Real, in the sense that it was not intended to be defacto paracov.
We in SK did believe that no matter whom we allied or even if we had gone paperless, that tS would hit us for dropping them. Right or wrong, that was the belief. We never had a plan to hit Syndisphere. We just knew that war was inevitable. The fact we were prepared (almost) to preempt should validate the truth of what I'm saying. Had this been planned, we would have successfully preempted. The logic in your preempt is as clear to us as it is to you.
I'm not going to give up on a third sphere so easily.