User blog comment:Markurion/A better ME3 endings/@comment-5287758-20120726112834/@comment-1388547-20120726163502

Indeed. If the Reapers control the space around a planet, then even if the ground forces win, they could just pull out their own ground forces and start an orbital bombardment that will obliterate all life on the surface. And in fact in descriptions of various planets around the galaxy, there are a disturbing number that run along the lines of, "This planet shows evidence of having once borne life, until a systematic bombardment scoured it clean." I'd take that as a sign that the Reapers have used this tactic in previous cycles, and will probably do it again if they can't win economically on the ground.