“I don’t know Commander,” she responded, a touch of frustration leaking through her normal demeanor, “But I’m not sure it matters either way. Either we propose a cover story, similar to the one I outlined, where we avoid providing justification for the ‘cleansing’ of the remaining stations in the subsector and the distinction between those who fled and any who stayed is moot, or they deem in one way or another that the entire subsector still requires ‘cleansing’. And in the latter case, there is little I see of substance that we can do to help benefit the survival of any who stayed at this point any almost any action we take would indicate that we were also a threat even if it did not betray our true nature. Without anything to be gained, or planning in place to mitigate the consequences, it seems that it would be doing little more than wasting lives.”
She sighed and leaned back against her chair, rubbing at her temple with two fingers.
“We need to figure out how to figure out how to get home, and we need to figure out how to provide for and defend ourselves until we’ve discovered how to and made the preparations for our return. We’ve heard snippets about rebels and insurgents, but we need to know if they’re any better than what we’re running away from. That is, unless you’re of the mind to try trusting the Hegemony. But if we all act like the 3rd Hunter Groups’s CO, and if what I’ve accessed about my counterpart’s service record it’s more likely than not, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were taken for war crimes or propaganda pieces or something…”