Chapter 166: Reaching The Specified Location For The New Engine

"For the raid," he said. "And because I’d rather not drag a supply ship deep into enemy space and pretend timing doesn’t matter."

Neris looked at the marked location for a moment, quiet as always, then asked the only question that really mattered.

"When are we leaving?"

"Soon."

She gave a small nod. "Then I’ll get ready."

Aurelian had thought about taking Solenne instead of Rhoswen, or adding another ship, but in the end, he didn’t.

This needed to be fast, and if possible, quiet. Neris was the point of the mission, and Rhoswen was more than enough extra force if something went wrong.

Astra was informed, but he didn’t pull her into anything more than necessary.

"Short local operation," he said. "I’ll be back quickly."

She looked at him for a moment. "Then be quick."

That was enough.

By the next morning, they were already moving.

The route out was quiet. Space between holdings always felt like that once you moved far enough away, and the system they were heading toward only made it stronger.

There was less traffic, less noise, and no real sign that anyone cared about what lay ahead anymore.

Rhoswen was in a better mood than usual, mostly because they were finally moving again. Neris stayed calm, already thinking ahead about which old engine systems might still be worth taking if things went well.

Neither of them asked how he had found the place.

That was normal now.

He gave a route, and they followed it.

A little over a day later, the system came into view.

The first thing Aurelian noticed was the dead star.

Unlike the one at the ruin field, this one sat over a much larger spread of wreckage, and even from a distance, it was clear this had once been a real system where people lived.

A broken ring drifted through part of the space, massive even in its current state, with large sections missing but still enough left to show what it had been.

Wreckage surrounded it in slow patterns. Old habitats. Ship remains. The remains of something that had once been built to last.

It should have looked impressive.

Instead, it looked worn out.

"Unpleasant," Rhoswen said.

"That’s one way to put it," Neris murmured.

Aurelian didn’t stay on that for long.

The important part was the guardian fleet.

The system clue had been clear enough that he didn’t need to search blindly. There was an asteroid belt on the outer edge where one of the patrol routes still passed regularly.

It wasn’t a perfect ambush point, but it was good enough. The rocks would block early detection, and the patrol wasn’t tight enough to react quickly if hit hard.

He gave the orders simply.

"Charge the heavy lasers," he said. "Then go silent."

Rhoswen looked pleased.

Neris adjusted their approach. "We’ll be in position on time."

They reached the asteroid belt without trouble. The rocks were thick enough to block sight, and once they settled into place, the silence around them felt complete.

Then they waited.

It didn’t take long.

The patrol entered range in a loose line, moving slowly and steadily. These weren’t drones.

They were real combat ships, but time had worn them down. Their power was weaker than it should have been, and their shields were barely holding.

Aurelian watched them move closer.

"Now."

The first strike hit hard.

Heavy laser fire cut through the leading ships before they could react, breaking shields and armor with ease.

More than half of them were destroyed almost instantly, their remains scattering between the asteroids before the others even turned.

Rhoswen grinned. "That worked."

"Yes," Aurelian said. "Again."

They pushed forward.

The second strike started to build, but something felt off.

The remaining ships didn’t run.

But they didn’t fight properly either.

They shifted position slowly, turning without real direction, like something inside them wasn’t working the way it should.

Neris noticed it right away. "Their coordination is degraded. Not just power—control systems too."

"That helps us," Rhoswen said.

"It helps now," Aurelian replied. "Keep going."

The next volley finished most of what was left.

Another ship broke apart under direct fire. One spun out, damaged beyond recovery. The last few tried to fire back, but their shots were slow and poorly aimed, not enough to matter.

"That’s it?" Rhoswen said.

"That’s what’s left," Aurelian answered.

He had expected decay.

Just not this much.

The ships still had weapons and structure, but whatever system had once controlled them properly was mostly gone.

What remained was enough to keep them moving, not enough to make them dangerous.

He didn’t relax because of that.

Broken systems could still be unpredictable.

"Finish them," he said.

Rhoswen did.

The last ships didn’t last long. One by one, they broke apart or went dark, leaving the belt quiet again.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Then Rhoswen exhaled. "I thought they’d do better than that."

Neris didn’t look up from the data she was collecting. "If they had, you’d be complaining about that too."

Rhoswen thought about it. "That’s fair."

Aurelian ignored them and focused on what mattered.

The patrol was gone.

That meant the path ahead was open, at least for now. More importantly, it gave him a clear idea of the system’s current state.

If this was what an active patrol looked like, then the rest of the defensive network was likely weaker than expected.

He looked toward the deeper part of the system beyond the belt.

It still felt empty, but he knew it would be like this since whatever civilization was here had already been destroyed.

Neris spoke again, still focused on the data. "If the rest of the system matches this, then there’s a good chance some infrastructure is still usable, just not running at full capacity."

"That’s why you’re here," Aurelian said.

Rhoswen looked ahead. "So now what?"

Aurelian didn’t answer right away.

He watched for a moment longer, making sure nothing larger was moving toward them after the patrol’s destruction.

Then he spoke.

"We move in."

And with that, they went deeper into the system.