The volley came unexpectedly, as the convoy exited the jump point on the edge of the system. The relief force was a transit behind, at least four days out. No hope for help there. Of the eight ships, there were only three lightly armed cruisers, the rest just troop transports and medical ships heading for the Front.

The missiles lanced in, their bonnet-shaped gravitic sensors easily picking out dimples in spacetime produced by the otherwise blacked-out ships. The three cruisers were destroyed, along with a converted fast passenger liner whose lines could be mistook for a warship. The other projectiles turned out to be so-called “sticky-mines”, contact nukes that acted as limpet mines.

The senior surviving officer cursed. With his ships neutralized, he had no choice to surrender his ships. The ugly bastards had swarmed out of nowhere, destroying everything in their way, no explanation. Just wiping out whole populations and moving in. Ugly pink aliens.

“Fucking ‘humans’.” The reptilian captain snarled.