Star Ship Girl Era: My Shipgirls Are Too Overpowered-Chapter 32: Cinderleaf Star Might Actually Survive This Ordeal
Merrick didn’t crush the hope, but he didn’t feed it blindly either.
"We can fight," he agreed. "But don’t get careless. The vanguard being here means something bigger is moving, and Omnics don’t send Tier III cores into a corridor for fun."
Halden nodded, forcing himself to stay grounded.
"Fine," he said. "We do it properly. We host them, we resupply them, we coordinate, and we let alliance command do their job."
He hesitated, then added, quieter.
"And we also need to make sure the planet understands that we’re not just waiting to die."
Merrick grunted, like that was fair.
Out in space, Black Crown approached the system under escort, the Cinderleaf Defense Fleet spread out on both sides like a protective frame that was more symbolic than necessary.
From inside Black Crown’s command core, the whole thing looked almost gentle. The defense ships were worn, functional, patched in places, and you could tell half of them had been upgraded in awkward steps over the years, not built cleanly from a modern line.
Aurelian watched them for a moment, then looked back at the messages from the academy.
A new mission packet had already been issued to him, and it wasn’t a "good job" message. It was an actual operational mission, tagged with rewards, responsibility clauses, and coordination instructions.
Cooperate with incoming reinforcement fleets. Maintain contact with local defense forces. Assist in eliminating the approaching Omnic fleet if engagement is ordered. Rewards are scaled by confirmed enemy destruction, civilian survival, and fleet preservation.
He scrolled further down and saw the attached intelligence file.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than nothing, and it was clearly being updated in real time by outposts that were catching faint signals on the edge of their sensor nets.
Aurelian skimmed it once, then slowed down and read it properly.
The report provided a rough estimate of the Omnic swarm’s size, based on the last confirmed sightings and the outposts’ willingness to put their names on it.
According to current intel, the Omnic force consisted of two Tier IV Overseer Cores, 7 Tier III Foundry Cores, 29 Tier II Assembly Nodes, and 88 Tier I Logic Nodes, with countless lesser combat units tied to each core and node as disposable bodies.
No Tier V command-structure signature had been confirmed within observable range, and no higher-tier presence had been detected so far, which was the only reason command was calling it just a mission instead of mobilizing the main alliance military.
Aurelian’s eyes stayed calm, but he felt the weight of it.
He and Astra had removed a vanguard piece, but what was coming was still large enough to erase an unprepared world.
Next came the section on friendly forces.
The local sector’s emergency fleet was listed as a strike group built mostly around Tier III hulls, with a handful of veteran captains and two commanders whose personal shipgirls were capped around high Tier II performance.
The report didn’t insult them, but it didn’t hype them either. It basically said: they can hold a line, they can bleed, they can stall.
Then came the important part.
Polaris Naval Academy had dispatched a direct fleet commander. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Not a student commander, not a training group, but an actual academy-aligned operational unit.
The file listed the commander at level 52, with a fleet of twelve Tier III destroyer-class shipgirls, balanced across roles, including a carrier element, heavy guns, screening hulls, and a supply ship that could convert source fragments into ammunition on the move, which meant their endurance in a prolonged fight was far better than anything a local defense fleet could manage.
And along with the ship girls, as a fleet commander, they usually have at least a planet under their command. This means they not only have the ship girls but also the ability to build fleets tailored to their individual needs.
This is similar to the normal fleets, but these fleets are commanded solely by the shipgirls, so they are more expandable than ships with a fully staffed crew, since the shipgirls have no one.
Aurelian leaned back slightly in his chair.
"That’s a serious fleet," he said, not sounding bitter, just acknowledging it.
Astra stood beside him, arms clasped behind her back, eyes on the same file.
"Looks like it will be a fun few days," she said. "Maybe we can snag some goddies while we are at it."
Aurelian’s mouth twitched.
"We can think about that when we are sure that we have the absolute advantage, as I don’t want to lose the ship in its first-ever voyage," he said.
Astra glanced at him, then gave a small, almost amused look.
"That’s such a pessimistic thing to say, my dear commander," she said. "And all of that even after we know about their strengths."
Aurelian didn’t answer that, as he knew where she was going with it, but he decided not to talk about that topic.
But in his mind, he already planned to expand his fleet after this, and he is planning to use the Destiny system to get ship girls who are purple tier and up, or blue tiers if they are of a special kind.
All the while, he kept scrolling, reached the bottom of the mission packet, and saw the part that was quietly satisfying.
His original patrol mission had been terminated with full credit and an excellent evaluation, only to be immediately replaced by something that actually counted. The academy wasn’t pretending this was training anymore.
Aurelian sat with that for a moment, then looked out at the planet coming into view, Cinderleaf Star’s orbitals shining like thin rings of light.
"Once we dock," he said, "we do three things in order. Ammo, briefing, then we wait for the next update. If command orders engagement, we move. If they order hold, we hold."
Astra nodded. "Understood."
Aurelian hesitated for half a beat, then added, "And keep listening for those scattered signals. I want to know the moment the main body gets a firm track."
Astra’s expression sharpened again, the dinner softness long gone now.
"I already am," she said.
The escort fleet guided them through the approach lane like they were escorting a royal ship, and Black Crown didn’t need the help, but it accepted it anyway, sliding into the starport’s outer gate with a smooth, quiet confidence.
On the other side of the glass, Halden Rourke was already waiting in the port’s command suite, surrounded by staff, with Merrick standing beside him like a wall.
Halden watched the massive silhouette settle into the dock, felt his throat tighten, and for the first time in hours, he believed something simple.
Cinderleaf Star might actually survive this ordeal.
He just didn’t know yet that the real fight hadn’t even started, and that the next few days would decide whether this system would stay a home or become a warning.
