[Friction roll: [b]1[/b]]

The negotiations go very well. The Azura negotiator is receptive and an in principle agreement is swiftly reached. It's in the details that she gets you.

Negotiation and commercial technique is a technological branch all of its own. The Aotrs are dealing with a dedicated commercial and underworld trader, genetically engineered for this task from inception. Her understanding of finance, cost, and best alternatives is unbelievably sharp and she has access to more market information than the Aotrs. The way the deal works out at the end is still satisfactory, still a positive thing for the Aotrs and not something worth breaking, but she found a way to take every bit of surplus value right up to that line.

Her primary area of interest was data - geographic and political, all the way down to level of individual relationships between heads of state and the mineral composition of planetary moons. She walks away with details of faction leaders, planetary governments, voting systems and compositions, the minute details of treaties and more besides. Each time these things seemed like small things to give up in exchange for shiploads of rare materials but it's only in retrospect that it seems like she never had any interest in physical goods. She broadly doesn't push on the details of Aotrs worlds or military secrets but still wound up with at least everything that could be considered publicly available.

But in the end, the core principles are unchanged; an attack on the Strayvians, and an attack on one of her rivals, the strikes to be launched simultaneously. She will magically bind herself to the fact that the strike will happen, but the timeframe is not entirely up to her faction. It needs to go up the chain to a regional Imperial Court, and that is a process that would be assisted by a high ranking ceremonial Aotrs delegation.

*

[Friction roll: 6]

The Azura, committed to a rigidly planned assault, had not reacted swiftly to the changing circumstance that left the air unconstested. Their own ships were still on the ground and the Craters were able to destroy them before they could launch. 

The Azura commit to their assault. Their plan was already to close in enough to render direct firepower weapons unwieldy, but their plan had hinged on overwhelming the Aotrs position with superior numbers and now they lacked that. The retreat decision comes too slowly and the order comes too late, so when the disengagement finally happens it's with the shredded remnants of the Azura force. It's a clear and decisive victory for the Aotrs, and between the disruption of the Tides and the failed Azura attack, there is plenty of time to recover damaged and disabled war droids from the battlefield and secure a complete inventory of the facility through the Gates.