Chapter 251: Orvain Arcturus 4
Even if only a portion came early, they could rotate patrols, train local forces, escort shipments, secure outer stations, and let his own elite fleet focus on more important missions.
"What about shipgirls?"
"They vary in quality, of course. Most are not equal to yours, which should not be surprising, as your roster is up there even by our family standards. But they are experienced, disciplined, and accustomed to long deployments. Some are old enough to have served through campaigns your academy instructors probably still talk about."
Aurelian nodded slowly. "That is good to hear."
"Yeah," Orvain said. "Young power is useful. Old steadiness keeps it from making expensive mistakes."
Aurelian glanced back at him. "Was that advice?"
"It was free, so take it gently."
That pulled a faint smile from him.
The matter sounded better the more they discussed it, but one issue still bothered him.
"If your branch shifts its future toward March, what happens to its young people?" Aurelian asked. "They can’t all keep returning to the academy system as if nothing changed, especially if secrecy around the route stays tight. We cannot have students traveling back and forth with pieces of information they may not even realize are important."
Orvain seemed to have expected the question.
"That can be handled."
"How?"
"We established a controlled training program in March."
Aurelian frowned slightly. "A naval academy?"
"Not immediately at full scale, but yes, eventually. A frontier command school at first. Small, restricted, and tied to the Arcturus family rather than public Alliance channels."
Aurelian considered that. "Would that be allowed?"
"Allowed is the wrong question," Orvain said lightly. "The better question is whether the family has the authority and tradition to do it quietly. The answer is yes."
"That sounds like something the academy would dislike."
"The academy dislikes many things it cannot stop."
Aurelian waited, and Orvain’s tone became more serious.
"The official academy screening process is useful, but it is not perfect. It is designed for scale, stability, and political control. That means it rejects people who may still become commanders if given more time, better training, or different testing conditions."
Aurelian had suspected something like that, but hearing it said so openly was still interesting.
"Are you saying the academy hides that?"
"Yes," Orvain said without hesitation. "Not maliciously, at least not in the simple sense. The Alliance cannot afford uncontrolled commander growth among people with no support structure and no proper way to obtain resources. Commanders need source fragments, territory, combat merit, or major backing to develop. If too many unregistered commanders appear without guidance, some will turn desperate, some will become tools for criminal factions, and some will start private wars over resources."
Aurelian understood the logic, even if it was uncomfortable.
Power without structure became instability.
Orvain continued, "Old families know the older methods. The Arcturus family does. The Veyr family certainly does. The Morozova family knows its own versions as well. These methods are not spread widely because the people who maintain order do not want to create problems they then need to solve."
Aurelian looked at him more sharply when he mentioned the other families, but Orvain only smiled.
"I am not mixing their business into ours. I am simply saying this is not unique knowledge."
"Then what is the method?"
"At the simplest level, low-grade source material can be used for repeated compatibility trials. Not enough to waste valuable resources and not enough to awaken anything dangerous, but enough to see whether a candidate can form a basic command resonance with a dormant hull core. Some people fail the academy’s first test and pass later after more study or exposure. Some fail twice and pass on the third attempt. Some never pass at all."
Aurelian thought of the number of people who might have been sent away from the academy screening, believing they had no chance.
"That is more flexible than what they teach."
"Of course it is. Textbooks are written for order, not for every exception." Orvain gave him a knowing look. "Before the modern academy system became so standardized, families often tested candidates in several rounds. The academy system simplified matters because it had to process vast numbers of students. That made it efficient, but not perfect."
Aurelian leaned lightly against the stone railing near the pond.
"And you think we can build that in March?"
"I think we should," Orvain said. "I mean not publicly, and not as a place that produces random commanders. A controlled program for branch members, trusted settlers, rescued populations who prove loyalty, and children born in March. If the region is to become real, it needs its own way to get a steady stream of young blood."
Hearing this, Aurelian cannot find any reason to refuse the offer, and as he said, this way he can get a small but trustworthy group of your blood so that they can help him expand.
Aurelian had been thinking about immediate shortages for so long that it was easy to forget the deeper structure.
The March could not depend forever on people imported from the Arcturus family. It needed to raise its own administrators, officers, engineers, pilots, and eventually commanders.
Otherwise, it would remain an extension rather than a power in its own right.
"How many candidates could your branch bring?" Aurelian asked.
"For the first stage, perhaps a few hundred are worth evaluating. Not all will become commanders. Most will become officers, technical staff, or civil administrators, which is still useful. We also have younger Tier I and Tier II commanders who need frontier experience if they are ever going to become more than comfortable family officers."
Aurelian nodded. "That may work, but I will not let the March become a dumping ground for every failed candidate people want to try again."
"Nor should you."
"Selection must be strict."
"It will be."
"And if we create a command school, it answers to March authority, not branch politics."
Orvain’s smile returned. "From your tone and words, it seems that you have accepted my proposal?"
