Saysell was now getting bored of waiting for Malus. The marine watching him hadn’t spoke in around 20 minutes. Saysell gave out a large sigh but the Marine did not falter in his aim. Saysell sighed once more, but nothing. Then it came, a boom in the sky; but not just a boom a sonic boom. A glass inside the tent began to shake then eventually shattered. Then lights began to fall from the sky.
Saysell knew all to well what was happening the Yautja had arrived.
"Enough!" Saysell began to yell out towards the marines
"Now we are in deep shit and you are still holding me here, I know where the survivors are and I know this area better than anything else on this planet. So I will ask this once. Who is coming with me to get the survivors off this planet before it’s too late?" Saysell was now stood in the centre of the marine outpost, his voice commanding and resolute in its conviction. He was back to his days of being a hero, back to being a commander in AD.
"I came here for you dam things, but you have done nothing but waste my time. Time I could of used getting the survivors here. Now I am going to get them and bring them to your evac ship and God help any man who tries to stop me"
The marines could see the fire burning in Saysell's soul, there was no man dare challenge him. He cared about these survivors for some unknown reason, it was rare a man such as Saysell cared for anything, but these survivors meant something to him.

Even the marine who had been so solid in his aim had lowered his weapon. Saysell walked with purpose towards the marine, taking back his weapons with no resistance. They now knew they where fighting for the same thing. Slotting his side arm into place Saysell began again; "So who will come with me? Who dares to do what is right? Who dares to be a hero...?†Silence fell throughout the camp, there was not even sound from the mess tent.
Saysell now stood fully upright in the centre of the camp with a new serious and purposeful aura. Looking towards Delta-boy who he recognised from his days in AD Saysell silently mouthed the "words come with me†desperation fell over Saysell’s face for a very brief second. He knew he could trust Delta-boy he was the kind of man that would put the lives of the survivors before his orders.

Saysell now stood in the centre of the marine camp pulse rifle under arm waiting for the response of the marines who where all now watching him intently.

Xeuss started to laugh at the naive human.

"Monstrosity? Hahahah! You have no idea who i am, do you? WHAT i am... I am the leader of the Dark Blood Organization. I Xeuss. Every heard that name? I'm sure you haven't. It is what the Corporation called me. It stands for Xenobiologically Enhanced United States Soldier. I am a super-soldier. Hahahah. You think with the few people you have here you can stand up to me? You think you're gonna outsmart me or something? Haha! I have a better brain than all of yours combined. You are obviously overwhelmed."

With one swift move Xeuss got his pulse rifle out of his coat and shot TDN's knee scratching it just enough to kneel him while kicking the desert eagle that had fallen on the ground right into his nose. The marines behind him watched uselessly as their superior was quickly immobilised and turned into a hostage. The hybrid now had a tight grip on the hand that was holding the marine's gun, whose other hand was stuck between the two, and a knife at his throat.

"Stop struggling, you're not strong enough nor are you in the position necessary to escape. What nerve! What nerve on you! I'm usually not this bad..." Xeuss said as he was forcefully pointing TDN's gun at the rest of the marines "... it's either this family reunion that you're interrupting or just that you pissed me off that makes me have you helplessly kill your own men."

"Sir...?" one of the marines asked.

"Shoot him! SHOOT HIM NOW!" TDN replied but right then Xeuss pushed the finger that was on the trigger and the gun fired... It was a bit hard to aim but in no more than 6 seconds all the other marines were dead, killed by the gun held by their superior.

"Now what do your wits tell you to do?" Xeuss arrogantly asked. He had no problem being called a monster, but being called stupid by a human was not something he dealt with every day. He punched the marine's jaw with the fist holding the knife and threw him to the ground with a kick, then pushed away his weapon... "I gotta go, i'm late for a meeting so i'll just leave you guys here to talk. Oh and one more thing..." Xeuss shouted as he was dissappearing into the darkness while picking up his favourite pistol "...i can hear the Queen! She thinks you're stupid too!"

And with that he was gone. As he looked back he saw the man getting up and getting his gun, but soon he was out of sight. Xeuss was following the Queen, the louder he could hear her the closer he got to the hive, he knew that, but he didn't know what the entrance would look like. And then it hit him. Well actually he fell in it. It was just a black hole in the ground and then a big tunnel covered in hive that used to be the sewers. It wasn't completely covred in it so it must have been a recent addition, but that didn't matter. Xeuss went down that tunnel as drones were moving out acting as if he wasn't even there.

Silhouetted by the lights of the dropship, now facing towards the forest with missile pods deployed, Malus Jay Darkblade reflected that covering the forest had been a wise call after all. It was, after all, thier one blind spot. He almost considered giving the order to turn the forest into one great big fire then and there, but reasoned that there could well be survivors hiding in the forest. Then again, knowing what the Yautja did to people, killing them would be a mercy. He had been at the radio, listening to TDN's little rant and wondering what the fuck he had done to that man to make him so damned angry when he saw the incomings.

"No, TDN. The idea is not foreign to me. I was one of you, once. I know what being a hero feels like. I know what watching your soldiers, comrades and friends die for no reason feels like, too. I've seen what the marines have to offer: Uncaring, incompetent officers, suicide missions. I've seen friends die for no more reason than to buy the brass time to think. So don't you get heroic with me. I didn't leave for the money. I left because my boys deserve more than that. They deserve more than to be just meat to throw in the grinder. Civvies, eh, I couldn't care less about ém. But I am not in it for myself. I'm in it for the soldiers who everyone else sees as cannon fodder. So don't you get up your self-righteous arse at me, we're both corrupt. You work for a corrupt Government and I work for a corrupt Corporation. At least here I can try and save some soldiers."

As he spoke, his voice was utterly calm, and unlike TDN he didn't lose his cool. TDN was a good man, just one who was blinded by the indoctrinated hate that marines are instilled with for Corporates. The first obstacle the two units had to get over for any teamwork to exist was that. How could two peoples work together when they hated each other? And the Corporates knew what the marines thought of them. They resented the hatred, and resented the marines in turn. Still, he had to remember that TDN was more experienced than him in wars, if only just.

"TDN, I assume you know about morale? That's what the food is. It's morale in a plate. It's also proof that the officers DO care about the grunts, since I cooked it myself. But, you have a point. No need to keep arguing, since we are allies we might as well start acting like it, no?"

At this point, everyone else was just starting thier food. Malus had already set some aside for AD. He knew soldiers got hungry on patrol, and no-one wanted to resort to rations. Even the rich-ass Corporates got rations. The reason being that they did the job, no matter how unsavory it was. He checked the frequency again and noted that the DBO people were gone. Still, this was important. He had to sort shit out with TDN.

"Well, you're a veteran. I won't insult your intelligence by reminding you that bugs are most active at night, and that we are at a disadvantage. Saving civvies is a noble goal, but you won't be much good to them if you are dead. THAT is why we took so long with the preperations. I am not taking chances. So my reccomendation is to sight tight until it gets light enough to start really getting some work done. Plus, we've all been through shit these past weeks. I bet you need the rest just as much as I do." He added.

He then finished off the slice of ommlette that he had been holding in his free hand and noted that Saysell had been taken prisoner. Harrows was standing guard and everyone was waiting for him. Well, they could wait. If he didn't get this sorted out then AD would be giving his men trouble all through this damned mission. He mostly realized, though, because Carmine was nice enough to inform him so over the radio.

"Roger that. Stick him in the refo tent till I've done with negotiations. I'll talk to him then. Good job." He replied, before answering Kidd's comms message.
"This base is locked down tight. Watch it though, I programmed the sentries to let hybrids through, so DBO can come and go as they please. As for attacking, with all do respect mate, that's suicide." He added, unsure of whether or not Kidd wanted him to attack, or was warning him about an incoming. He'd have to wrap this up quickly then. He stayed on the A-D frequency and was just in time to listen to a fight ensue, followed by screaming. Then, TDN made his report. "Xeuss." He hissed to himself. Although the marines were not his troops, they were still human.

He also knew Xeuss would be in on AD's freq by now. "Now listen here Xeuss you half-breed cockbite. You keep going and killing my men and we have a problem. I'd perfer that we didn't have a problem, because we've got Saysell in our custody, and if he starts breaking things we'll have to kill him. And then, we'll come for you." He said, his voice icy. It was clear that if it came to it, he'd go after the hybrid himself.

He walked towards his command tent and noticed Saysell run right past him. He placed a gloved hand on the ex-marine's shoulder and gave it a slight shake. "Sorry bout the delay, TDN was reporting that your glorious leader was killing his men. Now speak quickly, because I think we've got an incoming attack. What are you doing here? Ditching Xeuss? Infiltrating our ranks? Lending us a hand? Speak up, eh?" He asked, before remembering the forest.

"VEVLAA! I WANT THAT FOREST TURNED INTO THE BIGGEST FUCKING BONFIRE SINCE DESCENDING FATE! Y'HEAR ME? BURN IT TO HELL!" He shouted, and grinned. Those preds were in for a surprise.

He then waved Harrows and Gene over, and without taking his eyes off Xeuss he spoke with the two. "Gene, good work, you're back on bodyguard duty. Harrows, if we have an attack then Carmine will need all the help he can get. Round up your squad and deploy them into the trenches. Saysell, please accompany me." As he gave his orders, he got on his radio. "Winter? You there soldier? You're in the trenches too, take Carmine and watch the centre. Xavier, find some high ground and snipe anything that ain't us, AD, or Saysell."

That was that. Now, as he walked back to his command tent, he outlined a few things to Saysell. "Looks like you've been here about as long as we have, so you know the situation. Nuremburg is safe, we managed to wipe out the infestation there. But this is the big one. The preds have shown thier hand. The Marines are co-ordinating with us, and you know just as well as we do that if Earth falls you're just as dead as the rest of us. I'm sorry about what the Corporation did to you, but we need your skills right now. You gave up your humanity to save mankind. Are you going to step up, or run away at the first sign of trouble?"

FireHunter's head snapped up, the marine in his grasp fell with a sickening noise between a splat and a crunch.
The sonic boom meant predators.
Predators tasted good, they were good prey, and a walking conduit for a good fight.
He walked up to TDN, who was still gathering himself up, and kicked him in the ribs.
Hard.
Xeuss had started this, FireHunter intended to finish it. He roared at TDN as he soared through the air and landed two meters away from FireHunter.
FireHunter then heard the queen's call, hissed at TDN, and ran towards where Xeuss had disappeared, disappearing down the sewer tunnel, and running after Xeuss, he growled with angry thoughts that he might not be able to kill TDN now, due to the fact that he no longer had the upper hand, and that the queen had called at the wrong time.

"Ahhh its about time" Saysell hissed impatiently.
"Xeuss is his own…Err...man…Xenomorph… like thing he does as he pleases, much like myself. AS for what I am doing here, I am about to borrow two APCs and as many men as you can spare. There is colony of around twenty survivors out there, and with you lot kicking up the nest I doubt they will hold out the night. So if you be so kind as to get the fuck off of me so I can do what I intended to long before you monkeys got here." Saysell's voice now resembling that of a snarl glared into the eyes of Malus never once breaking sight.
They had never particularly got along but they both knew what had to be done and they dam sure got the job done, no matter what. Particularly when there were innocents involved.

"Ohh and one more thing, I heard you’re little remark about killing me. Heightened senses you see" Saysell calmly pointed to his ears
"Buts lets pretend I never, you know so we can keep things civil" Saysell was now smiling, his smile was truly genuine. He had become tired of the marines and their brutish behaviour he just wanted to save the people who had once helped him.

"So I will ask you this once, bare in mind I am taking at least one APC regardless. But I know you wont stop me because, you know I get the job done and those lives matter to you too. So do you want to come?" Saysell was quickly becoming desperate as he knew time was of the essence, those survivors wouldn’t hold out much longer and appealing to Malus's ego and heroic side seemed like the quickest way out of there.

"Now speak quickly, I haven’t got time to waste" Saysell's partially mimicked words only added priority to his cause.

Malus quickly ushered Saysell into the command tent and began to brief him, this was taking too much time. Time the survivors didn’t have.
"Fuck Malus!" Saysell quickly interrupted Malus as he began.
"I don’t care about Earth or my humanity, I only care about the people I promised I would save. Maybe when they are safe I will help you take on the infestation, but until then my first and only goal is to save them! Understood?" Saysell's eyes began to go black spreading from the centre. The monster in him was trying to surface. Quickly shaking it off Saysell looked at the tactical map before him.
"I have been here since the start, and I will be here at the finish. I know this area better than that map, so I will ask you last time. Will you help me?

"Saysell. You overestimate our strength here. We're stretched to breaking point. I've only got two squads here. Alpha Draconis only has one. We don't have any APC's of any variety AT ALL. All we have is some motorbikes we salvaged from Berlin a week ago, and they are all outta fuel. We cannot spare a single man for any reason at all, and I am not sending my men into a suicide mission in the dark. You know me. I don't do heroic rescues, unless its my men I am rescuing. If you wanted to rescue civvies, you should have talked to the marines." He said with a sigh, finally revealing the almost hopeless position they were in. Outnumbered and without any armoured support, they were in the shit.

That was when he heard a bug roaring on the radio. The one linked to TDN's frequency. Now this was a different matter. TDN was a soldier, like him. And a leader of men. Malus needed him alive. "But let's make a compromise. I'll give you 2nd Squad, and you can go out and bring TDN back here ALIVE. When it gets light enough for the bugs to quiet down, we'll go for the civvies. Not before. I am sorry, but joe bloe is on his own for tonight. But I ain't letting TDN go without a fight. That's the best I can offer."

And that meant putting Carmine and Winter under the command of a DBO whom he couldnt even trust. He stood there coldly and waited for Saysell's response. Negotiating had never been Malus's forté. He wasnt used to give-and-take. He was used to just taking and burning anyone who tried to stop him. Politics. He thought to himself. How tiresome. Rescuing the civvies was AD's job. If they were dead, that meant W-Y would have to do it. Malus placed destroying the enemy as a higher priority, so he had to keep AD alive so that they could do thier job. Leaving Malus free to do his.

"I am sorry Malus I gave them my word I would try, send your squad after TDN but I have my priorities" Saysell's sombre words seemed to finally make him realise he was no longer a true marine, putting civvies before comrades.

Saysell quickly glanced up at the Waffle. Inspired by an idea he quickly span to face Malus "Maybe she can evac you’re solider, but I can’t help him now. Under different circumstances I would try, but not tonight. Sorry" Saysell turned once again and began to leave the Marine outpost.

As he left he felt it necessary to yell back: "If I can be hero and I am half bug, then why cant you?"

Passing the perimeter he began to run out into the waste, back the way he had come. His eyesight was perfect in the dark; he was more Xenomorph than he would like to admit. His legs carrying him at speeds beyond that of any ordinary human and his cardio vascular system was so in tune with that of the Xenomorphs he needed little oxygen so he continued to run into the night.

He figured once he got back to his shelter he could radio the settlement to make sure there was at least someone worth saving.

Letting out a sigh, the Marines disappointed him, he had thought that they would be allot more prepared than this and that Malus of all would put these people in high priority.

"Okay, how about this?" He didn't need to be loud, he knew perfectly well Saysell could hear him. The hybrid had good hearing, and Malus didn't feel like raising his voice unless it was needed. He was like that. Why shout when a 'normal' voice will do? Minimum effort for maximum effect. He didn't walk out of the tent, he didn't need to. Saysell could hear him fine.

"You take 2nd squad, and bail TDN the fuck out. Then, you save those civvies, with TDN's help. If you are hearding civvies you can't save TDN, but if you have another marine with you your chances of success are higher. Save them all, then get back here. Deal?" He asked, his mind already working. That'd bring 2nd squad up to full numbers. And it'd mean that the 'Heroes' might hate him a little less. Yes. Win-win.

"And as for heroes. We were all heroes once. All of us. But war gets to you. Too many friends die. For nothing. You realize the cause you joined for is empty. Is nothing anymore. And you're so damn tired that you want to give it all up. But you can't. Because war is all you have ever known. Heroes die. We're the ones who are smart enough to stay alive until we find something really WORTH dying for." He sighed, and his voice was sad as he said it.

So this was the fate of heroes. Thier friends gone, thier ideals shattered, the very thing that defines them fated to be thier own destruction. What is left if a man gives up the very thing that defines him? The answer was Malus. The Marines had thier hearts in the right place, but they were going about it the wrong way. The Corporates didn't have any heart left, but they were doing things right. Malus knew which side he preferred.

Malus's final words as Saysell left seemed to blur into nothing until he spoke of heroes. Saysell knew fine well Malus was once a hero and had the capacity to be a hero; he just didn’t want to lose his men. But Saysell wasn’t one of 'his men'
"Then I will die a hero, but not before I save them... and your lost marine but I am putting the civvies first" Saysell's final words had a big effect on all that heard them, they seemed to fill them with some sort of pride and courage, he sometimes had that way with people. From his days in AD. But now maybe they would fight harder, and be alive for his return.

...

After running for around 25 minutes Saysell came to his shelter, the door still sealed from his leaving. He quickly punched in his key combination, the solid steel door grinded open.
Stepping into the dimly lit bunker Saysell frantically searched for his radio, through draws and files, shelves and in cupboards. Until he finally found it, next to his shotgun of all places.
"Figures" he muttered to himself while tuning the frequencies to that of the survivors.

Only to here screams of pain and anguish accompanied by the screech of Xenomorph blood lust.

"No no no no!" He yelled "I knew I should of gone straight for them, for fuck sakes!" Saysell collapsed under his own guilt. The loss of innocents had always affected him deeply, but this was different. He had promised to save them. The thought of them crying out for him, only for him to not appear.

He tuned to WY frequencies "Come in all Yutani personal, this is Saysell. The survivors are dead, and there is a Xenomorph horde coming form the south, and they have tasted blood so be ready." The crackle of the radio filled the silence in the bunker, until a quick reply
"Copy that, thanks for the information" A young marines voice, he sounded very young. This is what mankind had resorted to.
Malus's words rang in Saysell's head.
"You gave up your humanity to save mankind."
"He was right" Saysell raised to his feet now with a new purpose, he couldn’t save mankind, but mankind could save itself. He would just have to get the right people out of the fire to let them do so.

Picking up the radio once more: "Tell Malus not to send a squad after TDN, I am going in hot. I will pull his arse out of the fire myself. Over and out"
Then quickly switching to the AD channel: "TDN hold in there I am coming to get you out, no one else need die today"

"Heroes may die, but they die with their hearts in hand and in the knowledge they have saved something" Saysell spoke to himself once more before grabbing his Shotgun and slinging it under his other arm and heading back out into the darkness. TDN's scent was faint but it was there.

Carmine watched as the DBO ran past them. He'd yet to learn the man's name, actually. He didn't even know anything about him, other than he was an ex-Marine, who loved parading the word "hero" around as if it was an everyday word. He knew most of the people here had been through their fair share of combat, so it was an insult to all of them.

Carmine, however, had not.

He was thinking about firing, but he hadn't received orders to do so. The man was shouting things back at seemingly nobody, when the pieces fell together. He had heightened senses of pretty much everything. He was part Xenomorph. A hybrid. He was going to be working with a damn hybrid, if everything had played out right.

Clearly, it hadn't.

He was sealing up his helmet when the radio came in. It was Malus, ordering that Second Squad go assist TDN, the Commander of Alpha Draconis. He didn't want to save the marines that badly, because he was there to kill, not save. But, that would screw things up horribly badly if the marines were out of the picture. "Copy that. I'm on my way."

He didn't understand why the marine couldn't take care of himself, or even come up with a decent strategy. Carmine didn't think him a fool, but even he wasn't dumb enough to walk into the dark. Now he had to. And this marine was a veteran, apparently. You pretty much had to be to be in command of any part of an army. So, that didn't say much about the man in his book.

He picked up the minigun with one hand, carrying it by the handle again, and began running as fast as he could in the direction he had been told the Marines were in. He made a considerable amount of noise, considering he had a LOT of heavy gear on him, but his breathing was covered up by the helmet. Good thing, too. The gear made him use quite some effort, especially with the damn Rotary.

As he began running, he heard a few sounds behind him. He wanted to think the attack was commencing, but he knew the sound now. Missiles were being fired at the forest. He could smell the smoke quite well, but the helmet filtered out toxins. He could see the flames starting to rise... Brilliant shades of reds, oranges, and yellows, starting to lick at the trees and turning them black. It fascinated him, personally, to watch them, but he'd seen them far too many times to care. He had somebody to go find.

He had already passed "The Angel," the statue that marked a hundred meters away from the base, fifty from the perimeter. He slowed down as he did so, looking back and forth. The term might have been "destroyed beauty." It wasn't anything new to him, but... It fascinated him. He liked seeing the sights, destroyed or not. He shifted the weight of the Rotary again, putting his finger on the trigger again. He kept it raised at about waist height, that way he could hit anything he wanted to.

TDN stood, battered by the relentless assault that the hybrid had done. That coupled with the kick in his rib that he received from the other alien had kept him down for quite a while. "It's alright, you guys can come out now" TDN said, as the men who he had ordered to hide behind the ruins were slowly beginning to emerge. In a flash, half his squad had been wiped out by his own weapon. It was no longer only a threat to his men, it was now a target which he would hunt down until it's completely destroyed. Yet strangely, it had all seemed to work out the way he had hoped. He couldn't help it but laughed. As if he was trying to find a way to escape the pain he felt, as well as a certain feeling of smug satisfaction.

His men had looked at him like he was crazy. "Sir, our men had died" one of them said. "I know, my apologies for that" TDN replied "but it's just so ironic when that creature complained about me calling it stupid". TDN turned to his men "Thruth is, that hybrid is going to lead us straight to the location of the hive. I lied to it, as the plan before would only allow us to estimate the location. Because I did not wished to sacrifice my men, I made sure they stay a good distance away from those aliens. This means that at best I could pinpoint it to a 500m radius". His men still looked surprised. TDN continued "After that hybrid released me from its grasp, I had placed a tracking device on it. It's the oldest trick in the book, and one that most soldiers these days would never fall for. But that thing doesn't even realize it and it's slowly leading us straight to the real location of the hive. Ironic indeed".

TDN contacted Malus. As he hear the words spoken from the officer, he smiled. "I'm sorry if I can't change my opinions on you and your men just yet. It's not an overnight thing. What I will admit is that you're a capable man, and I'm going to need your help just as you need mine. Which is why I'm going to share this information with you". And with that he told Malus what he had done. "If I could ask you a favor, as we have no network uplink around here yet" TDN said "I want you guys to set up a network, where I'll give you the frequency to the signal from the tracking device. You guys call me back when you've found the coordinates".

TDN turned to his men "Let's go and get shelter, we've lost too much for today. When the morning comes, we'll continue to search for the survivors. Let's not allow their deaths to be in vain". As he look at his men he could see the anger in their eyes. "I know what you're feeling, but you must remember what we as the elite Alpha Draconis fight for. We fight for the survival of the human race, and the eradication of these monsters. We do not fight for personal revenge" TDN told them "what do you think those who have died care more about. Taht you get revenge for their deaths? Or that those survivors make it out of here alive?". His words seemed to have done the trick, as they slowly calm down, and begin the walk back to the shelter.

You've failed me for the last time.

Splashes of green liquid poured to the floor as the mighty limbs of the ruler began to rise. Several groups sat in fear, awaiting their mother's next words to be uttered into their minds. Squeeling, the superior organism, baffled at her son's sudden defeat, crushed the ground beneath her presence and shot her thousand-year-old second jaw out from her throat, coughing up acid and further laying ruin to the aging earth.

For a moment, Bloo, in one of the rarest moments of his life, was freightened. Deepening silence overwhelmed the hundreds of xenomorph that had escaped the human's attack, and they were now at the center of the hive.

The creature leaned its head back, opened its jaws wide, and screamed. Never before has the earth ever heard such a foul utterance. The world's ruin sewn up in that dreadful cry, the fall of worlds, death rattles and pain, and the very earth opening wide on the last day of all.

Every inch and corner of the extra terrestrial species' home shook from the fury of that cry. For several minutes she let out her version of the personification of the sin wrath, and instilled agony within whoever had the misfortune of witnessing that moment. The row of silver instrumetns of death held on her bottome jaw produced warm saliva, incinerating whatever got in its way.

You led them here.

For one fearful moment, the xenomorphs began to cowar under their shameful skins. The Queen Mother, producing the last bit of jelly and stepping up from her fleshy throne, pointed at the leaders of the hive and, as if they were in her palm, closed her hand in a crushing motion. Her grin so ominous, steam rising from the gaps between her teeth. Rise.

And so, the remaining leaders of the hive slowly rose from their fetal position and gazed at their mother. Heads turned, but not a sound made. Slick with the dried blood of countless murder victims in her life, she pounded the ground in fury. You! You will fix this disaster or your head will be mine.

The beast she had appointed the task of keeping the manholes open left in a hurry with a hundred drones and warriors, facehuggers in their ranks, about ready to send humans and Yautja alike to hell.

Bloo sat their, motionless, wondering what sort of punishment would fall upon him in this moment. Where is Firehunter? No matter. You!

Another one of the serpents shook in surprise and squeeled. Allow the humans to burn the Yautja to hell. And then betray them at the last moment. Go with him!

Again, the xenomorph appointed with the task left with a hundred drones to tend to its goal. Water splashed and others nodded in approval. When almost all of the xenomorph were gone, only a mere hundred were left. Bloo was called upon by the Queen Mother and, sauntering towards her in a cautious fashion, knelt down. It was your fault these pathetic insects almost found our location. For that, should I bestow punishment on you?

With her huge head she looked around the large room looking for meaningless approval. No? Then you shall have another chance.

With her petite set of hands located on her chest she called upon a small drone of blue and had it move near Bloo. This little one is your main prority from now on. Gaurd if with your life. If I do not make it out of the human's attacks, this one will recreate me. Come, young one...

It ran towards the Queen, loyalty still strong in its mind. Its mother pushed it unto the Queen jelly and it began screeching in pleasure. What was happening? In times of crisis, members of our family like this little one is born. Its job is to recreate a Queen Mother and bring life back into our species.

Bloo glared at the young drone. Such importance thrust upon a newborn. Was the Queen feeling alright?

Malus had been sitting in the command tent, listening intently to the radio for any word from TDN or 2nd squad. This meant he heard the message the moment that it came through, and replied almost instantly. "This is Malus. Be advised that Xavier has noticed a tap in the radio channel, I believe the Hybrid has your frequency. The Command Tent has a command suite in it, much like in your APC's. The frequency for it should be appearing in your -and only your- HUD now TDN. That's my personal command frequency. If you need to tell me anything that no-one else can hear, that's where. I'm sending 2nd Squad to your location to assist you. I reccomend you return here and we'll move in force after we've regrouped and patched your men up."

He then looked around for any networking gear. Dammit, he was a mechanic, not a CommTech. He grabbed a manual and figured out what he'd need. They had the gear right in this tent. "I'll set up the network myself. It'll be up momentarily. Be advised that the Yautja have landed to our north in force. We're caught on both sides. I'll hold them off with what I have here for as long as we can, but we need your boys back here. And...I understand. We're not all that unlike each other, you and I. Malus out."

He didnt allow himself to be distracted by the sounds of the dropship preparing to launch missiles. It had already auto-locked on the pods as they had fallen. It'd fire at any moment, and Vevlaa would make sure every missile counted. That was the way that it went. Cover all the angles. As he began to set up the network, he wondered when the attack would come. After a few minutes of effort, he had a basic network system running. He'd get Xavier to check over it later.

"This is Malus. The network is up." He signalled as he activated it. Well, that was that job done. He grabbed the radio and stalked out of the Command Tent, checking over what was going on.

"Allright people. Thanks to our Marine Allies we are pinpointing the location of the Xeno Hive. We won't be able to act on this till morning, lest the preds nail us while our back is turned. Sorry guys, but there will be no sleep for us tonight. I want everyone on sentry duty. And don't think I'll be napping, either. I'll be at the South line, doing sentry just like you. You see anything, use the Backup Frequency. Full encryption. We can't be sure Xeuss isnt listening in on us. Use the new radios, just in case." He informed the soldiers, before grabbing a Railgun and walking over to the South Strongpoint that they'd set up, looking towards the city. He placed his radio beside him and set up the weapon.

It was going to be a long night. Probably even longer for Carmine and Winter, from 2nd Squad. He hoped they'd get back okay.

Hearing gunfire going off in the distance, Kidd and his small squad of marines turn to look at the general direction from which the firing came. Torn betweeen doing the duty of searching for the hive and to aid possible friendlies from these horrible creatures, Kidd quickly makes up his mind. "Troops, there are soldiers needing our help. Let's go and find them!" said Kidd as he looks back at his squad. How he knows that they are soldiers is anyone's guess, but his belief is, hearing gunfire in the fields is most likely coming from a individual with military expierence. Turning and starting to walk faster than usual to that general area, Chase reaches out for his commanding officer only to yell out,"Are you mad, sir!? It's getting dark out here, we don't know what the hell is going on around us, and you expect us to rush out into the darkness to aid someone?" Knowing his word can not overcome his CO's orders, the marine could not help but speak is mind. "Chase..." said Kidd as he stops to turn to face the marine,"...We need every able man we can get to conduct an assault on the hive. If we can't save them, then our foothold here on earth is just slipping away. We got to help them, men." Most of the marines are willing to follow Kidd's orders to the letter, but the several who were beginning to take in what Chase had to say, stood there ground. "Chase, are you with me?" asked Kidd as he lowers his rifle and extends his hand out only to make a fist in front of him. Shaking his head, Chase responds,"Sir, I might regret this later, but like TDN said, its 'your' call." Taking his rifle, Chase walks towards Kidd only to have the reluctant few following close behind.

Having a slight argument with beliefs, Kidd and his squad begins to make their way towards the distant unfire which is slowly dying down in the distance. "DeBenardo! Get on the radio and call out to who ever is in the field. We need to know their location so that we can rush over to aid them." ordered Kidd as he looks off into the darkening horizon. "Sir!" yelled out Valk, as he rushed over out into the street only to kneel down in the middle of the road,"Found a manhole, sir!" he continued as he looks back at the squad. "Good!" Kidd replied, "Now drop one of them glowsticks on it so that when we save those marines, we can come back with them and infiltrate the alien hive." "Hoo-rah!" answered Valk as he takes a small stick from his pouch only to break it and shake it up afterwards. Glowing a green flourencent color, the marine drops the item on top of the manhole and returns to the squad. Resuming their slow rush to the distant gunfire, Kidd looks back at DeBenardo only to ask him,"Anyone answering!?" "No sir. Want me to try TDN?" asked the comm-man. "Do it!" answered Kidd, and the squad continues their search.

With an earth shattering smash the rain of fire that was the hunter's moon drop pod launch finally found it's mark. There were about twenty in all, each landing in different parts of the forest. All was quiet for a moment. The noises of the forest were all that could be heard.

Slayer broke the tranquil darkness by kicking open the door of his pod. He stepped out and instantly, instinctively, activated his cloaking unit. The night engulfed him as he began his hunt.

He activated his comm link and sent a message to te rest of the clan.

"Warriors, move separately. Do not regroup. The humans have traps everywhere and moving together would be suicide. Find your targets, kill as much as you please, and then contact me. Whoever remains alive at the end of the hunt will be picked up by a dropship."

Gunshots rang out in the distance. There was blood being shed. The screams of xenomorphs and humans nearby signaled to slayer that innocents were dieing. But that was not his concern. It was his goal to punish the foolish corporate marines for their endless campaign. They were the enemy to slayer. He had seen what they were capable of, and all that mattered to him was that they seemed a worthy adversary.

His quarrel, as it turned out, was not at all unjustified.

The flames of the humans had been released.

'they have seen our arrival' thought slayer, as the sky filled again. Only this time, it was of WY firebombs, not yautja pods.

The forest around him ignited. He backed up slightly to avoid being burned, as a tree exploded in flames. It had been a dry season, so the fire spread very fast. Slayer thought quick and activated his comm again.

"Leave the forest as soon as you can. It appears we have been given a warm welcome, so to speak. Nonetheless we have been gravely underestimated" he said as he made it past the last of the burning trees. "As soon as you arrive at the city, locate all armed soft meat scum and flay them alive. I will not rest until the head of the man who thought we could be dealt with this easily is hanging from my belt."

Slayer stood there on the edge of the burning forest for a moment. He gazed at the once beautiful human metropolis before him. And he listened as the mournful scream of a hard meat queen mother echoed off of the buildings. It was truly a marvelous sound.

For a second he was lost in it, and then he snapped back into reality. With a quick motion he crouched and changed his vision mode so he could see clearer. The human base was close, but impenetrable. Instead he made his way toward the city. He would pick off anyone foolish enough to walk the dead streets of this place.

-

After about twenty minutes of walking the dirt outskirts to the north of the city, he came to the first building.

'Finally some cover' he thought

It quickly became easier for slayer to blend in with his surroundings. It was child's play for him now. Instinct took over and he scaled the outside wall of a nearby store. From there he jumped to the next roof, gradually making his way towards the heart of the city. The place was vast and there was no movement, human or otherwise, to be seen.

So he waited. Something would come, and he would be ready. Death was about to greet these despicable creatures.

FireHunter cowered, he was now at the entrance of the queen's cavern, he could feel her rage, he was terrified, something he had never felt before was terror. He never thought he'd feel it, the queen was the deadliest of the species, he tried to shield himself from her fury, but it burned in his mind, and her words echoed through his skull, he shuddered, but, knowing that she could help him, being one of her sons and mates. Her fury could lead him into war, and bring him out leading a horde of other aliens carrying a thousand hosts. She could also kill him, if he failed her and lived to tell the tale, she would rip him limb from limb. He could feel her fury burning through his limbs, strengthening them, readying him for more fighting, healing his wounds. His terror was replaced by a mindless instinct to kill, slaughter, and bring in new hosts. He was ready, he was bloodthirsty, he was filled with the desire to feel soft flesh ripping beneath his claws, feel skulls breaking beneath his jaws, and most of all, the desire to make the queen proud of what she had wrought from the body of a yautja. He roared and ran after the other aliens, like Bloo and Peterson, catching up to them quickly, and slowing up there.

Carmine continued marching down the empty streets. Chunks of concrete from the buildings were littered all over the pavement. Cars were abandoned in the middle of the streets, some with their doors still open... Some with their windows shattered, with a familiar red substance drying around the openings. Some parts even looked burned to the point where they'd been opened up.

Strange sensations washed over him as he continued his march... He was incapable of describing it. It was awoken by viewing all these things that were not alien to him in any way, shape, or form. He recognized it now. He was experiencing the pain he'd felt so long ago... It was something that should only be experienced once in a lifetime. Yet, he didn't even remember it. He grit his teeth as he passed a car that was slammed through a building. A store, maybe. The survivors had pillaged anything they could get out of it.

When he hit the age of six, something had arrived in his city. Something that was seen and yet unseen. Something that killed so many people... And ripped their skulls right through the back of their neck. Something even the military couldn't kill... And then life stopped. At the age of seven, a bomb went off and killed all twenty three thousand five hundred ninety three people in the city, and an unknown amount of soldiers. But not him. He spent nine years in that city afterwards... This was very similar to what it looked like. Only, he didn't have to worry about killer bugs crawling out of the woodwork.

He remembered exactly how he had felt on that day. He was confused. He was angry. The sad, hopelessness hadn't set in until the next day. He remembered trying to find his parents... Nothing lived. No bodies existed. He was forced to become cold and distant after that. He endured all the winters and summers, he found the supplies he needed to survive. He had to live off whatever he could find.

He certainly hadn't expected a helicopter to take him away from that hellhole.

He snapped out of his flashbacks and continued marching through the streets, hating all these creatures even more. If any of them came out at him, he'd just rip them apart. "Fuck them all," he said out loud, the external audio not on yet. He then switched over to his radio, setting it to Malus' channel. "Commander, this is Carmine. Seeing as you're the only one with the contacts to AD, could you ask them if they could kindly tell you their location, or come out and play? Having a hard time finding them..." His voice sounded impatient, and even angry. It probably seemed rude, but he doubted the Commander knew why.

He didn't need to.

*big explosions of the broken down ships became critical and then a pod blasted from the flames*
*out crashed voltage secure inside the dented hunk of metal with the U.S.A symbol flag on the door he opened up with one strong pull of his arm*

*his war cry echoed far as he stretched his limbs and flexed his muscles still wearing a trench coat from one of his privious battles. he rolled his neck and grunted, he wore a cybernetic helmet that was customized with his own logic working. he had nothing but his wrist blades, shurikens, war hammer and large plasma rocket he stole from the space station he came from.*

"Where is this war at" voltage looked trough a hi tek binoculars he picked up and saw smoke and fires in a middle of the city and few pods launching from his former comrads. Voltage pulled out a list and circled his first prey and then took off running towards the city with his giant cannon ready to kill.

Waralien sat patiently, among him were three Predaliens, two Warriors, two runners, and Kirby. They were in a grotto area, just next to the human's stronghold. War had sent the runners to recon the area to find a weak spot. They hadn't return yet.

Kirby was sitting, anxious for the fight that was ahead. War was the only thing stopping him from going beserk and running aimlessly through enemy territory.

Suddenly there was a rustling sound. Every Xeno sprang into a fighting form, ready to rip apart whatever came their way.

The two runners apear, both unharmed. They reported finding a sewer grate near a guard tower with a blind spot. War knew the humans would never do something like that willingly.

War called the rest to their feet and moved out.

A few moments later, the came upon the area that the runners told about. Around them, gun shots could be heard. The humans were falling into combat with their brothers, they needed to hurry.

War spotted the grate and saw two marines in garb that matched their surroundings. If it wasn't for their smoking scent, War would have missed them.

War instructed the rest to stay put while he and Kirby dealt with the humans. War and Kirby silently crawled to the unsuspecting humans.

Kirby was poised to launch himself at one while War the other. Kirby launched himself and cleanly cut down the human. The other was startled but ready. He brought to bear his gun but never got a chance to fire. War sent his tail end into the fool's throat gushing out blood and bone. Both dropped dead in seconds.

War called out to the others who quickly came to their side. War then inspected the grating. It was made of dense metal. Nothing Predaliens couldn't solve.

Order six: All humans, regardless of alliance or status, were to report back to the main base. That was the order Carmine's helmet displayed before him. He stopped dead in his tracks, his armor boots making a loud scraping noise. That meant a lot.

It meant he was abandoning TDN and the other marines... It meant he was going to have to run all the way to the base, with no support if he ran into anybody. That was not a fun idea, especially since he just ran all the way there, and still hadn't caught his breath fully. But most importantly?

It meant nowhere was safe.

He turned around, and started running as fast as he could, nearly stumbling over a concrete block. He grit his teeth, wishing the order had been issued before he ran fifty meters into the city and remembered why he hated all these different species so much. So terribly badly. And now he had to run back to the base... And probably slaughter a hell of a lot of ugly fuckers once he got there.

He didn't ask questions, he just kept running, grimacing as he did so. He was, however, glad about one thing: That meant he'd finally be killing. He wanted to slaughter something so badly... A Predator, hopefully. But that didn't matter. Something, anything, it didn't matter. And he wasn't going to wait for the Marines, because he wanted as many kills as he could get.

He turned a corner, and saw the base. Clear shot. He began running fast, noting that the entire base was scrambling to take up their battle positions. He gave a slight growl, and slowed to a jog as he approached the base. "This is Carmine coming in!" he shouted, because he wasn't sure if anybody was aiming at him. Everybody probably knew it was him, but he didn't like the idea of somebody taking a shot at him.

He slammed his Rotary against the sandbag he'd set up at before, not even bothering to take note of whether or not anybody was around him. He removed the Grenade Launcher from his pack, and pulled the lever, remembering the grenades he had in there from earlier. He replaced all of them with mines, slammed it shut again. He began mining the area around the sides of the base, placing each mine about a meter apart until he'd placed twelve mines around. When he reloaded, he kept it in the same way he had before: Four standard, two EMP.

He then jogged back over to his post, and kneeled behind it. He removed his survival pack and ripped it open, revealing huge amounts of ammunition for all his weaponry. He just set the grenade launcher on the ground so that it was in easy reach if he needed it. He then opened up his personal carrying pouch, tearing out the journal and pencil again.

This could possibly be my last entry. The grubs and baby kongs are going to be assaulting the base soon. We don't know their exact numbers, but the easiest way to say it? About a hundred shitloads. That's fine. My trigger finger's getting twitchy.

0nce the entry was finished, he checked the ammo on the Rotary. It was at full, because he'd yet to use it. He made sure the bayonet on the end was secured, then settled into place. This was going to be the biggest fight he'd ever seen.