Prologue

One of many vacation worlds strewn across the Imperium's more peaceful districts, Paradise XXII was a pleasant and hospitable planet which welcomed all who had the money and paperwork to holiday there. Sporting a wide range of climates, few native dangers, and only a handful of discreet administrative cities, its greatest selling points were the country-spanning Great Garden - home to the sector governor's palace - and the seventeen transparent crystalline moons, each tinted a different colour, which bathed the sky with a spectrum of gentle, diffused hues.

Such a place was a haven for hiveworld nobles and military high-ups with wealth and a taste for the exotic. It also, naturally, catered for those who were attracted to wealth and had the wherewithal to procure the exotic. Designated hunting ranges hosted alien specimens of dubious legality, euphemistically-named spa houses drifted with scents whose origins were never enquired into, and in hushed libraries the esoterically-minded found the wisdom they were normally denied. In a quiet mockery of compliance, the shield of social connection protected the world from investigation at both a local and inquisitorial level.

Around two months ago, the Garden suddenly and without warning entered a verdant frenzy, growing at what seemed a wholly unnatural pace. Replicated across the planet's green zones, never-before-seen plants burst from the turf and new species of animals were recorded at an astonishing rate. Shortly afterwards, the crystal moons blazed with colours of almost unreal saturation and a burst of unknown energy surged into space, overwhelming the modest in-system monitoring stations and temporarily isolating the world from the rest of the galaxy.

The awe and wonder of those planetside soon turned to horror and despair as ever more lethal creatures and - worse - vegetation began to feast upon the unprepared populace. Desperate SOS messages were broadcast, decreasing in frequency daily as hastily-erected defences fell. Soon only a few centres of civilisation - the governor's palace, a smattering of cities, the spaceports and occasional hideouts of the more adventurous vacationers - remained to call for aid.

Naturally, the plight of persons of status elicited a swift response. Several Imperial forces were diverted to investigate, evacuate and, if necessary, annihilate.

However, to the shock of those present, various factions not aligned with the Imperial cause have also been sighted. Such presence in what was considered to be secure Imperial territory has caused greater consternation than the unexplained life bloom, and begs the question: are these just opportunistic strikes following intercepted distress signals...or were they called?