That was enough to shift her mood right away.

Rhoswen didn’t need much more than the word "hunt" to get interested, and it showed in the way her posture shifted and her attention locked in, as she had already decided she was going whether he said yes or not.

Lysara, on the other hand, didn’t react in the same way at all. She stayed focused on the information in front of her, her eyes moving slowly across the route data, the timing, and the threat level, taking a moment to think before she spoke.

"That is a good idea," she said in a calm, steady tone. "We have been stuck here for a while without any real battles to push us forward."

"Exactly," Aurelian replied, not needing to add anything more.

Her attention moved from the clue to the second file, the engine data, and she studied it more closely this time.

It didn’t take long for her to recognize what she was looking at, and when she spoke again, there was a slight shift in her voice.

"That’s a Directorate pursuit engine," she said.

Aurelian gave a small nod. "It is."

Rhoswen looked between the two displays, then back at him, her expression narrowing slightly as she connected the pieces. "You want to modify us."

"I want to make the trip short enough that I can take this opportunity without leaving Haven exposed longer than necessary," he said, keeping it simple.

Lysara stepped closer to the display and went through the technical layers more carefully, her focus sharpening as she worked through the details instead of guessing. After a short pause, she spoke again, already reaching a conclusion.

"This would work on my hull," she said. "Not perfectly at first, but it would work. The Halcyon Ward line was designed to accept propulsion systems like this."

That matched what Aurelian had expected, but hearing it confirmed still mattered. He nodded once before asking the next question.

"And Rhoswen?"

Lysara paused, briefly glancing at Rhoswen before returning to the file, her tone thoughtful rather than uncertain.

"She is not built on Directorate architecture, so no, not in a clean way," she said. "It won’t fit as easily. But the system is more flexible than I expected. It’s modular, which helps. With enough adjustment to how it mounts and how it links to her control systems, I think it can be made to work."

Rhoswen’s grin appeared almost immediately. "That sounds like yes."

"That sounds like maybe," Lysara corrected, though there was a hint of dry humor in her voice.

"But not ’no,’" Rhoswen pushed.

Lysara let out a quiet breath. "No. Not no."

That was enough to move forward.

Aurelian didn’t respond right away, taking a moment to think it through one last time, even though the answer had already formed.

Astra would stay at Larkspur Haven without question. She was the one holding everything together, and if something changed while he was gone, she was the one he trusted to keep things stable. Pulling her out for a hunt, even a useful one, would be the wrong move.

That left Lysara and Rhoswen, and they were the right pair for this kind of operation. Lysara was steady, controlled, and precise, able to handle pressure without making careless mistakes, while Rhoswen was more direct and aggressive, pushing forward instead of holding back, and in clear need of more real combat experience under conditions that wouldn’t punish every mistake with immediate disaster. Together, they balanced each other in a way that made sense for this.

He looked at both of them before speaking. "We trial Lysara first. If the refit holds cleanly, Rhoswen goes next."

Rhoswen opened her mouth as if she was about to complain, then stopped when the reasoning clicked into place, even if she didn’t like it. Lysara simply inclined her head.

"That is sensible."

Aurelian didn’t waste any more time. He turned and opened a direct line to Astercourt, who appeared almost immediately, still surrounded by layers of scheduling work she clearly hadn’t stepped away from fully.

"I need the Haven fabrication line and the bastion technical archive focused on a propulsion prototype," he said. "Send the specifications to Seris and Meren as well. I want every capable technical team working on this."

Astercourt read through the file once and didn’t ask if he was serious, which was exactly why he relied on her.

"Understood," she said, then paused slightly. "Do you want it treated as a priority?"

"Yes."

"How much priority?"

"Enough that it’s done quickly, but not enough to disrupt reconstruction work."

She nodded once. "Then I’ll make it fit."

That was one of the reasons he trusted her. She didn’t need long explanations or repeated instructions. She simply adjusted what needed adjusting and made it work.

The process started almost immediately. The Directorate pursuit engine wasn’t simple, but it wasn’t impossible either, sitting right at the edge of what Haven could manage with its current capabilities if everything was handled correctly.

Astercourt managed the coordination, moving things around without breaking anything important, while Seris and Meren pushed the technical teams, digging through bastion records and making sure the right knowledge was applied where it mattered.

Astra worked quietly in the background, clearing delays and smoothing the process before it ever reached Aurelian, while he himself stayed involved in the critical decisions, unwilling to hand off something this important without direct oversight.

Three days later, the first prototype was ready.

It wasn’t elegant, sitting in the yard cradle with exposed housings and open diagnostic channels, but appearance didn’t matter.

The numbers did, and those were good enough. Stable. Close to the archived standards. Reliable.

Aurelian felt that shift the moment the readings settled.

Lysara stood beside him during the final readout, watching the prototype intently before speaking quietly.

"They preserved more than I expected."

Aurelian glanced at her. "You sound pleased."

"I am."

That was enough.

The installation phase followed, and despite the time pressure, it was handled carefully.

Every step had already been checked, but it was checked again before they even touched her hull.

The teams moved in a controlled sequence, ensuring everything was aligned before proceeding.

There was also the simple fact that Directorate-derived systems always seemed to respond more smoothly to Lysara than to most others, as if they were closer to something she was already built to handle.

Even so, Aurelian didn’t relax.

Not until the system was fully installed, linked, and the first controlled tests were complete.