Chapter 447: Talyra

"That was not permission to become unbearable," Neris added before Caelira could say anything else.

Aurelian decided to continue before the conversation wandered any further. "If you want to remain at Helion while deciding, you can. If you want to serve Crownward, we can formalize that. If you prefer a contract without permanently joining the fleet, we can discuss it. And if you want to remain independent after your repairs are complete, that's also your choice."

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Seraphiel was the first to respond. She leaned forward slightly, her expression thoughtful as she considered the options. "And if we join?"

"You serve under Crownward command during military operations and follow the same basic obligations as the rest of the fleet," Aurelian explained.

"You can refuse unlawful orders, and you aren't owned by the March, by me, or by the Arcturus family."

He deliberately mentioned his family. With everything they had learned about old Directorate command structures and the way shipgirls had once been treated, he wanted that distinction understood from the beginning.

"The Arcturus family supports Crownward, but Crownward is my independent command," he continued. "Joining Crownward does not make you part of my family's fleet."

Seraphiel slowly nodded before asking another question. "And the Veyr family?"

"Legal advisers in some of our current negotiations. They're a separate family and have no command authority over you."

That answer seemed to satisfy her, although she remained quiet.

Vaelith had a much simpler concern. She leaned forward with immediate interest. "If I join, do I get combat assignments?"

"When appropriate."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Real combat assignments?"

"Yes."

"I'm joining."

Aurelian stared at her, caught off guard by how quickly she answered. "That was quick."

"I was waiting for the useful part," Vaelith replied without the slightest embarrassment.

Astra covered a smile with one hand.

Caelira, at least, seemed to be considering the decision more seriously. "I want access to proper resupply."

"Within approved allocations," Neris immediately warned through the communication screen.

Caelira turned toward her with an unimpressed expression. "You're damaging the commander's recruitment effort."

"I'm protecting his budget."

Aurelian decided not to get involved in that argument. He looked back toward Caelira instead. "Anything else?"

She thought for another moment, then shook her head. "My ship was built to support a fleet. Sitting alone in a dock would become irritating very quickly, and Crownward clearly needs what I can provide. I'll join."

Neris looked as though she wanted to comment on that last part, but Aurelian moved on before she could.

"Talyra?"

The reconnaissance shipgirl barely needed time to consider the question. "I already made my decision during the reconnaissance mission."

Aurelian raised an eyebrow. "You might have told me."

"You didn't ask."

He paused, then gave her a small nod. "That's fair."

"I'll serve Crownward," Talyra continued calmly.

"The region needs reconnaissance ships, and I would prefer to continue doing what my ship was built to do. Your command has also allowed me to operate independently when the situation requires it. I consider that suitable."

That left Seraphiel.

Aurelian did not rush her.

When she first awakened, she told him she would listen and observe before deciding what she wanted to do.

Since then, she had seen Crownward's fleet, participated in formation exercises, spoken with Eirenne and the others, and watched how Aurelian handled the conflict around Orison.

Now she finally had enough information to make a proper decision.

Seraphiel looked through the window overlooking Helion's dockyards before speaking. "I served a command structure that disappeared while my ship slept. When I woke, nearly everything connected to it was gone."

The others stayed quiet and let her continue.

"You recovered my ship without knowing whether I would serve you. You began repairing it before I agreed to anything, and now you've told me that once those repairs are complete, I can leave with it if I choose."

"Yes," Aurelian confirmed.

Seraphiel looked directly at him. "That is not how the old Directorate would have handled this."

Aurelian suspected she was right, but there was little point pretending he fully understood an organization that had disappeared centuries before he was born.

Seraphiel remained silent for another few seconds before finally nodding. "I'll join Crownward."

Aurelian returned the nod. "All right."

The serious moment lasted perhaps three seconds.

Vaelith smiled and immediately leaned forward again. "Good. When is our first deployment?"

Aurelian stared at her. "We finished the important part less than ten seconds ago."

"I'm planning ahead."

Caelira glanced toward her. "I support planning ahead. Especially when it involves ammunition."

Neris groaned through the comms channel, and Astra finally gave up on hiding her smile.

Aurelian almost laughed himself.

The formal records, assignments, and command documentation could wait for Astercourt. For now, the important part was finished.

They had chosen to stay.

Not because they had awakened at Helion, because Crownward had recovered their ships, or because they somehow owed Aurelian for repairing them.

They were staying because they wanted to.

Eirenne appeared in the doorway before the meeting could properly end, and the look on her face immediately told Aurelian that the quiet moment was over.

"I traced the company that helped finance Dane."

His attention shifted toward her. "Who owns it?"

"Officially, three recovery firms."

"And actually?"

Eirenne walked toward the main display. "That's where it becomes interesting."

She placed a new map on the screen and brought up the financial information she had uncovered.

The three companies shared accounts with several salvage groups spread throughout the outer region.

Most of them looked ordinary enough, with spending patterns that matched small recovery operations.

One did not.

For nearly a year, the company had been buying fuel, reactor components, drone parts, replacement electronics, and long-range sensor equipment in quantities far beyond what a small recovery company should require.

Aurelian studied the figures more closely. "Where is all of it going?"

"We don't know," Eirenne admitted. "But I found the shipping routes."

The financial records disappeared, replaced by several lines stretching across the regional map.

The shipments passed through different systems, used different companies, and arrived from different directions, making them difficult to connect at first.

Eventually, however, most of the routes converged on the same general area.

It was a region beyond Orison's commonly used recovery routes, far enough out that even Annex Seven's old charts showed very little there.

Talyra stepped closer to the display, her expression changing as she studied one of the routes. "I know that one."

Aurelian turned toward her. "Another recovery site?"

"No."

Talyra enlarged the old Vhaloric map until a faded marker appeared near the region's center.

"Fleet reserve storage."

The room became quiet.

Aurelian stared at the marker for several seconds before looking toward Talyra. "How large?"

"The record doesn't say."

Seraphiel moved closer to the display, clearly recognizing the designation as well. "Reserve storage sites were not normal depots. They held equipment intended to support fleet groups during extended operations."

That immediately made the marker considerably more interesting.

"Ships?" Aurelian asked.

"Possibly."

"Weapons?"

"Possibly."

Caelira's expression brightened. "Ammunition?"

"No," Neris answered immediately.

Caelira turned toward her communication window in disbelief. "You cannot possibly know that."

Neris gave her a flat look. "I know you."

Vaelith laughed quietly while Caelira looked genuinely offended.

Aurelian ignored them and continued studying the map.

Dane was in custody. The immediate attack network around Valeris had been broken, the manufacturing cores were secured, and the seven ships sent to retrieve them were now being investigated.

For a few hours, he had thought the situation around Orison might finally start becoming simpler.

Instead, Eirenne had uncovered evidence that someone had spent nearly a year quietly moving supplies toward an old Vhaloric fleet reserve site that almost nobody remembered existed.

That raised several uncomfortable questions.

Fuel could support ships. Reactor components suggested someone was repairing or maintaining something.

Drone parts and long-range sensor equipment were even harder to dismiss as ordinary salvage supplies.

Whatever was happening there had also started long before the current dispute around Valeris.

Aurelian looked toward Talyra. "You just got back."

"Yes."

"How long until your ship is ready again?"

She checked her current maintenance schedule before answering. "Routine servicing will take approximately eighteen hours."

Vaelith immediately straightened in her chair. "I am available now."

"So am I," Seraphiel added, although she sounded considerably calmer about it.

Caelira looked toward Aurelian with clear interest. "I am also available, provided we revisit the missile allocation."

Neris made another unhappy sound through the communication channel.

Aurelian looked around the room at the four shipgirls who had formally joined his command only minutes earlier.

Vaelith already looked ready to leave, Seraphiel was studying the old Vhaloric marker, Talyra appeared to be calculating possible reconnaissance routes, and Caelira was probably thinking about how many missiles she could convince Neris to give her.

Their first official assignment might arrive much sooner than he expected.

"Nobody is going anywhere yet," Aurelian said firmly. "First, we find out what that site actually is."

Vaelith slowly sat back down, her disappointment obvious. "We could find out faster by going there."

"And we could find out more safely by checking what information we already have first."

She frowned but did not argue further.

Eirenne enlarged the unknown region and began adding the known supply routes, old navigation records, and the limited information available from Annex Seven.

Aurelian studied the converging lines again.

Someone had gone to considerable effort to hide those shipments. Different companies, different routes, and different systems had all been used to prevent anyone from seeing the pattern too easily.

Now Crownward had seen it.

Aurelian leaned closer to the map, his attention settling on the faded Vhaloric marker at its center.

This time, at least, he had no intention of waiting for another anonymous warning before he started looking.