dex drako wrote:nothing in the story has even hinted at this possibility or even a reason why. sure we know humans are invisible to loroi far seers but there should be no way for the bug to know this. So at this point humans are kind of meaningless to anyone but the people that want to disprove the Loroi clams of being Soia.
Not necessarily - at least not meaningless in a strategic sense. I'd have to read over the Umiak notes on the Insider to be sure, but it's safe to say the Umiak have different sensor/early warning systems in place than the Loroi farseer. So there's a good chance that, while the Loroi were blinded and engaged in battle, the main Umiak fleet spotted the
Bellarmine, determined it was neither Loroi (or their allies) or Umiak, and blasted it to scrap.
Even knowing absolutely nothing about humans, from the Umiak perspective a new starfaring race represents a threat, an unknown variable. They have no way of knowing the pedigree of ship they just took out: it could have been a scout, an obsolete barge, a pirate vessel, or the finest flower of human might. So until the Umiak learn more about this unknown race (and hence to determine the actual threat said race may or may not present), it is in their interest to prevent said race from (a) returning with possible intel on Umiak strength, numbers, and tactics, and/or (b) coming into contact with the Loroi.
However, their plan went awry when the Loroi found the wreck. Again, from the Umiak perspective, they have no way of knowing what the Loroi have recovered. It could just be scattered fragments of strange alloys, but it could also be intact records (including a possible route to the homeworld of the unknowns), corpses, and possibly survivors. Although, if the Loroi picked up Alex's ramblings, it's a safe bet the Umiak did as well, and so the chances of a living representative being aboard a Loroi ship go up exponentially.
Before, I think, the Umiak would have just pressed the attack, and be happy with ripping the Loroi apart, even if some Loroi ships manage to escape. But now, they can't afford to let *any* Loroi ships out of the Naam system. Any surviving enemy ship could carry the survivor and/or news of this new race out to Loroi high command - which can ultimately translate to a new alien race joining the Loroi against the Umiak, throwing all their larger strategic plans into the waste disposal. This leads me to my personal theory about this request for communication: it's simply to buy time while the Umiak target each enemy ship and then launch one massive barrage.