Chapter 123: Conditions To Exist And Plans To Rebuild
"Then I’ll speak plainly too. I’m not from this region. I came here through a long-range route from a Human Alliance territory. At the moment, I’ve taken control of Larkspur Haven, which was the closest planet to the route, and I’m in the middle of turning it into a viable base of operations while fighting off the Kharov’s local pressure."
Seris and Meren exchanged a quick glance at that.
They had known some of it already, but hearing it from his mouth confirmed their guesses.
Aurelian continued.
"In simpler terms, I am building something out here, and that means I need systems, people, ships, infrastructure, and places that can help me with that. This bastion is now part of that. So are the awakened population inside it, provided you’re willing to work under the structure I’m building instead of trying to tear holes in it every few months."
The corner of Seris’s mouth moved slightly at that, not quite a smile.
"We will make sure that nothing of that sort happens."
"We don’t know that yet," Aurelian said. "If you work, you stay useful. If you stay useful, you keep your place. If some of you decide later that chaos is freedom and sabotage is what they want to do, then we’ll have a different conversation."
Meren let out a slow breath and nodded.
"We will do our best as we have been living under this unknown fear; now we at least have a sense of purpose."
Aurelian did not comment on that. He simply looked between them for a moment, then added, "You should also understand something else. This is not a peaceful region I’m inheriting. The local enemy is not especially advanced in some areas, but they are brutal, expansionist, and stupid enough to keep making enemies. Larkspur Haven nearly died because of them. If I leave pressure unreturned, they’ll just keep coming."
That made Seris’s expression sharpen.
"The Kharov."
"Yes."
Even now, after all the fighting and the records they had seen, there was still a trace of disgust whenever that name came up.
Meren spoke next, more cautiously.
"We’ve been isolated for a very long time, Commander. We have records and some external observational fragments, but not much lived contact. How strong are they really?"
Aurelian gave a short, humorless breath.
"Strong enough to kill weak neighbors. Weak enough that I can break their frontier forces if I choose the battlefield properly. Their technology is uneven, their strategic coordination is poor, and they don’t control space the way they think they do. They’re dangerous because they keep pressing outward and because the people around them are fragmented, leading to them not having a central control and coordination that is needed for battles on this scale."
That answer seemed to settle something in both of them.
Not relief, exactly, but perspective.
Seris looked thoughtful now.
"So in your judgment, this is still winnable."
"It is."
Meren glanced at Lysara, then back to Aurelian.
"And Larkspur Haven is your foothold."
Aurelian nodded once.
"Yes."
That silence after his answer was a little longer.
Then Seris asked, "What do you intend us to be?"
Aurelian did not answer too quickly. He wanted the words right, not polished, just right.
"At first, maintenance, logistics, archive recovery, system administration, technical support, and controlled expansion of the bastion’s useful sectors," he said. "Later, more if you prove stable enough for it. There are dormant drone classes here, unassigned labor cadres, and systems that can resume movement under real command. I need all of that brought back in order."
Meren accepted that with a slow nod.
"Work before freedom."
Aurelian looked at him.
"Structure before waste."
That made Meren’s expression shift just a little, enough to show he understood.
Seris was quiet, then said, "You really do talk like someone planning to stay."
"I am planning to stay."
That answer seemed to matter more than anything else he had said so far.
The room went quiet after that, and after a few agonizing minutes, Lysara broke that silence.
"If the Commander is staying," she said, "then you’ll need to make sure that everything here is in order, as the Commander himself is usually busy, and will not have a lot of time managing day to day."
Aurelian looked at her.
"True, but I don’t think it is that bad, is it?"
"It is," she replied, completely unbothered. "You’re simply lucky enough that Astra handles half the burden before you can get to it."
Seris actually smiled at that, small but real.
Meren did too, though he hid it better.
Aurelian let the moment pass rather than fighting it.
"Then consider this as correcting the habit," he said. "You wanted to know your place. Good. Earn it by making this bastion useful enough that I don’t have to stand over every system myself."
Seris lowered her head slightly.
"We can do that."
"Then start."
They spoke for another stretch after that, this time more practically.
Population counts.
Repair backlogs.
Inactive sectors.
Internal fabrication capacity.
How many awakened units could be trusted immediately, how many needed observation, how many were damaged badly enough to require restoration before they could do any real work?
By the time she and Meren left, it was already time for them to return, and while he was thinking about that, his mind was running through all the work he had now.
This is because the amount of work ahead was ridiculous. Larkspur Haven still needed rebuilding. The bastion needed to be integrated. The stargate blueprint would take time, materials, and the right moment. The Kharov were still out there.
But all of that will be slowly sorted out as they come up, and Aurelian is in no mood to deal with them all at once.
"Lysara," he said, "we’re leaving."
She turned from the window at once.
"Back to Larkspur Haven."
"Yes."
He looked once more at the ordered layers of data hanging above the central console, at the lists of blueprints, dormant capacities, and sealed industrial potential that had just fallen into his hands.
Then he closed the displays one by one before making his way back to Lysara’s ship.