Star Ship Girl Era: My Shipgirls Are Too Overpowered-Chapter 99: Leaving To Look For Another Possible Ship Girl
Now the Kharov rear would remain blind for a while. They would know ships had gone missing, perhaps, but not why, not where, and not how completely the system had changed hands, and that gap in understanding mattered more than anything else.
That gave Aurelian room.
And he intended to use it.
The clue he had purchased before coming here was nearing its end, and now that the immediate danger around Larkspur Haven had eased somewhat, he finally turned his attention to it, not letting it sit any longer.
This time, it pointed to a heavy cruiser.
According to the clue, the hull was intact and resting inside an abandoned underground military facility on a dead world in a nearby system.
If enough source fragments were used, it could be awakened directly and removed without a drawn-out reconstruction process, which saved both time and risk.
There might also be other useful things buried there, things that had not been touched in a long time.
Ancient storage.
Technical records.
Artifacts.
Weapon blueprints.
This region clearly had a history deeper than the current local civilizations understood, and the existence of a Kharov archaeological fleet nearby only confirmed that, making it more than just a guess.
The more Aurelian looked at the map, the more certain he became that there were ruins all through this stretch of space, hidden or ignored.
That was good news for him.
Ruins meant chances.
Ruins meant hidden equipment, forgotten hulls, and old technologies that ambitious people could turn into stepping stones, if they were willing to look.
The route to the heavy cruiser and the route of the Kharov archaeological fleet were close enough that he could deal with both in one operation if he moved efficiently, without wasting time.
The problem, as always, was manpower.
His fleet was no longer small in quality, but in numbers it was still thin when spread across a whole living world and an active war zone, and he could not afford to stretch it too far.
So he made the split carefully, choosing roles instead of guessing.
Astra would remain in command orbit over Larkspur Haven, overseeing surface surveillance, rescue coordination, and overall system control, holding everything together.
Astercourt would stay with her and continue turning the orbital station and surviving administrative net into something usable, something stable.
Elowen would remain focused on the Whiteheart operation and the artificial rain plan, which still needed time.
Neris would stay behind the main combat line and keep the fleet supplied, making sure nothing ran dry at the wrong moment.
That left two ships for the next excursion.
Rhoswen.
And Solenne.
That was enough.
It had to be enough.
The Kharov archaeological fleet was not heavily defended, according to the blind-box clue trail and the local data Caelan’s people had helped piece together.
It was guarded, yes, but not by a force worthy of a major campaign. More importantly, the main goal of bringing Solenne was not simply for firepower, as she is a tactical command center with everything needed in one place.
Before departure, Aurelian had one more thing to do.
He removed the Explorer Phase Radar from Black Crown and temporarily installed it on Solenne, shifting the advantage where it mattered most.
The equipment reset to zero the moment it was detached, but that did not bother him too much.
The radar had never been that hard to level in the first place, and for this operation, its marking ability mattered far more than a few lost increments, which could be recovered later.
With it mounted on Solenne, the chance of missing artifacts, buried equipment, or clue targets during the expedition dropped sharply, reducing wasted effort.
Aurelian wanted that advantage.
By the time he boarded for departure, the fleet had already settled into its new shape, each part moving without confusion.
Astra held Larkspur Haven.
Rhoswen stood ready for another fast strike.
Solenne’s decks were already alive again, aircraft moving, refuel lines clear, launch crews cycling with practiced speed, prepared for immediate action.
Neris remained behind, calm and useful as ever, doing her part without drawing attention.
Elowen was still busy with a world instead of a battlefield, and strangely enough, Aurelian trusted that work just as much, knowing its value.
Caelan had watched all of this with a quieter face than before, not asking unnecessary questions.
He was learning fast.
Not how to command like Aurelian, not yet, but how wide the gap really was between a world like his and the forces that moved through deeper space, and what that meant.
When Aurelian informed him that he would be leaving the system briefly to eliminate another Kharov problem before it grew teeth, Caelan asked only one question, keeping it simple.
"You’ll come back?"
Aurelian answered him in the same tone he used for everything serious.
"Of course."
That was enough. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
Not because Caelan had no doubts, but because at this stage he had already realized that his best chance of saving Larkspur Haven was to trust the man who had seized its orbit in less than a day and then started putting the planet back together piece by piece, without slowing down.
So the matter was settled.
Rhoswen and Solenne departed with Aurelian, slipping away from Larkspur Haven while Astra’s command shadow remained overhead, holding the system.
As the ships moved out into the darker edge of the system, Aurelian stood on Black Crown’s bridge and watched the route lines adjust across the display, each segment aligning.
Somewhere ahead, there was an abandoned underground base holding a heavy cruiser waiting to be claimed.
Somewhere near that same path, there was a Kharov fleet carrying things he had no intention of leaving in enemy hands, things that would be taken.
And behind him, a wounded world was beginning, slowly, painfully, to survive, step by step.
He folded one arm behind his back and kept his eyes on the star map, not rushing his thoughts.
The system was not fully his yet.
But it was getting there.
And the more he moved, the more the shape of his future territory stopped looking like a dream and started looking like a campaign, something real.
