The work did not end when the meeting did.

If anything, that was when the real work began.

The raid had brought back ships full of resources, captured data, damaged equipment, rescued workers, detained technicians, and enough loose problems to keep half the bastion busy for weeks.

Every gain had to be sorted, stored, checked, questioned, repaired, or assigned to a useful purpose.

Aurelian did not complain about it as he knew this was what he needed to do after every battle.

Inventory, repairs, screening, and decisions.

The first few hours after the review passed in a steady flow of reports. Astercourt took control of the intake process with Caelan’s people on Haven, while Seris and Meren handled the bastion side.

Eirenne worked through captured Kharov records at a pace that made even Astra’s usual efficiency pale in comparison.

That alone made a difference.

For once, the whole structure did not feel as if it would lean back onto Aurelian the moment he stopped watching it.

He still checked everything, but he did not need to touch every part.

That was the point.

Later, when the command room finally quieted and the others had gone to their own tasks, Aurelian stayed behind for a while longer.

The updated map remained open in front of him.

Mournveil was marked more clearly now. The Kharov four-star cluster was painted in warning colors.

Helion Bastion Twelve and Larkspur Haven sat behind them like the first two stones of something larger.

It still looked small.

Too small, if he was honest.

The March had resources now, not as many as he would like to have to give the ships a massive overhaul, but enough to repair, upgrade, and expand without being too constricted.

And he was now Tier III.

That changed more than his body.

It changed the future shape of his fleet.

Aurelian closed the public displays one by one, then leaned back slightly and let his thoughts settle inward.

Only then did he open the Destiny System.

The familiar presence appeared in his mind, but it was not exactly the same as before. The system had always felt quiet and distant, like something answering from behind a veil. Now that veil felt thinner.

The interface was cleaner. The old categories remained, but several of them had shifted, expanded, or been reorganized.

Aurelian stared at it for a long moment.

So this was what Tier III unlocked.

The first change was the cost structure. The old clue pricing had been compressed into something more precise.

Instead of scattered costs that sometimes felt difficult to compare, the system now grouped its answers by value and urgency.

Basic clues.

Targeted clues.

Artifact locations.

Shipgirl recovery leads.

Ruin leads.

Promotion support.

Regional forecasts.

And direct questions.

That last part caught his attention.

Direct questions had been useful before, but were limited by cost and availability. Now the system allows more flexible inquiry, though not for free, which he is fine with, as nothing useful was ever free.

The currency had also changed in wording, or perhaps he was only now able to understand it properly.

Destiny Points were still there in meaning, but the system now measured them in a refined form, something closer to Destiny Marks.

The conversion was clear enough.

Old points had not vanished. They had been condensed.

The raid against the Kharov had earned a large amount.

Not surprising.

He had changed the fate of an entire military sector. Broken fleets, stolen resources, rescued people, delayed responses, and forced the Kharov to reorganize around a lie.

That kind of action carried weight.

Aurelian studied the total silently.

It was good.

Very good.

Not endless, but enough for him now.

The next section was even more important.

Shipgirl promotion planning.

Aurelian’s eyes narrowed slightly as he read through it.

The Destiny System could now design tailored promotion paths for shipgirls who were ready to move from Tier IV hulls toward Tier V, provided it supplied enough data, materials, and the shipgirl’s current condition.

That solved one of the problems that had been sitting in the back of his mind for some time.

Promotion was not just a matter of throwing rare materials at a hull and hoping it worked. A bad upgrade could waste potential.

A poor design could raise a ship’s level while leaving flaws that would follow her for years. Even a successful promotion could still be imperfect.

Aurelian hated waste like that.

His fleet was meant to be elite.

If he was going to raise a shipgirl, he wanted the result to be clean.

The system could help with that now.

Not by doing the work for him, and not by replacing engineers, but by giving him the right direction.

A tailored plan.

Material priorities.

Compatibility warnings.

What to avoid.

What to strengthen.

That alone was worth more than most of the loot from the raid.

He checked the list of possible candidates.

Astra came first, naturally, though her path was never going to be simple. She was gold-tier, his flagship, and already far from ordinary.

Her upgrade would require care, patience, and the kind of materials he did not want to rush.

Lysara was another strong candidate. Her old Vhaloric structure, laser systems, and missing Severance Lance created both limits and opportunities.

If handled properly, she could grow into something far more dangerous than she was now.

Solenne had gained a great deal of battle data from the raid. Her carrier wing had taken losses, but those losses had also shown where her future development needed to go.

Rhoswen would be more direct. Armor, impact structure, reinforced close assault systems, and controlled propulsion. He could already guess part of her path without asking.

Neris needed support and endurance, not frontline power.

Elowen would require a completely different route, one more closely tied to planetary development and ecological function than to combat.

Astercourt was administration and logistics, but that did not mean her upgrade was less important. A territory could die from bad management just as easily as from enemy fire.

The Thornwake sisters were not ready yet.

Selvarin, Veylora, Liora, and Maelis needed a full overhaul first. Their old hulls had potential, but pushing them too quickly would be foolish. They had only just been pulled out of the grave.