The Vel Verda Incident(2287)

On the Planet Vel Verda, a team of elite Federation Marines led by Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer arrives Via Shuttle Drop off due to a passing Astriod near the planet causing their ships transporters to not be functioning correctly. Dutch and his men have been sent to the planet to rescue a Federation Ambassador kidnapped by Gorn guerrilla forces in neighboring planet. Dutch learns that his old friend Dillon, now working for the Starfleet Intelligence is in the region, and arrived on the planet shortly before him and is to accompany his squad on the mission, against Dutch's wishes.

The team quickly find the remains of the downed shuttle that had been carrying the Ambassador and his party. Continuing to follow their trail, Dutch and his unit discover the bodies of three skinned men hanging from the trees. They are identified as an Starfleet Special Forces unit led by another old friend of Dutch's, and their presence in the country seems a mystery.

The mercenaries soon locate the heavily defended Gorn encampment to which the hostages have been taken. They take out the inhabitants in short order and rescue a Hostage named Anna , leading to the revelation that the Starfleet Special Forces unit that was killed was sent here prior to Dutch's team. Dillon confesses to an enraged Dutch that the rescue mission had been a setup from the beginning SI knew that the Ambassador and all of the Ambassadors party except Anna were already Dead and Starfleet Intelligence didn't feel the need to save just Anna, they were more concerned with the Special Forces Unit that disappeared and to neutralize the Gorn. Dillon tricked Dutch into accepting the mission and killing the guerrillas for him.

As the team make their way to the extraction point, they are observed from afar by an unknown creature that sees in infrared. After two members of the team are brutally slain, the survivors become aware that something in the jungle is stalking them. Dillon believes more Gorn Rebels are responsible, but one of the squad members, Billy, is adamant that the perpetrator is not Gorn, an assertion that is met with some skepticism. The team makes camp for the night, setting traps in all directions. The booby traps are triggered, but the culprit is found to be a wild boar. However, the squad also discovers that the body of one of their dead comrades has been taken discreetly from their midst, despite their supposedly impenetrable defenses.

Increasingly convinced that what hunts them is not something they have encountered before, Dutch quizzes Anna for insight into the creature, which she reveals has become a local legend for hunting for trophies. Despite attempts to trap and kill the creature, the team is slowly picked off one by one until only Dutch and Anna remain. Realizing the creature only targets armed and hostile prey, a wounded Dutch sends Anna to the extraction point alone and unarmed, while he draws their attacker off. He narrowly escapes the creature — revealed to be a helmeted, bipedal unknown alien being protected by advanced active camouflage — by unintentionally covering himself in wet mud, thereby masking his infrared heat signature.

Despite having lost most of his weapons, Dutch decides to confront the creature to avenge his fallen men. He constructs a number of improvised weapons and covers himself in mud as camouflage, before lighting a large fire and screaming into the jungle to announce his challenge to his opponent. The creature soon arrives, but despite Dutch initially having the upper hand and successfully disabling the creature's active camouflage, it eventually manages to corner him. In a display of chivalry, the creature removes its advanced weaponry and helmet, unveiling its monstrous face, before challenging Dutch to a final duel in hand-to-hand combat.

Even in a fair fight, Dutch is no match for the alien and receives a brutal beating. Cornered and with the warrior recognizing and avoiding his final trap, Dutch triggers the counterweight himself, causing the large log to drop onto the creature, crushing it. Standing over his mortally wounded opponent, Dutch demands to know what it is. The creature eerily mimics his question in garbled English, and then activates a time bomb on its wrist device in a last ditch effort to kill Dutch. Dutch runs for cover as a massive explosion ignites the jungle. The following day, Anna returns aboard a rescue shuttle to find Dutch has barely survived the blast, and he is picked up and taken back to base.