"Astra, Lysara, Eirenne, Solenne for scouting and extraction support, Neris for transport capacity, and a limited escort group. Rhoswen only if we expect to breach the sanctuary by force."
A faint voice came through from a channel that should not have been open.
"That sounds like a yes."
Aurelian closed his eyes for a moment.
Cassian did not react.
Astra looked toward the source of the unauthorized connection.
Rhoswen immediately disconnected.
One of the elders behind Cassian coughed into his hand, probably hiding a laugh.
Aurelian continued as though nothing had happened.
"The full fleet would be too visible. A smaller force could use captured routes, move under false Kharov identity codes, and reach the system while the Compact’s attention is on the battle."
Eirenne added, "The inspection flotilla’s authentication records may help. The identity would not survive close inspection, but it could pass through automated checks and less important relay stations."
Cassian looked toward her. "Can you reach Dr. Renn again?"
"Yes."
"Do not. Not until we know more."
Eirenne nodded.
Aurelian agreed. Every message increased the risk.
Cassian’s eyes returned to the map. "We need the likely outcome of the Compact ambush before deciding anything."
That was the part Aurelian had already been thinking about.
The Destiny System remained hidden from everyone else, as always. He had not used it yet because he wanted Eirenne’s intelligence first, but now the decision depended on information they might not be able to gather in time through normal means.
He kept his expression calm.
"I will review everything we have and see whether I can find a better answer."
Cassian did not question the wording. By now, everyone around Aurelian was used to him studying reports alone and returning with unusually strong conclusions.
"Do that," Cassian said. "I will prepare a limited response group without announcing its purpose. If the opportunity appears, we move quickly."
"And Virell’s Reach?"
"Still important," Cassian replied. "But the sanctuary may change the order of operations."
That was more than Aurelian had expected him to say so soon.
The call ended with Cassian ordering the intelligence group to prepare several intervention plans. One assumed the Compact won.
One assumed Varensk won. Another assumed the battle dragged on without a clear result.
Aurelian remained in the planning room after everyone else left, except Astra and Eirenne.
"You are going to continue reviewing the data," Astra said.
"Yes."
"You should rest first."
Aurelian looked at her.
She did not move.
Eirenne smiled slightly. "Astercourt would agree."
"I am beginning to regret connecting the two of you."
"You did not connect us," Eirenne said. "We found common ground naturally."
"That is worse."
Astra stepped closer to the door. "One hour."
Aurelian raised an eyebrow.
"One hour of rest," she explained. "Then you can continue."
He considered refusing.
Then he remembered her earlier comment about being surrounded and surviving because of it.
"One hour."
Astra looked satisfied.
After she left, Aurelian did rest, though not very well. His mind kept returning to the sanctuary, the sealed halls, and the simple message that had reached them through layers of enemy control.
We cannot stop them alone.
When the hour ended, he returned to the planning room and locked the door.
Only then did he call upon the Destiny System.
The familiar interface appeared in silence.
No one else saw it.
Aurelian focused on the coming battle between Varensk and the Drael Compact, then asked for the most likely result if neither the March nor the Arcturus family interfered.
The answer came after a brief delay.
The Compact would lose.
Not immediately.
Not without inflicting serious damage.
But it would lose.
Aurelian read deeper.
The ambush itself was well designed. Saevor Drann had gathered nearly eighteen thousand ships, with his strongest Tier III and near-Tier IV forces hidden behind a broken moon belt near the Talis Verge.
Varensk’s advancing groups would enter the trap believing they were chasing retreating Compact patrols. Once enough ships crossed the boundary, Drann’s fleet would strike from three directions and cut off their retreat.
Under normal circumstances, the plan had a good chance of success.
The problem was that Varensk had received reinforcements that the Compact did not know about.
Those reinforcements were not coming from Varensk’s own reserves.
They belonged to Marshal Orvek Taran, a powerful Kharov warlord from a neighboring command zone who had suffered heavily during the earlier raids against the four-star cluster.
The reports from that raid had blamed unidentified pirates and internal sabotage, but Taran did not fully believe them.
He had concluded that someone was deliberately weakening Kharov-controlled territory and that the Drael Compact was the most likely suspect.
Whether he truly believed that or simply needed someone to punish did not matter.
He was sending three elite fleets to support Varensk.
More than eleven thousand ships.
Most were Tier III. Several hundred were near Tier IV. A small number of true Tier IV vessels served as command and breakthrough ships.
They were moving in silence and would arrive near the ambush zone shortly after Drann launched his attack.
The Compact would strike first and inflict severe losses.
Then Taran’s fleets would hit their exposed side.
The hidden fleet that had protected the Compact through uncertainty would be revealed, trapped, and slowly destroyed.
The Destiny System estimated that more than eighty percent of the Compact’s higher-grade ships would be lost.
Varensk and Taran would suffer heavily as well, but not enough to stop their advance.
Worse, the loss would not end the war immediately.
Drann would refuse to admit the scale of the defeat. He would describe the attack as a victory because Varensk’s overall losses would be greater, even though the Compact could replace its ships far more easily.
He would claim that the ambush had broken Varensk’s offensive.
It would not.
Marshal Taran would become more determined after losing so many ships. He would see the Compact as a real danger and push forward before it could rebuild.
Varensk would join him, partly to finish the war and partly to prevent Taran from taking all the territory for himself.