Chapter 250: Orvain Arcturus 3
For a brief moment, Aurelian said nothing.
Orvain’s words sounded simple, but there was too much weight behind them to answer carelessly.
A senior branch head of the Arcturus family had just told him that he was willing to shift the future of his branch toward the Crownward March and place its assets under Aurelian’s authority in the region.
That was not a small favor.
That was not even normal support.
That was a branch looking for a new road and offering to walk it under his banner.
Aurelian looked toward the pond beside the garden path and let his thoughts settle.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt almost apologetic toward his father, because Orvain had clearly once treated Cassian as the branch’s safest future pillar.
Now, Aurelian had returned from the frontier and accidentally stolen that position before he even knew it existed.
He could almost imagine Cassian’s expression if he said that out loud.
That thought made Aurelian want to sigh.
Orvain did not rush him. The older man simply stood beside him with a relaxed smile, as if he had already said everything that needed to be said and was now waiting for Aurelian to catch up.
Astra remained a few steps behind them, quiet and watchful. She gave no advice, and Aurelian appreciated that.
This was not a battlefield decision where speed mattered more than balance. This was a political and territorial decision, one that could shape the March for decades if handled well, or create a problem that would take years to untangle if handled poorly.
Still, the benefits were obvious.
His greatest shortage had always been manpower.
The Crownward March had territory, resources, a growing starport, Helion Bastion Twelve, hidden routes, rescued populations, and more work than his current staff could comfortably manage.
Astercourt could organize ten disasters at once and complain through them all, but she was still one person.
Neris could stretch supplies until they felt like magic, but she could not personally carry an expanding territory forever.
Elowen could help heal worlds, Meridian could repair ships, Eirenne could coordinate systems, but even with all of them, the March needed living institutions.
It needed administrators who would not sell information for profit.
Engineers who could keep secrets.
Security officers who understood frontier dangers.
Young commanders who could learn the region from the ground up.
Families who would settle and stay, not just extract value and return to comfortable inner worlds.
In that sense, Orvain’s offer was not just useful. It arrived exactly when Aurelian needed it.
"I do need your branch’s help," Aurelian said at last, and he made sure his tone was sincere rather than merely polite.
"The March is short-handed everywhere. If we try to grow only with my current people, we’ll slow ourselves down or burn out the ones already carrying too much."
Orvain’s smile deepened slightly, though he did not interrupt.
Aurelian continued, "Engineers and administrators are the obvious needs, but I also need people who can settle, train, and build local systems that don’t collapse the moment I leave for a campaign. March cannot remain a fleet with territory attached to it. It has to become a real region."
"That is exactly why I came to you," Orvain said. "A frontier like that needs people willing to tie their future to it. My branch can do that."
"How many are you thinking?"
"In full? Including the direct branch, affiliated collateral families, technical companies, settlement groups, and support personnel, somewhere between six and eight million people over the first major stage."
Aurelian looked at him.
Orvain smiled calmly.
"I said in full. Not tomorrow morning."
"That is still a very large number."
"It is. But spread across several years, and with the right staging, it is manageable. I would not move everyone at once unless I wanted Astercourt to hunt me personally."
"She might anyway."
"I will send her gifts."
"That may make it worse."
Orvain laughed. "Then I will send her competent clerks."
"That might actually work."
Aurelian thought through the numbers. Larkspur Haven could not absorb millions immediately, not without creating trouble in housing, food, medical screening, law enforcement, and local politics.
But March was no longer just Larkspur Haven. Helion Bastion Twelve had controlled habitation zones.
Several orbital sectors could be expanded. Future settlement groups could be placed in carefully chosen areas once Elowen’s environmental teams approve them.
There were also dead or low-population systems that could become industrial sites if properly developed.
The issue was not whether March had room.
It had room.
The issue was the order.
"If we do this," Aurelian said, "the first group must be much smaller. A few thousand at most, maybe less, depending on specialty. Engineers, survey staff, administrative support, and a small security team. No mass family migration until Haven’s intake structure is ready."
Orvain nodded without hesitation. "Agreed."
"And no one arrives expecting special treatment. They follow March law, March security rules, and the authority structure already in place."
"Also agreed."
Aurelian glanced toward him. "You are agreeing very quickly."
"That is because I knew what you would ask before I came here. If you had said anything weaker, I would have been worried."
That was a fair answer.
Aurelian folded his arms loosely and looked back toward the water. "How many commanders does your branch have that could be useful immediately?"
Orvain’s expression turned thoughtful. "More than most people remember. We do not have another Tier VI aside from me, which is the reason the branch has struggled to rise further, but we have a respectable number of Tier IV and V commanders, and some reliable Tier III and Tier II officers who can serve well in defensive or administrative fleet roles."
"Numbers."
"Active and trustworthy for a sensitive frontier? Around forty Tier V commanders, if I am strict. More if I lower the standard, but I do not recommend that."
Aurelian did not hide his interest.
Forty Tier V commanders would not let him conquer half the frontier overnight, nor would he want to try, but it was still an enormous help.
