Chapter 311: News From The Karven 2
The escort ships reacted immediately, spreading out as they tried to escape the tightening formation.
Solenne’s drones quickly moved to cut off the right flank, forcing several ships to change course before they had gathered enough speed.
At almost the same time, Lysara disabled two smaller cutters with precise shots aimed directly at their engines, leaving them drifting without destroying them.
Astra only fired once, but that single shot crippled the lead escort before it could rotate its main guns into position.
Aurelian watched the battle calmly before giving the order everyone had expected.
"Disable them. Do not destroy unless there’s no other choice."
His fleet answered immediately.
Within only a few minutes, the Kharov inspection flotilla realized this was never a simple relay dispute.
It was an ambush from the beginning.
One of the larger warships suddenly throttled up to full power, trying to force its way toward the edge of the interdiction field before the trap completely closed around them.
It never got the chance.
Rhoswen emerged from concealment directly in front of the fleeing ship.
"Hello," she said over the open communication channel.
The next moment, the Crimson Bulwark slammed into the enemy’s forward shields with enough force to completely destroy its escape route.
The impact threw the vessel off course, overloaded its shields, and left it spinning just long enough for the rest of the fleet to surround it.
Aurelian closed his eyes for half a second.
"She used the open channel?" he asked.
"Yes," Astra replied.
"Of course she did."
The enemy command ship refused to give up. Realizing its normal communications had already been blocked, it activated an emergency tight-beam transmitter and tried to force out one last warning. Eirenne intercepted most of the signal before it left the system, but not all of it.
A warning marker immediately flashed across the tactical display.
"Astra."
"Already firing."
The Black Crown answered before Aurelian could say anything else. Its shot sliced cleanly through the transmitter mount, destroying the entire array before the emergency signal could stabilize.
Eirenne immediately checked every possible transmission path, following the signal through several backup routes before finally looking up.
"No confirmed escape."
That was all anyone needed to hear.
The battle ended only a few minutes later.
With every communication channel blocked, every escape route sealed, and Cassian’s enormous flagship finally appearing at the edge of sensor range, the remaining Kharov crews understood there was no realistic way out.
Three ships surrendered without further fighting.
Two others had to be disabled before their captains accepted reality.
The command vessel held out the longest. Its officers tried to organize a defense even after the outer hull had been breached, but once Arcturus boarding teams reached the command deck, resistance collapsed before the fighting ever reached the bridge itself.
From beginning to end, the entire operation lasted less than thirty minutes.
No warning escaped the system.
That was the victory that mattered most.
Aurelian stood quietly on the Black Crown’s command deck while the captured Kharov ships were secured one after another.
Their crews were separated, disarmed, and processed while engineering teams checked each vessel for hidden transmissions or self-destruct systems.
Outside the bridge windows, the dead star system remained as empty and forgettable as ever.
That was exactly why it had been chosen.
No one paid attention to places like this.
Cassian opened a communication channel.
"Cleanly done."
"Mostly," Aurelian answered.
Before anyone else could speak, Rhoswen joined the channel.
"I followed orders."
Astra answered immediately.
"You also said hello."
Rhoswen looked completely unapologetic.
"It was psychological warfare."
Aurelian slowly turned toward her image on the display.
She looked back at him with absolute confidence, clearly believing her explanation made perfect sense.
Cassian’s face remained completely unchanged.
For some reason, that silence felt far more dangerous than if he had frowned.
After several seconds, he finally spoke.
"Next time, use fewer words."
Rhoswen gave a serious nod.
"Understood."
Aurelian decided that counted as progress.
Even Astra remained silent this time.
While everyone else finished securing the prisoners, Eirenne was already inside the captured command vessel’s systems.
She moved through encrypted files, officer records, communication logs, and authentication programs with incredible speed, quietly extracting anything that might be useful before anyone could even think to wipe the databases.
Within an hour, she had gathered authentication keys, message structures, officer files, routing information, and enough recent communications to continue the deception for several more days.
Three hours later, the first false report was ready.
Using the captured Kharov security chain, the message was transmitted exactly as an official inspection report would have been.
Karven Spire had experienced relay degradation due to sabotage by disloyal internal personnel.
The inspection flotilla had confirmed that the relay itself remained functional, but several days of calibration would be necessary before normal operations resumed.
Local command remained loyal, although further communication interruptions were expected during the repair process.
The report was incredibly ordinary.
Nothing about it sounded dramatic.
Nothing about it demanded immediate attention.
That was exactly why it worked.
People were far less suspicious of boring reports than exciting ones.
Cassian approved the transmission without changing a single line.
Aurelian watched the message travel through the captured Kharov authentication network before disappearing toward Varensk.
For now, the March had earned itself more time.
Not a great deal.
But enough to choose its next move rather than have one forced upon it.
Once the operation officially ended, Aurelian returned to the Black Crown’s bridge and studied the larger strategic map again.
Glasswake Watch still glowed behind them inside Mournveil.
Karven Spire and Nhalis have now secured the outer chain.
Virell’s Reach waited farther ahead.
Varensk remained distracted, though it was becoming increasingly suspicious.
Auric Maw was still hidden somewhere beyond the known routes, dangerous, silent, and patient.
The March was being pulled toward several objectives at once, and each one mattered.
Astra quietly stepped beside him.
"What now?"
Aurelian kept his eyes on the route leading toward Virell’s Reach.
"Now we make good use of the time we bought."
A few moments later, Rhoswen’s voice came through the channel again.
This time she sounded much quieter than before.
"Does that mean the next fight will be harder?"
Aurelian never looked away from the map.
"Yes."
For once, Rhoswen did not celebrate the answer or rush to make another joke.
She simply nodded.
"Good. Then we’ll prepare properly."
Aurelian smiled to himself.
More than the successful ambush, the captured ships, or the deception that had fooled the enemy, that single answer told him something important.
Mournveil had already begun changing them.