Astra was already ahead of him.
"Multiple jump signatures," she said calmly. "A lot of them."
That was enough to explain what had happened.
Rhoswen had hit pirate shipping hard enough to make someone bigger upset.
The ships started appearing in clusters between the rocks, some emerging too wide, some too close to debris, all of them focused on Crimson Bulwark, which was still the most visible threat in the lane.
They had not seen Black Crown yet.
That mistake was going to cost them.
Rhoswen saw the fleet first and did not sound scared.
If anything, she sounded more awake than she had all day.
"Commander," she said, and there was a dangerous brightness in her voice now. "Looks like I stirred up the whole nest."
Aurelian leaned back slightly in his chair, eyes steady on the screen.
"You did."
The pirate fleet kept arriving, more Tier III ships than the smaller crews had any right to field honestly, though "honestly" was not a word that belonged anywhere near them.
