Cinderleaf Star treated Aurelian like he’d dragged the whole planet back from the edge with his bare hands, even though the war warning sirens were still active and the sky screens still had big red banners running across them.
The mont Black Crown locked into the main dock, the starport got loud in that controlled way planets did when they were trying not to look desperate.
Honor guards lined the approach corridor. Port staff moved fast and politely. News drones hovered at the edges until security waved them back.
People kept staring up through the glass as if the ship might vanish if they blinked too long.
It wasn’t hard to understand why.
Cinderleaf’s defense flagship looked big to the locals, but sitting next to Black Crown, it looked like a working boat parked beside a palace.
Even the younger officers in the defense fleet didn’t hide it well. They tried to act professional, but their eyes kept drifting back to the hull plating and the scale of the weapon housings, the kind of look that said, "I didn’t know ships like this were real."
Aurelian stepped off the boarding ramp with Astra at his side and imdiately got hit with a wall of attention.
Governor Halden Rourke was already waiting at the end of the reception line with Commander rrick and a handful of senior staff, all of them dressed like they’d been awake for two days.
Halden’s face was bright in a way that almost looked wrong for soone who had just declared a war state, but the relief underneath it was real.
"Commander Vale Arcturus," Halden said, voice loud enough for the caras to catch it, "on behalf of Cinderleaf Star, thank you. You brought hope back into this system."
Aurelian kept his expression calm as he’d grown up around ceremonies, and he knew how quickly words could turn into traps if you acted too proud.
"Glad we arrived in ti," he said, then nodded toward rrick. "Your fleet moved out when it mattered. That alone saved lives."
rrick’s mouth twitched like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t. He just gave a short nod and stepped in slightly, like he was anchoring the mont so the governor didn’t float away into pure optimism.
"We’ll get you your ammo and resupply first," rrick said, direct and practical, "then we’ll take you to the briefing room. You’ll have full access to our reports and sensor logs, and our port will clear anything you need."
Aurelian nodded once. "Thank you for that."
That part of the day went by in a blur of controlled chaos. Port staff started moving cartridges and charge packs like their lives depended on it, because in a way, they did.
Local tech teams tried not to stare at Astra while she calmly walked them through what Black Crown would accept and what it would reject.
The governor’s staff kept trying to add extra honors and speeches, and rrick kept politely pushing them aside because everyone knew the sa thing.
A nice speech didn’t stop Omnics.
While the dock crews worked, Halden pulled Aurelian into a quick eting anyway, because governors couldn’t help themselves when history knocked on their door.
The governor’s war room wasn’t fancy, but it was busy and clean, the kind of room built for ergencies that happened often enough to justify it. The mont they sat down, Halden got straight to the point.
"I heard you’re Polaris," he said, eyes still wide with the sa disbelief. "A first-year."
Aurelian didn’t correct him. "Yes."
Halden let out a breath, then shook his head as he’d just swallowed a strange drink.
"I was in the naval track when I was younger," he admitted, and there was a flash of sothing old in his voice.
"I dread about the commander test like everyone else, and then I failed it, so I got routed into administration. I’ve run this planet for decades and we’ve never produced a single commander, not because our people are lazy, but because we’re... well, we’re Cinderleaf."
He didn’t say the word "low" out loud, but it hung there anyway.
rrick crossed his arms and spoke for him, because he didn’t mind sounding blunt.
"We’re a Tier One inhabited world," he said. "We can afford a defense fleet that looks decent on paper, and we can keep the ports running, but maintaining sothing like a true capital flagship isn’t realistic for us, not unless we beco sothing higher than we are."
Halden nodded quickly, like he’d been waiting for soone else to say it first.
"A planet’s energy level decides everything," Halden added, more animated now that he was on familiar territory.
"Higher-tier worlds produce better resources, better training environnts, better odds that soone with commander qualifications even shows up in the first place. People with talent leave for stronger planets as soon as they can, so you end up in a cycle where the rich worlds get richer, and the weak worlds keep patching their walls and praying."
Aurelian listened without interrupting, because it mattered that these two knew the situation clearly.
It also mattered that they understood why their planet was never going to be the center of the alliance’s attention unless sothing forced it to be.
Halden kept going, almost like he was trying to prove to Aurelian that he wasn’t so useless desk governor.
"I’ve spent thirty years pushing reforms here," he said. "We imported high-grade cultivation crops, expanded the ports, built academies, and improved the environnt in every way we could afford. If you gave another few decades, I might’ve pushed Cinderleaf into a better classification, and then the sector would have started taking us more seriously, maybe even approved a local gate soday."
His jaw tightened.
"But none of that matters if Omnics turn the place into a graveyard before the paperwork catches up."
Aurelian gave a small nod. "Then we don’t let it happen."
That simple line hit harder than he expected, because Halden’s shoulders dropped like he’d been carrying a weight alone, and soone finally grabbed the other side.
Once the eting ended, Aurelian turned down the governor’s offer to stay planetside. Halden tried to insist, promised a secure suite and every comfort, but Aurelian didn’t even pretend to consider it.
"War’s coming," he said, plain and calm. "If sothing changes, I need to be on the ship already, not racing back to it."
Astra, standing a step behind him, didn’t say anything, but the way her eyes stayed sharp told Halden everything he needed to know.
Back aboard Black Crown, the ship felt different from how it had before the first battle. It still humd the sa, and the corridors still looked clean and quiet, but now there was a layer of readiness sitting under everything as both of them were waiting for the next battle.
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