"Thank you, Colonel. Gentlemen the information we are about to give you was collected when a Kra'Vak raiding force hit Ross 149 five months ago. You will find a report titled Karla's Kidnap in your mission packet, which will cover what I'm about to speak on in more detail. The Kra'Vak employed ground forces in the raid, and some dead specimens were obtained by us."

"But isn't Ross149 a PAU colony."

"Well, yes it is. Let's just say that the samples were, umm, acquired by some of your Australian brethren, in an operation that shall remain unmentioned."

"Anyway, on to a description of Karla. Which by the way is our slang term for the Kra'Vak. I'm reading this right off the report we got from the SAS operation." One of the creatures appeared on the holoscreen. Everyone was drawn immediately to its alligator like skin and warthog like tusks. They looked menacing.

"Jesus Christ, that looks like my fuckin' ex-wife," remarked Brooks. "Especially them choppers." Everyone broke out in laughter.

Once they settled down Weston began. "The species is a bipedal vertebrate, carbon based, oxygen breathing, warm blooded like birds or mammals and with similar body chemistry as earth life forms. The samples taken from Ross 149 averaged around 198 centimeters in height. The endoskeleton, arms and legs are jointed like those of primates. However, the neck, spine and pelvis have a maximum load bearing at least 15% above humans. The feet have two clawed toes each, between which is a retractable flap of skin. The hands have three digits, the outside digits are both opposable, giving the creature two thumbs and one finger on each hand".

"As you can see, their thick skin, which is a tan color mottled with green, looks reptilian, however, it's not scaled. It's very thick though and driving a knife through it would be a chore."

"What's that on the back of its head, hair?" Asked Molitoris, one of the medics.

"Negative, they don't really have anybody hair. Those hair-like structures attached to the rear of the skull have thin tubes, which are linked to the lungs, and act as additional oxygen storage. It is believed they can stay submerged, or survive without atmosphere, for several minutes longer than humans".

"Make's 'em look like Rastafarians." Observed Brooks.

"The skull is heavy ridged, with thick bones protecting the eyes and nose. On each side of the jaws are tusks or upward facing mandibles attached to the face with large muscles. All teeth are simplex tearing cones; no grinding or specialist teeth except for the mandibles are evident. They get more teeth as they get older. This can range anywhere from 20 to 40."

"Their two eyes are complex, providing binocular vision, a little more sensitive in low light, than ours. T hey are also sensitive to UV allowing these creatures to see unaided, deep into the ultraviolet band. In your terms, that gives them a night vision advantage over you. The eyes are set in deep socket, giving poor vision at under 15cm, however at long distances this should give them exceptional vision".

"One interesting feature with these creatures are the internal membranes which create compartments, similar to those found in some crabs. There are six such membranes, each containing duplicate organ for breathing, digestion and reproduction. Blast one chamber and the others can take over and keep the creatures going. This provides a form of organ redundancy that is uncommon among vertebrates. They are also born fairly mature. At two years they are probably able to function at full capacity."

"Apart from their physical appearance the most distinguishing feature of this race is the unusual reproductive cycle. The reproductive organs have been clearly identified. These creatures do not have a male and a female form; rather they are simultaneous hermaphrodites, equipped with both working testes and ovaries. The main difference being the wombs, of which there are six, which are not fully formed in the juvenile creatures".

"Jeez, Brooks," interjected Mellor, "good thing you aren't one of them. You jerk off so much you'd be getting' yourself pregnant every other day."

"Nuthin' wrong with having sex with the one you love."

"Alright, at ease." said Captain Gerard.

"For brevity's sake, I'll move onto the psych portion of this report." Weston thumbed past a few pages. "Orion prepared this report from special branch. Sergeant Lawrence, I believe you know him?"

Charlie smiled at the thought of his old acquaintance. Asshole, he thought.

"The origins or locations of the Kra'Vak home worlds are unknown. They've been pushing up from the galactic core so that may be an indication of their general origins. Which means they may be an older civilization. Between these specimens, the pattern of their attacks on human worlds, and two previous intelligence-gathering operations, we've developed some hypothesis on their social structure. SIGINT has been instrumental in actually developing a small dictionary of their language."

"A driving factor in their social organization is the fact that they are hermaphroditic. Kra'Vak do not truly change sex or become adult, rather as they age they become "more" female. It is estimated that at around 40 years, the juvenile Kra'Vak goes through a kind of puberty, meaning that its wombs become viable for reproduction. It appears that the eggs carried, can simultaneously be the offspring of different 'fathers'. A mother creature recovered from Ross 149 carried six young, originating from three different partners."

"Hey I like this race already!" Said Brooks.

Lawrence turned around to Brooks, smiled congenially and said: "Brooks, shut the fuck up." He turned back to Major Weston. "Sorry Sir. I can dress 'em up but I can't take 'em out."

"No problem. It also appears the parent can suspend the development and maturation of the young, so there is no fixed gestation period for this species. For example a fertilized egg could be carried for many years until the parent chose it for development. Every Kra'Vak family has a senior or matriarch and a heirem of juveniles. . It is believed that these senior creatures mature for one of two roles in the family. One type takes longer to mature and acts as guards or nest builders, while the second type puts its energy into becoming sexually mature, spending their time trying to invade their neighbors' nests to steal mates. We are confident that there is a similar pattern in Kra'Vak families. This may be an instinctual pattern that could explain much of the Kra'Vak aggression towards each other and toward other creatures".

"It is estimated that a large matriarch dominates the pack or family of several hundred members. The other senior Kra'Vak would take the role of protecting the matriarch and keeping the juveniles disciplined. The juveniles are probably not highly valued, being used almost like slaves until their social potential is demonstrated. As the juvenile approaches puberty around 40 years, good performers would tend to be a breeding target for the families Matriarch and other seniors. To ensure her political position in the family, it is likely that the Matriarch strictly controls whom the seniors can mate with, and how many offspring they may have. Poor performers who survive to 40 years are likely to be assigned low status roles. On a large scale we expect to see families aligned with clans, where a clan Matriarch imposes controls over family Matriarchs".

"In infantry terms this would see squads of juveniles run by an older 'brothers' who serves an 'uncles' reporting through to senior 'aunties' on to the Matriarch."

"All in the family…." Said Donner.

Miner leaned over to Charlie and whispered: "And intel figured all this out from…a few cheesy bodies? Whatever."

"Kra'Vak technology is in many ways advanced past our own. Their basic weapon in space and on ground is the rail gun. They've perfected this technology. A hit from one of their infantry railguns and it's all over for you. You can see more data on their weapons and equipment, including an infantry orbat we've genned up, in your packets."

"There just isn't very much here on how they fight on the ground. We know they're ruthless and have no regard for species other than their own. In fact, we believe they're apt to fight themselves as much as anyone else if two clans cross each other. In the Ross attack, they showed little regard for their own casualties, which isn't suprising given the low social status of their juveniles. We'll be relying on you to dig up more info on them to help make our picture complete."

Colonel Rölle interjected. "Gentlemen, if you look at the clock, you will see that we are approaching our first jump so I'd like to wrap up the briefing. You will find your mission packets comprehensive. I'd like to leave you with as much time to plan your operation as possible. We're here to support you with any request. I suggest you make the most of this little time you'll be spending on the Kreta. If there are any equipment or supplies you will need, talk to Leutnant Makowsky. I'd like a preliminary briefback of your plan in 24 hours. I just want to say that I cannot stress the importance we place on the successful execution of this mission. Whoever is left alive on Röt Hafen is depending on us to get them out of trouble. We still don't know much about the Kra'Vak and why they've decided to set up camp on Röt Hafen. Information you gather throughout this operation and the eventual successful completion of Task Force Hannibal's mission could have significant repercussions for Humanity in the coming years as attacks against our worlds increase. Good luck."

Throughout the briefing Charlie had been taking notes. He waited for the officers to leave then turned to the team. "OK listen up, here's what's going to happen over the next 24 hours." He turned to his two medics. "Eric, I want you and Colin to pour over these xeno files to see what else we can come up with that'll help us deal with these things. Also check the Röt Hafen planet study to see what vaccinations or other special preventive measures we'll need to take."

"Brooks, get with the comms liaison officer and go over the comms plan front and back until you are satisfied with it. Make sure everyone's up to speed on the PSC-33 and any special procedures we'll need to talk to the bird."

He turned to his two engineers. "Eric, Bill, break down our pallet and recheck all the serial numbers on all the sensitive items. As we work out the ops plan we'll pass the equipment requests to you and you guys can separate that stuff from the rest of the pallet. Coordinate for a secure place to keep the remainder on the ship so we don't get fucked and loose everything once we leave."

"Kenny go through all the S-2 stuff. We need to know as much as possible about the Gs we'll be working with, names numbers equipment, whatever. Also since you’re the most current amongst all the JMs, you'll be the Jumpmaster on this op. I'll safety. Get with Eric and Bill and go over all the team gear. Sounds to me like this drop is going to have a high pucker factor!"

"Donner, you, the captain, and me will work on route selection and actions at the objective. I'll work on the DZ. Everyone knows the drill, just an SOP isolation, except we only have 24 hour to get a briefback genned up. Molitoris, dig up and pass out as much Domitril as we can take since we won't be blissfully asleep during all the warp transits we're going to have to make in the next twenty four. Any questions?"

There were none, they'd all been through the drill before.

"Good, let's get to work."