8: Where Some Rarely Go

Perimeter Station 7AF origin: unknown destin: undetermined ref: Perimeter Station csecurefeed.7 If there is an armpit to the Lh’owon garrison, this is it. Perimeter Station 7AF is separated from the Pfhor concept of civilization by 200 klicks of filth-ridden swamp, choked with a thousand hungry F'lckta and as many years of S'pht debris. It's also home to the Science Unit responsible for maintaining the water treatment facility for Planetary Command, and all of the Eastern Emplacements. My little group of humans can't hope to succeed unless the Pfhor ranks are in chaos. Sinking them under five meters of sludge should do the trick.

Perimeter Station 7AF origin: unknown destin: undetermined ref: Perimeter Station csecurefeed.7 $3CThe base was established early in the recent wave of exploration of the planet, but operations were later moved north because of heavy surface radiation that interferes with transporters. The local soldiery are charged primarily with exterminating the F'lckta, who defend their ancestral wetlands with agonizing tenacity.

Perimeter Station 7AF origin: unknown destin: undetermined ref: Perimeter Station csecurefeed.7 Find a Pfhor terminal with technical access to the main treatment plant, and we'll look for a weakness. This Resupply Platform is likely to be checked regularly by the Pfhor living here, so you’ll want to get out of the open quickly. Good luck. I'll transport in ammunition when I can, but we're spread thin. The scoutship spotted our trick with the Armor Platform and is closing fast. I'll have to teach its captain a lesson.

You must access all the terminals in the local network for information on the water treatment center. The scoutship was a trifle, but we've got bigger problems now. Long range sensors show several hundred discrete masses translating into the system. The Pfhor navy has arrived. Another thing——I've intercepted a signal from the disabled scoutship that leads me to believe that Tycho is in league with the bugs. Be careful.

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Engineer 1st Class K’all destin: Unit Command ref: Alternate Footpath Resupply Tower 2 stamp: requisition Humbly I request retooling of Engineering Unit cutterays for completion of Alternate Footpath project as outlined in proposal.49AB3 { error: proposal.49AB3 not found }

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Unit Command destin: enginneer 1st Class K’all ref: Illegal Cutteray Requisition stamp: reprimand { cmd: append reply } Request for misdirection of garrison resources for completion of unapproved proposal.49AB3 duly noted by Enforcement Liaison and report will be transmitted to Lh’owon Command with the endcycle packet. Engineer 1st Class K’all is hereby ordered to cease construction of Alternate Footpath to Resupply Tower 2 until stamp: Approval issued by Lh’owon Command.

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Unit Command destin: enginneer 1st Class K’all ref: Illegal Cutteray Requisition stamp: reprimand { cmd: append reply } Engineer 1st Class K’all is hereby ordered to report to Unit Command for restriction until endcycle round of scheduled demotions. { error: proposal.49AB3 not found }

Lh’owon command origin: Lh’owon Command destin: Perimeter Garrison 7AF Unit Command ref: Proposal.49AB3 stamp: approval { cmd: ref appended } This is in approval of proposal.49AB3 for Alternate Footpath to Resupply Tower 2, Perimeter Garrison 7AF. { error: proposal.49AB3 not found }

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Engineer 3rd Class K'all destin: personal log .49AF4 ref: Alternate Footpath Project (Approved) stamp: monitored { cmd: personal log file init } Alternate Footpath Project has been completed without use of functional cutterays. Substitution of garrison personnel demoted to Conditioned Rank (ref: psychiatric) into work detail increased efficacy of project. I await formal request for status report from Unit Command prior to opening footpath to garrison personnel. { cmd: expunge proposal.49AB3 }

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Science Officer 2nd Class St’ngr destin: personal log file ref: native xenomorph stamp: monitored { cmd: personal log file init } Their activity cycle coincides with the period of gestation of their young, which are carried to term in the maw of the creature for a period of 15-19 local days. While the mandible appears to have vestigial musculature indicative of mastication and forceful ingestion consistent with a predator, the gizzard terminates in a womb rather than the digestive tract.

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Science Officer 2nd Class St’ngr destin: personal log file ref: native xenomorph stamp: monitored { cmd: personal log file init } As field observations and several post-mortem examinations of fallen combatant members of Aggregate Rank indicate, the creatures attack with one favored foreclaw. The foreclaw and maw are both used for territorial competition and display, as the dominance of a particular creature is measured by both the size of its territory and the range of its wanderings.

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Science Officer 2nd Class St’ngr destin: personal log file ref: native xenomorph stamp: monitored { cmd: personal log file init } At the beginning of the mating cycle, approximately each 17th local day, the creatures release a cloud of eggs into their territorial waterway and begin a traverse of the surrounding region, battling with their neighbors for passage. Each creature swallows any eggs it finds during its circuit, with more dominant creatures gaining access to a greater variety of eggs. The eggs are drawn into the womb for fertilization and gestation.

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Science Officer 2nd Class St’ngr destin: personal log file ref: native xenomorph stamp: monitored { cmd: personal log file init } Unfortunately I have not been able to observe the birth or immature form of the creatures, as the parents chew their young rather than bring them to term in the holding pens. Next period of activity I inten... { cmd: ... }

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Unit Command destin: Terminal Display ref: Aggregate Restriction stamp: broadcast All personnel of Aggregate Rank or less are restricted from the following areas: Science, Engineering, and Riverine unless on scheduled patrol. Personnel of Willful Rank or greater are advised to limit activity in the Riverine area until completion of Hostile Reduction Directive 11 and the waterway is sterilized of the bipeds.

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Unit Command destin: Terminal Display ref: Endcycle Scheduled Demotions stamp: broadcast It is with great shame and regret that Unit Command announces the following Scheduled Demotions for Endcycle: Engineer 1st Class K’all is hereby demoted to Engineer 3rd Class K’all.

internal unit files (ref: science) origin: Engineering Unit destin: Unit Command ref: Control Schematic Water Treatment19 stamp: records { cmd: schematic appended }

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Science Officer 2nd Class St’ngr destin: personal log file ref: Comparitive physiology stamp: monitored { cmd: personal log file init } My repeated requests for classified files on the physiology of the Compiler Class (Conditioned Rank) have been denied, as have requisitions for incompletely encased Compiler bio components, hence I have been forced to greater resourcefulness, as is often the lot of the Science Unit at Perimeter Station 7AF. Our most critical requests are ignored by Unit Command, and so I am forced to commandeer local Compiler units without stamp: approval

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Science Officer 2nd Class St’ngr destin: personal log file ref: Comparitive physiology stamp: monitored { cmd: personal log file init } The experiment to extract the Compiler bio component from the exoskeleton has been so far a failure, as the robotic casing is introduced early into the growth of the creature, and all Compilers destined for combat duty are protected by reinforced power armor.

perimeter garrison 7AF origin: Science Officer 2nd Class St’ngr destin: personal log file ref: Comparitive physiology stamp: monitored { cmd: personal log file init } I have cannibalized a few elevators and constructed a more precise device with which to apply force to the exoskeleton, and hope to retrieve an intact bio component for a comparison with the native bipedal creature. Science Officer 1st Class W’rrl (Attentive Rank) has asked me to investigate a hypothesis that the Compiler creature is similar in certain basic features.

Garrison Security origin: unit Command destin: unit broadcast ref: Garrison Security stamp: broadcast Due to a security door failure rate of 35% in the Garrison Area, and the continuing nighttime aggression of the native bipeds inhabiting the Riverine Area, Patrol Units are hereby ordered to secure all Outer and Blast Doors until completion of Hostile Reduction Directive 11 and complete sterilization of the waterway. Quartermaster 5th Class Ssh’uph(Aggregate) has begun investigating the disappearance of local Compiler Units.

Garrison Security origin: unit Command destin: unit broadcast ref: missing units stamp: broadcast { broadcast notice appended } All local Units are required to post notice of Unit Reward 4th Class requisitioned for personnel providing intelligence pertinent to location and retrieval of Combatant 3rd Class Jrr’z (Aggregate) before endcycle. Combatant 3rd Class Jrr’z (Aggregate) last seen by Patrol Unit personnel conducting deep water visual survey in compliance with Hostile Reconnaissance Directive 4.

internal unit communique origin: Quartermaster 5th Class Ssh’uph destin: unit Command ref: Access Malfunction Resupply Tower 2 stamp: requisition This is to humbly resubmit request for machinery and expertise from Garrison Command for repair of Access Door Mechanism on Resupply Tower 2. Requisitioned Compiler Units from Lh’owon Command inadvertently teleported to Resupply Tower 2 and rendered inaccessible. Previous request respectfully submitted to Perimeter Station 7AF Commander 5th Class Re’eer (Attentive) prior to untimely demise.

internal unit communique origin: unit Command destin: Quartermaster 5th Class Ssh’uph ref: Access Malfunction Resupply Tower 2 stamp: definition { cmd: reply appended } In the wake of the untimely demise of Former Perimeter Station 7AF Commander 5th Class Re’eer (Attentive), and in a spirit of renewal for local personnel, Resupply Tower 2 is heretofore renamed Commemorative Resupply Tower Re’eer in honor of our fallen comrade.