New Warrington, Earth

"Good Morning, Captain McKenn. Exercise going well?"

Niven McKenn cleared his throat, "Yes Sir. The teams are coming along well. They are almost at full combat readiness. I would prefer that they have a little more training time, but failing that mix them with some experienced troops and any shortfall will be covered."

"Good man. We may well have to do that as our presentation will reveal. More on that in a moment. For the record let me introduce the board members for this presentation. To my left, Major Olst you know, Dr Octavio Weisgaber, scientist, Captain Colton Fleming, engineer, and to my right Major Arlen Rahl and Colonel Hugo Isemannn, both Military Intelligence."

McKenn nodded at each in turn, his gaze lingering on Major Rahl. There was something familiar about him, but he could not put his finger on it. Major Rahl smiled knowingly in his direction. Definitely something familiar.

General Jimenez spoke up again. "As Major Olst made you aware in the training area we require your knowledge and expertise for a planned operation. Should you choose to stay the information that you will be given access to in this room is to be treated with the utmost security. If you would rather not be involved speak now and we shall go no further." He paused.
"I take it you are happy to stay?"

McKenn nodded.

"Very well. I shall pass you over to Captain Fleming and Dr Weisgaber."

McKenn sipped at a cup of water as the lights were dimmed. A projection image appeared on the wall.

"Captain McKenn, colleagues," Fleming began, "I don't know how familiar you are with terra-forming operations, so if any of this information is repeating that which you know I apologise. Basic terra-forming in the early days involved exploration and surveying of each world to establish its potential. Anything with large methane deposits was originally discarded, as were those with large levels of CO2. We pursued a policy of terra-forming those worlds with large underground water deposits, or ice formations as per the limits of our technology. As time went on worlds with bauxite and iron deposits were exploited for their resources and mining colonies started. These in turn allowed us to develop prototype systems for climate control. One such system was the Methane Separator System which allowed us to exploit the methane reserves for energy purposes whilst developing a breathable atmosphere. This system as it evolved became the standard terra-forming atmosphere equipment. Do you all follow so far?

Murmurs of assent came from around the room.

Captain Fleming continued. "With the widespread usage of the MSS we were able to refocus our energies on synergising colonies with their natural environments. Gone were the days of ugly metal constructions in horrible worlds, now we were able to construct more sympathetic designs, making better use of resources. Geothermal technology had advanced to the point that it now takes up a tiny fraction of the space it used previously, thereby opening up planetoids and larger asteroids to permanent settlement. The more famous examples of these are those in the Doyle system and the Rijklaand planetoids, the breadbasket of the galaxy.
However, in doing so we, our terra-formers came into contact with new hazards, both physical and biological which my colleague Dr Weisgaber will elaborate on."

The image on the wall changed from technical diagrams to the discoveries. Weisgaber's voice was softer than the gruff military tones of Fleming. "Gentlemen, as you are aware, colonisation inevitably brings us into contact with other life forms. Some sentient, others not so. Creatures such as the Rhinth we are able to domesticate and cultivate for food and materials, others we are not. We have encountered amongst other things the Shrike Bats, a carnivorous life form with an eight foot wingspan. It left the colonists alone but decimated the livestock, until a deterrent was found in the form of sonic ranges. However far more destructive as you are aware are the Xenos, bugs, call them what you will."
"An unfortunate consequence of our galactic expansion is not only to increase our contact with these creatures but also to actually provide an attractive series of nest sites. Like us they prefer warmth, and need food and the means to reproduce. In short, our colonies provide them with a heaven sent gift. Although squads are sent out to these worlds to clean up the problem, sometimes given the proliferation of the bugs the problem simply appears elsewhere. A problem is not always identified until it is too late."

McKenn sipped his water before speaking. "It appears to me then, that this problem has arisen again, and you have a colony in need of rescuing. At least that would be my conclusion if the two MIs were not present. It seems that there is more to it than that. A new Xeno perhaps? A specimen hunt?"

Dr Weisgaber looked at the Intelligence men who nodded.

"Salvaje. I see from the look in your eyes that the name is familiar."

"The guy who let them loose in Peru, sparking the Great Infestation."

"The same. Captain McKenn this is highly sensitive information. We managed to recover his body, what was left of it, and it was brought to us for examination. When we opened the cranial cap and examined the brain we found an enlarged area of the brain stem, and raised levels of a hormone in the bloodstream. Now as you are aware we also conducted tests on those who had the mother alien nightmares and some of the bodies that you had recovered as part of your operations. All had the same raised hormones. It seems that through this contact could be established with a Queen, but that only the Queen itself could compel things to action, and not the other way around. In fact on certain colonies, the dreamers were manipulated to allow its destruction because of this communication."

McKenn sighed. "Fanatics. And now you have lost contact with another colony?"

"Indeed."

"So why not just send out a rescue team?"

Weisgaber looked again at the Intelligence officers. Colonel Isemann spoke up. "Captain, we did. We think we lost them too. Let me bring you up to speed. Approximately fourteen months ago, Engineering Corps received a transmission from the settlement on Planetoid TXV5-SA2, also known as Taire. The transmission stated that they were experiencing difficulties with their geothermal heating system, which had inexplicably shut down. At the time no physical evidence of infestation was discovered. No melted wires, no blocked tubes, not even scat or slime. We asked to be kept informed. Please bear in mind that this system is less than three years old, and is one of the newer developments. Taire had been terra-formed with a breathable atmosphere five years prior to that. It is a small colony, but relatively self-sufficient. Indigenous fauna was non-existent but a sustainable population of domestic food animals was introduced alongside a wild population for hunting purposes."

"Taire's domestic livestock suffered from a form of encephalitis, caused by a prion infection. This however did not affect the introduced wild populations. The decision therefore was taken to exterminate and burn the entire domestic stock, and institute an active breeding programme for the wild creatures. This worked and the colony flourished."

"That is until the heating system began to fail. Engineers were despatched after a second call informed us that failures were becoming more and more regular. Suspicions arose after the failure of local maintenance staff to return. Everything was considered from infestation to radiation. Infestation was originally discounted, as there was no obvious drop in the prey population outside of the colony, and because of the lack of physical evidence. Our engineering team reported back that there was no radioactive source responsible for the shutdown although some damage had been repaired. A badly burned human body had also been recovered from one of the flues. It was to be returned to the Hub for further tests. That was our last communication with them. We tried several times subsequently to raise them but without success. Atmospheric conditions also disrupted communications with the settlers."

McKenn pushed his water away and spoke softly. "I think I know what's coming next."

"Three weeks later communication was received from the Taire Senate informing us that the engineers had not returned. They had scrambled a search party who found the crawler overturned and abandoned, with no sign of life or struggle. One bloodied uniform was all that remained. They also repeated that the heating system had shut down entirely and assistance was requested. We said we would oblige as soon as we could contact the nearest superstation. Once again, atmospheric conditions prevented us from contacting them. This was eight months ago. Our last communication with Taire came two months after that when a distress call was received. We immediately sent out a small extraction team aboard a 450-XV craft code-named Valois."

"You're surprised that we sent out a military cargo vessel? The Valois was fitted with a state-of-the art Isolation-lock, which would scan anybody and anything boarding for signs of infection. Not just bugs, but viruses and other contagions. If there was a positive result, the subject would immediately be neutralised using a neurological gas."

"The last recorded information received from Valois stated that the extraction team had found evidence of Xeno activity and that only one survivor from the colony had been found. Valois command gave the order to the team to evacuate. Systems aboard Valois were activated, including the Iso-lock, but it never took off. We lost some good men, as well as materiel down there, Captain. Your experience with our Hunter-Killer squads makes you an excellent and stand-out candidate for this operation. We want you to take an HK to Taire, and find out what happened to our craft, our colonists and our troops."

McKenn nodded. "I'll do it."