The cluster Eirenne had marked lay near the inner shadow lane, where the crystal dust thickened and the navigation space narrowed.
Fighting inside that region would give the beasts every advantage. They knew the terrain. The fleet did not.
So Aurelian chose the battlefield.
A wide clearing near the outer debris arc would serve as the ambush point. The outpost’s sensors could still support them from behind, Solenne’s drones could spread through the upper dust layer, and Lysara could mark incoming movement before the beasts reached the fleet.
The goal was to lure only a portion of the swarm, destroy or drive them back, then repeat later if the results were worthwhile.
The person chosen to lure them became the next question.
Rhoswen volunteered instantly.
"No," Astra said before Aurelian could answer.
Rhoswen stared at her. "You did not even wait."
"There was no need."
"I am fast enough."
"You are durable enough. That is not the same thing."
Rhoswen looked toward Aurelian for support and found none.
Aurelian shook his head. "You are the intercept line, not the bait. If the lure group returns with heavy pursuit, I need you fresh and positioned."
That answer worked better than a simple refusal.
Rhoswen leaned back, still disappointed but less offended. "Fine. That is actually reasonable."
Solenne offered next. Her drones could provoke the beasts from a distance, but Aurelian wanted something the creatures would commit to chasing, not something they would destroy and ignore.
Lysara finally spoke.
"I should do it."
Aurelian looked at her.
She continued calmly, "I know the outer routes better than most, my ship is fast enough to avoid direct contact, and my laser profile can provoke them without committing too deeply. The Vhaloric records also describe similar beasts. I may be able to choose the correct group to lure."
Astra did not object.
That alone said enough.
Aurelian considered it for a moment, then nodded. "You lead the lure. Take two drone screens from Solenne and one escort at long distance. Do not go beyond the inner shadow marker. If the swarm response is larger than expected, withdraw immediately."
Lysara inclined her head. "Understood."
Rhoswen folded her arms. "If anything grabs you, I am hitting it."
"That is acceptable," Lysara said.
Aurelian looked at Rhoswen. "Within the marker line."
She sighed. "Yes, within the marker line."
The fleet moved into position several hours later.
Glasswake’s pale star shone through the crystal dust like a lantern behind frosted glass. The ambush zone looked open on visual feeds, but the sensors told a more complicated story.
Small debris fragments drifted in wide arcs, charged dust gathered in thin layers, and faint gravity ripples passed through the clearing every few minutes.
It was not perfect, but it was better than fighting blind in the inner lane.
Astra held the center with the Black Crown.
Rhoswen waited forward and slightly to the right, where the beasts would most likely attempt a direct rush.
Solenne’s drones spread like a web.
Meridian kept outpost defenses warm but hidden.
Eirenne watched every signal, every dust disturbance, every strange shift in the local field.
Lysara departed alone, sliding into the shadow lane with the quiet grace that always made her ship look less like a machine and more like a blade moving through silk.
For several minutes, nothing happened.
Then the first signal spike appeared.
Lysara’s voice came through the channel. "Contact. Three adults. Smaller juveniles behind them. I am approaching the outer edge of the cluster."
"Proceed," Aurelian said.
Her ship fired first.
Not a killing volley. Not even close. A set of precise laser cuts struck the edge of the nearest beast’s feeding tendrils and burned through several of them in clean lines. The creature recoiled, curling around itself, then unfolded with sudden violence.
The display updated.
More signatures began moving.
Rhoswen’s voice brightened. "They noticed."
Lysara fired again, this time striking the flank of a larger beast and cutting a glowing mark across its shell-like mantle.
The response was immediate. The creature surged after her, followed by several others, their long tendrils whipping through the dust.
More beasts stirred behind them, irritated by the disturbance but not yet fully mobilized.
"Lure successful," Lysara said. "Pursuit group forming. Estimated two hundred smaller beasts, thirty-eight adult combat forms, six large leaders."
Aurelian watched the numbers carefully.
That was larger than ideal, but not too large.
"Withdraw along route two. Do not let them cut you toward the storm pocket."
"Understood."
Lysara turned and began the return run.
The beasts chased her with far more speed than their earlier readings suggested. Their bodies flattened, tendrils tucked close, they shot forward through the dust like red-black shadows with crystal growths along their backs.
They were ugly in a different way from the glass serpents, more muscular, more direct, and clearly angrier.
Lysara kept just enough distance to stay safe while occasionally firing backward to keep their attention.
Aurelian understood at once why she had been the right choice.
A less controlled shipgirl might have pulled too far ahead and lost the swarm.
A reckless one might have stayed too close and been caught.
Lysara kept the pursuit angry but not successful.
The swarm crossed the first marker.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Eirenne’s voice remained calm. "They are committed. No major movement from the larger cluster behind them."
"Good," Aurelian said. "All units, hold fire until my command."
Rhoswen sounded strained. "Holding."
Astra said nothing, but the Black Crown’s targeting systems were already aligned.
Lysara crossed the final safe marker and slipped through the gap between Solenne’s drone lines. The beasts followed, dense and furious, not yet understanding that the open clearing was not empty.
Aurelian waited until the leading adults entered the center of the kill zone.
Then he gave the order.
"Fire."
The ambush opened all at once.
Astra’s Black Crown struck the largest beast first, heavy beams cutting into the creature’s mantle before it could turn.
Solenne’s drones descended from above, spreading fire across the smaller beasts and forcing the swarm to bunch inward.
Lysara turned sharply and fired into the rear of the formation, closing the trap she had just led them into.
Rhoswen hit the front.
The Crimson Bulwark slammed into the leading wave like a wall thrown by engines, stopping three adult beasts before they could break through toward the Black Crown’s escorts.