Chapter 423: Seraphiel And Vaelith 3

Identify recoverable military assets within practical Crownward reach that could strengthen regional defense without requiring major conquest.

The response took longer than usual.

Several markers appeared.

Aurelian read them carefully.

The first was inside Helion itself and matched the dormant cores Meridian was already inspecting.

He ignored it.

The second pointed toward an abandoned Vhaloric patrol route between Larkspur and deeper Mournveil.

Potential dormant escort vessel.

Recovery probability: moderate.

Threat: low.

The third was much farther out.

Destroyed Human convoy group.

One command-capable hull potentially recoverable.

Current local hazards: moderate.

The fourth marker was near the safer route leading toward M-17.

Old military survey station.

Strategic material cache probability: high.

Dormant intelligence-compatible hardware present.

The fifth was beyond what Aurelian considered practical.

Travel time alone made it useless for now.

He dismissed it.

Then he asked for non-ship assets.

That produced several more results.

Rare shield-control components.

Old Vhaloric sensor assemblies.

Two recoverable mobile repair frames.

A sealed navigation archive.

Aurelian stopped there.

He could keep asking.

That was always the danger.

The System could turn the frontier into a map full of things worth collecting, and if he followed every marker, he would spend the next year sending ships in every direction while the March itself waited for him to finish treasure hunting.

He closed the interface.

The useful part was not knowing everything.

It was knowing where to look first.

Aurelian called Eirenne.

Her projection appeared a moment later.

"I need you to check several old routes."

She brought up a map.

"Which ones?"

Aurelian gave her the locations using ordinary route references rather than anything from the System.

One was the old patrol route near Larkspur.

Another was the military survey corridor toward M-17.

The third was the region where the destroyed convoy was supposed to be.

Eirenne looked at him.

"What are we searching for?"

"Old fleet wrecks, survey stations, military caches, anything Helion or Annex Seven records might have missed."

"Why these regions?"

"They connect areas we’re already using, and we haven’t properly surveyed them."

That was true.

Eirenne accepted the explanation without difficulty.

"I can compare Helion records with Annex Seven’s route archives."

"Do that."

"If I find anything?"

"Mark it. Don’t send anyone yet."

Eirenne looked mildly surprised.

"You don’t want immediate recovery?"

"We already have enough repairs."

"That is unusually restrained."

"Thank you."

"It was not praise."

Aurelian sighed.

Apparently everyone had learned from Astercourt.

By afternoon, the first answers came back.

The old patrol route near Larkspur did contain a Vhaloric wreck marker that had disappeared from modern maps.

The military survey corridor toward M-17 showed records of a small supply and sensor station that had never been formally confirmed destroyed.

The convoy site was less clear, but old emergency traffic suggested at least one ship had survived the original disaster long enough to issue a distress call.

Aurelian studied the three locations.

None were urgent.

That was good.

He created three low-priority survey assignments.

One would go to a Larkspur patrol group once its current route rotation ended.

One would be folded into Elowen’s next orbital survey expansion toward M-17.

The last would wait until Seraphiel finished repairs, since her sensor systems were better suited to searching a wreck field than most Crownward ships.

Astra read the assignments beside him.

"You are giving Seraphiel work already."

"After repairs."

"She will like that."

"You think so?"

"She asked for an assignment within minutes of waking."

Aurelian remembered.

"Fair."

A message arrived from Rhoswen.

He opened it.

This time it contained an image.

Vaelith’s engineering profile.

Someone had sent it to her.

Underneath, Rhoswen had written:

Her forward accelerator has a higher projected output than mine.

Aurelian looked toward Astra.

"Did you send this?"

"No."

"Eirenne?"

"Probably."

A second message appeared.

When she is repaired, I want a firing comparison.

Aurelian typed back.

No.

Rhoswen replied.

You did not even think about it.

Aurelian wrote:

I did. Still no.

Several seconds passed.

Then another message came.

Vaelith already agreed.

Aurelian stared at the screen.

Astra looked away, but not before he saw the smile.

Somehow, while stationed two days away at Valeris Reach, Rhoswen had already found time to contact a shipgirl who had awakened less than twenty-four hours earlier and arrange an unofficial weapons competition.

Aurelian opened a channel to Vaelith.

She answered from the repair dock.

"Commander."

"Did Rhoswen contact you?"

"Yes."

"Did you agree to compare weapons with her?"

Vaelith did not hesitate.

"Yes."

"Your accelerator is damaged."

"It will be repaired."

"That was not the point."

Vaelith considered his words for a moment.

"Then what is the point?"

Aurelian realized he did not have a good answer that would matter to her.

He sighed.

"No firing competition without authorization."

Vaelith nodded.

"Understood."

That had been easier than expected.

Then she added, "I will request authorization."

The channel ended.

Aurelian slowly lowered the display.

Astra finally laughed.

He looked at her.

"This is your fault somehow."

"I didn’t do anything."

"You introduced them."

"They have never met."

"Then this is worse."

Aurelian leaned back in his chair.

Crownward now had two more shipgirls, several possible recoverable vessels, new survey targets, an Orison ceasefire, and enough repair work to keep Helion busy for weeks.

For once, he was not going to chase every opportunity immediately.

The March needed strength, but it also needed time for that strength to become usable.

Seraphiel would be repaired first.

Vaelith would follow.

The reconnaissance destroyer would be inspected next.

Everything else could wait until Meridian had the people, materials, and dock space to handle it properly.

There would always be another wreck.

Another old station.

Another forgotten ship waiting somewhere beyond the next route marker.

Aurelian was beginning to understand that the real problem was no longer finding useful things.

It was deciding which ones were worth reaching for now, and which ones could safely wait.

He looked at Rhoswen’s final message again.

The firing comparison remains a good idea.

Aurelian closed it without answering.

Some things could wait much longer than others.