Star Ship Girl Era: My Shipgirls Are Too Overpowered

Chapter 202: Return To Crownward March

Once it entered a fleet, it spread quickly.

Eirenne took full advantage of it.

Several captured ships rammed or moved across enemy firing lanes at awkward angles.

Others broadcast false orders demanding that "traitor vessels" be destroyed. A few simply lit their engines at full power and charged into the middle of enemy groups, forcing the Kharov to either shoot them or scatter.

The ships did not last long.

They did not need to.

"They are wasting ammunition on our expendable hulls," Neris said.

"That is the point," Aurelian replied.

The surviving Kharov commander made one final attempt to restore order. Shuttle relays began launching from several ships, trying to carry physical orders between groups.

Eirenne detected them immediately.

"Manual command shuttles," she said.

"Solenne."

"Already marked."

A small number of fighters broke away and swept the shuttle line. They did not need heavy weapons.

A few precise bursts were enough to disable or destroy most of the shuttles before they reached their destinations.

The rest turned back.

That broke the last real attempt at coordination.

After that, the battlefield became ugly for the Kharov.

Ships still fired, but not as one. Some advanced. Some slowed. Some broke away. A few captains likely understood that the battle was lost and began trying to preserve their ships rather than pursue the enemy.

The first garrison had already been crippled before.

Now, its remaining pursuit force had been humiliated.

Rhoswen let out a satisfied breath through the link. "That should do it."

"It will," Lysara said. "They are no longer in a condition to chase."

Eirenne confirmed it a moment later. "Pursuit cohesion has collapsed. Remaining forces are pulling back toward fixed defenses and damaged ships. No organized chase remains."

Aurelian did not order a final volley.

He wanted to.

There were targets still in range, and the temptation to remove a few more was real. But that was how discipline failed. One extra shot became one extra pass. One extra pass turned into a few more minutes. Another few minutes became risky.

"Recover strike craft," he ordered. "All ships continue withdrawal."

And Rhoswen did not think much about it anymore and was instead more interested in a few new toys created by Eirenne.

The fleet moved on.

Behind them, the first garrison’s remaining ships drifted around wreckage, captured hulls, burning escorts, and their own uncertainty.

The Kharov had seen their own ships fire on them, ram them, betray them, and carry false orders into their formation.

Even if the truth became clear later, the damage to their confidence would not vanish quickly; instead, it would make them more cautious and hesitant about every action they take.

Eirenne pulled the last captured ships back where possible, but most were too damaged or too exposed to save.

She left them behind as drifting hazards and false trail markers. Some still transmitted broken pirate tags.

Some carried false route data. Some were set to overload if the Kharov tried to recover them too carelessly.

Rhoswen saw one of the overload markers and laughed.

"You really do think of everything."

"No," Eirenne said. "These are needed for us to be safe."

Neris nodded, agreeing with the logic behind it.

The fleet finally reached the edge of the Mournveil approach.

Only then did Aurelian allow the formation to loosen slightly, but not completely, as the immediate danger had passed, and the Kharov had no clean pursuit left.

Solenne sent in her final aircraft report.

"Losses are heavier than I would like, but acceptable. Most damaged craft have been recovered. Ammunition stock is low."

"Can you still defend the fleet through the nebula?"

"Yes," Solenne said. "But I would rather not fight a second war before rearming."

"We won’t, unless something forces us."

Lysara gave her own summary after that. "Heat levels are stable again. Minor armor wear. No major faults."

Neris reported supply draw, reactor balance, and repair stock remaining.

Eirenne reported the status of the sub-core, the captured data, and the false trails left behind in the Kharov cluster.

Aurelian listened to it all and stored the important pieces.

The raid had gained more than materials.

It had given them experience with Eirenne in live electronic warfare. It had tested Neris under extended operation.

It had pushed Solenne’s carrier wing through repeated strikes. It had forced Rhoswen to fight within limits.

It had shown Lysara’s value as a precision ship against better command structures.

And it had shown Aurelian what the Kharov could become when someone competent was in charge, which is an important piece of news.

The first garrison had not won, but it had made the fight harder. The Kharov were brutal and uneven, but not every one of them was stupid. If he assumed that, he would eventually pay for it.

The fleet entered Mournveil in formation.

The nebula swallowed them slowly, dust and interference folding around their signatures until the burning four-star cluster behind them vanished from clear sensor view.

The route Lysara had mapped remained steady, and Eirenne kept the timing tight, avoiding the storm pockets and beast-heavy zones.

For several hours, no one spoke much.

There was work to do.

Repairs.

Counting.

Resupply planning.

Damage review.

And above all, making sure they were not followed.

No pursuit appeared.

No hidden Kharov scout emerged from behind them.

No sudden signal lit up the route.

Only when they were deep enough into Mournveil that the cluster could no longer track them did Eirenne finally speak.

"The Kharov have lost our trail."

Aurelian looked at the map.

"Good."

Rhoswen let out a long breath. "So now we go home."

"Yes."

"With all of that?" she asked, glancing toward the transport data.

"With all of that."

She sounded pleased again. "Then this was a very good raid."

"It was," Aurelian said.

The Crownward March had gone into Kharov-held space, broken multiple fleets, stripped a mining depot, crippled the best garrison that tried to respond, and vanished into a route the enemy did not understand.

Aurelian stood before the forward display as Mournveil closed around them and the fleet continued home with stolen resources and battered ships.

This would not be the last time.

It could not be.

The Kharov would react eventually. They would strengthen their lines, hunt for the raiders, punish their own commanders, and look for someone to blame.

They would become more cautious in places and more brutal in others.

That was fine, as he also wants to fight them after he grows even stronger than he is now.