"Another species of alien. They're called Maiar, they're shapeshifters and nearly impossible to injure, we have one with us for the faster-than-light communications with home. He has offered to, if there are standoffs, go knock the guns out of people's hands, on the condition that this enable nonlethal problem-solving. The Maiar are - very very alien, cultural gulfs much wider than those between Amentans and Elves, but I'm confident in him in that capacity. ...his preferred physical form is a giant dog."

"...so if we meet substantial resistance we fall back and call in the giant dog alien?"

"Pretty much."

They look at each other.

"If for whatever reason this doesn't go off so good - somebody hits a kid or a gardener or something, the blues call in foreigners to smack us down, something - then what."

"I'm presuming some risk of innocent people getting hurt, I'm not expecting you to discipline soldiers for genuine mistakes in a heated situation I put them in. If there's foreign armies involved - have a list of everybody who'll be in danger if we don't get them out, so we can get them on a ship?"

"That'd be the entire army less anyone who defects at the right time."

He makes a face. "If I put that many Elves in our ships they'd die on me but in that respect you seem to be hardier. - it seems like it really ought to be sufficient to get in the ships ourselves and announce that if anybody puts a toe into Calado's territory or airspace we are all permanently leaving for some other planet that makes it less of a hassle to teach lightleapers."

"Might do, yeah, unless they think they can subdue you or that you're bluffing."

"Announce it from orbit, then. I should shoo our engineers for the duration of the potential fighting anyway."

"Might tip 'em off you're planning something."

"All right. I can have a shuttle near there and have them ready to go without anyone breaking their routine - someone tried chasing us last time we took off, got nowhere, I don't know how representative that is of the best effort that could be made -"

"Probably one of those 'if this worked I'd look great' things, not a coordinated thing."

Nod. "Our assessment is that foreign intervention is unlikely. If you think it's likely we may need to reassess."

"I don't think it's likely, I just don't want my entire family rounded up and shot if it happens anyway."

"I will get you out."

The generals look at each other. "Last chance to go turn him in for sedition," one says.

Silence.

"All right. Logistics," he says, and they talk logistics augmented by spaceships and magic dog.

This is their strength not his but he can offer information as necessary.

And eventually they have a plan which involves steps and contingencies and what they're telling the troops.

And he informs Elves and has them ready to get on a ship and threaten to fly away if needed and Huan ready to diffuse confrontations and hundreds of people ready to fill in at essential jobs whose current employees are going to be arrested.

The army has a coup.

Some blues die. Some of their staff die. Pictures of the casualties are all taken in situ and captioned with explanations for the Elves before the reds take them. Some of their private security is disarmed by a giant dog. Most blues and their security and staff who sided with them are herded into military trucks and sent to ships, hands tied behind their backs. They are all really upset. A few blues are under house arrest.

Elves release explanations. Calado has a new government. For now, everyone gets two children with permissions awarded atop that. As soon as they have a planet in hand, which they expect will be inside a year, everyone can have as many children as they'd like. If you worked for blues, show up to work and meet their replacement. Several billion ahk in taxpayer money seem to have been being mysteriously embezzled; now it's going to schools and hospitals and nursing homes, by the following criteria. 

There's a lot more. But it can wait until things settle.

The ships have been modified to hold prisoners. They don't restrain the children. They take off. Elves walk the aisles fretting. Maitimo told them it would not be helpful to sing. 

Staff show up - mostly - some of them designate one person in the office to show up and tell them how that goes.

Miserable frightened children huddle near their families or fling themselves biting and kicking at Elves.

Staff who show up meet their blues' replacements. They have spent a while studying the jobs; they want the accounting straightened out and various past dishonesty documented and then they want to get to work keeping the country running. No one gets hurt. 

Elves look distraught at biting kicking children and let them keep at it until they are exhausted. 

Word spreads internationally.

Some of the children also pull hair.

The ambassadors who were escorted to the airport were kind of scared and some of them did not get on airplanes on the grounds that they might be shot down or something. One attempted to cross the border into the Free State of Oahk on foot and was bitten by a snake and died; others holed up in the airport and want to know what the fuck is going on; others made it home.

What is going on is that Calado has a new government. What prompted this was Calado accepting, and then betraying, the terms of an agreement for lightleapers; everybody else is safe as long as they do not do that. The blues have been sent into exile on an Elf planet. 

(Children who pull hair are restrained.)