The Tindrel’s strategy of using their planetoid as a ram had worked twice so far, but it seemed that it would not work for a third. The enemy was keeping close track of their movements, and approaching from a distance as it was, they had plenty of time to push forward into the asteroid field, moving aggressively into the lines of the Outreman ships. The planetoid could not follow, both because of the asteroids, and to avoid endangering their own allies. Their weaponry however, certainly still had the potential to contribute. The enemy’s fighters and support ships had been positioned to fight the Humans, so a good number of torpedoes from their flanks were able to find their marks and spread out significant damage to a few capital ships. As long as someone could keep pressure on them, they would not be able to disengage to recover their shields. 

Unfortunatley, losses were still piling up on [i]both[/i] sides. A few more capital ships had been knocked out. Currently, victory was not guaranteed, though it was looking more likely than not. However, on the current path, losses were going to be heavy. The pressure from the enemy was constant, and relentless, and the commander was going to have to prioritize what to protect. They had managed to keep the QV ship intact for now, but hostiles were close to surrounding it. The shields of the battle group’s Outreman flagship were currently below half, and it could be in danger without some relief. As well, there were two enemy cruisers maneuvering to try to take out the “Bertha” rail cannon. 



[hr]

“We should let the evidence build the pattern naturally. Best not to color our perspectives with potentially unfounded assumptions.” Marae answered. She was linked in to the computer via her implants, so she could adjust the parameters of their scans through thought alone. The new parameters she was inputting and updating moment-to moment danced across the screen almost faster than one could read them. “Let’s do a deep scan here. Focus on the settlement and its surroundings.” 

Using readings from both the Cradle and Navigator as a reference point, Marae started guiding a wide scan through the entire EM spectrum. She did not design each test unassisted, of course, but before their eyes, she implemented a program that would automatically update and iterate between each of the thousands of tests it was performing per second. It was following a genetic algorithm to continually refine potential signal profiles to search for. The tests themselves were perfectly comprehensible to someone with relevant expertise, though the way she treated complex programming as if it was simple mental math was a sight to behold. The only aspect of the tests that the other species might not recognize as readily would be the scans utilizing induced gravitational waves. Compared to anything on the EM spectrum, gravitational waves were exceptionally weak and required immensely sensitive instruments to even detect. The physics involved was well-known to any spacefaring species, but to be able to manufacture a device both capable of detecting such waves, while also being small and practical enough to fit in a sensor package, was not something that others could yet do.