"I disagree with the war boss," he’s saying calmly. "We stand to gain nothing from war with the Ancients at this point in time, to say nothing of the potential risks. A war would be costly for both sides, and might ... hmm, bleed off enough assets to encourage one or more of the Seoulpa rings to try to take advantage of the situation." He shrugs and brushes an invisible fleck of dust off his cuff. "In any case, the Ancients have done nothing to warrant a declaration of war at this time."