The light provided by the local star illuminated what the crew of the fleet had come to call the Dust Light Star System. The planets within the star system, six of them, all looked similar, but bore various differences. The fleet had set course for the fourth planet in the system after their drones had scoped the orbit of the planet.
The fourth planet that they had set course for was mostly a brown color, with some spots of green and blue. The crew had taken to calling it a simply Dust Light IV, as no one had the time to settle on a proper name for it yet.
"How are the scans coming?" Manuel questioned one of the operators sitting behind a panel at the ship's bridge.
"The initial scans just returned. The planet is surprisingly hospitable. Although there are certain points we are not sure about, we can tell for sure that at least 60% of the areas scouted can accommodate human life." The man responded quickly.
Manuel nodded and turned to the captain of the ship. Everyone of importance was gathered there. Those that had been on other ships had quickly shuttled over. The ones that had resided on the ships that never emerged from the higher dimensions had already been written off as KIA.
"There is also one major discovery on Dust Light IV." Another operator pulled up a recording from one of the probes. It showed a dense forest passing down below the drone's camera. It was flying over one of the few places that contained vegetation in abundance. There was no audio to the recording, but it was not necessary.
Moses' eyes went wide when he saw the gigantic, six-legged beast that quickly skittered through the forest. That monster was around seven meters in height. Almost four times a human's size.
"We have dubbed these creatures 'Hexapods'. They seem to be the reigning specie in the forested regions. There are also a few other variants that reside within the desert regions."
Another holograph popped up, displaying another one of the horrid creatures. It possessed a hexagonal body, with six long legs that it used to move around quickly. Its body was protected by a thick carapace that granted it a very high defense. While the ones that ranged from four meters to nine meters in height were fairly scary, a clip showed a variant that was almost twenty meters tall. The sight of his sent shivers running down the backs of those who saw it. Mech sized threats!
"We have yet to find any other native specie that can threaten us, but we have also found another thing of interest. An intelligent native specie." The Commander of the fleet, Dreyfus, smiled and waved his hand. Another image of a completely different specie appeared. A humanoid figure that stood at around two meters tall, on average, appeared. The humanoid figure had light brown skin and firm bodies. Even their young ones looked muscular and strong.
"We have not given this specie an official name as of yet. We intend to establish contact with them after the planet has been scoped out properly, and if proper communication can be established, then we shall move forward from there." Dreyfus explained for the Paladins. "But from what we can see, technology in this world is pretty backwards. They seem to be in what would be considered the early middle ages of earth. Spears and swords is what they seem to wield."
Moses listened to all this with a look of distaste. After what the Xenon had done, he did not fancy the thought of being chummy with any foreign race. These aliens, whatever they were called, would only grow to become another competitor of humanity if left unchecked.
Richard elbowed Moses and whispered in his ear, "Don't frown so much."
Moses just shrugged but ignored his friend.
Time passed as the probes scoped out more information. By the time a basic map of the globe had been derived, most people had completed the right preparations to make landfall. There was a lot they needed to do. A lot of their ships were still damaged. Repairs needed to be done and there was a limit to what could be done if the ships were still running at full power while supporting its crews. Thus, they needed to make landfall and conduct repairs as soon as possible.
"A prime location to land has been identified and the first of our fleet has begun to descend." An operator on the bridge relayed to Dreyfus. They all watched a couple of frigates break through the atmosphere of the planet. Fire burned around their hulls due to the entry, and the differences between the planet and Earth made it so that their hulls shook slightly. Another thing that attributed to the rough entry was the damage that the frigates had received to their various systems.
Soon, the ships had stabilized themselves and were sailing smoothly down to the landing zone. It was a wide plateau that was surrounded by cliffs and hills. It provided adequate cover for the fleet and was quite large. When the two frigates made landfall, a swarm of armed drones and well suited combat personnel immediately disembarked and began scoping out the area.
Before long, the initial reports were returned. The place was safe enough for more ships to land. The drones continued to widen their scope while some other bots and humans began to set up a preliminary camp to accommodate the people in the fleet.