Forty five years ago, Mother of All.

"Joyful Finder, please present your findings to the Council" the Council Herald instructed her.
Joy looked around the Council Chamber. Representative elders from all the clans were present. She handed a data unit to the Herald "Here is the full report."
"Do you have a summary to present?" the question was more an order.
"Yes, I do. Elders, I have been reviewing our records of the raiders, and reached some important conclusions. My processes and the full details are in my report, but here is my summary." She paused and took a deep breath.
"I believe from my review that there is little point in building warships to take on the raiders at this time - or a least not as a priority."
She could feel the frowns from around the chamber.
"The reason is simple - we are no longer regarded as a soft target. They will not come here. But cannot go to them either. And the reason for that is that we have never identified the location of their base planet. We know that it is within eight jumps - but that covers many systems, and many, many planets. And even finding a planet, it would be hard to find a hidden base."

A voice came from the darkness - Weaver Clan, maybe? "So we do nothing?"
"No, we continue to build in-system capability. But at some point, we send out scouts of our own. Not in their own ships, but with others, to collect stories and rumours. And maybe actual navigation data."
"That may take years."
"It will take us years to build the in-system capacity to justify visitors to take them."

A different voice - the Coal Digger representative - "And then?"
"Then we take ships we have kept ready and secret, and take the fight to them."

A third voice "And our people who have been raised by them? And their families?"
"That" Joy's tone was muted "Is a decision for the Council."
"You might be on the Council by then."
"Then I hope to be wise enough to make the right choice then."

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