He was back ... again.
As Gaunt walked into the Hive he felt at discomfort, He could sense all of his brothers and sisters around him, It was something he haden't exsperienced much in the past, The feeling of unity with everyone was ... strange but in time he would learn to live with It.

He wen't to the enterance of the royal chamber, He waited for Firehunter to call him in, After a loud roar the guards moved and allowed him in.
Gaunt wen't infront of Firehunter, The pychic conection was getting stronger, Gaunt hissed to Firehunter agnoleging that he had found a Chestburster.

Firehunter let out a roar, He was talking inside Gaunts head ' Thats just a normal Chestburster, Go and find the queenchestburster'.
Gaunt left the royal chamber, The Chestbuster he had found was still on his back, He hissed to It asking It to get off.

The Burster got off his back and ran into a small tunnel in the wall, Gaunt turned and left the Hive, He knew that the Burster would be in a host but what and where?

He desided to head back to the wreckage of the ship to search for any humans or preds, He started to move full pelt towards the ship, As he ran he was begining to worry, What were the preds and humans going to do?, What would happen?.

a few hours erlier. assassin had been building the hive then he felt something and imeadietly started heading into a room there he was fire hunter in a cocoon. assassin stared at it for a couple of minutes then fire hunter hatched and roared then said "find the other queen" assassin dindt move becouse he sensed gaunt coming then then when gaunt finnally showed up he was carring a chest burster but then fire hunter examined it and said "this is not the queen now go find me the real queen" then assassin started searching

ds is resting not knowing what come's next, ds is thinking 'what if we can never find the other queen, what if it becomes fully grown, i mean what then? what will happen to everyone? then again the preds or the humans might kill it for us then again they might take him captive, what will we do then? and what will fire hunter do to it?' so ds gets up and starts heading towords the ship he go's in through the hole. trying to find the queen he looks for a half hour then decides to stop. so he rests again looking to see if anyone comes.

Bloo nearly ran into Waralien as he made his way past. He seemed to take no notice of the fellow Xeno as he continued his march. War viewed the area he would be traveling. Nothing but desert he saw. But something glinted in the far off horizon. There was something out there, but War could not tell what it was, but apparently that was Bloo's destination.

War surmise that there would be trouble there. War called to Bloo stating he would bring reinforcements to wherever he was going and ran off towards the hive. War was unsure if Blood heard him, but continued his mission. If there were viable hosts then thats the direction he needed to take some forces to.

Upon arriving to the hive, thanks to a little drone he bullied into revealing the location, War tried to enter. The guards up front didn't recognize him as a fellow hive member and kept him out. Before the situation could get worse, Firehunter called out to War. Apparently Firehunter wanted to see him. For what, War had no answer as he descened into the damp interior of the hive.

assassin coulndt find the right one and assassin sees ds in the ship so assassin gos in but then looks away then looks back but cant see him so assassin gos in then assassin sees him and ds hiss's "oh its only you and assassin hiss's back "yeh hey do you mind if i follow you and ds hiss's "sur but i havent found anything yet"

I don’t think we’ll die.

Its neck restraints tightened.

Think? I don’t pay you to think! And I don’t pay you to set up cheap clichés, either! In fact, I don‘t pay you at all!

And its grip on life softened.

But yes. Our comrades will be with us soon. Are you comfortable?

Torn and deathly thin in appearance, the mighty guard’s skeletal fingers lugged the inferior worker towards the outer rim of the giant buildings. Potential hosts! Preferably… human? Of course. A tail wagged in delight, its weight slamming to the sand and forcing a wave of tiny rock to shift up and fall down. It lifted again and the monster resumed what it had been tending to the previous moment. Innocent teeth of the worker parted and met again in a continuous motion, warm saliva spilling out onto the wasteland’s ground in wads. The worker had been dreaming of nothing and thought much about everything.

It still wasn’t sure it could let its guard down around the Praetorian. They only had each other, but it was a forced bond, an unwelcome and unofficial joint operation. And then it thought to itself… what operation? What could they possibly do out here in the desert away from their home that would help? Were there really any hosts out here? Look.

It did. An aching muscle forced the worker’s head up and the skin on its neck stretched. Do you see? We’ve arrived. But there further on is another site. You and I are going there while our comrades stop here.

A magnificent, bright light shown, and other smaller lights of orange color illuminated the remaining area. The unwelcoming earth shifted, the sand grinding together, and sounds of metal clanging and the busy commotion of a factory filled the dense air. The Praetorian would smile, the worker noticed, until one moment when all feelings of excitement would vanish. Its powerful legs halted movement of the body, its evil grin turned to a frown filled with negative emotion and it released the worker, who didn’t dare question the guard about the sudden change of mood.

There. It looked again. Do you see them? Those pathetic bastards? It couldn’t see. Those demons! They ruin my fun. Those fucking… hunters.

All it could see were humanoid figures. But upon further observation it could see that yes, they were different. Different eyes, muscle tone, everything but that similar human figure. Well, this is certainly interesting. I wonder if I can have one of their penises?

The guard wanted to kill every single one of them, but it knew better. It was a master of reconnaissance, as was the rest of its species. Both arms swung up and rested the palms of its six-fingered hands upon the gritty sand, its hind legs following suit. It would not, unlike earlier, drag its slave, instead offering the young one a chance to follow on its own. If it would not, well, what else could it do? Go back to its precious hive? It would get caught.

A slick, bony tail trailed after the wire-like outer build of the twisted beast’s slim body, large in size and fierce to the claws. Its movements were barely noticeable, completely capable of being missed by even an intensely trained pair of eyes. Behind the giant beast of royal descent was its companion loyal by force. Though largely inexperienced in the world of combat and life in general it followed gracefully and quite professionally, stretching those joints that were forced to lay still as the worker was dragged hundreds of miles away from its home. And so an act began that would launch the attack.

The wet and revolting appearance of the disgusting creatures disappeared with their owners. They had one goal, which involved the massacre of the population of this community. And they would enjoy every last minute of it. They would only have to journey to the larger facility further away.

(Screw it, im cutting my post in half, hopefully someone can do something off mine, get an idea.)

Black Warrior clutched the hover tight, He had cloaked as the hover began to speed past him, leaving a wake of heated dust and sand. The invisible hunter held tight, not letting go, as the autopilot descended the dunes, and quickened its pace for the facility.

The hunter checked his wristcomp, lifesigns showing on his computer. Most of the clan was in good shape, a few of the lesser guards had become lost, or wounded. His own clan was doing well...
Suddenly, throught the illuminated computer and various markings, a message arrived. The vocal track raced up the electrical wiring, the clicks and guttural echoes shattering the sound of the humming engine. The god of death understood the message, and thankfully, it was within his power to accomplish.


Through storms, flurries, hurricanes of pure grit and sand, the hover weathered...it carried the dangerous yautja further and further, until it hit land, traces of sand quickly fading from the barren scape. Thick fog began to penetrate Bw's vision, and he saw his destination....but not the hover's.

Black Warrior quickly tensed his muscles, his clawed fingers scraping from the yautja metal as he pounced from the machine. A rift in the fog swirled around the invisible God of Death. He had arrived...

Deathdrop had found 428 sitting atop an old carcass of a large animal, and was nearly shot when he jumped up with him.

428 was not amused.

"You're an experienced enough hunter to know not to do that, old man."

"Bah! My experience went with my cock. Are you going to admire their freakish round heads all day, or are we going to kill a few?"

"Are you up to it?"

"Before the xenomorphs take the rest of me, I'd like to deny them a few hosts. As long as you attack first, of course."

428 turned and faced him.

"Seems only yesterday they couldn't make it to their planet's moon. Now they've found us here of all places."

"Blame the Hish," Deathdrop snorted, "they showed the damned things how to do math."

The Yautja readied their weapons and prepared to fan out.

Deathdrop's last comment caused Predator428 to shake his head from side to side in knowing disgust. The Hish were a gang of hermaphroditic idiots, a genetic of shoot off their mighty race that seemed to do all they could to utterly destroy the yautja's respectable reputation. The Elder had the right idea about them. Even if he was insane.

As for a plan on how to continue the hunt when the human's arrived, Predator428 was still thinking. When he had been alone, the hunter was forced to turn his normal quick and brutal tactics into those of patience and stealth. It was not his strong suit. He had been planning on waiting for the apes to enter the bone yard then jump from bone to bone to get above them, then see if he could grab and kill a few without the others noticing. Now that Deathdrop was here, he wouldn't have to bother.

Predator428 turned to him and started to bark out his plan. Normally, the hunter would never consider talking that way to one of the more archaic Elders back on the Homeworld, but Deathdrop's antics seemed to show that he had little patience for the submissions required for the petty bureaucrats back home.

"Wait for them to enter the bone yard. Once they come close, jump the center of the group, take them out before the vermin know what is happening. Perhaps we can even have a bit of fun with them in this rotting maze."

Predator428 leaned back into a sitting position before turning back towards the Elder.

"And stop talking about your cock."

An hour. Or two? Time was of the essence. One hour.

One slick hand hardening from the dry air of the heated no man’s land plummeted down unto the sand. Shifting grains crunched together in their sudden and unnatural jump upwards, slipping passed the black monster’s resting forearms, descending towards the earth again. A single movement was made afterward.

Stay with the shadow. Follow my every move.

The two sprung forward quickly but swiftly and silently. Yes, one thought, we’ve just nearly arrived.

Further along their apparent path and they would only be a quarter mile away from the enemy’s HQ, or so the royal guard suspected. They would infiltrate the home. But what after that? The serpent stiffened, preventing itself from moving any further. It stopped so abruptly that its companion was inches away from shoving its superior. Without word the drone knew at once why movement ceased.
Do you suppose we’ll see mother again?

A smooth head nodded. How?

There was no escape plan. No means of survival. Suicide. This was the way of the enemy, the hunter, not them. But what did they know? They were hive-minded freaks of nature committing acts of sin. Simple… bugs. Waiting. Silently. For what?

Listen to me well, young one, and we will come out victorious.

---

A cold chill jolted through the animal’s spine like thunder in the sky. Both of its hind legs carried its body upwards to face the royal guard. What good, it growled, could possibly come out of that? Malicious teeth threatened betrayal. The drone’s hands groped the sides of nothing, pulling on the air, imagining that piece of air was the guard. Giant feet stomped at the ground and marched in the direction of the enraged drone, warm streams of saliva falling behind.

With great strength, an arm’s muscles strained forward, claws latching onto the drone’s chin and pulling it. Listen – LISTEN. You will only – Listen. To. Me. You will only be alone for a very short amount of time.

Unconvinced of insured safety, the drone struggled to break free of the mighty Praetorian’s grip. And what of you? What of me? It spat in the guard’s face, a hot gas drizzling out of the worker’s open jaws.

Unprovoked, the Praetorian simply brushed the action aside like it never happened and continued with its statement. Our brother has sent reinforcements to this exact location. What I want you to do… is it clear enough? You will be alone for exactly one hour. As for me… I’m going back.

Its grip tightened. The drone gave a simple nod, though with hints of disapproval.

Good. It released its hold on the drone. So anxious to go back to its precious home. Right on the brink of treachery. It’s plan was flowing smoothly… well before it even began. My own safety, to protect the Queen, is priority number one.

And if I fail? His companion was a giant pain in the ass.

I cannot, for the life of me, explain what may happen if you fail. If they get you… well, they better not get you.

Over the course of their time traveling to this facility, the young worker’s head molted. Any evidence of its immaturity was gone by now. Beautiful ridges adorned the elongated head. Its aggressiveness grew along with its skill and appreciation for the art of reconnaissance. And they won’t get you. You… are now one of mother’s warriors. No longer a simple worker, a drone of the hive.

A giant pain in the ass. And possibly his only friend.

Its partner’s boney torso twisted once to briefly observe the Yautja complex. The Warrior knelt and stood in a quadruped position. The atmosphere was, as of now, calm and reassuring. Mission understood, the two only nodded before parting ways, but not before their mother’s royal guard said, “I’ll be back.â€Â

---

Kill the enemy.

Hundreds. Thousands, even. They were here. All killers. No. Not just killers – murderers. Of my kind specifically. But just one of them… one of them need to die.

Shadows danced silently upon the walls and within the cracks where vermin resided. With no signs of struggle, the serpent of the dark took a stealthy approach to finding its prey. Kill one of them. One of great importance to the enemy. Cause an uproar, chaos would ensue. And then wait.

Hug the walls. Silently. You will not fail.

One minute had passed before it decided to slip into a darker alleyway and climb to a higher level. Quickly it leaped onto the roof of one smaller building and twisted its body to fit the shape of its cover. Peaking around the corner, it saw nothing. Its neck stretched back and it rose to the top of the pipe it hid behind. It was angled diagonally and led to a higher level, but to where, it hadn’t the slightest idea.

Take caution. Your saliva, you fool!

Saliva dribbled onto the floor below, forming a puddle. The Warrior’s head noticed one other thing. Someone was approaching. It heaved its body to the side and twisted itself onto a smaller platform near a ceiling corner.

A shadow brought its owner into the room. Mechanic? Yes. The hunter wasn’t aware of its presence. Yet. With a quick leap it could slice the pathetic being in two and – No! Think ahead. There are others waiting for him to finish his job. When he doesn’t return, what will happen? More will come. You’ll be a sitting duck. They see the puddle, they see you. Cover blown. Unless…

It remembered the hole in the ceiling. Risky. What if there are more? You’ll be screwing yourself over, you son of a bitch.

The mechanic inspected the numerous pipes, adjusting pins, turning wheels and rewriting notes on the schematic data held within its wrist contraption. And then the worst had happened; he raised the brightness of the light. The hologram, blue in color, lit the room well, illuminating even the darkest of shadows. The darkest of corners. And spotted everything in the room. Everything…

A puddle.

The mechanic bent its muscular knees, wire body mesh rubbing against its reptilian skin. Curiously it swam three fingers through the liquid. Warm. Warm and fresh. It sat like it knew nothing of the foreign presence, cackling to itself. Rising, it brightened the light of the hologram even further. The mechanic growled.

In a split second several devices specifically designed for insured death were thrown at the beast waiting in the corner. The Warrior leapt to the side, bounced off of a wall not covered by any pipes and shoved the hunter into the ground. Jump through the hole in the ceiling!

Quick to respond, the hunter used its powerful legs to launch the beast away from its own body and hurl it into the ceiling. The side of the warrior alien thudded against the wall, cracking it and even sending a few pieces of it down. Dust clouded the room for a second, heavily coating both. The hunter’s sight was impaired for a moment, and it rose, struggling to see its adversary. It swiped at the air while squinting at nothing.

The alien swept the hunter off its feet. Within a second the monster was on top, combating whatever the hunter could dish out with swift blows from its tail’s blade. Down on the ground and helpless, the hunter attempted to cry out to whoever could hear it. A six-fingered fist shot down and dented the side of the helpless victim’s head.

He could smell a putrid stench protruding from the warrior’s throat. Green liquid flowed into his eyes. It burned. So intense was the pain that it screamed like no other. Before the cry for help could be heard, a fleshy stick dressed with razor sharp teeth invaded the hunter’s forehead again and again. It was satisfying. Like an orgasm in its mouth! Saliva trickled down onto its prey’s deformed face. His flesh was frying. And it was satisfying. The rush was all it needed now. But it was fading! It needed more. More.

The fleshy stick closed its tiny mouth and slid back into the heartless monster’s jaws. The Warrior escaped into the hole in the ceiling, crushing the penis of its victim with its massive foot just before. It felt invincible. And alive.

Gaunt had been on the move, He could sense alot of pheremone trails now, He had lost any trace of the humans that were at the ship earlyier, No Pred or Xeno trails either.

He stopped to check his sorrondings, He was getting bored of this tiresome hunt for a queenchestburster he desided to take a little break.

Gaunt clambered over the rugged terrain, Endless desert in every direction, He sensed something new, To the west in a small crater at least one mile away.

Gaunt ran in excitemen to the location, He peered into the crater, It was those tree creatures, Three of them. Gaunt leapt into the crater allerting the creatures, He crarged at them, They got ready to defend, Gaunt ran full pelt into their arms, They tryed to crush him as he jumped high up into the air.

He span as he came down onto the head of one of these creatures, He tour that head right off.
He ponced onto the second one and riped through It's chest befor It could defend itself.

He turned to see the huge branch like arm of the last one come down on him, Everything stopped.
The beast was stunned, It couldn't move It's arm, Gaunt stood underneath holding It up.

It was massive how could It not kill him, Gaunt tightened his grip ... RIP!!!, That arm came right off and went flying into the ground, Gaunt gave the Beast a quick death slicing It's head open with his claws.

He let out a roar of triumph and began to eat his kills, He'd get back to the queen chestburster later, After all he was hungry and there were others searching.

No new orders, He could take It easy, For now.

Waralien made his way to the main chamber without opposition, maybe Firehunter wanted a word with him after all.

After reaching the main entrance to the chamber, War looked upon the massive size of Firehunter. He was big before, now he was just ridiculously big.

Firehunter quickly asked War his business as he had more pressing matters to attend to. War hissed out that he knew of the location of the Preds based of operatoins only to have Firehunter laugh at his face. Apperantly he had been sleeping longer than he originally thought. But Firehunter saw the potential of the mission and gave War two new born Predaliens and a dozen drones.

War didnt like the odds of the group but he couldn't refuse, the guards on either side of the chamber were drooling, no doubt due to hunger.

War took the group promising to bring hosts back, though that was easier said than done. As War pelted across the land with his feeble looking horde, he came across a crater.

Inside War saw Gaunt finishing off a Pred's leg. War called out to Gaunt, he needed as many warriors as he could muster.

Gaunt didnt reply as quickly due to all the flesh in its mouth. But War overlooked that. He saw some kind of panel on the wall. War crawled into the crater, disregared Gaunts reply and examined the panel.

Foolish Preds, War though as he called for the Predaliens, trying to cover up an exahust port.

Did they find my tracks?

What if they did? Who’s they? Do I travel a different route?

A fork in the Praetorian’s path halted the royal guard’s movement. It stood grinding the sand against the side of its curled fists, head hanging low. Suppose I do travel a different route…

On one end beyond the two-pronged obstacle awaited a forest of white. The other end held a view of a tiny silver speck; the ship. Our tracks, it remembered, were never covered. It would sit there for a few more minutes quarreling with itself over this debacle. It’s possible that the humans are investigating the source of the tracks and are on my previous trail right now. It would be stupid to backtrack.

A stream of bubbling saliva ran down the hill.

But they’re humans! I eat their shit for breakfast without the milk! Ah, but I can’t underestimate them. Those, those things… those weapons they have… those, ah… guns. They’re like the hunters. They fucking cheat!

Air roughly blew through its throat. It rushed passed the creature’s needle-like teeth, and it whined to the thought of the humans and hunters possessing weapons capable of precise ranged assault.

One hand slammed into the top of the hill, as did another. Enraging itself, the black colossus continued the chaos for another minute or so. At last it stopped itself; bits of rock, dust and saliva were mixed together, forming quite a mess.

The guard stood in a quadruped stance, grinning for one second. Its grin split in two, revealing the inside of its mouth. A fleshy stick shot out and screeched. My, my…

Two hands rose off the ground and its fingers wrapped around the stick, gently stroking it. I might not have a penis, but you’ll do just fine…
A decision was made. I suppose I’ll be going back to the hunter’s facility. The invasion force will be here any moment now.

---

Sounds of steaming flesh filled the room. The hunter’s face sizzled, his penis beaten to a pulp. And the Warrior escaped. Pieces of the ceiling, now the floor, crumbled beneath the monster’s giant feet. Several larger pieces smashed the hunter’s face even further.

Disgusting. And that’s the way I like it.
It slipped away unnoticed. Well, by anything still living, that is. The beast’s head pushed its way into another room within the same building. A skinny tail raced behind, its bladed tip clumsily scratching the edges of the wall.

Two arms looking as if they had been burned pulled the weight of the animal towards an unknown goal. Its boney legs with ripped tissue and wires and tubes sticking out of its skin aided the arms. It took on the appearance vaguely reminiscent of an African child with malnutrition.

The unnatural movement of the giant insect was similar to that of a dragon or snake animated by stop-motion. But in real life. And the terror was very alive.

What does an important hunter look like?...

The mighty hunter traveled several yards from the out most perimeter of the main mining control facility, his female companion had left his company many hours ago. The desolate desert surrounded the creature, with the facility to his back PREDATORv2 continued to march slowly in no particular direction, but always keeping the facility within his sight range. He’d stop and scan his surrounds ever so often, there was no excuse for letting anything sneak up on him in an environment such as this.

PREDATORv2 felt an over whelming and inappropriate amount of calm and confidence, he’d tried to shed this troublesome trait many years ago with no effect. He was ready for anything the humans or their cargo had in store for him, PREDATORv2 knew his clan mates would not let him down, the threat to this operation would be halted. Pausing his journey he grabbed an aged human skull that was roped around his neck, one of his first trophies, the skull also marked his first journey to the human planet. He studied the skull, trying to recall the distance memories from the abyss that was this hunter’s mind and memory. He ran his thumb across the skull feeling the texture, the jaw bone had been lost many hundreds of years ago. The hunter stood silently letting his mind drift....

FireHunter roared in fury as chestburster after chestburster was brought before him only to be the wrong one. If he saw another wrong chestburster brought before him he'd personally throw the carrier across the fucking room.
That's when it happened, another drone, carrying a chestburster in it's quivering claws, shakily held it up to FireHunter.
FireHunter calmly plucked the chestburster from the drone's hands, the drone seemed to sigh in relief and relax.
FireHunter put the chestburster on the ground, rose up to full height and roared thunderously, swatting the drone through the Hive wall, a shaft of sunlight came in.
"FOOLS! MUST I FIND THE OTHER QUEEN MYSELF!?" He roared through the psychic link, the drones closer to him cowered in fear at his rage. FireHunter bellowed mightily and searched all of his subjects for the other queen, she hadn't hatched yet, but was inside a human. He relayed the location through to all the Aliens on the planet.
"If you are in the Hunter's base, stay there and kill as many as you can, if you are already approaching the location, kill all humans aside from the one with the other queen."

ds is sitting on the ship,waiting, wanting to kill someone.but he know's there is no need for him right here, for now but the other xeno's might need him to fight the human's and pred's. then ds crawl's off of the ship and run's, as fast as he can he run's for battle. a few minutes later, he stop's and think's 'where am i?' then hiss's "ah they're that way" and point's to his left. and run's that way.

The Predaliens did their job well as they peeled back the metal covering like a aluminum tin can. Unfortuantly there was only enough room to fit the drones in. War, the Prealiens and Gaunt had to find another route in.

They climbed out and scanned around the area. The Preds knew only too well how to conceal things and in this desert, everything looked like the thing next to it. War couldn't pick up anything, no scent, no signal from other Xenos, he couldn't even tell where he even was.

Before War could let loose his fustration, Gaunt picked something up. It was Bloo's presence somewhere, several miles from their location. War then caught it too. It was Bloo alright, but there was something off.

It struck War instantly and he ran in the direction of Bloo. Gaunt and the two Predaliens followed in pursuit.

His claws dug deep into the dirt, increasing his momentum even further. Gaunt and the Predaliens were begining to fall back from War's outragous speed. He had to hurry, that scent of blood on metal could only mean one thing. The Hunters are on the move.

Coward. You’re a coward!

No. Shut up!

You pathetic termite sack of shit. What are you going to do? Flee? Oh, yes, let’s go wack off to the thought of one day having the penis you’ll NEVER have with your inner jaw that you think is a penis… instead of being what you think you already are! Oh, you know what, I’d give you a penis if I had one on me. But I don’t because I’m you!

Shut up. Shut up!

Oh, alright. I’ll give baby what it wants!

---

“So you think, eh… something’s really going on?â€Â

“Buddy, I ain’t blind.â€Â

“I’m not calling you blind.â€Â

“Your face is blind.â€Â

An orange glow fluttered across the marble tiled floors like gas attaching itself to the roof of a home aflame. Chatter filled the air, the muscle-strained workers trying to enjoy their lunch break by doing what they wished in the giant cafeteria location situated in an open area within the borders of the facility.

There was no comfort given from the sight of their homeland, the giant trees and swamps to calm their minds, no bright moon to lift them to greatness; no, the only thing watching them were those fucking cameras, those fucking guards, and those fucking perverts at the table to the right. It was a prison, literally. There must have been hundreds of them, some badbloods, some just petty thieves.

This particular hunter, with his back hunched and chin facing his tray of hard fruit, pounded the surface of his own table. An eating utensil shook, as did his inmate at the opposite end of the table. “Look, forget what I said.†A piece of fruit was eaten and the hunter wiped its juices onto his shirt. “One of the engineers was found on one of the higher levels. Totally fucked up. But you know what happened to him?â€Â

A mandible moved from left to right along with the head it was attached to. Cautiously the hunter lowered his raspy voice. “It was no accident. They found him with his face burned off. Like… like a… like…â€Â

“Water?â€Â

“No, a… uh, yeah, water.â€Â

“…Do go on.â€Â

An eye cocked in confusion for a moment. “Look, he was burned. Bad. There are rumors going on, yeah? There are a bunch of guys who think it’s was a bug attack.â€Â

His dining partner abruptly shot up, clearly infuriated at the thought, but the other calmed him. “I don’t think it’s true.†He lied. “But let’s sneak out. Check it out for ourselves.â€Â

Two heads amongst hundreds suspiciously and briefly observed their surrounding area, finally turning towards each other. “Okay. After meal time is over. The guards? Those guys are jokes.â€Â

A shadow moved, uninterested.

“If there were any real threats in this place it’d be the elders and your waste gas!â€Â

The shadow then stayed. Elders?

“You know I don’t like this place, but you gotta respect your elders. Predator, they call him. Fuckin’ beast.â€Â

“I like the Stalker.â€Â

“Hey, don’t forget that drop of death, and the doctor. But Predator… he’s the guy you wouldn’t want to have beef with. Steal his prey and, well, I heard he could fuck your shit up in about negative three seconds.â€Â

And the shadow was interested.

“Predator, huh? What’s his real name?â€Â

“I heard his mother foresaw great things in him and just flat out named him the Predator.â€Â

“I bet his daddy’s proud, eh?â€Â

“I think he fucked his daddy’s shit up in about negative three seconds.â€Â

“Ouch.â€Â

“I heard Predator had died, but then came back to life. So now he’s, like, Predator version 2. I heard his motto is ‘You only live twice.’â€Â

They laughed with the good times. “Ah, I’m going to miss you, man.â€Â

“Hey, we’re all going to hell anyway. I’ll just see you there.â€Â

The shadow was gone.

“Ha, remember that old bug story about that, uh… ‘Daveberg’? Like a bug so ferocious it could fuck your shit up in about negative three seconds?â€Â

“I like the one legend about the bug named Iseijin. Or Donut. But why are we talking about those things? How about the legends like K2OA2?â€Â

“Ah, the hunters. Good stuff.â€Â

---

Predator. Predator.

Saliva encumbered the gross exoskeleton of the nine-foot Warrior, basking in totally darkness.

Oh, Predator. You’re an elder. You’re an important figure. I’ll fuck your shit up in negative three seconds. Yes, yes…

The wind’s velocity increased in the short time PREDATORv2 allowed himself to drift into his thoughts. Dirt and sand mixed with the already stagnant air, the debris swirled around creating small cyclones that dissipated as quick as they were created. Shaking he’s head, as if the shaking movement would bring his consciousness into focus, he still attempted the movement with no useful effect. PREDATORv2 gave the baron lands that surrounded him one last glance, before making the short journey back to the facility entrance.

He firmly pressed his large clawed hand against the large heavy door’s access panel. The panel whirred to life, emitting an annoying ‘beep’ signifying the elder was clear to enter, PREDATORv2 gave the panel a weak punch, as to discipline the machine for even questioning whether or not he had the clearance to enter. The main operations complex from the outside appeared rather small and insignificant, however the facility made up by having most of it hidden beneath the rocky, unforgiving soil. PREDATORv2 made his way deeper into the complex past a few straggling miners eager to find a small dark corner to conceal themselves from the elder’s sight. He soon arrived to the level his temporary chambers were located, he shuffled past a few downed ceiling panels which the maintenance crew had forgotten to reinstall back to their proper places. Standing before his battered chamber door, he punched a few random keys in the pad located just to the left of the door, the door shot open revealing his barely inhabitable chamber.

PREDATORv2 entered his chamber, the door slammed shut behind him, he approached what you would refer to as a bed, and sat down, staring at the opposite wall. Small lights flickered on his wrist computer and on some parts of his armor and plasma cannon. Ignoring them, he again let his mind drift, only he couldn’t help wonder how the rest of his clan had fared against the threat, he was sure they would all meet their own ends with honor, if it were to come to that.

asping and wiggling in the strong hand that held her by the slender throat. Shit, this wasn’t good, she didn’t like this. Needing to get out of the hold, the female took the K-bar from her thigh and used it to stab the creature through the forearm letting the tip stick out the other end. But, the effort proved fruitless as the creature knocked her out, just before he crushed the device. Her breath left her body, the darkness took hold.

The darkness took a new light as her body carried to where ever the creature took it.

Her mind took on a whole new life, an event of the past. "We need you," a male voice caressed her mind, caressed her soul. Shadow didn’t care that much for him, but she didn’t understand why they even need her. She is just a criminal, a thing that should be locked up and studied. What do people kill for? Why do people go after the evil and lock them up, what is so evil inside of her that she herself is being hunted?

"No, you don’t." Jack would respond back to the voice as the darkness still clung to her mind, as if the voices as the Ghost of Christmas Past. "You have your girlfriend, Ellesa, Malus, and everyone else."

Yes, it sounded so sad and depressing, but it was the truth. Ellesa and Kidd being who they are connected as Shadow did her own thing, kept away from everyone, and stayed in her own area through the whole thing. She already felt segregated from the group as it was. "We need you, you are what this unit needs," Kidd would respond to the answer that Shadow told him, his voice stern and holding honesty.

"No, you don’t." That was the last thing Shadow said, before she turned and left the room. "I am nothing but a ghost to you, you need me when the times are tough and the unit uses me when they have no other option. I want out.†Jack would leave for a while, until Kidd found the answer to bring her back.

A bounty.

A soft moan stirred the girl as she slowly woke up in the confines of the net. "You do know..." she started to murmur.