Star Ship Girl Era: My Shipgirls Are Too Overpowered

Chapter 294: Targan Rell’s Surrender 2

Aurelian sat across from Sovan inside one of the temporary council rooms at the starport. Astra stood quietly near the wall while Eirenne translated whenever she was needed, although it was becoming obvious that Sovan understood much more Alliance speech than he had originally admitted.

"No," Aurelian said. "Not without a review."

"They judged us without one."

"I know."

"Then your law protects them more than it protects us."

Aurelian did not answer right away.

That kind of anger deserved more than a quick response.

"Our law has to protect innocent people first," he finally said. "If we let revenge decide who is guilty, then the guilty will hide behind frightened families, and innocent people will die simply because they share the same name, the same uniform, or the same hometown. I won’t build the March that way."

Sovan kept his pale eyes fixed on him.

"And those who are guilty?"

"They will stand trial."

"Trials take time."

"Yes."

"Pain also took time."

If Rhoswen had been there, she would have hated that answer. Aurelian was not happy with it either because Sovan was speaking from experience, not anger alone.

Even so, suffering through injustice did not give someone the right to create another injustice afterward.

Aurelian kept his voice calm. "Then we begin now, and we build something that will still work years from today."

Sovan remained silent for several seconds.

Then he leaned back in his chair just a little.

"You speak like someone who expects tomorrow to listen."

Aurelian smiled faintly. "Tomorrow rarely does."

"Then why keep trying?"

"Because today becomes worse when nobody does."

Sovan watched him for another long moment before giving the smallest nod.

It was not trust.

There was no agreement.

But it might have been permission to keep going.

For now, that was enough.

By evening, the first official March proclamation was broadcast across Nhalis. It announced the immediate end of ownership-based labor status, suspended all remaining Kharov noble authority, placed civilians under emergency occupation protection, ordered the registration of crimes committed by overseers and military officials, and established a provisional Vaelari advisory council to help guide the transition.

The notice was translated into Kharov command speech, the local Vaelari languages, and the simplified dock dialect spoken by workers from different backgrounds so that nobody could claim they had not understood it.

The reactions were mixed.

Some Vaelari districts quietly hung lanterns along the canals and water channels, celebrating without making too much noise because they still feared the occupation might somehow return.

Other districts stayed completely dark, unwilling to believe freedom had really arrived after so many years.

The Kharov neighborhoods reacted differently. Gates were locked, homes were sealed, and many families stayed inside waiting to see what would happen next.

Several former overseers tried to escape through the lower maintenance tunnels, hoping to disappear before anyone noticed they were gone.

They lasted less than an hour.

The Vaelari workers had spent years crawling through those tunnels, repairing them, cleaning them, and using them to survive.

They knew every hidden passage, every locked maintenance hatch, and every forgotten service corridor far better than the overseers who had ruled above them.

Rhoswen looked especially pleased when she read that report.

"Good," she said with a satisfied grin. "Let them run straight into the people they spent years stepping on."

Astra glanced toward her.

Rhoswen quickly lifted both hands.

"I’m not saying we should let the Vaelari tear them apart. I’m just saying it’s funny that they managed to get lost inside the station they claimed to control."

Aurelian thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"That part is a little funny."

Astra remained quiet.

She also did not disagree.

As Nhalis slowly settled into its first uneasy night under March control, Aurelian shifted his attention back to the wider campaign.

With the Serrow Belt secured, the route toward Virell’s Reach had become much shorter. If the family wanted to keep advancing, they could probably begin another offensive after only a few days of preparation.

Several branch commanders would almost certainly argue for doing exactly that.

He understood their reasoning.

Momentum mattered in war. Every victory created opportunities, and waiting too long often allowed an enemy to recover.

But preparation mattered just as much.

Karven Spire had exposed the danger of abyssal contamination. Nhalis had uncovered hidden shipments of relics that no intelligence report had mentioned beforehand.

Every system they captured seemed to hide something dangerous beneath the surface, whether it had been forgotten, deliberately buried, or simply overlooked for years.

Charging toward Virell’s Reach without understanding what else might be waiting between Mournveil, the old Vhaloric routes, and the remaining Kharov storage networks would not be bold.

It would be careless.

There was another problem as well.

His shipgirls still needed time to grow.

Astra had already reached Tier V and was powerful enough to anchor the fleet, but most of the others were still developing.

They needed more experience, better equipment, and safer ways to improve before March, when they eventually faced a major Kharov counteroffensive.

Solenne’s carrier wing had suffered losses during recent operations and needed time to rebuild its aircraft.

Rhoswen had become much stronger, but she still needed battles that would sharpen her discipline instead of only rewarding aggression.

Elowen had become one of the March’s most important people for planetary recovery, yet ecological development could not be rushed, no matter how much everyone wanted results.

The Thornwake sisters were still recovering from everything they had endured, while Neris needed stronger logistical support if the March continued expanding at its current pace.

It was a strange problem to have.

The family’s victories had been almost too overwhelming.

That sounded ridiculous at first, but the more Aurelian thought about it, the more sense it made.

During large operations where Cassian’s strength completely controlled the battlefield, Aurelian’s fleet certainly fought, but they rarely faced the kind of steady pressure that forced rapid growth.

Shipgirls became stronger through meaningful combat, not simply by standing beside someone powerful enough to solve every problem.

What they needed were battles that were dangerous enough to challenge them without being so reckless that a single mistake could destroy everything they had built.

His attention slowly settled on the map of Mournveil.

The vast nebula stretched across the display in layers of gray and violet, filled with storm pockets, collapsed routes, drifting debris fields, heavy dust interference, dangerous space beasts, and hidden star systems that few people had explored properly.

His hunt for the Voidshade Fenrir in Redglass had already shown him how valuable those regions could become.

That single operation had provided rare materials, valuable combat experience, and proof that the nebula was more than just a natural barrier separating regions of space.

It was full of opportunities waiting for someone patient enough to find them.

Mournveil was not empty.

It was simply underdeveloped.

That made it valuable in an entirely different way.

Almost as though she had followed the same line of thought, Eirenne quietly stepped beside him and looked at the map without saying a word.