Velinkar eyeglows were narrowed into a scowl. The battle of attrition was holding, but the Azura didn't appear to be weating down. Every low-key stroke he'd sent out had been intercepted, and it seemed the only reason the recon forces on Tanshin II had gotten in was because the Myst Gate was such long-range non-starship transit that the Azura were not likely to spot it without sensors. Though how long that would hold against the diviniation...

They couldn't punch through the Azura, they couldn't slip low-key forces in - which largely rendered the recon forces on Tanshin II irrelevant strategically, since the intelligence, while useful in determining the Azura's capabilities, couldn't be exploited without getting boots on the ground. And with the disaterous loss of a chunk of the recon elements, Velinkar couldn't risk another sneak attempt.

It likewise seemed like suicide to attempt a ground assault, given what they knew so far, as the Azura would have orbital superiority.

Long-range bombardment was out, since the Azura seemed to be simply better at hauling space rocks around, and Aotrs energy weapons were simply not long enough range for artillery attacks.

Almost every stealth strategy that might work against sensors seemed likely to fail against diviniation, so until the anti-magic supplies arrived and could be fitted, making more attempts seemed futile.

The Gates gave them a distinct advantage in FTL mobility, but on the system scale, it frustrated Velinkar no end that they couldn't exploit it - the enemy divination seemed like it might even trump some of the more esoteric Gate uses.

In essence, the fleets were too equally matched (and if anything the overall combat advantage seemed to lie with the Azura) and the Azura had the high ground. They couldn't chase the Aotrs down and get rid of them... But it seemed neither could the Aotrs shift them.



Meanwhile, there was the diplomat. The Azura were clearly extremely factional, that much was certain, and apparently blissfully self-centric. Velinkar couldn't think of another power - okay, maybe the Herosines - which would try to BUY the enemy fleet in the middle of a fight. 

He had, for the sake purely of bemused curiousity, asked for a qualification of precisely what and where the diplomat wanted mercenaries [i]for[/i]. But the Aotrs had no particular desire to commit to long-term involvement in the internal affairs of a hostile power, which was mostly likely what "political influence" meant. The Aotrs was, ultimately, not going to serve as some one else's Condottieri. (It was one thing for Lord Unlucky to decide to make a alliance with an individual, but Velinkar wa neither Lord Unlucky nor apparently talkiing about something of the same scale. 

Let alone that, it seemed like it would play right into the Azura's mindset that they tacitly owned everything and that everyone they met could be coerced into being their servitors. Velinkar found that attitude galling so he would be blessed before he was going to accede to that. The self-centric arrogance was almost [i]human[/i]. But, the answers might prove illuminating. 

He felt it seemed unlikely that this faction would be opposed to the Furnace Knight sufficiently as to be useful right in this system; but perhaps it might at least get more of a lay of the land of their political landscape and perhaps better ascertain powerbases that, in the long-term, the Aotrs could attempt to manipulate. But Velinkar was, at the end of the day, an admiral, not a diplomat for a reason.

Velinkar had also has his staff see what information they could eke out of the diplomats anyway. He felt it unlikely they'd be willing to trade their technology and magic for anything the Aotrs would actually be prepared to part with, but it would be interesting to see what they would - if anything. (He suspected the latter.)



But there was perhaps one last roll of the dice. Velinkar had prepared a small strike force. The fleet's top mage, Major Killstorm, was capable of casting [i]Gate XXV[/i], which has sufficient range to reach Tanshin I even from their position outside the system. She could hold it long enough to deposit a fair-sized task force on the ground. The task force would lead with a couple of War Droid companies (with Hunter Drones and Enragers), and a platoon of Velinkar's best and brightest combat troops under Brigadier Throatstab Vivisector, with armour support from Revenant Spears, Hammers of Hatred and Storm Cleavers. (Under normal circumstances, he'd have added missile vehicles, but it seemd unlikely they'd help much against the Azura). 

This was very risky, since Velinar was risking sending his top spell caster into enemy territory (since Killstorm would have to accompany the troops to be able to open the Gate back out) as well as the cream of his elite. But given the strength of the Azura's various heroes, it felt like he had little option, since it increasingly seemed like that the Azura's weighing was more on a few elites with only moderate support. But if you had enough heroes... It did work. For that matter, that was almost what the Aotrs themselves did, using elite troops supplemented by War Droids, but on a wider and shallower scale.

The task force would be Gate in to secure one of the ruins - preferably the on furthest from the Azura and get inside as quickly as possible out of orbital bombardment range. The Azura might still decide to destroy what was on the ground rather than let the Aotrs have it, but they might bauk at the loss and greed (and perhaps over confidence) would suggest to them to take it back with ground forces. Then it would be a case of hoping they could hold the ruins long enough to get anythign useful out. A lot rode on Killstorm, who would have to bear the brunt of casting potentially multiple [i]Gate XXV[/i] spells, since it would eb the only way to reinforce the ground forces once they were in - at least not without potentially having to commit to a potentially ruineous strike at Tanshin I's orbital defenders.