Production of anything not militarily valuable was halted. I decided to offer the remaining Yami their freedom if they fought. They chose to do so.
I consulted the archives to see if the Empire had any previous interaction with this threat. The only comparable species I came across was the Alachins, who destroyed a potential colony world. The description of what happened matches that of the Yami.
It was clear that we would be unable to win a space battle. Our battleships left years ago after our victory. So, we turned our efforts to suborbital guns. The gravity on the world was point eight times standard, so I was confident they would be effective.
The population of the planet, both human and Yami, banded together as brothers, working every minute they could. By the time the Alachins entered orbit, we were well prepared.
Our suborbital cannons took out two of their ships, but the rest released their cargo. It was like thousands of small comets landing all over the planet. But it wasn’t random. The Yami had an instinct that proved right about where they would land. They immediately came under fire.
Those that landed in radiation zones failed to multiply. The Yami had used nuclear weapons against the Empire and parts of the planet remained heavily contaminated.
To be continued..
