The Council calls them “minor.” A backwater colony world with little trade, little influence, and no real friends. Then the pirates come. All of them. In the dark between stars, the colony’s last desperate broadcast goes unanswered… until the newest, least respected members of the Council arrive. Humans. Probationary. “Technologically behind.” “Unproven.” The pirates expect easy prey. The Council expects a tragedy. What they witness instead forces a galaxy-wide rethink.