Mutons: Planets

Desolan

"If you go to Desolan, don't complain when the planet tries to kill you."

- Advisory warning for visitors, abridged

Desolan is a planet no sane being would willingly travel to without excellent reasons, heavy survival equipment, and preferably an armed escort. There are two starkly different parts on the planet, that which is controlled by the Collective, and the remaining wilderness. However, before the differences are laid out, there should be some discussion on just what Desolan is composed of.

It could easily be classified as a volcanic planet, as the amount of volcanic activity far outweighs what is considered a habitable zone. Collective engineers and scientists have made efforts to reduce the ash output and eruptions of volcanos, and have been largely successful. However, they have not bothered to make similar efforts on other parts of the planet.

There is speculation that at one point Desolan had much larger oceans and bodies of water, which were slowly filled by lava from volcanic eruptions. However, at this point the only bodies of water that are drinkable are those in underground springs that are not nearly large enough to support the population that currently resides on the planet.

There are several larger bodies of water, but the water has become so polluted with ash and contaminants that it is not drinkable, and even water purification is not always successful without significant resources invested. At this time of writing, the Collective is looking to expand water purification programs, but it will be several years before we see immediate results.

The question has been raised as to how a species like the Mutons could possibly evolve and develop in such conditions, and there are no clear and provable answers. The clearest one is that the extreme volcanic activity has been a recent development, and it was far more stable during the time when the Mutons evolved. What could have prompted this continuing volcanic activity is unknown, much less if it is natural. It is entirely possible that there was some kind of cataclysmic event that took place well before the Collective discovered it, but then again, there would have likely been some evidence such an event took place.

Perhaps the planet itself is evidence of this? Without a baseline of comparison, this is a valid possibility.

In addition, it should be noted that there is very little vegetation on the planet. One example of plant life is a kind of weed/root which is high in nutritional value, but is rare in comparison to the planet. The grey color of it camouflages it, making scavenging more difficult for early Muton tribes, but it has evolved to survive the harsh climate and rocky terrain of the planet.

There are very small bunches of trees that once existed, as well as some small plants that grew in the contaminated lakes. It is speculated that the trees were only able to survive by being outside the worst of the volcanic eruptions, and they were highly contested places of conflict, similar to the springs, only becoming more valuable with the discovery of gunpowder.

The terrain is almost exclusively rocky, with towering mountains in all directions, almost all of them active volcanos. Navigating the terrain is almost a death sentence without proper supplies, and the heat and dust storms alone may ensure that even that is not enough. Desolan is an arid planet, but it would not be entirely accurate to call it a desert as there is little sand or dirt.

One thing that is interesting is that at one point, there were at least two other animal species on Desolan, one aquatic-based, and one terrestrial. The aquatic one has never been seen, and was extinct well before the Collective arrived, but examination of Muton relics and unearthed fossils have shown an oddly aquatic specimen. It is not difficult to see how it was wiped out.

The next was an omnivore predator that was both a danger, and a source of food for early Muton tribes. It also hunted for the root mentioned earlier. It had a long snout, six legs with clawed feet and sharp teeth strong enough to kill full-grown Mutons. The more dangerous ones were as tall as a Muton, and nearly twice as long. These animals are additionally notable because their eyesight was exceptionally poor, but their smell and hearing was excellent. This is likely the result of them having to endure the dust storms over generations, which continuously eroded their eyesight and enhanced their senses as a result. However, the species was deemed too dangerous by the Collective and wiped out soon after they took the planet, and if there are any specimens existing, they have not been revealed.

One final note of import is that the gravity of the planet is higher than most other worlds. It is nearly twice that of Vitakar, and this takes a physical toll on anyone not familiar with the gravity. This is another danger for explorers and investigators of the planet, as it can be more difficult to judge what exactly is needed for longer journeys.

The higher gravity is one of the more accepted explanations as to how the Mutons could have developed. The ash that is spread from volcanic eruptions can cause a host of negative side effects, but the higher gravity of Desolan does ensure that the radius of ash is far smaller, thus affecting less of the planet with each explosion. If this is the case, and volcanic activity was not as high back then, it could conceivably provide an answer to Muton evolution.

Now, it would be remiss to not say that the Muton War Camps are as good as it gets on Desolan. They are protected, buildings are climate controlled, water and food are always in supply, and you are protected from the worst of the elements. Outside of the War Camps, however, you are on your own. The Collective does not have dedicated rescue parties, and the only official groups sent out are heavily protected and equipped engineering and science teams, where outsiders are not permitted.

But that is unlikely to be an issue. Desolan is not a planet you should ever go to unless you absolutely have to.

- Hir'sslintha'hiar

REPORT: 110011010001

PLANET OF INTEREST: DESOLAN

HELD BY: THE ETHEREAL COLLECTIVE

POPULATION: 8,243,827,001 (ESTIMATED FROM LATEST REPORTS FROM DESOLAN)

PLANET TYPE: VOLCANIC, ARID, ROCKY

INDIGENOUS SPECIES: MUTONS

ANIMAL LIFE: NONE (EXTINCT)

POSSIBILITY OF COLONIZATION: NOT RECOMMENDED

INFORMATION OF NOTE: EXTREMELY WELL PROTECTED

INFORMATION OF NOTE: PRIMARY SOURCE OF MUTON SOLDIERS

INFORMATION OF NOTE: POINTS OF ENTRY LIMITED

VULNERABILITY TO PENETRATION: EXTREMELY LOW

THREAT LEVEL (ALLIED): LOW

THREAT LEVEL (HOSTILE): OMEGA

ADDITIONAL MANUAL COMMENT: The Ethereal Collective has devoted extensive resources to the Muton homeworld of Desolan. This is, for all intents and purposes, the heart of the Collective War Machine. While there are no vehicles or spacecraft produced here, it is the primary source of their Muton soldiers, by which millions are produced each month.

There are two main components of Desolan that are relative to the Federation: Ground and Space:

Ground: Fighting a sustained ground war on Desolan is quite possibly one of the worst ideas that could be conceived. Not only are there upwards of eight billion Mutons on the planet at a time, but the Collective has not skimped on additional defenses beyond that. The planet is broken into specific War Camps, which are primarily used for training Muton soldiers. However, that is not nearly all they can be used for.

Each War Camp has automated laser and railgun defenses for both air and ground hostile forces. Each one has an armory of nothing but the best equipment for the ranking staff there. This is only on the surface. What many do not know is that each War Camp has an entire underground component to it, and in it contains enough food, weapons, water, and medical supplies to last upwards of a year for every single person in the Camp, Muton or no.

What is additionally notable is that the birthing centers in each War Camp can be lowered underground, allowing there to be a steady stream of Mutons still being birthed weekly, allowing potential reinforcements to eventually be used, although this time period is years, not months. However, another piece of information that is extremely concerning is the presences of nearly one billion cloning vats constructed underground all across the planet, many of which are outside the War Camps and maintained by Zararch agents and Sectoids who report directly to the Zar'Chon.

Unfortunately, determining the exact location is impossible without direct investigation. Desolan is a dangerous planet, it is survivable, but the Collective has gone to great pains to construct the perception that if you go outside the War Camps, you will die. This is not, strictly speaking, true. The reason they discourage exploration is because they do not want anyone else to stumble upon the cloning chambers.

We do not have exact numbers on how long it would take to grow Mutons, if indeed that is what they would be used for, but it is abundantly clear that this is a worst-case scenario contingency which would immediately provide them an army nearly one billion strong, and there are likely more unknown facilities that have similar functions.

This is to say nothing about the forces in the War Camps themselves. No one is allowed on the planet unless they meet certain criteria, and are nearly exclusively Collective Military, Zararch, Runianarch, or Lurainian. The few exceptions are teachers for Muton younglings, and even then they are fully vetted by the Zararch before they step on the planet. Officially, any member of the Federation, Greater Hive Commanders, or Aui'Vitakar, is not permitted to enter without explicit permission.

There are three types of beings on Desolan aside from Mutons: Trainers, Medics, and Guards. We will discount the few civilian roles as they are not numerous enough to be relevant, let alone a threat. Trainers are perhaps the most dangerous of the three, as they are not only experienced leaders, handlers of all weaponry, and tacticians, but also are experts in alien anatomy, survivalists, and almost always completely ruthless. These people will put down Muton younglings without a second thought and sleep soundly at night. It should be noted that these are generally composed of Borelian females, Vitakarian males and females, Oyariah males and females, and the rare Andromedons. Also assume they are more physically fit due to the higher gravity of the planet, and apply this assumption to any individual who has spent any amount of time on the planet.

The Medics are not initially more valuable than other ones in the Collective, but Desolan ones become different over time. These are battlefield Medics through and through after several months. Each and every day they deal with nearly every kind of battlefield injury that can be sustained, and after months of similar experiences, they would be considered experts in their designated fields. While some initially specialize in one aspect or another, by the end they are proficient in multiple aspects of battlefield medicine. By the end they also tend to become soldiers in their own right, capable of taking down several Mutons all on their own thanks to their own training and knowledge. Medics are traditionally Vitakarians, Borelian males, and the rare Dath'Haram and Cobrarian representatives.

We can classify Guards as the designated garrison of the planet. They are the soldiers that guard the War Camps, and usually participate in war games conducted, giving them valuable combat experience. Soldiers from Desolan are generally smarter, stronger, and overall better than any others in the Collective, and are extremely dangerous, far more than standard Collective soldiers.

Space: It is impossible to penetrate Desolan without throwing the entirety of our military at the planet. And even then, it is unlikely we would succeed in doing more than giving them time to react.

There are approximately four entry Gateways to the planet, all evenly spaced apart around the planet, each one with a self-destruct sequence, and no less than sixteen spacecraft pointing guns at it, as well as several dozen automated systems doing the same. This is speculated to be one of the few Gateways the Ethereals can either lock or shut down, but this is unconfirmed.

But those are the only means of arriving at the planet, outside of FTL travel, which is wholly impractical. What is…concerning is that there are several other Gateways in the system that do not appear to be connected to anything at all. Some are close to the resident sun, some are at the last planet in the solar system. It is unknown if these are decoys or have some other purpose such as providing reinforcements.

Concerning the fleet, most would consider it both overkill, and a waste of resources, but no one can deny that it has ensured that no enemy will threaten Desolan for the foreseeable future. The fleet itself consists of the following. I will include a brief description of each piece of spacecraft in question:

- 240 Sectoid Hiveships: These dwarf anything that isn't the Elder's Maelstrom by a significant margin. These take the saucer model up to extreme sizes, and hold hundreds of Sectoid fighters, and are almost incapable of being defeated by individual ships. Internal sabotage is also dangerous because there is a full Sectoid army usually on board, in addition to Muton support. Sometimes there will be a Hive Commander as well, but this is not as likely.

- 300 Federation Carriers: You are aware of the capabilities of these spacecraft, so I will not repeat specifics. But these many carriers would tear any Carrier and above ship apart in minutes.

- 600 Federation Cleanser Ships: While you are aware that these specialize in orbital bombardment, their primary use here is likely because of their anti-fighter capabilities. It is extremely unlikely that smaller fighters will last long in a fight as long as these ships are in play, and any ground forces that manage to get past the blockade will almost immediately be wiped out.

- 6 Ethereal Dreadnoughts: This is one of the few types of spacecraft that could fight a Hiveship – and win. It has within it several million drones of various configurations, be they suicide, bomber, fighter, all of which are weak, but can overwhelm nearly any enemy. To make it even more dangerous, it sports anti-fighter and anti-ship capabilities with plasma, gauss, and laser weaponry, not to mention several thousand missile defense systems.

Hostile boarding parties are not recommended for the same reasons as the Hiveships, there are hundreds of soldiers, but not quite as many as a Hiveship. Another aspect that is dangerous is that it can split into a minimum of six different, independently controlled ships. In fact, their usual configuration is separate from each other, but they can join together into a Dreadnought that can take down a Hiveship. You saw what one of these parts could do on Earth, now imagine something six times this size. It also has configurations to hold Sectoid craft as well, though this isn't used as much. Why they did not use their drones on Earth is a mystery, but perhaps it was to hide the true capabilities of the Dreadnought from the Humans.

- The Elder's Maelstrom: To the best of my abilities, it appears that the Maelstrom was developed solely to combat Dreadnought-class enemies and above. It is the first time that the Vitakara have fully collaborated to create such a machine, and if this is what they are capable of, we have perhaps made a mistake in underestimating them. This has enough firepower to destroy a Hiveship or Ethereal Dreadnought, as well as the accompanying fleet.

It is dotted with point-defense lasers, gauss, plasma, and laser weaponry of varying sizes for any enemy. Its primary weapon has never been used, but the few classified reports I was able to recover described it as a kind of energy weapon powerful enough to destroy a Hiveship in one blast. The ship seems built around this weapon, and it is entirely feasible that it could perform this task easily.

Furthermore, there is an entire fleet of Vitakarian fighters inside, as well as Sectoid Scouts and Fighters. The standing army is solely from the Runianarch and Lurainian, one of the few to have no additional alien presence. It is also the only ship in the Desolan fleet to have multiple phases of shielding, for nearly all known kinds of attacks.

To date, the only thing that might be able to destroy the Maelstrom is the Ethereal Temple Ship.

Before the conclusion of this report, it should also be mentioned that in addition to the fleet, there are sixteen orbital stations around the planet, covering it completely. Each station has its own garrison of soldiers and fighters, not to mention the missile and anti-fighter defense systems. There is no such thing as a surprise attack against Desolan. If anyone arrives, they will know about it long in advance.

In conclusion, we have little to gain from ever moving against Desolan, and attacking such a planet is currently tantamount to a suicide mission, one that will likely have no impact whatsoever.

RECOMMENDATION: CONTINUE OBSERVATION OF DESOLAN FLEET AND GROUND STRENGTH; DETERMINE FULL CAPABILITIES OF THE VITAKARA DREADNOUGHT "ELDER'S MAELSTROM"; DETERMINE CAPABILITIES AND EXTENT OF CLONING VATS AND ADDITIONAL COLLECTIVE UNDERGROUND INFRASTRUCTURE

REPORT COMPILER: SPECIAL OPERATOR 009; ANDROMEDON FEDERATION [ERROR! DATA NOT FOUND!]

END REPORT

CONTINUE OBSERVATION

XCOM File 8821

Authorization Level: Internal Council

Subject: Desolan

Threat Level: Artemis

Assessment Author: Aegis

Approved by: The Commander of XCOM

SECTION 1: Overview

In the event that Humanity manages to push the Collective out of the Solar system, and begins to expand further into space, at some point, the destruction of Desolan will become a priority. You did not mistake my wording, Commander, the destruction of Desolan is the priority. The planet itself is not worth capturing or assuming control over.

It is the Muton homeworld, or at least was. Now it is the center of the Collective military. This is where the majority of their Mutons are grown, trained, and otherwise produced. The planet itself is dangerous, but not nearly to the extent that they claim. The planet is more than a training ground, it is a trap. It is built up to be the largest threat in the Collective, and for good reason.

But it is a major misdirection. Desolan isn't solely for the purpose of growing Mutons, it is coordination for the entirety of the Collective military itself. It isn't a coincidence that the fleet alone dwarfs most others, and for just one planet, it would be considered overkill. The fleet is not for protecting the War Camps, it is for protecting Collective Military Command.

This requires further elaboration of course, which is detailed below.

SECTION 2: Collective Military Command

The War Camps are only the surface level. Most mistakenly believe that those are the only parts of Desolan the Collective controls, when the truth is much larger and dangerous. The Collective has completely taken control of the planet, Fectorian and Revelean learned how to harness the volcanos of Desolan, and now thanks to them, the Collective has complete control over them.

This in essence means that every single volcano on Desolan is no longer natural. Each volcano is a command outpost, and under the ground is a planet-wide network of tunnels, barracks, communication arrays, and hangars. There is an equally large army hidden away that the rest of the galaxy has not, and will likely not see for some time. From here they are connected to every part of the Collective and the defenses. At this moment they are likely appraising the situation on Earth.

This is something I am acutely aware of, since I helped design it.

There is more than just an army. This is where any experiments related to the Mutons, as well as any weapons testing takes place. This is a home to dozens of contingencies ranging from a multi-species epidemic to an attack by the Synthesized. There are cloning vats that can flash-grow any species in weeks, bioweapons that will turn any planet sterile, nanoweapons that accomplish the same thing.

I hesitate to reveal this, but there are weapons there specifically designed for killing certain Ethereals, myself included. No one other than myself, the Imperator and the Battlemaster knows, and those are assumed to just be another collectable in the long list of experimental weapons. They were contingencies in the event of a rogue Ethereal, and I do not know for sure they would work.

But they would cause damage, that I can be certain of.

However, the chances of you acquiring them are nonexistent, Commander. The Battlemaster would no doubt have moved them by now where I would not know, and managing to even breach the atmosphere would be an impossibility unto itself. All that would be accomplished by fighting a ground war on Desolan is the loss of many Human lives.

Unfortunately, Desolan is likely one area that we cannot rely on Gateways to attack with. They were specifically built per my recommendation to only sync with certain ones, or reject incoming syncing without approval. Or worse, incoming traffic can be redirected to other Gateways, which can lead directly into planets or the sun. No fleet can enter Desolan without being let it. The same is for the ground, except more extreme.

Collective Military Command cannot be accessed by Gateways. You can arrive on Desolan via Gateways connected to the orbital stations, but accessing the underground base is impossible, and there are standing orders to kill anyone who is not authorized, regardless of rank or station. I was thorough in my design, wanting it to be impenetrable, and unfortunately, I'm afraid that will be a hindrance to us.

SECTION 3: Avenues of Attack

The only way to neutralize Desolan is to destroy it completely. Nothing less will suffice. This fortunately makes it so we would only need to fight the Desolan fleet, although the ground forces will likely not sit idle. There are millions of ground to space defense systems, but those are much weaker than most other Collective weaponry that will be encountered.

The fight for Desolan cannot be won without an overwhelming number of spacecraft and psions. Nothing could be held back, and the battle for Desolan would likely decide the fate of the war itself. Even with myself supporting your fleets, there will be other Ethereals also involved, and they will wreak havoc on our own fleets.

There is no subversion or backdoor, Commander, Desolan can only be destroyed with a fleet, and to do that, they need to fight the most entrenched fleet in the Collective. There are Hiveships, Ethereal Dreadnoughts, Andromedon Carriers, and the Vitakarian Flagship. No attack should be attempted until Humanity has the numbers or capability of those ships.

You will be heavily outmatched here, Commander, but the reward is throwing the Collective military into permanent disarray. You will need to decide if the reward is worth it when the time comes.