Quote Originally Posted by nothingclever View Post
What I really meant was that I like the idea of the aliens sort of being part of the planet in the sense that they can control parts of its atmosphere and what not either through technology or some power that seems magical to outsiders. It would give the humans a reason to worship them. Maybe some of the aliens are large stationary beings that are pretty much part of the environment because they never move and people either come to them directly to talk or they communicate electronically.
Fair enough...I actually like the sound of that, too.

Said aliens will still need a way to be powerful enough to challenge Imperial ships, of course; giant terraformers, while understandably awe-striking to puny humans, aren't quite as impressive when they get vaporized by orbital bombardment. (See: Eternal Silence superweapon, wielded by our very own Kamia Kasei)