Stef, Samples, Capt. Lamb and the entire CalEx strike team have incurred casualties the moment they set foot into the blistering purgatory of the Underneath. They are the first human beings to venture into this alien landscape, with a convicted murderer, a drunken scientist, and a half-human, half-reptile native as their "guides." But first they have to contend with an entirely new enemy, a previously unglimpsed form of armored, mantis-like soldier bred solely for combat, engineered to protect and kill!