“Our little corner of space is getting more crowded by the minute.” Justinios’ brow furrowed as he tossed his datapad on the black durasteel table in front of him. The device, and the identical ones carried by the other three beings in attendance, displayed the latest data drop from the Inquisitorious. “You’ve all had the same hour or so to read this as I have, what do we know about our recently discovered galactic neighbor?”

Justinios had been so shaken by the “discovery” of the Severian Principate that he called an immediate summit of his newly formed team. Drayen Ky’Lian’s attempted coup, and the massive fallout associated with it, had caused the path of the Aleena Jedi intersect with those of both the scout-sniper and Mandalorian sitting at the table with him. Along with Justinios’ trusted droid, K1-L0 aka Kilo, the group had pledged themselves to protecting the citizens of the Caelus system at all costs. Undoubtedly, none of them would have had any idea when they formed their pact that their first challenge would be the revelation of a well-armed government on their own doorstep.

After carefully placing her own datapad face down on the black durasteel table, Lieutenant Liya Oldag responded. “From a raw power standpoint, they are a major threat. If these estimates are even remotely accurate,” the officer tapped her forefinger on the overturned datapad as she spoke, “the Severian Principate could likely overrun the entire Brotherhood.”

“If they so desired,” Tavens Caedo added to the end of the soldier’s statement. “Their forces are irregular but in many ways that is more dangerous. The good news is that they became known to us not in a wave of violence like the savages in the Collective but instead through back-alley channels. If they wanted to cause trouble we’d have heard from then before now.”

“Are you trying to say we should ignore the threat simply because they aren’t bloodthirsty maniacs like the Collective?” Liya continued to struggle to keep her emotions in check which was uncharacteristic of her.

Tavens looked more disappointed than mad. “Liya, I know we are all getting used to each other but I haven’t stayed alive this long ignoring threats. My point is that the Severian government has shown no signs of outward aggression in dealings with others, like the Hutts for example. Let me ask you this, if you were looking to expand the borders of your pocket empire would you go after those fat slugs first or an army full of force users?”

“Point taken but I’d take a pot shot at one of those sleemos just for fun,” Lieutenant Oldag spat with a wry smile. “I will concede that, at least from this report, the Severian government rules its people in a just manner.”

“I don’t think we should spend any further time discussions if the Severian’s will invade but instead what our response would be in the event that an invasion occurs.” In any other meeting an interruption from a droid like Kilo would have caused a bit of a ruckus but everyone presented considered the droid an equal partner in their overarching mission.

“Thank you Kilo.” Justinios had developed quite the soft spot for the old KX-unit. He had been with him since his earliest days in the Brotherhood and had arguably earned his seat at the table more than the organic members of the team had. “Kilo is correct, our concern is how to shield Caelus’ citizens from the possible destruction the Participate could rain down upon them if fighting erupts in this system.”

Liya responded first “Avoidance is always the best option.”

“I do not disagree Liya. The good news is that I have no reason to believe our Consul has any intentions of igniting conflict,” the Aleena paused, not to choose his words but really just for dramatic effect, “but we all are aware just how volatile leadership is at all levels of this organization.”

Nods of agreement spread around the room. No doubt they were all thinking not just of the Dark Council and the other clans but also the more violent members of Taldryan who would sacrifice thousands of civilians for the smallest of personal gains.
“Our plan needs to be for the worst cases scenario, a full force invasion by the Principate. If that were to occur how could we prevent as many people as possible from being killed?”

“I want to know what the droid thinks,” the Mandalorian looked directly at the midnight black painted Imperial relic as he spoke. “He’s programmed for tactics and strategy, I’m sure Kilo has already run thousands of calculations.”

“Millions actually,” Kilo didn’t miss a beat in responding, “and it is my assessment a successful defense of the Caelus system occurs in less than 2% of possible outcomes”

The droid looked around again for acknowledgment, receiving approving glances from Justinios and blank stares from the other two before continuing.

“If the stated goal of this group remains minimization civilian casualties then there is a single course of action which has a casualty rate 95% lower than all others.”

Even as Justinios attempted to determine the conclusion the droid had reached, Lieutenant Oldag responded with what she believed Kilo was referring to. “Evacuation would hardly be feasible, even with advance notice. There is no way the Taldryan Navy has enough ships to both…”

Then it hit him like an explosion in his reptilian mind. Kilo’s plan burst through Justinios' neurons. It was no wonder none of them thought of it, at least as quickly as the old Imperial droid had. In fact, his Imperial designers probably would have fainted from shock had they seen the automaton reach this line of thinking. At the same time, it wasn’t lost on Justinios that it took the streamlined mind of a strategy droid to come up with such an idea even if it was antithetical to everything the Empire stood for.

“We turn over the keys to the kingdom.”

“Exactly master Drake.”

Justinios then went on to explain for the other two team members. “We all agreed that our loyalty is to the citizens of the Caelus system first and foremost, correct? Therefore it is not our concern who rules it so long as they do so in a just manner.” The Aleena turned his gaze directly towards the Lieutenant. As a lifelong member of the Taldryan armed forces she was the most likely to resist the idea or even turn them in for treason. “Liya you said it yourself, the intelligence we have indicates that the Principate rules their people fairly. The best way to protect lives is to make it so that any fight for the Caelus system is a route, even if that means turning on the clan. A battle for this system could be bloodier that Karufr and I know you would do anything to avoid another massacre on that scale.”

Then silence.

Justinios let the idea hang in the air, patiently waiting for a response. He knew the Mandalorian would have no problems with the concept. He had been in the Caelus system long before Taldryan arrived and had no loyalty to the clan or the Brotherhood.
“I have given my life to this clan, dedicated everything I had to it and watched friends die in its name,” Liya began. She paused before continuing though as if still unsure on which side she would land on. “If we ever had to enact this plan, turning on everything I fought for would seem like all of the sacrifices were for nothing. That my friends died for nothing.” Another pause, but this time the Lieutenant seemed to collect her thoughts. “But the things I saw when Karufr was destroyed and I can’t unsee them. Bodies of children burnt beyond recognition. Hospitals bombarded from space. No amount of pride can get in the way of doing whatever it takes to prevent those scenes from playing out in another system.”

“The army brat is on board!” Tavens exclaimed. “So how the frak would we even pull this off? If we are going to agree to treason we should have the details worked out in advance.”

Justinios cracked his knuckles. “I have a few ideas and most of them require a few dozen stolen access codes. If only we knew someone on the Clan summit…”