A basic analysis of the grand formation throughout the system was completed in short order by Koralo. “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”

“Does the bad news completely erase any point of there being good news?” Velvet grumbled.

“Not completely,” Koralo said. “So, the good news. I don’t believe that they predicted our arrival here, and most likely they aren’t even looking for us. However, that doesn’t mean we’re not in a delicate situation. The system is still locked down to prevent anyone from getting out, and while their formations might not have detected our arrival there is a decent chance they would notice our departure and be able to track us more directly.”

“So, what? We’re stuck here?” Velvet asked. “I suppose we can wait until they move on.”

“I do not think they will be moving on any time soon,” Koralo said. “Because they’re not locking down this system for fun or practice. This system is the one that contained what we believed to be a branch of the Nighstar sect.”

“Why did we come here?” Velvet furrowed her brow. That was a serious question she had to ask herself. “We could have jumped to a half dozen other stars without significantly deviating from our course. There was no reason to go directly back through a system we knew had traffic.”

Koralo shook his head. “That is a question I am afraid I have no answer to.”

“Can you go get the others?” Velvet asked.

“Including or excluding Lelka?”

“She’ll have to be here. We can’t risk leaving her out of our sight.” Of course, their energy senses should be able to keep a lock on her. The ship was tiny. But at the moment it seemed like too much of a risk.

It didn’t take more than a minute to gather the others. Alva had been watching Lelka, not that there had been any trouble yet. Which was why the surveillance would continue to ensure it stayed that way. Durff… was still carrying his arm. Sustaining it with his energy, since even if the ship had a stasis formation it wouldn’t have been optimal long term.

Velvet explained the situation, such as it was. “We should have thought of this. Or maybe not this, specifically, but the risks of entering this system. So why didn’t we?” Velvet didn’t believe Alva or herself should have missed something like that. Nor Koralo, realistically. Fine, she mostly thought that Durff might have missed it but not anyone else.

“I assumed you remembered,” Durff said. “And I don’t think there was a better route.”

“What do you mean by that?” Velvet asked.

“Well, usually you remember things better than me.”

“Sure. But I meant the other thing.”

“Isn’t this where we wanted to go?” Durff asked.

Velvet frowned. “Why would we want to go here? We were trying to avoid enemies.”

“Yeah. But there are a lot of them, right? Like, throughout the rest of the Exalted Quadrant. They’ll probably all look for us. Not because they’re friends but the Citadel is probably very mad and would pay them or threaten them or whatever.”

“All of that rings true,” Velvet agreed. “It doesn’t explain coming here.”

“We can just leave now,” Durff said. “By going in there.”

Lelka’s reaction to that was obvious, along with her confusion. “You’ll just be trapped in the secret realm. Which would include me, and I don’t think the hostage excuse would help since it wouldn’t excuse my ‘failures’. So what I’m saying is I’d rather not have that happen.”

“You know about the secret realm?” Velvet asked.

“Tangentially. Elder Ludek should have been the one actually involved with it. Speaking of which, you were rather lucky he wasn’t around the core. He’s one of those closest to being an Exalted One.”

“A Domination cultivator?” Velvet asked.

“Not quite. Every Domination cultivator would be an Exalted One, but not all of them are Domination cultivators. Also, this had better count towards sharing important information because I really need the contribution.”

“We never even really agreed on that,” Alva pointed out.

“You will, though,” Lelka said. “Anyway, Elder Ludek would have made your infiltration much more difficult, even if he didn’t catch you beforehand. Your tenuous survival would have become complete destruction.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Velvet said.

“That you would have required the addition of someone like him to be wiped out does actually speak to my assessment of your abilities.”

“Right,” Koralo said. “Is this Elder Ludek here?”

“I can’t tell,” Lelka said. “He isn’t projecting any energy I can feel, but I’d expect most people to be more subtle than that. If I could actively sense it might be different.”

“We’re not freeing you from the restraints,” Velvet declared.

Lelka shrugged. “I was just being clear.”

Alva’s eyes carefully watched the display screen, showing their current facing, and the outside in general. “What are our chances of getting out of the formation undetected?”

“About… fifty percent,” Koralo said. “That is accounting for my understanding of all of our capabilities and my own formation expertise.”

“If Ludek is here and you are noticed, we all die,” Lelka reminded them.

“Would his potential presence make the formations more powerful?” Koralo asked.

“He’s not a formation master. He might be able to empower them at the behest of one, but I’d probably feel that if it was active and ongoing. However, his influence might have brought out some of the better members of the Worthy Shore Society.”

“What are our other options?” Alva asked. “We can try to slip past the formations through subspace…”

“Already considered,” Koralo pointed out. “That would have been a better plan that trying to directly bypass the formations.”

“Or we could try to go to a higher order subspace,” Alva pointed out.

“I agree,” Koralo nodded. “Which is why the ship is not our best bet. At least, based on what I have seen and your experiences with the Nighstar sect.”

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“That’s what I was saying,” Durff complained. “We can just go through there, right?”

Velvet frowned. “I would not make the assumption all locations operate the same.”

“You’ve seen more of these?” Lelka asked. Velvet just glared at her. “What? I think it’s reasonable to be curious.”

“Durff,” Velvet said. “You’re resistant to mental manipulation, correct?”

“I sure hope so,” he said.

“We may have missed something drawing us here.”

“If it helps,” Lelka said. “I’ve never been here before and feel called to this place.”

“That means it’s a trap, right?” Alva asked.

“Everything is a trap,” Velvet said. “It just matters if we can overcome it.” Her energy swirled inside her. “Found it. The local system is responsible for the draw. I just thought it was because we’d seen more of these.” She grimaced. “It’s slippery and does a good job to appear like my own thoughts.”

“So then,” Velvet said. “Do we take our chances with unknown but likely high risks, or something quite like an actual coin flip? I’d prefer not to go in there.”

“I’m for delving into the Nighstar sect,” Alva said.

“Though the risk is high, I would prefer to take our chances with the ship,” Koralo said.

People turned to Durff. “I think the secret realm is better. We’ve dealt with that stuff before.”

“I know that I probably don’t get a vote,” Lelka said. “But I would prefer to face the dangers of the secret realm, as long as you believe there is a reasonable chance of escape.”

“You don’t get a vote,” Velvet said.

“Everheart made it,” Koralo added.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Lelka commented. “Let’s not go there.”

“Your vote still doesn’t count,” Alva said. “So, uh, I think we should go with the one of us who might be the least mentally manipulated.”

“But Durff is your choice,” Velvet pointed out. Alva shrugged.

“Doesn’t it make sense?” Durff asked. “It worked before.”

“Only if there’s a stable space beyond the secret realm,” Koralo said.

“We don’t have to stay there. We’ll just pass through,” Durff said. “Isn’t that what you did all that learning for?” he asked Alva.

“I had Catarina backing me up.”

“Koralo knows formations,” Durff said. “Didn’t you study the other place?”

“I did,” Koralo admitted.

“So we know we’re going at least one bit deeper. From there, we can go even further and find a way out. Isn’t that easier than slipping through regular subspace past some formations that are probably looking for that?”

“It is,” Velvet admitted.

“I’m concerned about leaving the ship behind,” Koralo said.

“Oh, that’s easy,” Alva said. “We just let it fall into the sun.”

“... This is not a cheap ship,” Koralo pointed out. “Even if it’s not large.”

“All the more reason to make sure it doesn’t fall into enemy hands,” Velvet agreed with Alva. “And it was already written off as an expense of this. Remember the part where we weren’t expected to make it out? If we hadn’t returned to the ship, it should have been programmed to self-annihilate. Or if captured, to the extent that it could.”

“So you agree with them now?” Koralo asked.

“I don’t think it’s worse. And Alva would be the one doing the spatial delving. Are you still confident, even if you have to reach higher order or partial dimensional subspace on your own?”

Alva gave that a few moments of thought. “Yes. Though I could use a stabilization tunnel.”

“Just one last issue,” Velvet pointed out. “The ships at our destination.”

“True,” Alva said. “We’ll have to slip past anyone exploring the secret realm or standing guard outside. But once we’re in everyone should be trapped with us so we’ll be alright.”

“About that,” Lelka commented. “What do you mean by trapped? Because we have gotten our disciples out, according to the reports I saw.”

“Did it involve a sacrificial pawn in the center opening up the exits on the outside?” Velvet asked.

“Propping open dimensional portals so you didn’t have to hope another group would enter at the same point?” Koralo asked.

“I don’t remember the thing that trapped us in ours,” Durff said. “At least on the higher layer.”

“... No? There were no mentions of any difficulty like that. Some deaths, yes, but they were just weaker disciples.” Lelka looked at the group. “What did I say? I feel like I said something bad but I don’t know what.”

“If you’re truly interested in joining the Scarlet Alliance,” Alva said. “Keep in mind that we don’t tend to see those who are weaker as without value.”

“Of course not,” Lelka said. “They just have less value.”

“More like… we see their value in the future,” Alva said. “Or just, as people.”

“An odd philosophy,” Lelka commented. “But wouldn’t you still weed out those with low potential?”

“And what would you say low potential is?” Alva asked.

“Unable to practice a major cultivation technique.”

“Right. And those people would be doomed to be weak forever?”

“Aside from potentially spending an excessive amount of resources, yes,” Lelka said.

“Hey Durff. Can I share your secrets?” Alva asked.

“I have secrets?” Durff pondered. “Uh, you’re not allowed to share them with the enemy.”

“Is she our enemy?” Alva pointed.

Durff tilted his head, taking a good look at Lelka. “Nah, she’s fine. She wants to be our friend, right?”

“She could be deceiving us.”

“It’s fine, probably. What secrets, though?” Durff waved her forward and they whispered for a few moments. “Oh, that? That’s not a secret.”

“Even from the Exalted Quadrant?” Alva asked.

“I don’t think it’s worse than being from the Scarlet Alliance,” he pointed out. “We’re closer.”

“... Fair enough,” Alva admitted. “Alright, Lelka. This guy is from the Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance.”

Lelka looked at Alva like she was crazy. “No he isn’t.”

“His aunt Eka is one of their elders.”

“Just because you know one of their names doesn’t make it true. I can feel his cultivation,” Lelka said.

“That’s the point. Because Durff here is someone that by your definition is low potential. No offense, Durff.”

“I know what you mean,” he nodded.

“Right. He couldn’t practice the Veiled Brilliance. He got, to my understanding, a fairly modest injection of resources. And he almost killed your Domination cultivator. Or, well, melted your Citadel by smashing it into the sun.”

“I’m not certain that would have killed Zaur,” Lelka said. “But it would have been close enough. I also have to say he’s not my Domination cultivator now or before.” Lelka looked at Durff. “I don’t think he had a real chance of success at his current cultivation. But I don’t think someone who has the potential to reach Augmentation truly has low talent, either.”

“Right,” Alva said. “So basically what I’m saying is that those with ‘low talent’ probably just haven’t found the right path for them. That’s kind of a big part of what makes the Scarlet Alliance work.”

“I’m interested,” Lelka admitted. “But I do believe we can’t afford to sit here talking for a long time.”

“Right,” Alva said. “People weren’t trapped in the secret realm.”

“The trap would be the desire to return,” Velvet said. “That might even get more people, long term. Every method was different… so it fits just fine.”

“So basically we have to remain unnoticed until we can reach the deeper layers,” Alva said. “Or we’ll have a limited time frame after being spotted. I still support the secret realm route.”

“I haven’t changed my opinion either,” Durff said.

“If Velvet still agrees,” Koralo said. “I’ll trust in your experience.”

“With my mind momentarily clear,” Velvet said. “I still feel this is a slightly better option. We do know what we’re getting into. And if we do it right, the Exalted Quadrant will never figure out how we slipped their grasp.”

Thus, their plans were set. All they had to do was follow through.