Ships that should have moved together started drifting out of sync almost immediately.

Some accelerated too early.

Others hesitated.

A few changed direction after reacting to false movement corrections fed into their systems.

On the tactical map, it didn’t look like much, just a slight disruption in formation spacing, but even these small changes can affect battles where life or death can be decided on one single shot.

Lysara hit the opening the moment she saw it.

One of the command cruisers went dark almost instantly.

Solenne’s second strike wave followed right behind her attack, sweeping through the weakened line before the Kharov could recover properly.

Then Rhoswen drove straight through the middle of the gap and forced the whole formation to spread wider.

That was when the first garrison finally started to break.

But unlike the earlier fleets, this one didn’t panic right away. It fought harder and held together longer.

Even after losing command ships, many of the captains continued to resist properly. Some groups withdrew in decent order.

Others stayed behind to cover damaged allies. A few even tried to rebuild a defensive wall closer to the starport itself.

Aurelian refused to let the battle turn into a drawn-out siege.

"Do not advance toward the planet," he ordered. "Break the fleet. Ignore the fixed defenses."

Rhoswen sounded annoyed immediately. "We could take them."

"I know, but we are not after the starport."

"I know but...."

"It’s fine, this is just a farewell gift, nothing more."

She didn’t argue further, though her tone made it clear she still wanted to.

The battle dragged on longer than the earlier engagements.

This garrison forced Aurelian to pay attention in a way the others hadn’t. Solenne lost more strike craft than expected.

Rhoswen’s armor started showing real damage by the end of it. Lysara’s heat levels climbed higher than planned from the amount of sustained firing she had to maintain.

Even Neris had to dip into the reserve support stock to keep the operation running smoothly.

Still, the Kharov paid far more heavily for it.

Ship after ship died trying to slow the attack.

And slowly, piece by piece, their formation disintegrated, and the coordinated formation started to become more like a hastily built fleet.

By the time the garrison flagship came under direct attack, the outcome had already been decided.

The ship in question itself was a large spaceship.

And protected by loyal escorts that clearly understood what was happening around them.

Its commander also understood something important very early. Warp escape was impossible, and conventional escape wouldn’t save him either.

So instead of running, he chose to hold the line long enough for as many ships as possible to get away.

Aurelian respected the decision in a limited way.

It still changed nothing.

Lysara removed two escorts first.

Solenne’s aircraft struck next and crippled the flagship’s engines before it could maneuver properly.

Rhoswen closed the distance almost immediately after and slammed into its shield layer hard enough to crack it open, sending burning fragments spinning into nearby space.

Then Lysara finished the job.

The flagship didn’t explode right away. The front section split apart slowly under repeated fire while the rest of the hull lost power piece by piece.

Fires spread through the interior. Secondary detonations rolled through the ship before the entire thing finally drifted sideways, dead in space.

After that, the first garrison lost its shape completely.

It’s not that every ship surrendered.

Some retreated toward the fixed defenses around the starport.

Others tried to slip behind shield coverage and survive there.

Aurelian let them go once they crossed the line.

Rhoswen clearly hated that.

It was still the correct choice.

The goal here was never total destruction. They weren’t trying to wipe out every ship in the cluster. They were trying to cripple the enemy’s ability to organize and respond properly.

That had already happened.

Eirenne confirmed it only moments later.

"The first garrison can no longer coordinate regional defense," she reported calmly. "Estimated combat effectiveness has fallen below forty percent. Command continuity is broken."

Aurelian studied the tactical map again.

The window was closing.

The surviving Kharov forces across the cluster were finally beginning to form a real response, even if it was still messy.

Too many alarms had gone out now. Too many docks had burned. Too many fleets had stopped answering cleanly.

Eirenne could delay them, blind them, mislead them, but not forever.

"Withdrawal," Aurelian ordered.

No one objected.

This time, there was no loading phase afterward.

No station raid.

No extra target.

The fleet pulled back cleanly while leaving burning Kharov screen ships behind as distractions.

Solenne recovered every aircraft she could. The damaged ones that couldn’t make it back were destroyed or sent drifting into empty space rather than left intact for the enemy.

Neris quietly reported ammunition levels and repair needs while the fleet withdrew.

Lysara gave a short damage summary, precise as always.

Rhoswen stayed silent for several seconds.

That alone told Aurelian exactly how annoyed she was about leaving survivors behind.

Eventually, she finally spoke.

"We will get them next time."

"Yes," Aurelian replied.

"We should fight like that more often."

"Not during raids."

She groaned loudly through the link but didn’t keep arguing.

The fleet turned fully toward Mournveil after that.

Behind them, the four-star cluster burned in scattered pieces. Two garrisons had been crippled.

Another had been damaged badly enough that it could no longer coordinate properly. The mining depot was stripped and damaged.

Communications across the region were still unstable. Kharov’s command was still trying to determine whether they had been attacked by pirates, rebels, or some outside enemy they hadn’t yet identified.

Aurelian watched the enemy signals fade farther and farther behind them as the fleet moved toward the hidden route.

This was enough.

No, it was more than enough.

The Crownward March had entered the cluster like a blade from the dark and was now leaving before anyone could clearly see the hand holding it.

That was how this kind of war had to be fought for now.

Take what mattered.

Damage what couldn’t be taken.

Disappear before the enemy recovered.

And when the Kharov finally gathered themselves enough to search for whoever had done this, all they would find were burning docks, broken fleets, false trails, and lies.