was where Lysara waited.

Her cruiser appeared from behind the debris cluster and fired a warning shot across the route.

Five Compact ships immediately changed direction.

Two turned back toward Solenne.

Three continued forward.

Lysara let them come closer.

Then she disabled the lead destroyer’s engines with one precise attack.

The other two realized the corridor was blocked.

One surrendered.

The last tried to push past Lysara and lost its weapons before it reached her position.

Rhoswen watched the feed with increasing frustration.

"This battle would have been enjoyable."

"You are supposed to be resting," Astra said.

"I rested."

"You slept forty-seven minutes."

"That is nearly an hour."

Aurelian ignored them.

The Compact cruisers were proving harder.

Captain Keln had remained with the largest group, four cruisers and six destroyers moving together toward the far side of the system.

Instead of trying to escape immediately, they turned and attacked Solenne’s pursuing ships.

It was a reasonable decision.

If they damaged enough Human vessels, the pursuit might weaken.

Their first concentrated volley struck one of Solenne’s cruisers and pushed its shield below half strength.

The damaged cruiser withdrew behind the rest of the formation.

Another replaced it immediately.

Keln tried the same target again.

The firing angle was gone.

Solenne responded with fighters.

Not against Keln’s flagship.

Against the destroyers around it.

Missiles and drone attacks forced the smaller ships to spread apart, opening gaps around the four cruisers.

Solenne’s own cruisers moved into those gaps.

The fight tightened quickly.

Keln understood what was happening.

He opened another channel.

"This is pointless."

Solenne answered.

"You can still surrender."

"You will take every ship."

"Yes."

"And the crews?"

"Alive, if you stop fighting."

Keln remained silent.

Aurelian watched his face through the tactical feed.

The Compact captain was not afraid of Solenne.

He was thinking about Drann.

The courier captain had been afraid to return.

Veyra Nine’s director had surrendered prisoners because he knew the alternative was destruction.

Now Keln was being asked to make the same choice with his fleet.

If he returned to Drann after surrendering twenty-six military ships, his career would be over.

Possibly more than his career.

If he kept fighting, he might die.

Aurelian understood why the decision took time.

Keln finally looked away from the channel.

Then the weapons on his cruiser powered down.

One by one, the ships around him followed.

Rhoswen stared at the display.

"All of them?"

"Four cruisers and five destroyers," Eirenne replied. "One destroyer is still refusing."

That final ship lasted another three minutes before Solenne disabled its engines.

By then, the wider pursuit was almost over.

The Compact fleet had started with twenty-six combat ships and three supply transports.

Nineteen combat ships surrendered intact.

Four were disabled and later surrendered.

Two were destroyed after refusing repeated demands to stop.

One escaped far enough to reach the outer system boundary, only to find an Arcturus patrol ship entering from Crownward space.

Its captain surrendered without firing.

All three supply transports were captured.

No Human ships were lost.

The cruiser struck during Keln’s first counterattack needed repairs, but it remained operational.

Solenne appeared on the command display once the prisoners were secured.

"Twenty-six military ships removed from Drann’s outer forces."

Aurelian looked at the result.

"Useful."

Rhoswen stared at him.

"Useful?"

"Very."

"That is all?"

Aurelian looked toward her.

"What would you prefer?"

"Something with more satisfaction."

Solenne answered for him.

"I am satisfied."

Rhoswen considered that.

"Fine."

Eirenne opened the captured cargo manifests.

The three supply transports carried enough fuel and ammunition to support a cruiser force for several weeks.

They also carried repair parts, replacement shield units, and several Compact communication systems.

Aurelian had expected most of it to go toward Drann.

Now it would go somewhere else.

"Send the shield components to Sanctuary Ardent," he said. "Fuel and ammunition get inspected before Neris sorts what we can use. Anything incompatible goes into storage or gets broken down."

"What about the ships?" Astra asked.

Aurelian studied them.

Twenty-six Compact military vessels were too many to ignore, but he did not have trained crews ready to use them immediately.

"Move them to Helion Bastion Twelve."

Rhoswen’s mood improved.

"Now that is useful."

"Meridian can inspect them there. We keep anything worth integrating and strip the rest for parts."

Eirenne updated the order.

The capture would not transform the Crownward March overnight.