"Do not continue down to full surface-side transfer yet," Aurelian said, keeping his tone calm.

"Bring the immigrants into Haven intake and hand them over to Astercourt and Caelan’s people as soon as the route opens properly. Elowen has already stabilized enough zones, so temporary settlement can start without everything falling into panic."

Solenne didn’t hesitate or ask for anything extra. She understood what he was doing and why.

"Understood," she replied.

There was no delay after that, and he moved straight to the second part, because the timing mattered more than anything else.

"Once the transfer is complete, you rearm and move to the Mournveil route marker I’m sending now," he continued. "We’re going on a trip, and I would like you to join us, as there will be fighting. I’ll be moving ahead with Lysara and Rhoswen, but your carrier support will make a difference if your timing holds."

Solenne didn’t answer right away. Instead, she brought up the star map he had just sent, scanning through it quickly but carefully, her eyes moving over the route, the estimated timing, and the location inside the nebula.

It didn’t take her long to understand what he was planning, and when she looked back at him, her expression was calm, but focused.

"So that’s where you’re going," she said.

"Yes."

She didn’t ask how he had found the route, and she never did. That wasn’t something he explained unless he chose to, and over time, that had simply become how things worked between them.

He gave the information that mattered for the operation, and none of his shipgirls pushed beyond that unless invited.

Solenne thought it through for a moment, clearly running the timing in her head before answering.

"I can make it," she said. "Not by much, but should be there to help."

"That’s all I need," Aurelian replied.

There was a short pause between them, not awkward, just the kind that came when both sides were already thinking a step ahead. Then Solenne spoke again, her voice carrying a quiet note of practicality.

"You could have waited a day."

"I could have," Aurelian said without denying it. "I’m not going to."

That earned the faintest hint of amusement from her, the kind that barely showed but was still there if you knew where to look.

She understood him well enough by now to know exactly what that meant, and she didn’t bother pretending otherwise.

There was no point.

After that, he went through the final details with her, covering coordination points, timing windows, and what to expect once she moved out.

He sent over the full battle packet, including intercept patterns and fallback lines, and she took it all in without complaint, even though she was being pulled straight from an extraction run into a combat operation.

If anything, she seemed more bothered by the idea that she might have missed it entirely if her return had been even a little later.

Before ending the channel, Aurelian added one more thing.

"After this battle, you rest."

Solenne didn’t react much on the surface, but there was a slight shift in her expression that made it clear she had heard more than just the words.

"The fleet isn’t in a position for idle days," she said.

"That wasn’t a request."

There was a small silence after that, the kind that didn’t need to be filled. Then she gave a slight nod.

"Understood."

The channel closed.

Aurelian stayed where he was for a moment longer, letting the quiet settle before turning away and heading toward the main departure platform.

Lysara and Rhoswen were already there, going through their final checks, and he didn’t slow down as he approached.

Rhoswen noticed him first, and her mood was easy to read.

"She’s coming too?" she asked, already sounding like she hoped the answer was yes.

"If she finishes the transfer in time," he said.

That was enough.

Rhoswen’s grin widened immediately, her energy picking up even more. "Good."

Lysara stood nearby, leaning lightly against one of the outbound control pillars with her arms loosely folded, and she looked between the two of them before speaking in her usual calm tone.

"You sound as though you expected the migration to wait for everyone to arrive."

"It should," Rhoswen said without hesitation. "We’re making the effort."

Lysara let out a soft breath that was just short of a laugh, not bothering to argue further.

Aurelian moved past them and checked the final readiness entries as he wanted to make sure everything was ready.

The new drive response was stable, the pursuit route was locked in, and the supply loads were enough to cover both the trip and the fight itself without pushing them into risk.

Emergency return windows were marked clearly, and Astra remained in command at Haven, holding the system steady along with the bastion link.

Astercourt was already handling intake on the other side, coordinating with Caelan’s people to manage the human side of the strain that would come with new arrivals.

Everything that needed to be in place... was in place.

It wasn’t perfect.

But it was enough.

He boarded with them a short time later, and the departure followed soon after. It was smooth and controlled, with no wasted motion or unnecessary noise, and, in a way, it felt almost too quiet for what it actually represented.

Larkspur Haven wasn’t at the stage where it could send out large, formal fleets with layers of support and ceremony. It didn’t have that kind of structure yet.

But even if they did, he would not ask for one, as he did not want to waste everyone’s time on giving them a send-off.

As the ship pulled away from Haven and turned out toward open space, Aurelian took one last look back at the orbital layers behind them.

Reconstruction was still ongoing, still incomplete, with work spread out in every direction. Nothing there was finished, and everything still needed time.

The bastion wasn’t fully integrated yet.

The engineering ship upgrade still had gaps.

The ruin clue he had found earlier was still waiting, something that could turn into a real gain later if he handled it right.

Solenne had only just come back and was already being sent out again.

And the Kharov were still out there.

None of that changed what came next.

The Mournveil Nebula was ahead of them now, hidden behind layers of dust and interference that made it easy to ignore unless you knew exactly where to look.

Inside it, the twin stars waited, dim and quiet, and somewhere within that shadowed space, a pack of Voidshade Fenrir would soon pass through on their migration.

They didn’t know what was waiting for them.

They didn’t know where they were stepping, but he was ready for it.