SCAT is an acronym for Stealth, Camouflage, And Tactical. Scat soldiers are the elite of Earth Military Defense and Dain Jabez is considered the best of the best. Their new assignment is to take hundreds of prisoners and their families to a penal planet fifty-three light years away where a town has already been built for them. The planet is a hungry jungle, with animals, insects, and plants that all have teeth and want to feed on the human population. Dain finds an alien spaceship that has landed, then the aliens capture him and tell him about their war. They say their enemy has taken the war to the surface of planets and they want Dain to teach them to do combat on the ground. Dain forms a friendship with the alien leader, much to the consternation of his superior officer who wonders which military Dain wants to serve.
