The Kirrtain were a felinoid race which had an appearance quite similar to that of Terran felines. Upon first contact, their appearance led to misconceptions about the race, which eventually led to war. The Kirrtain, for all their appearance had a culture unlike anything humans had conceived of before contact. This misunderstanding (of which whole volumes have been written), led to war. While the United Stars outmatched the Kirrtain in purely military might, the Kirrtain were master scientists and genetic manipulators. While the public war was fought with ships in space, the Kirrtain secretly began a series of projects intended to create super soldiers with which to fight, going so far as to seed the genetic alterations they developed among their general population so that they would be spread over time.
 
One of the most notable and notorious projects involved what were later dubbed "The Caiten Processors." The project was the brainchild of Krithras Frisstha, a geneticist living on Hriss. Using captured terran DNA from numerous species, she began an ambitious project to create a special kind of soldier. Later biographers have claimed that she was start raving mad, even for a Kirrtainian, and some in her contemporary government readily agreed with that assessment. The program was canned after several investigators assigned to oversight on the program were found to have been grown in Frisstha's facilities, clones of the original personnel who were never recovered.
 
In secret and funded by factions within the government, she created the Caiten. At least three versions were created, though only two ever saw real service. Gifted with strange abilities, these "Caiten" later became a thorn in the side of the government when they threatened relations with the United Stars after the truce of 2761 upon the onset of the Onmaar incursions.
 
The following is an excerpt from official correspondence of the United Stars government pertaining to the Kirrtain investigations of 2762. After the signing of the truce between the Kirrtain and the United Stars caused by the attack of the Onmaar insectoids at Lorpus 354, investigations began into strange disappearances of personnel assigned to investigating Kirrtain research projects. The Caiten were almost certainly behind it in a ham-handed attempt to keep their existence a secret.
 
 
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To:
Lord Walter Kansrich
Cabinet Minister
Bureau of Foreign Affairs
White Tower, Oglesand, Corvain
EYES ONLY
 
April 5, 2762
 
My Lord,
 
As requested, I am writing you this letter with my opinion on the findings of our intelligence services. Our worst fears have been confirmed. The techniques suspected by Doctor Martin and others may very well be true.
 
As requested, I have reviewed the data logs sent to me by our contact in the Kirrtain government. I found them disturbing to say the least. As you have not seen them I will give a summary of one of them. Most are similar in nature.
 
The logs record an event in a research facility. They contain video recordings of four legged Kirrtain feeding on what appear to be human males and females. Their method of feeding is unusual in that the POW's are forced into the creature's male genitalia. The POW is completely pulled in, and then descends to the creature's testicles where a transformation occurs. The creature is then hooked up to a machine, similar to dairy farm milking machines, and ejaculates its semen into a large vat. Given the shrinkage of its testicles, it can only be assumed that the POW's are digested/transformed into semen.
 
The exact purpose for such genetic modifications is beyond me. Perhaps they have found some way to use the genetic material of their captives in some fashion. There is some hint, based on expansions of images of computer terminals that appear in the data logs that they have used Terran animals extensively as part of the base genetic code for their work. Their race already looks very much like terrestrial animals. Perhaps terrestrial genetic stock was required to allow them to do what they intended.
 
While it is hard to believe that the Kirrtain could have genetically engineered such warped abilities into their experiments, we now have no doubt that they did. We were fortunate in the late war not to have had such soldiers unleashed on us. While their particular abilities may not have been useful for fighting battles, the mere fact that they so evidently enjoy their abilities would have made the possibility of the return or escape of captured prisoners of war practically nil. Some of our missing in action from the late war may very well have become victims of the experiments on the data logs.
 
According to the intelligence reports, the Kirrtain government has thankfully shut down the experimental labs that created these creatures. Our sources suggest that there were those in the Kirrtain government who found their existence to be distasteful, even for them. The programs were dismantled, though we have no information on how many creatures were birthed, nor how many may still exist.
 
Given the number of strange disappearances of key research personnel in the past two years and the increasing mixing of human and Kirrtain populations, I must conclude that Kirrtain may be using their genetically engineered creations in covert operations and assassinations against us. Several key personnel and data records pertaining to our research on this project have gone strangely missing in recent months, with little to no evidence pointing to what may have happened to them. The latest disappearance, that of Doctor Martin, is the most disturbing of these. We were able to recover genetic material from an elevator in the building where she worked. It was Kirrtain semen, vast quantities of it, but none of it could be identified as Doctor Martin. It is my contention that she was the victim of foul play. There have been a number of other incidents of large quantities of Kirrtain semen left in strange places. I suggest that others have met the same fate as Doctor Martin.
 
Given the political necessity we find ourselves in, in being required to maintain a peace with the Kirrtain, I have few tangible solutions to this issue. The ongoing war with the Onmaar and the technical and scientific resources of the Kirrtain are indispensable. As you know, the Prime Minister would have our agencies necks in a sling if we were to jeopardize the alliance. What I do suggest is that all data pertaining to our intelligence gathering in this matter be carefully monitored. Any personnel with access to said material should also be monitored. Perhaps, if we are fortunate, we will be able to catch one of them in the act and put a stop to their grotesque assassinations by using the data logs as leverage against the Kirrtain government.
 
As a side note, we have managed to track down the unauthorized copy of Data Tape AZ87512-33. It had been copied by a lab tech working for research and was found on his home terminal along with a collection of pornographic matter. The tech has been sacked and his computer seized. We believe the copy was made for his own sick personal entertainment, but we cannot preclude the possibility that he may have transferred the log to other individuals. We still do not know how he came by the copy as yet. His clearance was not high enough to access them; in fact only 11 persons working in our facilities had access. We will remain vigilant on this matter and keep you informed.
 
Please find enclosed a more detailed report on this matter. I have included the analysis drawn up by my assistant.
 
Sincerely,
 
Lady Dione Wendish
Director,
Anthosta Research Facilities
 
 
 
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To:
Lady Dione Wendish
Director,
Anthosta Research Facilities
EYES ONLY
 
April 6, 2762
 
Lady Wendish,
 
I have reviewed the report you sent with my staff. This is a matter of grave concern, and one that will likely be taken up with the Kirrtain government. I would ask that you send copies of the data logs to my office posthaste for review and possible use as evidence with the Kirrtain ambassador. If such activities are being committed against us, action must be taken.
 
Please keep me informed of other developments.
 
Sincerely,
 
Lord Walter Kansrich
Cabinet Minister
Bureau of Foreign Affrairs
White Tower, Oglesand, Corvain
 
 
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To:
Lord Walter Kansrich
Cabinet Minister
Bureau of Foreign Affairs
White Tower, Oglesand, Corvain
EYES ONLY
 
April 6, 2762
 
My Lord,
 
My name is Ken Henricksen, Lady Dione Wendish's confidential assistant. I regret to inform you that Lady Dione disappeared from her home this morning. We suspect foul play as her bedroom was covered with gallons of Kirrtain semen. Unfortunately, all monitoring equipment in her home seems to have been malfunctioning at the time of the incident. No records survived. In addition, the logs you requested appear to have been purged from our system's protected memory. We are trying to restore the data, but it appears that someone with high level clearance enacted the purge.
 
This suggests that we have a collaborator in our staff. I suspect as Lady Wendish did that the Kirrtain have been systematically eliminating all evidence of their research programs. That can only suggest that they are either still active, or someone in their government wishes to keep it secret for some purpose that is likely unfriendly to us.
 
I will keep you informed on the investigation.
 
Sincerely,
 
Ken Henrickson
Assistant Director,
Anthosta Research Facilities