OOC: Please no uberfleets, at least not without my prior permission. That being said, feel free to send something diplomatically,
IC: Talyth had grown, as was her wont. But undergoing a permanent population explosion was not easy. For one, the price of food rose dramatically; Talyth could not feed a billion people, let alone the billions forecasters were saying she would have in under a century. Her second problem, of course, was resources. Talyth had to trade for both food and heavy metals; and shipping in both was proving a strain on the economy.
So it was that a small expedition had been dispatched to the nearby Lazaro system. Enough was known about it - four planets, though only one inhabitable. Jericho, as the planet was named, was a beautiful planet. Abundant Earthlife, one-point five gravities, plentiful oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, no untreatable viruses or bacteria, and temperatures that stood between a balmy twenty and an enjoyable thirty-five.
Oh, and a scattering of demihuman pretech natives. Not that they were really considered. After all, initial scans showed a total planetary population of under two million, and they could be simply removed to less suitable areas, or removed permanently should they resist.
Six Guardian-class frigates had been dispatched, along with a single hired civilian converted transporter, with over fifteen thousand colonists aboard. They came into orbit fairly rapidly, and the Guardians moved so that the entire planet could be seen. No sense having incomplete data, after all.
The planet below was verdant and beautiful. As the transport descended through the atmosphere, friction-lit flames made it a beacon to the natives. Fleeing it rapidly, the ship slowed and settled upon the earth, militiamen moving out, clearing the area quickly. The air was quite breathable, and as the natives approached, one of the militiamen recoiled in horror.
"Sweet Jesus, look at that thing. All scales and fur and... "
He raised his rifle, as the creature approached. It grunted curiously, and shuffled towards the man.
Of course, the militiaman wasn't having any of that. With the clawed hands and the pointed ears, it looked to him like a beast from hell, and being a simple man, he knew precisely what that meant. He pulled the trigger, holding it down until every round in his magazine had been fired into the demihuman. As if it were a signal, other of the creatures emerged with spears and bows, firing at the militiamen, a few of whom were taken unawares. Despite their superior firepower, hundreds of the creatures converged on the ships.
"Back! Back to the ship!"
Covering their retreat, the militiamen backed up the ramp. They could have won, perhaps, but that seemed unwise. Inside, the commander gasped.
"Johnny, fuck those creatures. Open fire with the security guns."
"Aye, Captain Genner."
A few small guns emerged from the ship, and bullets were spat from them at a rate that turned the barrels red. The miniguns butchered the demihuman force, who, with spears and bows, were unable to pierce the ship's relatively thin armour. A few minutes later, the few who survived ran, returning to their tribes to tell of the demons that had descended from the sky.
Of course, there were only more to come.
Within a day or so, the colonists had set up a base camp. Trees had been cut down and turned into a rough palisade, turrets set up at towers along the palisade. Vehicles were dispatched to hunt down more of the creatures, who died in their scores. More colonists would come, emigrating to Jericho at a tremendous rate. The world was more habitable, after all, and had an abundance of almost all materials. The natives didn't stand much of a chance against such a force.
But then again, such things did not always go unnoticed...
