So of the chs Aurelian had on hand still had pilot capacity, so Caelan’s people could use them even if they were not fully used to that level of hardware yet.
It would not be elegant, but it would be enough. Most of the units also had autonomous fallback modes anyway, which ant even a clumsy pilot would not die easily just because they were unfamiliar with the controls, the systems correcting where needed.
Once the first planetary waves had launched, Aurelian issued the next full set of orders, not rushing but not delaying either.
"Astra stays in high orbit and oversees surface surveillance, rescue coordination, and ground suppression. Astercourt remains with her and begins station and orbital administration as soon as the ring is secure. Elowen stays back from direct combat and prepares dical and environntal support packages for later deploynt. Neris holds behind the main combat line and keeps the fleet supplied."
He paused only long enough to shift his eyes toward the two won who would take the next hard part, making sure they were focused.
"Rhoswen and Solenne move to the edge of the system and prepare an ambush for the incoming reinforcent fleet. Neris will replenish Solenne before she joins the forward line."
The responses ca at once.
"Yes, Commander."
There was no hesitation anywhere, no need for repetition.
Rhoswen looked especially pleased; her posture looked like she would fight anyone or anything.
A direct chase and strike mission suited her better than waiting in orbit, and now that she understood Aurelian’s expectations better than before, she looked much sharper than she had during her first few fights, more controlled.
Solenne, for her part, only smiled and started issuing launch-cycle adjustnts for the next engagent, already preparing her squadrons for another round without wasting ti.
Aurelian watched them for a second, then gave the last part of the order, keeping it simple.
"You two choose your own engagent positions, but don’t waste the advantage. I want the enemy hit before they understand what happened here so that we can get more wiggle room to play around."
That was all they needed.
As the fleet split by role, Caelan remained on the bridge long enough to watch it happen, and the expression on his face had shifted again. This ti, it was not just shock or relief.
It was the uncomfortable realization that the people he had just allied himself with did not rely intend to save his world.
They intended to reorganize the whole war around it, step by step.
He looked at Aurelian after a while, and there was still so disbelief there, mixed with sothing else.
"You gave those orders as if this were already your system."
Aurelian did not look offended, and he did not try to soften it.
He just answered plainly.
"It will be, if I do this right."
Caelan had no answer to that, not one he could say out loud.
Below them, Larkspur Haven turned slowly under cloud cover, quiet from orbit, ruined in ways that could not be seen yet from this height.
Sowhere in that world, the infection was still spreading, survivors were still hiding, and local governnts that had not completely fallen were probably holding together with fear and improvisation, trying to last one more day at a ti.
That would take ti.
But ti was sothing the planet had again now, even if it was limited.
And at the far edge of the system, a second battle was already being prepared, building quietly.
Solenne broke away first after a fast resupply cycle, her carrier decks alive again with fresh aircraft moving into position.
Rhoswen followed shortly after, Crimson Bulwark moving like a blade headed for a throat, fast and direct.
Neris remained behind the forward position as ordered, ready to support without putting herself in unnecessary danger, holding the line.
Astra held Black Crown in a command orbit over the wounded world, steady and unmoving.
Aurelian stayed with Astra for the ti being.
Ground rescue ca first now, at least for him, and he did not shift away from that priority.
Through Astra’s surveillance network, he could already see fragnts of what had happened below, pieces coming together.
Fires in abandoned districts.
Military convoys are broken in half.
Makeshift survivor clusters in sealed buildings.
Whole city blocks where movent no longer looked human, sothing else taking over.
The infection had hit hard.
Harder than even the orbital silence had suggested, deeper than expected.
Aurelian stood before the tactical display, watching the first ch teams descend through the atmosphere, each marker moving into place.
So would land in cities.
So in industrial belts.
So near military fallback zones that Caelan had marked from mory, places that still held so structure.
One by one, green markers began touching down, turning from icons into active points.
And one by one, the first feeds from the surface started to co in, shaky at first, then clearer as connections stabilized.
Destroyed roads.
Barricades.
Bodies.
Monsters.
Astra watched the sa feeds with him, her face unreadable, taking everything in without reacting.
"The surface operation has begun," she said quietly.
Aurelian gave a small nod, his focus not leaving the display.
"Good."
Then he looked briefly toward the far outer edge of the system, where Solenne and Rhoswen were already moving into position to wait for the next enemy fleet, setting the trap.
Two battles at once.
One in orbit and one on the ground.
And all of it resting now on whether he could keep the system under control long enough to turn this rescue into a rule, sothing stable.
He did not say that part aloud.
He did not need to.
Instead, he focused on the surface map and gave the next order, keeping it direct.
"Patch Caelan’s teams into Astra’s wider tactical grid. I want local guidance and our orbital coverage working together."
"Done," Astra replied.
"Then let’s start pulling this world back together," Aurelian said, eyes steady on the ruined planet below, not looking away.
User Comments
0 comments from readers