The three large saucer-shaped ships floated in silence near the bright blue planet, hiding behind the moon. All three of the ships were cloaked, but the Commander didn't want to take chances, so they kept their position hidden behind the blue planet's small, single moon.

"Sir, there's activity from their battle cruisers," a young soldier reported. He was out of breath as he ran up to his leader.

The aging leader turned to look at his subordinate, disdain for the younger man clear in his eyes. "Explain?" his voice was hard. He saw all his people as expendable. They were puppets put there to do his bidding. That was all they were good for.

With the sudden order, the soldier stood at attention; his features turned slack as he monotonously explained the situation. "The fleet's hangar bay doors have opened, and cargo shuttles are beginning to exit. They appear to be going to the planet's surface, sir." After speaking, he remained at attention, rigid, his features still slack.

The Commander, ignoring his subordinate, rushed past him and out of the large conference room and headed to the bridge. After several minutes, the soldier relaxed and followed his commander as he made his way to his destination on the massive ship.

The gentle tapping of their feet sounded on the polished floors as they swiftly walked through the perfectly polished corridors. The Commander liked everything to be perfect. Droves of soldiers continuously polished the innards of the massive vessel. He did not tolerate smudges. Everything needed to shine with perfection.

As the commander entered the bridge, those inside immediately stood at attention. Their posture was rigid, unmoving. Their faces quickly turned slack. The Commander ignored them, headed to the large window, and peered out at the Ramesian fleet in front of him. He wanted to see for himself what was reported to him.

The fleet of Ramesian battle cruisers floated in formation above the blue planet. The flickering lights along their ships were the only light coming from the fleet.

The commander focused on the area of the hangar bays, wanting to see exactly what the Ramesians were doing. The wide doors were open, and cargo shuttles were smoothly exiting the wide bay doors. There was a long stream of cargo ships, all heading in the same direction. They were headed to the same location on the blue planet's surface. He could tell that whatever they were doing, they had only just started.

The Commander watched as the cargo shuttles made their way to the planet.

He smiled. One day soon, that planet will be theirs. In controlling his people, he had inadvertently made his home planet uninhabitable. More so than he had wanted. When he was ready to come to take possession of the lush planet that was now in front of him, he had prepared his only three ships. The entire population was taken from their homes and placed inside the three large saucers. There was no life left on his planet. He knew there wasn't; he scanned for lifeforms. Only the resilient bugs remained.

This invasion had been planned several years ago. He had enlisted the leader of another planet that wanted to take control of his people in the same way he had found to take control of his. The other leader had envied his tactics and wanted to replicate them. The ships below were that very same leader's ships.

The Commander smiled. He had planned to use that leader to conquer the planet for him, so he didn't have to. By the small clusters of lifeforms, the Ramesian Leader had succeeded. He knew they would. Everything about them was superior to his own people. It was why he wanted to use them in the first place.

The planet in front of him had lifeforms nearly identical to his own. The only difference was that their skin color varied from very light tan that was nearly white to those so dark brown that their skin was almost black. All his people's skin was a light tan, nearly white, with a green tint to it. The green tint was caused by specks of green, like glitter, that floated in their red blood.

The Commander watched the cargo shuttles as they disappeared from view. All the hangar bay doors closed with only one exception. The lead ship, the mother ship, was far larger than the rest of the ships of the fleet. A small shuttle exited the hangar bay, and the wide door closed behind it.

The Commander smiled. "That's Council Leader Tosh's ship," he stated to no one. He wasn't looking for an answer. He didn't like to hear his puppets speak unless they needed to speak to do their job. They all knew that.

The soldier beside him knew better than to respond, as did the others in the room; they remained quiet, still standing at attention. Their rigid posture struggled to stay motionless as they waited for their leader to finish what he was doing on the bridge.

"We will let him finish securing the planet and providing shelter. Once they are finished, we will exterminate the Ramesians, starting with Tosh." The Commander stated, more to himself than to anyone else. He turned on his heels, ignoring the men still standing at attention on the bridge, and left. He gave no further orders. He didn't even glance back at them. They were nothing but puppets... dolls to do his bidding; nothing more.

None of the men on the bridge moved from their position until the doors slid closed and their commander was out of sight.

The Commander headed back to his conference room. He wanted to finalize his plans. It appeared he had time since Tosh was still following his orders. He decided he wouldn't fire on their ships. Their technology was far superior to their own. The Ramesians had long passed the inferior technology that created the saucer-shaped ships and developed far better ones. He didn't want to ruin something he could use that was better than his own. He would wait until their population moved to the planet's surface, then send teams inside the fleet to kill those who were left behind to maintain the ships in space.

Once he had control of the fleet of superior ships, he would send teams to exterminate one dome city at a time. He had to be sure to be careful that the city itself remained intact. Their domes were superior technology as well, and his people knew nothing about how to rebuild them. They didn't know any technology except that taught to them enough to do their duties, fly the saucers or small scout ships. In his opinion, the less his puppets knew, the better. It kept them relying on him.

Pressing a small button on a control panel, "How many dome cities are on the planet?" he ordered the soldier on the other end of the communication. His voice was hard, stern. Disdain laced his order.

A soldier's voice came through the communication. "There are three, sir. They are starting construction on at least two more."

The commander smiled, closing the communication. He decided to let the Ramesians finish building the domes. The more cities they built, the less he would have to do after he killed all the Ramesians and any of the lifeforms of the planet that managed to survive the Ramesian invasion.

The Commander was not normally a patient man. He was in this case, however. If he went in to attack too early, he would have to do everything himself. Establishing new cities and trying to rebuild ruined domes was not something he wanted to do. His puppets didn't know enough to do it for him. He could direct them, and they would definitely follow orders, which was what the serum was designed to make them do, but he didn't want to extend his own efforts by telling them all what to do. It was too tedious, too much work. It would be too much trouble, but if he could have the one who designed the technology do it for him, it would save a lot of time, stress, and work. He needed the Ramesians to stay alive long enough to finish his work for him.

The Commander sat back in his chair, thinking. He needed to keep tabs on the domes. Especially the primary one that he assumed housed most of the population. He needed to figure out a way to do that without alerting the Ramesians that they were there, watching them.

In the end, he decided to send a scout to watch them and report back on everything they found out.

Pressing the communication button to open a link. "Beta 3, scout the surface near the primary dome. Make sure that no one sees you, or you all die," he growled, then slammed his fist onto the communication button, closing the link. Threatening them would make them more vigilant in staying unseen.

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