Yes. I'll use it.
If there was one thing I learned in my first incarnation on Earth, if I wanted something done right I had to do it myself.Thsi may end up being a three part novel.
In this case it was to lead a raid on a native village. These were generally known as pest control operations. Given the very hostile history between human colonists and the stone age natives of the planet this was putting it mildly.
The first starship to reach the Alpha Centauri system was the Mayflower. She was built to order for and operated by Edward and Carl Cook. Their family that had been in the orbital solar energy business for over a century. She was, and remains to this day, the most advanced starship ever designed and launched by humans. She had a crew of two hundred and carried one thousand colonists in cryostasis. She had antimatter rocket engines and was designed to reach half the speed of light and perform the journey to Alpha Centauri in ten years.
During the deceleration phase of the mission Mayflower had released two probes for a fly-through reconnaissance of the system. As a result of the probes two planets were found that were apparently fit for human habitation.
Orbiting Alpha Centauri A was a world that was slightly larger than Earth, had a denser atmosphere, and appeared to have and an advanced biosphere. It was named Eden.
Orbiting Alpha Centauri B was a world that was slightly smaller than Earth, had a thinner atmosphere, and appeared to have a simple biosphere. It was named Zion.
Based on this information the Cook Brothers had decided to explore and possibly settle on the planet Eden.
Based on the orbital survey it appeared that the planet had never been hit by a major asteroid, a K-T impactor rock. Commonly known as a dinosaur killer. And from the initial landings on several continents it appeared the dominant form of animal life were large dinosaurian lizards.
Mammals had never developed on the planet.
The brothers decided to establish their colony on an isolated continent with the smallest dinosaurs.
It was after the infrastructure had been built, some forests had been cleared, and some crops had been planted that it was discovered that the colonists had neighbors.
The new neighbors had simply walked into the colony unannounced. They appeared to be friendly and curious at first.
They were scientifically classified as Reptantis Sapiens Eden. And at the time they were commonly called Repts. They were a bilateral biped reptile species with scales and feathers instead of bare skin and hair. They also had developed basic a basic set of wood and stone hand tools. Some Rept tribes had already developed primitive agriculture and had built villages that should have been seen from orbit.
The tool set included flint tipped spears and arrows. It was at this time the Repts should have seen as a potential problem.
From records recovered decades later it appeared that the Cook Brothers saw the Repts as people who could be uplifted to the status of civilization and as potential customers and employees. They also disregarded suggestions that the Repts were a potential danger to the colony.
The Cook Brothers were Americans. By the time they departed from the Solar System they had no living memory of any aspect of life in a frontier environment. They were also comfortable in their technological superiority. They had dismissed all suggestions that basic security measures, such as building a stockade around the colony or arming all the colonists, should be taken.
Edward and Carl Cook, and the fifteen hundred and twenty seven colonists on the ground with them, paid for their stupidity with their lives.
Of the inhabitants of the Plymouth Colony, only one hundred and twenty eight men, women, and children made it to the landing field during the native assault. They boarded the landing craft and lifted off to the still orbiting Mayflower. There were sixteen crew members aboard to maintain her in operational condition.
It was clear to everyone on board that there was no other place on the planet Eden they could land and resettle. After a long, drawn out, and very well recorded discussion they decided to use their remaining antimatter fuel and transit to the planet Zion.
They never looked back.
Upon arrival they stripped out the ship as thoroughly as possible. Even going as far as to remove the auxiliary fusion power plant and bring it to the surface. They learned to live on the surface of Zion. They learned to domesticate the simple plants and some of the few animals that were found there.
In spite of the small initial population the settlement on Zion was thriving when the second wave of human colonists arrived in the system.
