Oh, noes!
This decision, like many others before it, had reason as a calming backdrop. A rational, empirical chain of logic existed, which inevitably drove the policy makers to the conclusion in question. It did not take on the appearance of calamity immediately. In fact, for more than a decade it was a roaring success. Exploration licenses were bought by, quite literally, throngs of the bravest - if not brightest - Codexians. They fanned out across hundreds of stars, searching for the ultimate prize: Paradise. And, eventually, they found it, much to the government's relief. Alexandros, of the CSS Ghostdog, was the first Codexian to land on Xanadu, a lush garden world of tranquil green lakes and blue fields.
This young, beautiful world did not become Codexianity's second home immediately. Rather, it became a beacon of hope for the masses. Some day, the teeming billions of Codexia would have the living space they needed. Hope for the future. It was a notion the people could really get behind. The colonization effort that followed the monumental discovery dwarfed anything that had come before it. By 150AU, almost two hundred thousand men and women were poking and prodding Xanadu's expanses - as well as each other. It seemed as if our collective problems were resolved in one flicker of a planetary scanner's screen. Destiny smiled upon Codexia. The sky was the limit. Other idioms were invoked, in this heady time. Historians would come to label it differently.
On 15 June 152AU, a grizzled veteran of the void,
Mads Bringer, stumbled upon a system that, at first instance, looked to be utterly inconsequential. Yet, that fateful day, Bringer would pick up a puzzling signal from the system's extensive asteroid field. He was, after all, the only explorer with a license to roam in this sector. Curious as to its origin - and eager to nail some asshole to the wall for encroaching on his territory - Bringer began a sustained pursuit. By the end of the second day, and after suffering the total silence of his quarry in the face of many attempts at communication, Bringer fired explosive tipped survey drones at the other vessel.
He was not an overly vicious man. The makeshift weapon was intended only to serve as a warning to the duplicitous scoundrel on the other end. In any case, the drone was destroyed mid-flight. Understandably, Bringer panicked, and began a 'strategic withdrawal' from the system. He escaped, and ran to the nearest Codexian outpost to report the incident. He needn't have bothered. Within two months (and only weeks following his return), attacks were being reported against Codexian assets across the Colonial Territory. Ships and outposts had begun disappearing, with nary a trace.
The worst-case scenario of Codexianity's first contact had just played out. It was at war with an unidentified foe, who had so far made no attempt to communicate, during its obliteration of Codexian vessels and their crews. The attacks steadily increased in frequency, and scale. Something had to be done.
Do you... mobilize Codexia immediately, and unleash the dogs of war?
OR
Do you... explore alternate means of ending the conflict, while trying to keep it contained and on the fringes of Codexian space?