Free Web NovelChapter 196: Trading Using Kharov’s Loot
Vaeren joined the command channel a short while later, his expression more serious than before.
"Some of those ships may belong to neighboring powers," he said. "Not Kharov."
Aurelian looked toward Eirenne. "Identify them."
"Already working on it," she replied.
A rough list appeared across the display almost immediately.
Several merchant groups belonged to smaller nearby powers. Others were independent traders trying to make money in dangerous territory.
A few ships carried marks tied to larger regional factions. One belonged to a stone-bodied species that traded rare minerals across frontier space.
Another came from a mixed-species commercial league. A third looked connected to a human-led frontier state that hadn’t entered Aurelian’s plans yet.
None of them were worth turning into enemies for no reason.
Rhoswen sounded disappointed almost instantly. "So we’re not taking their cargo?"
"No," Aurelian said. "We’re not creating problems we don’t need."
That was the simple truth of it.
Right now, they looked like pirates. The disguise worked for the raid, and confusion helped them. But eventually the truth would spread.
If they robbed every neutral ship sitting in the docks, then people would remember this differently.
The Kharov needed to stay the clear target. Everyone else either needed to leave with neutral feelings or at least without enough anger to unite later.
"Send terms," he said. "Their cargo stays untouched if they remain docked, shut down engines, and stop all outside communication. Anyone trying to leave or send signals gets disabled. Anyone firing dies."
Eirenne nodded. "Understood."
Aurelian added one more thing.
"Offer fast trade for compact high-value goods. Use seized Kharov metal for payment. No long negotiations."
Vaeren looked mildly surprised by that. "You’re going to trade during a raid?"
"If they have something useful, yes."
Rhoswen laughed. "That somehow feels worse than piracy."
"It’s efficient," Neris said quietly.
The responses came back quickly.
Most merchants agreed almost immediately.
A few tried to argue.
One tried to start its engines.
Solenne disabled it with a short strike that burned out the drive housing without destroying the ship itself.
After that, nobody else tested the warning.
Eirenne moved robots and boarding frames around the merchant docks, not to steal from them, but to make sure nobody got brave or stupid while the battle was still ongoing.
At the same time, she started checking manifests and cargo records at high speed.
Most of the goods weren’t worth the time.
Some were.
Aurelian bought compact equipment, rare catalysts, sealed tool cores, medical supplies, and two containers filled with high-grade sensor parts.
Payment was made using refined Kharov metals taken from the depot less than an hour earlier.
Rhoswen looked at the trade summary and shook her head slowly.
"We are robbing the Kharov and using their own resources to buy supplies in front of them."
"Yes," Aurelian replied.
"That’s beautiful."
Even Lysara smiled slightly at that one.
While the depot was being stripped, the strike force turned its attention toward the surface facilities below.
The mining sector wasn’t built on a proper world. It was a harsh industrial moon covered in Kharov facilities, refinery systems, vehicle depots, command bunkers, and support infrastructure.
There was no reason to leave those systems standing if they supported the fleet and military operations.
Solenne sent strike craft down first.
After that came precision orbital fire.
Aurelian made the targeting rules clear before the attacks began.
Military command.
Industrial control.
Fleet logistics.
Heavy weapons.
Nothing civilian unless it was actively shielding military systems.
It wasn’t mercy, it was practical.
Flattening civilian districts wasted ammunition and achieved nothing important. The destruction of military support weakened the Kharov after the fleet left.
That was the goal.
The attacks went cleanly.
Kharov industrial sites burned across the moon’s dark surface in long lines of fire. Refinery towers collapsed one after another.
Vehicle yards vanished under guided strikes. Shield emitters overloaded and died. Ground units trying to hide near worker housing were marked by Eirenne, allowing Solenne’s drones to destroy support vehicles and military equipment instead of leveling the entire district around them.
Vaeren watched the surface feeds silently for a while.
Aurelian noticed but didn’t interrupt him.
Eventually, Vaeren spoke on his own.
"There are forced workers down there."
"I know," Aurelian said.
"Not many compared to other sites. But some."
Aurelian checked the operation timing again.
They couldn’t turn this into another full extraction mission. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Not here.
Not now.
The mining depot was already the last target before withdrawal, and every extra minute increased the chance of the Kharov finally organizing a proper response.
But ignoring the workers completely wasn’t useful either.
Aurelian thought about it for a moment, then looked toward Eirenne.
"How many shuttle-capable cargo frames are currently free?"
"Enough for a limited movement operation," she answered immediately. "Not enough for mass extraction."
"That’s fine."
Vaeren looked at him carefully, already understanding part of the answer before it came.
Aurelian gave the orders calmly.
"Hit the labor camps closest to the military zones first. Open the gates, disable restraints, destroy tracking systems, and broadcast escape routes toward the outer industrial sectors. Anyone who can move, moves."
Vaeren’s expression shifted slightly.
"You’re not taking them?"
"Not enough room. Not enough time."
Taking thousands of workers during an active raid would slow the fleet too much. The Kharov response window was already closing. But creating chaos inside the labor structure still had value.
Eirenne understood immediately.
"If the camps break during the withdrawal phase," she said, "local command response will divide between military recovery and internal containment."
"Exactly."
Rhoswen leaned back in her seat. "So even the workers become another problem for them."
"Yes," Aurelian said.
Neris added quietly, "And the people who escape may spread stories later."
This mattered because stories sometimes traveled faster than fleets.
Especially in frontier regions.
Solenne’s strike craft shifted targets after that. Instead of flattening the labor sectors, they hit control towers, security hubs, tracking grids, and transport locks.
Gates blew apart. Internal systems failed. Entire sections of the camps suddenly lost containment. freewēbnoveℓ.com
Panic spread almost immediately.
Kharov security teams, already dealing with orbital attacks, now had thousands of frightened workers moving through industrial zones simultaneously.
Some ran blindly. Others grabbed tools or supplies and disappeared into maintenance sectors. A few even turned on local guards while the bombardment continued overhead.
The entire moon started slipping out of organized control.
And while all of that happened, the Crownward March fleet kept stripping the depot clean.
Fast.
Ordered.
Efficient.
Exactly the way Aurelian wanted it.
