And over the many months that followed, as Caine crept through both terrestrial and alien undergrowth on missions to reclaim some of the autonomy hum… - Charles E. Gannon

It was the oldest, most primal fear of humankind, inculcated by eons of brutal lessons which, titrated down into their purest form, became age’s invariable advice to youth: beware the things and places you do not know.Because out there, beyond the flickering ring of the tribal fire, on the unlit streets of concrete cities, in the unending depths of space—there lay an unquantifiable, unbounded potential for death.

If there's a chance to talk our way out of a fight, this is the moment. Once blood is spilled, it becomes an Honor issue. Finding a way back to a parley would be difficult and highly unlikely.
"Yeah, I heard about that crap," Karam muttered. "Scuttlebutt is that once Honor is involved, they become bushido bear-aardvarks beating their horse chests and making much ado about nothing.

“You think she’ll make it?”
“She should. Unless something else goes wrong.”
Tsaami’s tone was sour. “Caine: this is a battlefield. Something else always goes wrong.”
To which Riordan had no ready response. After all, Karam was right.