The gray metal door slid open as Kid walked into the spacious office. He was quickly followed by two  uniformed men. Kid sat at the head of a circular table in the middle of the room and motioned for the two men to join him. As they settled into their chairs Kid began tapping away at a screen embedded into the table. “It’s been three years since we established KED,” one man said absentmindedly, stroking his beard, “and we have yet to engage the Imperials in a meaningful fight.” 

“Well Admiral,” Kid replied, “We needed to rebuild after the Imperial at-,” His voice caught for a moment and sadness trickled into his eyes, “After they attacked our previous base and killed several personnel and leadership. Not to mention training new recruits, and these recruits from Earth.” Kid then turned to the other man in the room, “Which reminds me, General Varix, how is our recruitment and training going?” 

The General nodded. “Our basic recruits from all over are progressing well. Our recruits from the various Earth militaries have progressed even further, and a lot of them are in our Officers’ training program or have been fast-tracked to active duty.” 

“Has there been any rumors or leakage of our existence to the Earthlings?” Kid asked. “Knowing of our existence could vastly upset things for them.” 

Varix shook his head. “There might be rumors, but we’ve done a good job recruiting most of the washouts and veterans we’ve approached, the ones who declined our offer will probably have a hard time finding anyone who believes them if they try to tell others about us.” 

“Taking most of the three years to recruit and train everyone, to get us all on the same page, has certainly helped, especially with this new rank structure,” the Admiral said.

Kid grinned. “I rather like it, it sets us apart from the Empire.” 

“It certainly does, and makes it easier to integrate the Earthlings.” Varix agreed.

“Now, getting to why I called you here, and your earlier comment about a fight, Larnic,” Kid said to the Admiral, “I have received word from our intelligence network that the Emperor is planning an attack soon.” As Kid finished, he reached over toward a panel on the table, causing a hologram of a planet to burst into life above it. “This is the planet Ferndisin, and its governor has recently refused to continue paying Imperial taxes and has brazenly declared Karanis a tyrant and demanded he be deposed.”

The two men stared at the planet hovering above them, and Varix whistled in amazement. “I can't imagine the Emperor has taken that very well.”  

“No.” Kid replied, “My source says he is planning some sort of retaliation, and knowing the Emperor, I believe he is planning to wipe out the planet.” 

“You really believe he would kill off an entire population?” Larnic asked.

Kid nodded, “He’s proven in the past he will kill anyone from his many purges, and they’ve insulted him directly. He will be out for blood.” 

“So I'm guessing we are going to evacuate the planet?” Varic asked.

“Yes,” Kid answered, “We are going to get as many people off as we can.” 

“What’s the population of the planet?” Larnic asked.

“About two billion, with a majority of their population centered around the capital Krestol.” He replied, touching the panel again and causing the hologram to zoom in on the planet until it rested and a sprawling city filled with skyscrapers.

“Hm, yes, we don’t have enough ships to evacuate that large of a population.” Larnic stated. 

“Yes, I know,” Kid sighed, “But we should try to get as many off planet as we can.” 

Larnic gave a quick nod, “I can send eight carriers to hold the bulk of the refugees, that..” He paused, rubbing his beard again, “If we pack them shoulder to shoulder and run the ship on a skeleton crew we could conceivably fit millions all together, rough estimates maybe around two to three million. I can send along a small fleet to protect them, let's say, a cruiser and ten frigates.” 

Varix looked aghast, “three million out of two billion! That’s less than one percent of the population!”

Laric sighed and shook his head. “Even that’s an optimistic estimate.” 

“There are going to be a vast amount of deaths. Regardless, our job is only to save who we can.” 

“More blood on the Imperials’ murderous hands.” Varic seethed.

“Prioritize young families with children, young adults and children first, as well as anyone with technical skills that would be useful in setting up society elsewhere.” Kid said, looking at Larnic. 

“I’ll have Vice Admiral Gilkes lead the fleet. When do they need to leave?”

“As soon as possible, we don’t know when the Empire will strike.” 

Larnic stood up and saluted Kid before rushing out of the room.