The Crownward March had a name now, but a name didn't slow enemies down.
That became clear the very next day.
Aurelian hadn't even finished going through his first set of reports when Astra called his attention to something that couldn't be ignored.
She stood across from him in the command room at Larkspur Haven, calm as always, while a series of sensor records hovered between them.
Each one looked slightly different on the surface, but the pattern behind them was the same.
Small Kharov ships.
Not fleets.
Not yet.
These were probes, scouts, and light investigation hulls, the kind sent ahead when something felt off but no one wanted to commit real force just yet.
They were moving closer to the outer edges of the region, slipping through routes that had gone quiet, testing areas that should have still been under Kharov's control, and trying to understand why things weren't responding the way they used to.
"They're trying to get information about us," Astra said.
