These 'surgical raids' against 'terrorist leaders' are a sad reality of our times. From time to time, a faction sends its death squads to one city or another to, as it turns out from our interrogation, 'cull the mutant numbers a little as they're breeding too fast anyway'. We can thwart such an attempt early, simply by shooting Terror Ships down, but waiting out and making a surprise appearance at the party can potentially garner us more respect (unless we let too many locals die). In some cases, attackers don't use ships and come by land instead. In such events, the Mutant Alliance will dispatch a Hyperwave distress call. Whether we care about the hapless fools who get massacred or not, it's always an opportunity to grab some loot and fame.