First Contact

  First Contact was a relatively rare thing to occur in these times of the Space Age. When a new inhabitable planet was discovered, it was either lifeless, or primitive. However, the technology remained on certain diplomatic ships, as First Contact did still occasionally happen. However, even with Faster-Than-Light travel, ships would still require minutes or even hours to arrive, and both sides, human and new race, had to be in a mutual stalemate for First Contact to be a peaceful occurrence, luckily, it usually was.
  On the outskirts of the Human Empire, a small colony grew. This extension of Human influence was not the first, and marked the 23rd star system to be under control. This planet was relatively underdeveloped, and as a result, was missing a few key components for the empire. Mainly, this meant that signals were broadcast at a slower speed, and ships which orbited the planet were mainly designed for defense, or scavenging.
  It was then that one of the most uncommon situations humanity could face had occurred: an undiscovered alien race had warped into orbit around the planet. Unprepared, the colonists below at first mistook the ship for a new design on another species, and attempted speaking from their list of known greetings, hoping to get a response. This was against galactic regulations, in which the Human Empire greatly stressed to allow outsiders to speak first if the ship was unidentifiable.
  Defending ships were unsure of this newcomer, and had already begun forming defensive positions, raising their shields in the event of enemy fire. The arriving ship looked much bigger than a simple fighter or carrier, and the colonists expected that it had to be a colony ship, battleship, or diplomatic ship. This left three possible scenarios which could play out. However, the first words said back to the humans on-planet were spoken in English, though it was obvious they didn't know it well.
  "Not our language. Not our objective. Evacuate."
  This understandably scared the humans stationed around the planet, and an immediate order was issued: This is not a peaceful vessel. It must be destroyed at all costs. As humans fired upon the behemoth ship, it fired back, and the resulting casualties left most of the defending fleet in ruins, bodies and debris orbiting the once-clean planet. But with these losses, came victory, as the attacker was annihilated in the battle.
  Humans cheered for their victory. However, this victory was short-lived, as new reports came in of an approaching missile, big enough to completely destroy the entire planet that humans had colonized only a short while ago. Their on-planet signals hadn't been able to pick up the missile until then, and by the time word got back to the capital, the missile was only twenty standard planet-lengths away. This meant the missile would hit in approximately three days. It took four to send the transmission. It would take four or five to get one back.
  The colonists made a hasty evacuation, leaving 70% of the citizens behind, and taking what resources and provisions they could. If nothing else, they were able to scan the missile's and the former attacker's point of origin: they pointed toward the same star system. As the planetary leader left their new world, they began a transmission to the attackers.
  "We've found you. We are not afraid. And we're coming."