As Aotrs reinforcements arrive, the Azura fleet continue to hollow out. A steady trickle of ships leave the system and others are stripped apart for components to build fortified structures on the Tanshin II surface. A small, dedicated core of specialist warships remains in orbit around Tanshin II as a rapid response unit but the overall stance has shifted to static fortification. 

The key to this work is the creation of vast numbers of acceleration rings. The Azura can evidently manufacture these cheaply and quickly with materials harvested on location and when a ship passes through a ring it accelerates like a railgun slug. The Azura are also observed test firing munitions through these rings, something that further pushes back the work of Aotrs skirmishers. Within the acceleration network the Azura strategic mobility increases enormously, and reports from ground infiltrators indicates that establishing acceleration highways on the ground is one of the first priorities of Azura engineers.

While Azura leadership has generally come across as inept and backbiting by Aotrs standards, their engineering corps at least is worthy of respect. The lupine servitors who direct these operations - identified by scouts as the Ceronian Legions - are a professional, dedicated warrior species with a focus on battlefield engineering. They turn the advanced Azura technology to the practical business of tearing up mud and dirt, rerouting waterways and establishing anti-air emplacements. The Azura Knights are glory hounds, turning up for the battle and retiring to luxurious encampments or leaving the system entirely afterwards, but this is the hard backbone to the army and they'll be the ones holding the line until their masters see fit to return. If there is anything in this alien culture that genuinely resembles the Aotrs values of professionalism and practicality, it is here amidst the Ceronians.

*

A plasma warhead launched through an acceleration ring smashed into the base shield a few hours after it was activated. It heralds the beginning of an interplanetary bombardment - projectiles launched from Tanshin II towards the Aotrs base on Tanshin I. The bombardment is cursory and negated by the shields, though it's reasonably accurate. Soon the planet rotates the base out of being threatened, for the night at least. It puts the base on notice - the planetary orbits are closely enough aligned that this represents a significant threat.

A third of the specimens are dead; study of their biology indicates that they are not particularly dangerous physically, nor do they have the channels traditionally associated with psionic powers. What they do have is an intensely complex reproductive system and extreme social awareness. Thousands of specialized genetic sequences are identified inside these eggs - an arsenal. Has the Aotrs encountered a biotechnological hivemind species before? This seems like an attempt to engineer one. A good one, too. This is [i]advanced [/i]work - beyond the bleeding edge of Aotrs biology. It would require powerful tools to engineer these beings, and the assessment is that while the squid are valuable the tools - if they are still on the planet - represent the true prize of the Tanshin system.

A breakthrough is made by the archeodata team; while many of the computers are too contaminated by damp and atmosphere to be recovered, some of them had biological components that left strange, fragmentary ghosts that could be invoked by necromancers. Much of the data is corrupt but there are tantalizing pieces. The most immediately apparent is that this is a [i]terraforming [/i]project - the idea being to create a species capable of massive planetary modification and environmental engineering. Explains why the labs were placed on such an inhospitable planet.

On that note, an armoured company of the tanklike battlecrabs is gathering beyond the perimeter of the Aotrs encampment, with clear hostile intent. They'll need to be dealt with in order to buy enough time for everything to be safely removed.