The Thornwake sisters were still recovering. Selvarin had taken to guard duty during her own repair windows; Veylora was already helping to analyze old cruiser design data; Liora remained quiet but useful; and Maelis was finally able to stand without support for longer periods.
That alone was enough progress for now.
Meanwhile, Aurelian also used the Destiny System to prepare a limited set of shipgirl leads for later use, but he did not act on them yet.
He passed some less urgent leads through family-safe channels for Yelena's side to hold and process when the time was right. But that is still not urgent, as his own fleet came first.
March came first.
But his family could no longer be ignored either.
The more Aurelian looked at the situation, the clearer it became that cooperation with the Arcturus family needed to move from possibility to planning.
He was no longer a young commander with one ship and a dangerous frontier gamble.
He was Tier III now.
He had Larkspur Haven.
