Chapter 242: Giving The Elders A Tour Of The Port
It was not beautiful yet.
But it was becoming useful, and for a frontier settlement, that mattered far more than appearances.
Cassian arrived with only a small escort, though when a Tier VII strategic warship was sitting above the planet, a small escort was more than enough.
Several elders came with him, along with two senior engineers and a quiet administrative officer who seemed to be taking in every detail around her without needing to write anything down.
A moment after they entered the receiving hall, Eirenne’s projection appeared.
Her image was calm and professional, dressed in dark formal clothing with pale light outlining her figure. She bowed first to Cassian and then to the elders.
"Lord Cassian. Welcome to Larkspur Haven."
Cassian studied her for a moment before giving a small nod.
"Eirenne. It seems you’ve settled in well."
"I have been given enough work to avoid boredom."
Aurelian glanced toward her.
"That sounds suspiciously close to a complaint."
"It was a statement of survival."
Rhoswen immediately laughed, and even one of the elders couldn’t hide a smile.
Cassian looked at Aurelian.
"She has your sense of humor now."
"That isn’t my fault."
"It rarely is."
Without wasting any more time, Eirenne began the tour. Aurelian let her handle most of the explanations because the station had changed so much in such a short time that even he couldn’t pretend he knew every new corridor and system as well as she did.
Since arriving, Eirenne had reorganized traffic control, repair schedules, supply priorities, population intake, and most of the early production work tied to March.
She knew which docks had been repaired yesterday, which berths would open next week, and which storage sections still needed additional shielding.
The first part of the tour was fairly ordinary.
The elders saw medical facilities, temporary housing zones, supply centers, orbital defense command, and the administrative complex Astercourt had helped design.
They asked questions.
Eirenne answered every one of them clearly.
Cassian spent most of the time listening rather than speaking, which made Aurelian slightly uneasy.
His father was always at his most dangerous when he was quiet because it usually meant he was already several steps ahead of everyone else.
The mood began to change when they entered the industrial section.
The first production bay contained support craft and small patrol ships. By Arcturus standards, it wasn’t particularly impressive, though several people noted that its efficiency was much better than expected for a facility this new on the frontier.
The second bay contained upgraded escort frames built from captured and recovered designs.
Modular sections were arranged so damaged parts could be replaced quickly without requiring major infrastructure.
The military elders approved of that immediately.
Then the third bay opened.
Several massive hull skeletons rested inside reinforced construction frames surrounded by fabrication arms, material lines, and shielded manufacturing systems.
They were unfinished, but nobody needed an explanation to understand what they were looking at.
One of the engineers stopped walking.
"Those are Tier IV-capable cruiser frames."
Eirenne nodded.
"Correct. Production speed is currently limited by material quality and specialist availability, but the manufacturing base is functional."
The engineer turned toward Aurelian.
"You built this out here?"
"Not from scratch," Aurelian replied. "Some came from recovered infrastructure. Some came from captured Kharov resources. Some came from Helion Bastion Twelve. The rest came from our own engineering work."
Cassian stared at the cruiser frames for several seconds.
"So this is how you’ve managed to support higher-tier operations without your logistics collapsing."
"Partly."
Rhoswen looked far too proud of herself.
"We stole a lot from the Kharov."
Astra corrected her immediately.
"We recovered hostile military resources after defeating enemy forces."
Rhoswen waved a hand.
"That’s just the polite version."
A few people tried not to laugh.
Eirenne continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
"The Tier III production lines are already stable. Tier IV production is possible but requires careful material management. At the moment, the biggest limitation isn’t design knowledge. It’s personnel, rare alloys, and secure transport."
That statement immediately grabbed everyone’s attention.
The Arcturus family had no shortage of advanced shipbuilding capability. What they didn’t have was a hidden frontier production center capable of building Tier IV warships behind a secret route and supported by ancient infrastructure.
That was different.
Cassian looked toward Aurelian.
"You planned to share these designs?"
"With the family, yes."
"Not publicly?"
"No. And not all at once."
"Good."
Aurelian nodded.
"If the family is helping build the March, then there’s no reason to hide useful technology. I’d rather trade it properly for personnel, materials, and family merit than sit on it until someone else discovers something similar."
One of the elders nodded approvingly.
"Practical."
The tour continued after that, and eventually Eirenne shifted the presentation toward Helion Bastion Twelve.
She didn’t reveal everything. There were still security layers and restricted information that even some members of House Arcturus would need approval to access.
But she showed enough.
The outer defense ring.
The restored archive sectors.
The machine population zones are supervised by Seris and Meren.
Dormant production areas.
Sealed lower vaults.
One section after another appeared in projection form.
Then the stargate blueprint appeared.
The room became very quiet.
Aurelian had expected that reaction.
The blueprint wasn’t a completed stargate.
It wasn’t even close.
It still required rare materials, time, specialists, and far more security than the March currently possessed.
But even a blueprint had enormous value.
If House Arcturus could eventually help build one safely, then the Crownward March would no longer rely entirely on the difficult route through Mournveil.
Cassian studied the projection for a long time.
Nobody interrupted him.
One of the engineers finally broke the silence.
"Is it complete?"
"Mostly," Eirenne answered. "Some sections require reconstruction, but the core design remains intact."
The engineer slowly nodded.
"That’s enough."
Everyone understood what he meant.
A complete stargate project would take years.
Possibly longer.
But having the blueprint meant the possibility existed.
And on the frontier, possibilities often became reality much faster than people expected.
Cassian finally looked away from the projection.
"How many people know about this?"
"Very few," Aurelian answered.
"It stays that way."
"Agreed."
The discussion moved on after that, but the atmosphere had changed.
The elders had arrived expecting to inspect a promising frontier foothold.
Instead, they were finding infrastructure, production capability, ancient technology, hidden routes, and enough long-term potential to reshape family planning for years to come.
