Teekans blockading El Paso - Options?

[Max 86]

So the three-eyed rat people are blockading my colony El Paso. Its a border dispute as their empire has bumped up against El Paso. I don't remember being blockaded before and was wondering what all of the options are? Here is how I see it:

1. Tell them to get out of my territory but they will probably say no and its really their turf.

2. Threaten war, then smack them down. Was wondering about the reputation hit.

3. Go blockade one of their major colonies and see if they start shooting first.

Anything else to consider?

[Seraph86]

4. kill the blockading ships and station a defending fleet there. if they really want that planet then they will declare war on you eventually.

[Max 86]

Actually I have a fleet there but much smaller than theirs. I am gathering and concentrating fleets while loading transports, itching for the big showdown. My military strength is about two thirds of theirs but I have that high speed shipyard that spits them out like a popcorn machine. Good fun a ahead!

[Bingeling]

I have rarely found myself blockaded by a fleet that I can not defeat. I usually send a warning to remove military ship, and when they pretend innocence, I destroy the fleet since they seems to be a rogue force or something like that.

Btw, unless something has changed, I suspect that blockading a central spaceport in the trade network can be quite crippling. When I observed it, freighters still went to the blockaded spaceport to fetch stuff, and a build shortage happened on a "downstream" spaceport.

[Tehlongone]

I usually destroy them for their insolence.

That solution tends to lead to war though, sometimes I wait while I expand the fleets and they call it off. They tend to keep being aggressive until they've been taught a lesson though.

It's funny how insulted they get considering they were squatting on my territory and interfering with peaceful trade that had nothing to do with them. Still, a few times I've had it not lead to war.