By the time Aurelian returned to Black Crown with Caelan beside him, Solenne's reconnaissance had already finished its first sweep, and the bridge displays were filled with new data, lines of movement, and signatures settling into place.
The Kharov fleet around Larkspur Haven looked dangerous at first glance because there were simply so many ships, but once Astra and Solenne finished sorting the signatures properly, the real picture was much less impressive, clearer once the noise was stripped away.
They had numbers.
But not quality.
Most of the hostile fleet was made up of smaller Tier III ships and a much larger number of Tier II hulls, the kind of force that could bully a small civilization world but would struggle badly against a real shipgirl fleet.
There were no battleships in sight, and the flagship looked to be a heavy cruiser rather than anything truly threatening, more for coordination than raw power.
It was a proper invasion force for Larkspur Haven.
