After a few hours delay a small formation approaches the Aotrs scouts. Transported on a grandiose palanquin, garlanded in corals, silk robes and jewels, is a squidlike alien similar in basic structure to the subjects in the test tubes. Despite its initially impressive appearance it's hard to look past the faintly frazzled air of the creature and the nervousness of its constant twitching gestures. A herald introduces it as the Regional Subdirector of Long Term Memory, speaking on behalf of the Tides.

"Your position has been communicated to me," it states. "But negotiations [i]cannot [/i]continue while your war crimes are ongoing. You [i]must [/i]remove [i]all [/i]construct and unliving forces from the Archive immediately as a precondition for further discussion. The use of such creatures forces the genesis of anti-materiel weaponry which risks civilization itself. It cannot be permitted; we demand this show of basic respect to the laws of war."

There doesn't seem to be any flexibility on this point with this creature, and its demand could not come at a worse moment. To decamp the Aotrs from their defensive position in the teeth of an immanent Azura assault risks the complete destruction of Vivisector's entire force. It's not a sure thing, perhaps they get lucky and escape - but is such a sacrifice worth laying the groundwork for future negotiations?

*

"Oh, the Strayvians!" said Boldness. She rapidly went over the historical data. "Oh, I was wondering what had happened to them. Humans?" She frowned with something that looked almost like fear. "That makes sense. But yes, that would actually be a easy sell; the chance to destroy an old pirate kingdom once and for all."

A certain amount of arrogance is to be expected of the Azura nobility. Not so much from Boldness. When she refers to the old Strayvian empire, that vast and sprawling polity, like they were mere [i]bandits[/i] - or the Furnace Knight as a crime lord - the implication is grim. The sheer, overwhelming [i]size [/i]of the Endless Azure Skies seems to live up to its name. Perhaps the best framework to understand how it is accustomed to interacting with its neighbours is that of the dynasties of China.

"But yes, this would work," she said. "Only question is if it happens on a timetable that is useful to you, and the best way to guarantee that is to provide detailed, useful sensor information. Planets, fortifications, fleet numbers and dispositions, and so on. The Azura are poor scouts and worse explorers so the best thing you can offer them is detailed maps."