The bay doors on the Cutters closed and sealed as Max powered up Terminus to follow them back off the planet, stopping only long enough to eliminate the last few Behemoths, which might stand a chance of damaging their vessels on the way ho.
Admiral Drake's voice welcod him back into orbit as Max updated his notes to encompass the last battle and the strange behaviors they had experienced on the planet.
[Commander, we have a full data set for the general population, including the spread, the markers which identify the lab where it was produced, which is here on this world, as well as so data from the governnt buildings about the operation to innoculate the population against the so-called Alien Diseases, which they claid the Klem could spread through humanity.
The general population wouldn't have known what happened and assud that the vaccine didn't work on their loved ones for so reason until it started to affect everyone, and by then, it was too late to do anything about it or the ones who had created it.
The mutations seem to have been partially intentional, but they evolved in unexpected ways when the virus mutated within hours of the initial distribution.
Miss Tarith has co up with a viral containnt plan for you to peruse at your pleasure, and the Illithid Doctor has verified that the viral containnt procedures for the Regint will be sufficient to have eliminated the threat. It seems that after the initial mutation, it began to spread by direct contact and was no longer an airborne pathogen.]
[We will go over the plan as soon as I arrive. Prepare a eting room and inform all of the Battalion Commanders to et there in fifteen minutes.] Max replied.
That would be just long enough to land, get a quick shower, and change to et the Regint, though it would leave so of the Commanders tight on ti after getting their units disembarked.
The cha could stay in the Cutters, as they would need to be fully sanitized, along with the bay that they arrived in before they could be repaired and moved to storage, so that wasn't the Pilot's problem today. They only needed to go to the scanning and decontamination room.
The sensors on the Cutters didn't detect any signs of diseases, viruses, or other hostile life forms that might have been picked up on the planet, so it would likely be a short process, but they would be held for a few hours until the more thorough deep tissue scans were completed.
The Commanders could all be quarantined together during their etings, a standard practice for many Regints that allowed them to save hours of hassle and get all their paperwork done during the scanning process.
They had all been on the sa battlefield, and none of them had left their cha during the deploynt, so with a quick sanitization of their cha, before they exited, there was little chance that any of them were going to be infected anyhow.
With the apartnt-level luxury inside the cockpit of the Thunder Pattern Super Heavy cha, there weren't a lot of good reasons for the Commanders to disembark during battle unless they were holding negotiations with another human force, sothing that would likely never happen with the Klem.
"Welco everyone to today's debriefing and Command Staff decontamination. I have a mission report in front of you. Check it for accuracy, and write your Battalion's version. I know we aren't a military force anymore, but comprehensive records are essential when we need to look back for missing clues during later battles." Max reminded his Officers.
"So things never end. Paperwork is eternal, but you have a point, Commander. Especially for this mission, where we encountered so many new actions and patterns of Klem, it is imperative that we keep good notes. If we co across them sowhere else in the Galaxy, we will need to know how they got there and as much about them as possible." Colonel Klinger agreed.
[I have the plan to finish the decontamination of the planet ready if you would like to go over it while you enjoy your decontamination.] Nico suggested over the intercom.
"Does it involve Firestorm Bombing or Orbital Strikes?" Max asked.
[That's the best part. I managed to find a way for both of them to work together for an extra fresh, minty clean feeling.]
The Command Staff chuckled at Nico's enthusiastic response before looking over the plan.
She wasn't joking. Her plan was to have the Cutters fly a grid pattern in orbit, carpet bombing the planet with Firestorm Bombs, then combining their firepower with that of Cleansing Light, all on the sa spot.
According to the seismic scans, that was a weak spot in the tectonic plates, and the combined Orbital Lance assault should send a ripple through the entire planet's crust that would shatter the continents and turn many of the pieces over, leaving them face down on the molten mantle of the planet.
Combined with the Firestorm, the chances of Microbial life surviving were less than one in a billion, with a chance of the Klem infestation surviving calculated as less than one in a trillion, with a secondary plan to use Chemical weapons to eliminate the last microbial life that might have survived, should any be detected.
"You know, we could have worked out a retroviral concoction that would decontaminate the planet's humans." Max pointed out after reading the pure overkill double Extermination plan for the infested world.
[I already did that. After the virus is eliminated, they no longer stand any chance of contaminating others, but the majority of their Geno is still Klem, and they are essentially brain-dead. Given ti, they might recover so brain function, but the instinct-driven portion of their existence is all that is keeping them functioning.
Disabling the Virus makes the Klem portion of their bodies dormant, and it could safely be surgically removed, in most cases, but it leaves them with the brain functions of a newborn.] Nico inford them.
"So, the test subjects are dead?" Colonel DiFranco, of the Fourth Battalion, asked.
[No, just infantile. They are very much breathing.] Nico explained.
"What do we do with that? Do we even have a use for a bunch of comatose Klem Hybrids?" The Colonel asked.
[Of course, we do. I'm not sure what it is, but I am going to put them in cryogenic stasis anyhow. Maybe it will matter later.]
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