Chapter 1
Chapter Text
Lex knew this wouldn’t be easy.
The whole team and the entire site were gone. All that was left was her. They seemed to be searching for something, circling back to if she had seen anything of value. The higher-ups that had worked for Weylend. At some points in the interrogation, she got the feeling they knew something about what they had found down there. But then the council would bring up the financial losses this had caused which dispelled those notions. She did her best to fit together a plausible story but no matter how good it may have been the company needed someone to blame. She was an easy target for that.
“This is getting us nowhere. The records prove that I said this mission wasn’t safe, no one had the right training. Every step I brought up to Mr Weylend was rejected. He was determined to make his mark on history but I had no way to know or prevent how he and the drill team set about cutting corners to get to the site that fast. I noted it didn’t look safe, I left because I didn’t want to be blamed for any injuries and while I was heading back… the structural integrity must have completely failed. The whole site was gone and I almost got swallowed up by the resulting sinkhole.” Her fingers dug into her thigh as she spoke, she didn’t want to blame Weyland and the other team members like this but she had to be convincing if she ever wanted to get out of this room.
“Tell us again why you thought it wasn’t safe and why you didn’t try harder to keep them from entering?” A bland face on a screen asked her. She sighed and kept talking. After everything she had done and seen here, she was fighting against corporations and their team of lawyers over money more than lost lives. It all seemed so trivial now but she had no choice but to return to her life and to do that she would need them off her back.
In the middle of her once again repeating the same points over and over she saw on one of the screens, someone in a suit came and whispered in a councilmen’s ear at the same time two others simultaneously answered a call. Her voice died down and she could just manage to hear something about a ‘satellite reading’ ‘ship crash’ and a location ‘Gunnison, Colorado.’
“Well thank you for your continued cooperation, Miss Woods, we shall resume these discussions at another time. Once you return to the country, I hope you won’t think to leave again.” One member said almost as if he was making a joke but the underlying threat was plain to see.
“Of course.” She smiled as pleasantly as she could as all the screens went dark around her.
---
She didn’t know why but that interaction stuck with her. A ship crash. It could have been anything really. She was on one of their ships currently, the ice breaker maned by what was left of their employ. But if they were looking into what happened, why else would they all have dismissed her quickly unless the crash was related. The bad feeling over this started to fester inside her.
Lex snuck down to the cargo haul of the icebreaker and found the snowcat she had driven back on, pulling back the seat cushion she had previously ripped open to stash the spear. Lex knew they would take it from her so she had hidden it from sight. It was all she had to remind her that what happened, what she had gone through, was real. That she survived. As well as to remind herself of him. Well, almost all she had left, she thought as she still felt the slight swelling in her cheek from the brand. She pulled it out now, tracing her fingers gently over one of the little alien skulls decorating it. “Okay… let's go check this out.
She knew she was being watched, the crew occasionally tried to make a show of it to her but it was even clearer that all the workers left on the ship were low on the corporate totem pole. No real muscle, those men had died on the ice. They were very laxed, thinking she was safely trapped on the boat. What they didn’t know is that she had changed after her ordeal, she was reevaluating her life. And they still had a helicopter pilot on the crew and a recently refuelled helicopter.
As soon as the sun started to go down, she cornered the pilot as he was returning to his room. Giving him a charming smile, a request and then almost every dollar she had in her savings account.
---
They landed in a small airport in Colorado and then she managed to hitchhike her way to Gunnison with some soldier coming back from her last tour. Lex was suspicious of her at first but she truly seemed to be just returning home. The woman had glanced at her cheek a few times before asking “So, this might be insensitive but. How did you get that scar? You alright?”
Lex laughed and gently touched the rough skin. “Long story, a hell of a day I can tell you that.”
“Yeah, I completely feel you there. God, I can’t wait to get home.” Lex tried to hint that maybe she should take her family away for a little trip to help reconnect but all she got in reply was a polite laugh and an “I’ll think about it.” At least she had tried. Lex was dropped off in town with only a duffle bag of supplies which included the spear. God, what was she doing here? This was an awful amount of effort based on very little evidence.
The town right now looked normal. Everyday people, just going about their day. She kept walking the crash couldn’t have happened in the town centre but there were a lot of woods around here. She could be searching for a long while and she didn’t know how much time she had until anyone from the Weyland corporation would come around. She was making her way to the edge, just seeing if anywhere held any signs of damage, tree fall or smoke when a clue was pushed in front of her face. “Miss, please-” a redheaded woman pressed a flyer into her hands, a missing persons poster. “This is my husband and my son if you could just… look out for them.” She trailed off sadly.
Lex looked closer at the poster. Gone missing the same day as the crash. That was a little much to have been a coincidence, right? But it also brought a cold feeling to her gut. When she heard the crash she thought of the hunters, maybe shot down by the military or, hell, maybe Weyland’s company had stopped them. But the sight of the little boy in that missing persons poster had changed that. The hunters had a code, Sebastian's knowledge and her time with her hunter had cemented that in her mind. They wouldn’t hurt a little unarmed boy. This could be much, much worse than what she had been prepared for.
“Um excuse me, miss!” she called back to the woman who had stepped aside to hand away a few others.
“Oh, Darcy, please.” She returned quickly and Lex felt bad she didn’t have any good news to share at the sight of her expectant look.
“Darcy, nice to meet you, I’m Alexa.” They both shared courteous smiles neither of them really felt as they quickly shook hands. “This says they went missing while hunting, whereabouts was that?”
“It was in their usual spot, nowhere too wild or far out.” They moved along the path and Darcy explained where they had gone. “The police did a full man search but they were never found in fact… well I don’t know but something seemed to have gone wrong.” Lex nodded and gave a quick thanks before heading that way herself. “Miss, I don’t want anyone else to get lost for our sake, if you go out into any of those woods, please watch yourself.”
“You don’t need to worry about me.” She called back, hiking the duffle bag she carried higher up on her shoulder, hearing the comforting clink of the spear within it. “I’m a bit of a hunter myself.”
---
Lex walked a little way into the woods before she dared pull her spear out, not extending it, but just holding it in case. She was aware that if her hunch was right, she might be walking into her death right now. She had killed some monsters but not alone and not in this kind of environment. She should turn back right now. In fact, she almost did a few times but as she lifted her free hand to the mark, she knew she had to keep going. She had earned that mark and if she could help others using what she had learned from that night, she needed to. Lex had her own code of honour to follow. Holding her spear aloft, the trek brought her deeper through the woods.
Lex was grateful to have been very used to traversing much more difficult terrain, as it was a hike through this area was easy enough that she also tried using some stealth. Not that she thought it was at all effective. Always searching her surroundings, she hoped she was at least doing her hunter proud, where ever he may be.
She found the site of the crash… well she assumed she had. She chuckled as she crouched down and took a fistful of the still warm, loose dirt which filled up a chasm, surrounded by burned and pushed out trees. She had seen the temple go under, she could take a guess the same method was being used right here. So maybe the husband and kid got caught up in the crash, if not the explosion? Accidental and very unfortunate death but, the picture here could be much smaller than she was preparing herself for.
She looked around a little more but she wasn’t an experienced tracker, maybe with looking for signs of mountain lions or bears but not aliens who don’t wish to be found. She might be able to hang around and make sure things stay quiet. If she was lucky, she had missed the whole event that happened here and so will have Weyland’s people but for now, she didn’t have any direction to go.
She used the sun and made her way back towards town, still cautious, but not as afraid. She was around halfway back when she heard a name being loudly called. She ducked down on reflex even though it sounded pretty far for now. The yelling continued and then abruptly stopped. She told herself to just keep going, it was just a third person who seemed to be lost in these woods. Someone who wasn’t with the man and child when the ship first came down. Which would mean the theory she just figured out was wrong. Damn it. She crept closer to the direction she had heard the yelling, staying low and ducking behind trees. She got close enough to see the bloody arms hanging from a tree and the horrified police officers looking up at it.
“Shit… they’re still hunters.” She murmured to herself. Most humans were still a type of prey to them. She momentarily forgot that while she was on good terms with them, anyone who seemed like a threat or got in the way would be at risk. She, herself couldn’t exactly fight a hunter to stop them but maybe if she could talk to them. This mark she carried meant something to them.
She could see the police were talking into their radio, the last thing she needed was to be caught with a spear in the middle of the woods with the missing family and skinned body. She continued heading back but veering to the left so she could exit the woods away from any gathering police.
It was starting to get late by the time she was in town again, spear resting back in her bag. She grabbed a bite to eat with her now limited funds and debated where she was going to go now. She could get a room maybe, keep an eye out in the morning for any signs of the hunters. But the best time for a hunt would be night. Once again, she wished she wasn’t doing this alone.
In the end, she had slept well on the first night back on the boat, now she was alert and stayed wandering aimlessly around town. Just listening and looking for anything odd or out of place. She managed to ears drop and heard something about some weird sightings in the sewers. That would match closer to the temple maze they had hunted in rather than in the middle of suburbia. That was a good of a place to start as any.
It was pure luck that on her way, she saw it, a flash of bright light in the powerplant on the edge of town. Near where she was trying to find an entrance to the rain water tunnels. She could just see the tail end of a shower of sparks rain down. This wouldn’t be uncommon in itself but, who would be doing construction in the middle of the night. She pulled out a pair of binoculars she had taken off the ship and got a better look. It would be hard to spot them, she had seen their cloaking mechanisms, she just needed a shimmer, some distortion to consider going up there.
She didn’t see the hunter but the blast of an orb of white light which she knew to be their weapons was just as damming. She started running towards the power plant, taking her jacket off to throw over the barbwire topped fence so she could climb over it without being cut. As she landed, pulling the jacket back down to her, the bright flood lights which had lit up the surrounding area died off simultaneously. A rain of sparks exploded out from along the whole plant, plunging it into a blackout. As the sparks faded, she was left in darkness. Not just her, she looked back towards the town as the blackout spread through it. Great.
Whatever fight was going on in the plant raged on regardless of the damage it had done already. She dropped her bag, took up the spear and readied herself to join into it.
She climbed up, stuck between getting up there fast and getting up there quietly. When she arrived to the higher levels, surrounded by the sounds of the fight ringing loud around her but then she heard that familiar high pitched cry and It froze her in her tracks. Oh God. There was sudden movement in the room in front of her, she jolted away and pressed her back to a wall. Those serpents were here, that’s why the hunters were back. She was filled with such dread that it almost caused her to panic. They had tried so hard to keep them from spreading, God how did this happen? Questions and fear flooded through her but were silenced when she could see a shadow move across the floor as one of those serpents moved around the room, she inched closer to the doorway and saw the arc of a tail dragging across the floor. It was turning away from where she was.
Lex had one of those thoughts that you get when you’re still in a state of shock, which was that ‘it would be so embarrassing if she died right here after surviving something like the pyramid.
The serpent bounded with heavy steps, giving a horrible screech as it pounced on whatever was in the room beyond. She started to follow it. The alien was on top of the hunter, stabbing it could hurt the hunter too. She looked around the room in panic but her eyes quickly landed on a sledge hammer. Blunt impact would mean no acid spray. Wedging the spear in her belt, she picked up the hammer and charged in.
“Hey, ugly bitch!” she said and the alien turned towards her just in time for her to swing across the hammer, catching it aside its head and sending it flying off. She turned to see the hunter but just saw another alien she hadn't noticed before leaping at her from where it crawled up from the side of the building. She held up the sledge hammer horizontally, the serpent’s teeth sinking in and splintering the thick wood but the hammer still held strong. The creature pushed forward, her feet sliding back on the grated floor as it forced her closer to the railing. The rail was the only thing between her and a long drop to the factory floor. She gave a loud cry and pushed back, trying the wedge the hammer deeper into that toothy maw before she dropped it. It weighted the creature's head down as it took all its weight and gave her enough time to fumble for her belt, yanking out the spear. She swung it as it extended and buried it into the skull of the alien. Its tail flung out in an uncoordinated last effort to get her but while she got hit on her shoulder a few times, the tip never met its mark. She watched as its movements slowed and its jaw clenched enough to break the handle before the hammer dropped from its mouth and it grew laxed on her spear.
She tried to shake her spear loose but it was a little stuck, so carefully, she placed her boot on its head and pushed it, only for a bolt of light to shoot past her. It had been only inches away from her but collied with its true mark, One of those spider-like things she had seen from the creature's eggs. The shock of the bolt had made her jump which actually helped her pull the spear free. She turned to face the hunter, having practised in her head all the ways she would try and communicate that she knew about them but when she properly saw the hunter she came to a dead halt.
“You.” She breathed out, eyes travelling over them in the darkroom. There was only the light from the moon and the red dots on their mask which allowed her to see them, but the armour, the mask, the small skulls aligned on his chest. They were the same as her hunter. The hunter she thought was dead. “Is that you? You need to tell me right now.” She charged up to it and it looked at the spear she was holding and rose a hand in a placating gesture. She hadn’t actually meant that to sound like a threat.
Suddenly with a small static crackle, her own voice filled the air. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
If she had thought her actions through, she probably would have realised it was a dumb thing to do but she dropped the spear in her hand and rushed the last few steps to wrap her arms around him. “I thought you were dead.” She sobbed out a laugh. It then caught up with her that she was hugging an alien she technically barely knew. “Oh, sorry.” She said and started to push herself away but thick arms wrapped around her smaller frame and squeezed her back, she didn’t think he was even using much of his strength but it still pulled a surprised moan from her as her spine popped in several places. When he let her go, her friend crouched to pick up her spear, looking it over with a proud nod before handing it back. His large hand dropped on her shoulder before the cold metal of his mask touched her heated face as he pressed his forehead to hers.
“Yeah, I’m glad to see you too.” And she and surprisingly meant it. “What are you doing here? How did this happen? Where is the rest of your kind?” She couldn’t help the flood of questions, he pulled back and wavered on his feet for a moment. Her hands went to his chest and she properly looked at him, her other hand hovering at another wound above his hip. “Jesus… you’ve just been a pin cushion the last few days haven’t you? I can’t believe you’re still out here hunting after what happened.” He seemed to ignore her, looking around before leaning out the shattered window and looking to the ground below. His arm roped her in around the waist, pulling her tightly to his side. She didn’t get why until he started to walk them to the edge.
“No… no, I said no!” She yelled as he just stepped off, dropping down to the ground with her in tow. She clung to him desperately, feeling the jolt of impact move through his body but she was held high enough on his hip to be saved from it.
“Oh you little-” She scrambled out of his hold before straightening up her jacket and making a face at him. She heard that rolling kind of chuckle noise from him and scoffed back. “Nice to see you haven’t changed.” She snarked.
“What are you doing here? What happened to you?” Her voice said from his mask.
"I heard there was a ship crash... thought it was suspicious for any of our ships to have ended up crashed in a landlocked state. So my other guess was that it might have been one of yours. Now, will you tell me what you are doing here?"
He tilted his head and she followed, there were tracks on the bare ground around the plant. It took her a moment to really see what he was looking at. There were tracks in the dirt, large, heading to the factory. She looked up at him again and nodded. “Those serpents.” He nodded and gestured with his hands about the length of the footprint. Then he moved to another set of prints and had her look at them.
“Oh.” She breathed out now seeing the size of these tracks. “It’s not big enough to be a queen though. Besides, you guys had kept that other one in a temple, and I doubt you have one of those in Colorado of all places.”
He brought his fingers together at a point on the centre of his chest before flicking them open as he pulled his hand away from it. “No.” she shook her head. He repeated the gesture. “You had one of those… things, in you?” he nodded. “And so, you are the one who needs to kill it?” He nodded again with an accompanying aggressive growl.
She looked between him and the prints, gradually putting together that the hosts must play a part in how the Aliens end up forming. “Wait so this is-”
He nodded and another recording of her voice played. “Ugly bitch.”
There was a loud thud and they both jolted up, but it wasn’t one of the serpents, it was another hunter. Her friend stood up, bodily putting himself between her and the other, almost completely standing over her.
The new hunter was big, definitely bigger than her friend. His spiked mask had many more symbols carved into them. This hunter roared looking down where she was still on the floor, taking large intimidating steps towards them. Her hunter was roaring back, they were obviously arguing. She carefully stood up, staying behind her friend and clutching her spear just in case. Her hunter turned around and took her chin none too gently in his fingers and showed the new hunter the mark on her cheek.
“Friend of yours?” she asked, rubbing her jaw when she was let go.
“Enemy of my enemy.” Was played again.
There were a few seconds when the two still stared off, some low growls sounding between them but the larger hunter turned to her with a slight nod before turning and stalking off into the night.
Now looking at her, her hunter tilted his head after the other. “Alright.” She said slapping his giant fist with the palm of her much smaller hand. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 2
Summary:
Lex is the only real fighter for humanity
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
She hadn’t missed the constant running which was involved with hunting alongside beings whose stride length was almost double her own. The weather was turning around them and the town, despite the blackout, was starting to grow in activity. Which she found to be foreboding. As they grew close to town again, both hunters went invisible. She swore and kept to the shadows herself, running in the direction they had been going until her friend would grab her by the arm and give her a rough tug in a new direction.
The town now seemed a flurry of activity, they didn’t really get close to it but she could see the line of cars now going to the powerplant which they had left in burning ruins. She hadn’t thought it had been so damaged during the battle but she hadn’t known what the other hunter had been doing during that time either.
Just as she was starting to get out of breath, her friend grabbed her close again and she felt their muscles move as they suddenly jumped, clearing the distance to a home’s porch cover and then to the roof. It would have been exciting if not for the circumstances but as it was, she had to try not to scream every time she was lifted up and jumped from rooftop to rooftop lest other humans or aliens see them. Eventually, they landed on the ground of a high school. She looked around a little confused at only one of the hunters uncloaked.
The new hunter stayed just staring into the school so she didn’t move either. It was only a short wait before he moved inside with her quickly following. Any intrigue she had felt over this situation vanished as she walked into the school’s indoor pool blood lay in puddles around the pool, as she got closer, she could see that the pool itself was dark and murky from bloodshed. Her friend was standing over an alien, spear in the back of its head where the alien had been poised atop a dead human. She turned away as she saw him pulling the body off the man, the acid dripping on what remained of him.
There was a roar from the new hunter and she turned to him, he gestured to the body and to the pool where the alien’s body was being dropped. “Why me?” she asked but the other just growled. She didn’t want to piss him off so she went over, crouching at the body. “God, he was just a boy. Why are they killing them, last time they were just taking them?” Their death came later. She tried not to look at what the aliens had done to the boy as she pushed him into the pool after it.
“No- Queen.” her chopped up speech bounced off the tiled room and caused Lex to shiver, it had been creepy before but the setting intensified the uncanny nature of it. The older hunter was pouring a vial of blue liquid over the bloodies tiles where the Alien had been killed. Whatever it was, the drop ate up an entire puddle of red blood and seemed to neutralise and destroy the acid blood. He seemed to be in charge of destroying all evidence that they had been here. Which explained the fire at the plant. It also meant that it was him who destroyed the ship it would have been this hunter who had skinned and strung up the man. It was a small comfort that it hadn’t been her friend. She hadn’t forgotten what he had done in the temple but she had some hope he was more selective with his prey after what had happened between them.
She didn’t look back at the pool as she stood up again. Would the boy’s family even know he died? Who was he? If she knew his name maybe she could get word to his family once this was over. That train of thought gave her a realisation so as the older hunter was pouring the liquid now directly into the pool she went and found her friend. He was in a locker room, looking at a window with a splatter of blood. “Does your species use names?” she asked and he quickly turned to look at her. “I don’t know if that was rude to ask but I’m still getting used to… well… you. That there is life among the stars in general I guess. So, do you have a name?”
He paused for a moment before there was a short, purred sound. “Skraar?” She tried and he looked a little offended. He then glanced around the room, the mist was starting to come from the pool now also dissolving but they were alone. He pushed his chest armour plate up and she could see the ripped flesh, healing but still lightly weeping in his sternum down to just where his armour ended. He moved his finger along the wound and made that sound again. It took her a second, more so because she was staring at the torn skin. “Scar?” she tried and he gave a nod.
She couldn’t help herself, she rose her hand, stopping and looking at Scar who only cocked his head in interest as she gently touched his chest. Fingertips skirting on the edge of ruined skin, his body was warm but still cooler than her own. “You must be fast healers or have amazing technology on those ships… or probably both. Even this much healing would take a week or two for humans.” Not to mention the humans who had been infected had no chance of even surviving being a host. But then again, if his chest was cut open there was no need to literally burst a way out as it had done to the hosts she had seen. “You know I really thought you were dead. What is happening here isn’t good, to put it lightly… but I’m glad it allowed me to see you again. I know we already had this moment I don’t want to make it weird but-” A large hand covered her own where it was still on his chest.
“Yeah, I’m glad to see you too.” The recording played and it made her smile. She had just helped dispose of a body and here she was smiling so soon after. She didn't know if she was becoming desensitised to the violence or her connection with this hunter was keeping her anchored to enough needed to face this storm. His head turned and he physically pushed her away and straightened out his armour. Not a second later the older hunter walked in from a cloud of steam. Why does she feel like a teenager trying not to get caught doing something scandalous? She is in the middle of an alien war.
Scar, acting in an exaggerated normal, gestured his head to the window and they spoke in their language. She had deduced that their sight works differently so she waited while they looked at something she couldn’t see.
“Did someone escape or are there more serpents around?” She asked in a whisper eventually. The older hunter snorted but Scar nodded. This was going to be a long night.
---
They were on the move again and Lex could tell the chaos was increasing in town, sirens were blaring and the constant distant buzz of human voices, yelling and screaming and to complete it was starting to rain, the thickened clouds blocking out the moonlight. She had hoped that they had been on top of the outbreak, but she was starting to think there were too many in a too wide and too populated area.
Just to keep up with the general tone of tonight they were cutting through a cemetery, following what the hunters were tracking. But despite the rain, she noticed a trail starting to appear from her companion. It had started as a few drops here and there but the longer they ran the more the luminescent green blood started to collect on the grass. “Scar.” she called softly to the nothing around her. “You’re bleeding.”
She almost ran into him as he stopped, invisible in front of her, catching partly on his arm. She watched the trail change direction and she followed it to a large tree. She saw him uncloak, the wound was weeping profusely, a small trail already running down the tree from where he sat hidden in the branches. She didn’t know where the older hunter was so she just started climbing up the tree too. She made it up easily and perched on a branch mostly out of his way. She saw him pulling out a metallic container of some kind which went opened revealed to be a sort of medical repair kit. She was itching to touch everything in it but even if it was medical, she didn’t know their technology and didn’t want to risk her fingers. The item he pulled out looked like a stapler which wasn’t an uncommon thing in human field dressing either. She watched him hold it to the exit wound at his front, clamping the staple down to stitch it. She didn’t expect the pained cry it pulled from him, it made her jump in surprise and she had to scramble to keep her balance where she was straddling the branch.
She saw him twisting to get to the other side and she touched his hand before sliding her fingers along to get the staple. After a second, he let her take it and shifted to present his back to her. “Okay, I’m doing it on the count of three, Alright? One-” She had to squeeze very hard with both hands to get the staple to drop but she clamped it on the wound and Scar let out another roar, his clawed fingers tearing lines into the bark of the tree. He gave a little body shake which sent his tendrils swinging before he looked back at her with what she could feel was a hard stare. “They say it hurts less when you’re not expecting it.” She defended. He snatched the device out of her hands and started packing up the kit with a snort. She was about to ask something about it when the chaotic buzz around them grew louder. They both turned hearing the rising volume of a man yelling very close by. She leaned from her perch and saw a man with a gun, yelling at what she was sure were other people hidden away behind a tombstone. They definitely would have heard Scar’s roars but at this point, she was sure their effort to hide their presence was a losing battle.
“Hey, asshole, you really wanna put the gun down! They don’t like it.” She called out as a warning. Lex was about to drop from her perch to try and talk him down as the man turned wildly, gun held up to find where she called from but a second later there was the white flash of the Hunter’s gun and it was like a red water balloon had popped. She swore, turning away from the carnage but she still heard the rest of the body drop and the scream that had to have been from a child.
“They say it hurts less when you’re not expecting it.” Scar parroted her own voice back, trying to joke as if she wasn’t trying not to fall into a panicked state from seeing more senseless death. She looked out and could see the slight whisp of smoke from where the older hunter must be, she stayed watching the space, seeing now the slight light warping tell of their camouflage but the light however was still aimed. She turned back and saw a hand reaching for the gun and the target moving over it. “Please! Leave the gun, try and get out of here as fast as you can, alright? listen to me.”
The hand stopped and pulled back. “Who are you and what the hell is going on? Those things…” The woman sounded panicked but Lex was thrown a little that she recognised the voice as the lady who gave her the ride into town. She should have tried harder to warn people, she had a whole day before she found the hunters. Regardless of if she had proof or not, she should have done something.
“I can’t explain but ma’am, you need to take your daughter and get out of town… but don’t let any of those things follow you. Do you understand!” She tried not to let her voice waver, keeping it as commanding as she usually did when she was taking teams on the riskier climbs.
There was a pause and then she heard the woman reply “Okay, okay, we’re going please don’t shoot.” She looked back to the spot she knew the older hunter was and saw the target finally switched off. The woman and her daughter ran and she wished them luck under her breath.
Once they were gone Scar jumped from the tree so Lex followed, climbing down part way and jumping the rest. The hunter uncloaked beside them, he looked at her like a challenge and she bit her lip to stop herself from yelling. She might have been able to defuse the situation, the man had just been scared. But she couldn’t risk antagonising them, she didn’t think that he would be as willing to tolerate her as Scar did. His low voice clicked and he gave a nod. He then pointed off to a few points in the distance and then with spread fingers on both hands showed them coming together in the direction of the running woman and child.
“You’re using them as bait?” That had her stepping up to him but he took a step closer in return, growl rumbling under his mask. She felt Scar’s hand fist a handful of fabric at the back of her coat, gently pulling her back. “I can’t just let them die.” She twisted to get Scar’s hand off of her before she took off running after the two. Heavy steps quickly followed behind her.
---
She followed the direction of the mother and daughter who were almost back into the town when the sound of rapid gunfire filled the air, it seemed like somewhere on the main street a stand was happening against the monsters. She knew they were spreading fast, many more humans here to be used like cattle for the monster’s reproduction but it seemed impossible for there to have been this many. The gun fire was loud and thundered through the town until it started to fade, fewer and fewer guns until there were just a few scattered cracks of gun fire. The humans were losing. Again. She tried not to think about it. How again she might not be able to save the people around her. The guilt over her higher chance to survive because she had been taken into a pack of hunters by a chance encounter was gnawing on her conscious.
She entered an alleyway just in time to see the two enter a shop. There was a police car in front of it, shining its head lights into the store. There must be more people in there. The light may help the people in the dark but it was also a beacon for the aliens to investigate. She heard the clicking purr of Scar looming behind her. “Keep it together- Make it to the surface.” Her voice from when they were in the pyramid together reminded her. She took a deep breath and then exhale slowly, steeling her wavering nerves. It’s the same drill even here. Keep it together, just get to the end. That was all she could do.
“R'ka.” That had been his actual low, clicking voice, spoken intentionally to her. Before she could question the meaning a still cloaked finger pressed up under her chin and moved her eyes away from the door to the roof where she could only just make out the shine of the police lights reflecting of inky black. It was then too that she saw that this was a gun shop that the people had entered. She looked around, trying to spot the other shimmer. There was none. “Shit!” She took off before Scar could stop her.
Before she even got to the door, she heard a gunshot and the screams began. As soon as she entered she saw some men starting to aim guns and pulled out her still collapsed spear and with no time for warnings, she brought it down hard on their hands causing the guns to tumble out of their grips. The hunter had turned to them with his guns aiming at the men but she just yanked them back hard by the collar of their shirts. “Just go. Now! Drop the guns or at least keep them down. Come on, move!” She yelled through the store.
“Who the fuck are you?” Was yelled at her by one man while the other yelled at the same time. “Are you crazy it’s the only thing we have to use against them.”
“You have a gun, you become a threat for something else.” She yelled back and one of the hunter’s guns went off and she heard a horrible cry and the sizzle of acid. She held up her spear and let it extend, going to protect the people leaving the store. “Come on, run, we’ll hold them back.”
The woman going past stopped and looked at her “Wait you’re that woman from yesterday… and it was you at the cemetery, wasn’t it. Oh my god, you sat in my car and told us to go. You knew this was going to happen!”
A man she hadn’t seen before stepped forward to. “Miss Alexa Woods, I presume?” He said in a strong authoritative voice. “We found your travel bag near the powerplant. Why don’t you come with us and explain this clusterfu-” He was interrupted as a child screamed and she turned to see an alien coming right for them only to be flung back as the long curved spiked Shuriken sliced open it’s throat before imbedding into the wall. Scar materialised and his wrist blades extended, slicing the rest of the way through the alien’s throat as she herded the people out.
“There is no time, I’m sorry, take your daughter and go. You can’t fight these things alone. You need to do what you have to, to get out of here.” Down the centre of the store another alien dropped and went to follow the other humans out. In both hands she brought the spear up and stabbed it through the alien’s tail into the stores floor, pinning it down but it left her without her main weapon. The serpent turned on her and she had to scamper back as it lunged at her. Scar looked on her but he didn’t go for the alien, turning to send his shuriken at another target. The older hunter too was focused on blasting another out the store window. Right. This was her kill now. They wouldn’t interfere or help.
The spear was starting to come loose as the tail too started ripping at its segments, she needed to think fast. She saw the dropped guns from the men she saved and dived onto the floor for them, turning just in time for the alien to get free. It was a small pump shot gun, it took two shaky shots to bring it down and then a third just to be sure but as it collapsed in front of her its tail arced wide, the injury from the spear spilled the acid blood towards her. She brought her arms up to protect her face and curled herself away from the initial splash before scrambling up. No time to think, she stripped off her jacket and her shirt, the spray had eaten through her clothes fast enough to reach her skin and she hissed as blotches on her shoulder and down her arm started to burn. The two hunters were finishing off the last of the aliens so she just went quickly to the survival section and found some water canisters which she poured over her burns to rinse off any of the residual acid. It luckily wasn’t too bad compared to what she has seen the acid do. She didn’t even want to look at the body still sizzling in the middle of the store.
There was a sparking noise which grew close to her, she looked to see the larger hunter giving her a cursory glance and barking a noise which she assumed was them calling Scar over before he turned away. She glanced after him as he pulled off his fritzing gun and started opening it up. Her friend joined her and she pushed back the almost empty water canister and let him have a look. He seemed a little worn himself too, she gave her own look over his injuries. No new ones but the ones he had from before were still very severe she was a little concerned that he was running around days after having an almost mortal injury. "It should be fine, but my shoulder blade and that patch there-” She pointed to darkest parts of the burn which were starting to well up with pricks of blood “-might leave some weird scars though. I was happy with just the one you gave me.” She sighed.
There was a rumbling purr in response and he gently lifted her arm prodding at her skin. “There is probably a human first aid kit around here somewhere.” She said as his hands pulled away and she heard an odd grunt from him before “I’m doing it on the count of three.”
Before she could even ask what he was doing, a large hand pressed over the burns. She obviously wasn’t even getting a count of one. The burning intensified and she cried out and jolted violently. He was smearing something over the burns, she tried to struggle away but his other arm came around her, pressing against her chest as his hand covered her mouth, smothering her pained noises. Once the burns had been properly covered that hand went to hold the shelf that was in front of them and she could see the familiar sulphurous like glow. He stayed holding her like this until she calmed down. There was a continuous rumble in his chest which she could feel vibrating through them both where the bare sections of his torso pressed flush to her bare back. She took a few deep breaths through her nose before she did the admittedly childish thing and bit his hand. He gave a small roar like it had hurt and pulled his hand away but she could tell he was faking the injury as a way to make her feel better.
She looked at her shoulder and as she expected it was covered in blood, his blood, she glanced at the recently stapled wound and it had a new trickle around it. “I better not grow scales from this.” It made her a little nauseous to think she had his blood on her and in her burns. “I’m trusting you, this better be on me for a reason.” She was a little trembly from the adrenalin rush fading and the fact she had been tensed up while he was ‘treating her’ if you could call this treatment. The older hunter seemed to be finishing up his gun modifications so she quickly went around the store, collecting a first aid kit, and a black shirt and camo jacket which seemed to be for local hunters. That was almost amusing to her. She placed her little collection down and prepped some dressing cloth with tape before she started sliding down the straps of her sports bra. She paused and looked back at where Scar was staring right at her only a foot away. “Do you mind?” he tilted his head to the side. “Look away.” She shooed him with her hand and with a huff he turned around and walked off.
Once she placed the dressing over the burn she put on the new clothes and went to collect the spear. Scar was on the floor by the alien she had killed, collecting teeth from it, beside him sat another alien head pulled off and hollowed. "Those for me?" She teased but he nodded. He stood and drooped a fist full into her two awaiting hands. "Oh... thank you, Scar." Not knowing what else to do with a handful of slimy alien teeth she put them in her jeans pockets for now and took up the head as a shield again. The other hunter seemed to be finished and looking outside the store for their next location in finding the hunter-alien. She was about to join him but she paused for just one more thing, they were in a gun shop. She didn’t like guns but the memory of ‘rather have one and not need it, than need it and not have it’ came to mind. Shotguns were very effective but the acid spray it caused made her hesitant, instead she took one of the already loaded pistols the group of survivors had dropped and stuffed her jacket pockets with ammo.
The older hunter was fiddling with his weapon and with an undulating growl her pointed to her and then to an abandoned car in the middle of the road. She peered out to it but it was hard to see while she was in the head lights of the police car. She slowly crept towards it, the rain resoaking her new clothes. She gave a glance back and saw how Scar had taken a few steps forward, hand going to his weapon again. She sighed, giving a very unimpressed look at the other hunter before she grabbed her spear, allowing it to extend. Lex gave a sharp cry. “Hey!” and immediately there was a screech and one of the serpents jumped on top the car she had been sent to. Its lips curled back, saliva dripping as it hissed at her. She knew one of these monsters was going to pop up but she still stumbled a few steps back. Still, she held up her spear, ready to fight for whatever test this was, only for the alien to be blown off the car by a hunted weapon.
She turned back to see him looking at his newly modified gun. “Any more games you want to play or can we go end these monsters?” she called back to him.
Notes:
for reference, Yautja blood can help neutralise the xenomorphs acidic blood and generally has been shown to be good for human health. A dude had extended his life by injecting (or ingesting) their blood regularly.
Also fun fact they are hot blooded and their blood apparently smells sweet. Follow this story for more anatomy facts... you can guess which ones.
Chapter 3
Summary:
And here is where the movie based chapters end
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
When she and Scar had fought the queen, it had been staring her down in the Arctic wasteland, a black and white ghost town, the most isolated place on Earth. Yet here she was with Scar again, this time entering a hospital, a sterilized location but familiar all the same. This felt like a much more frightening place to be. Maybe it was because this place was meant to be a hive of activity but now was silent in such an unnatural way. Or maybe it was because she had seen the horrors this species could present as and she now knew how nonsensical it was to be walking towards it. The whole building seemed to be in a state of frozen panic. Out the front cars were abandoned in the middle of leaving the parking lot, doors open. An ambulance sat with its lights left flashing to no one but their small hunting party.
Lex ran ahead and tested the doors to the entrance they happened upon. She tried to open it, jimmying the door a few times before saying “it’s locked.” There was a roar behind her and she was shoved out of the way before the larger hunter kicked in the door, shattering the glass and bending the metal. Looks like they were no longer stealthing. They entered the hospital, wheelchairs and gurneys knocked over with blood stains and holes filling the material it had been made from.
He gave some hand signals and Scar moved ahead, leading them with a shuriken already clutched in his hand. There was a deep menacing rumble in his throat. She had a feeling that this was the location where the face-off will happen. Whatever creature Scar was responsible for was waiting somewhere in these darkened hallways. They gave a brief search of this floor, it only held a menacing quiet, Lex got goosebumps from how on edge she felt. Every shadow, every hidden space, could hold an enemy which could take her life or that of her friend. The hunters didn’t share her fear, both of them were now more snappish and aggressive than before. Deeming this floor to be clear, they moved to the stairs, the door leading to them being kicked open as well. She looked up the stairwell and saw that odd smooth growth that she had seen taking over parts of the pyramid. The building was slowly being terraformed into a nest.
Scar held up his hand in a ‘wait’ gesture and both hunters activated their guns, she hadn’t even seen the aliens hiding in the transformed walls but their bodies started dropping in blasted heaps down the middle of the stairwell or being caught on the railing and slowly melting through. They walked up to the higher levels, as expected what they were looking for seemed to be located where the growth was concentrated.
She pulled out her spear and let it extend as they entered the floor, the growth absorbed the few sources of light she had so she tried to get herself between both of the hunters, knowing that they had a more heightened ability to see or sense than she did. They were all on edge and poised.
Through the muck, she saw the sign for the maternity ward and that sent something cold in her chest. They entered and she saw only a glimpse and then shut her eyes. There had been wrecked and burst open bodies which explained how there had been so many serpents in the town. She had only seen a flash of the violent scene but she was sure it would stay with her for the rest of her life. Lex’s hand reached out blindly for Scar. She felt him jolt at her touch but as her fingers rested on his back, he took her hand and pushed it down to his belt and she held on, letting him lead her through the room. It was dangerous, they were at the epicentre of this disaster and she could hear the low growled bark of the other hunter most likely insulting her but she didn’t care, she didn’t want to see it. They walked a little bit as she was about to open her eyes again there was a horrid screech and suddenly Scar was knocked away from her grasp.
She opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of the monster in front of her. This was what they had been after. It was much, much larger than the serpents she had faced before, she could see it had the larger forehead and dreadlocks that the hunters had but still the inky spindly body she had known from the aliens. It gave out a screech which morphed into clicks, hunter like mandibles extending. It was a horrific thing. She was surprised by the absolute, scathing hate which welled up in her chest. This horror had injured and violated her friend, it had been the reason for the mass death and destruction of this town.
She gripped her spear tighter and let out a cry as she rushed at it, but she choked as she was pulled back by a hand on her throat which then lifted her up. She struggled for breath as the other hunter growled at her. She was gasping and they squeezed harder until she struggled and then they dropped her coughing on the floor. Right, they had shared the ‘prize’ of killing the queen but Scar had been tasked with killing this abomination. She wasn’t allowed to help.
“Fine!” she spat in her now strained voice. So, she wouldn’t fight that monster but she saw the other aliens creeping up now to defend the hunter-alien. She could make sure that Scar had his chance to have this fight. She watched as Scar shook himself off where he had been thrown into some equipment and as a serpent crept near him, she pulled out her pistol, guarding herself with the shield as she sent three bullets into its skull. Her objective was suddenly clear, protect this fight, let Scar win because she believed he could win.
Lex and the other hunter made a defensive ring, one of the aliens screeched at her and all the fear, anger and desolation she felt welled up and she gave an answering roar of her own despite how hurt her throat was. She lifted her gun and shot out at the surrounding aliens. The older hunter too roared and made quick work of his enemies, blasting them to pieces. All while Scar had extended his wrist blades and started to slash and wrestle with the hunter-alien.
She didn’t see it happen, but there was a sudden anguished cry, a familiar human one. God, these people were everywhere they shouldn’t be. She hated wasting the time but she made sure to finish off the alien which was in front of her before turning to look. A man was coming down the hall, shooting at both hunters. She managed to get close enough, hiding behind some equipment to see a woman, or half of her, pinned to the wall by a Shuriken. She knew that right now the hunter’s focus would be on the serpents, her death wasn’t intentional but she also knew that wouldn’t matter to the young man screaming down the hall in a fit of rage.
“Stop.” She yelled but she didn’t know what to say which could console him, which would make it right. They would kill the monsters but they were monsters too. She ran to take shelter behind the wall which led to the hallway and pointed her gun at the young man. “Please stop, just go, please, we’re trying to end the serpents.”
“Shut up! You’re with them!” he screamed out, still shooting. Scar looked at him, gun aiming with actual intention to shoot but the boy had caused a brief moment of distraction for all of them, giving a window of attack which the aliens took. Scar was tackled down by one, pushing him into the elevator doors which bend open like cardboard from their combined weight.
Dropping both the gun and shield she ran to them, sliding on the floor as she extended her spear, stabbing it down wedging into the floor with one hand and managing to catch Scar’s wrist with the other. He grabbed back, and she knew it when she made this choice but it was one thing to plan for it and enough to experience it. His size, his muscle mass, there was no way she could have properly caught him but as she tried all the same there was a sickening pop as her arm dislocated from her shoulder from the weight of him. She cried out as the burning spread through her arm and her chest. But she saw as it gave Scar just enough of a chance to catch the ledge with his other hand as the alien who grabbed him went tumbling down the elevator shaft.
He let her go and she curled over whimpering, the pain wracking through her body. But there were enemies all around her, she couldn't just lay there so she crawled. pocketing the collapsed spear and going for the gun and shield. She suddenly remembered that moment, the day her father broke his leg and still pushed through it to make that climb. Hunters probably didn’t have champagne but she would see this through to the end with the same determination and pure foolishness that her father had shown that day. She screamed as she slotted the shield on her dislocated arm, okay now if he had made it up the mountain, she could make it to the gun.
She just managed to slap her hand on the gun when hands grabbed her. “Come on, there is probably a nuke heading for this place and we’re going to need some answers.” The young man who shot them was then attacked by the very monster Scar had been trying to kill and they dropped her. She struggled to her feet as the blond man who had taken her rushed for that young man instead, only for it to be too late as the other hunter held up his modified gun and suddenly the young man no longer had a head.
She went to rush back into the fight, seeing Scar pulling himself up back into the room but that woman she had met took her uninjured arm and pulled her along, the jolting still caused an ache to pulse through her body preventing her from putting up much of a fight. Not when she didn’t want to cause the death of a fellow human. They dragged her, the woman and one of the men she had saved before, pulling her to the roof and a chain-link tunnel atop it.
“Is that a head? She has a head on her arm! Jesus Christ.” She heard one of the survivors yelling.
“What is she?” another voice rang out.
“That’s what we’re going to find out.” The woman dragged her away and they started heading up. She turned back, hearing a roar from the larger hunter, taking a few steps after them but he was interrupted as an alien leapt onto him.
“I need to help them, let me go!” she cried, struggling but any rough jolt sent pain shooting through her body. She had tried so hard to protect them, she didn’t know that both parties would end up here. The woman let her go and raised up her gun, it seemed the serpents were already on the roof.
“Help them? Listen, your name was Alexa right? This whole place might be blown off the map in 10 minutes and unless your friends there have a spaceship, they’re getting wiped away too. It’s better if you stick with us.” One of the men yelled over the storm as they exited onto the roof.
“Do they have one?” the shabby looking man she had saved asked. She ignored that comment and looked back into the hospital where she could hear the hunter’s weapons going off. They wouldn’t leave until they finished the hunt, Sebastian had said, the hunt fails they ensure their lives are given up.
Lex picked up her gun and at first, she pointed it at the people around her, she considered threatening them but after trying so hard to convince them she has been trying to help she couldn’t bring herself to do that. They watched her hesitantly but she just fired at the aliens around them. She had to crouch and reload one handed and empty half a clip before they cleared the entrance of the bridge enough to move forward. She could see now the helicopter waiting on the landing pad but she could also see the movements of the aliens between them and it.
She was torn between her fear of what might be coming and staying with Scar. One of the men, the blond tried to grab her but he was suddenly throw across the roof in a savage hit. The older hunter having charged at him as he had tried to pull her away again. She saw him stalking towards the man and quickly ran in front of him. “Stop, please wait.” She pointed to the sky and then back down to here before using the same bomb gesture Scar had used. “They are sending a bomb!” She yelled and the creature paused, tilting its head with a crackling rumble before it looked back across the roof. Then he faded from sight. Great, big help.
For now, she just wanted to get the rest of the humans here to that chopper, she ran and helped the man up before she moved with the group, helping bring down the incoming monsters which were closing in on them. The pistol she had wasn’t very ammo efficient so she had to duck behind an electrical box, scrambling to try and reload again. There was a hair-raising growl and not the kind she knew from her allies. This had been too close and too aggressive for comfort. She looked up, and right above her blocking the rain from falling on her face was the hunter-alien, crouched above her on the electrical box. She scrambled back but she didn’t get very far before it leaped on her, mandibles flaring wide as it screeched.
She dropped the gun and in a futile and panicked desperation tried to push the monstrosity away from her with her one good arm. The creature for a moment seemed to have the intelligence to consider her, looking her over before its mandibles flared open, mouth tongue extending to her. Not as a strike, not as a quick death. She remembered the broken bodies this creature left in its wake. It meant to fill her with more monsters. She screamed and struggled hitting against it’s hard chitin-like body but it did nothing to stop it.
For a moment she really thought she was going suffer this horrible fate before she died. But a loud angry cry filled the air and just as the appendage was pushed at her mouth the hunter-alien was tackled off of her. She scrambled under a duct system and watched as Scar was growling something fierce, his hands going to the creature’s head and slamming it against the pebbled rooftop.
It thrashed in his hold, pulling away to lash out with claws and knifing its toothy tongue at him. Scar pulled out his shuriken only for the hunter-alien to whip its tail, knocking it out of his grasp. The tail whipped out again but he caught it this time, tugging it roughly to pull it to the side, forcing the monster off balance and into another electricity box which flared up as it crushed into it. While it was still finding its footing, Scar didn’t let up and ran to it, pummelling it with his fists while the hunter alien creature tried to swipe back at him.
“Hey! Hurry we need to go now, we’re out of time!” Lex turned to see all the survivors had made it into the helicopter and the blades were starting to spin as they prepared for take-off. Bullets flying to keep the other aliens at bay. She looked at the humans, they still held the door open of the helicopter for her to follow, all eyes watching her. She could run now are return to her old life. She would later feel bad for how long it took her to choose no matter how hard the choice was but she waved her good arm and yelled at him. “Just go, please just go!” She picked up and pointed her empty gun at them. “Go!”
She heard the woman protest by the blond man slammed the helicopter door closed and soon the vehicle was lifting up and flying away. “God speed.” She wished and tossed her gun to the side again.
She turned back in time to see as the larger monster swung its tail out, throwing Scar back, as she rolled across the pebbled roof his wrist gauntlet started to crackle and shoot off sparks. She watched as he stood up, all strength and ferocity as he pulled off the gauntlet, his weapons and his mask. Again, she wished with all her might she could help him, that they could fight the creature from both sides but all Lex could do was bite her lip and watch. To do anything else would be an insult. She looked upon his face and he roared out a challenge which the hunter-alien returned.
Scar charged at it first but the hunter-alien soon returned the action, they collided with a heavy crashed, Scar held the larger creature back for a moment but then slid back from its force crashing into more of the equipment covering the roof top. The hunter alien pinned him and there was a spray of green as it bit down into his shoulder but he grabbed it by the back of its head and slammed its head into a duct. They wrestled and the hunter-alien managed to turn them around, slamming Scar against the equipment and striking it’s tongue out again. Lex jolted with every strike but he managed to dodge them long enough to grab the tongue with both hands, pulling and wrenching at it until he ripped it from the monster’s mouth. He tossed it aside and gave a kick to its chest, sending it stumbling back and green blood spewed from its mouth. They both gave out great battles cries which built to a nightmarish chorus.
There was a sudden flash of green as the spear like tail impaled through Scar’s back and out his chest, Lex swore and scrambled up, she could bare for this to happen again. But Scar didn’t go down this time, he unleashed both his wrist blades and pressed it to the creature’s throat, pulling them outwards and decapitating its head from its body. The head rolled on the floor and the body too soon slumped over.
Lex ran towards him as she saw his hulking body rise up and down as he breathed hard, pulling the tail out of his torso before lifting the head of the hunter-alien, howling triumph to the pouring sky. He succeeded. Then he slumped forward on his hands and knees, glowing blood dripping on the corpse of his foe. She crashed down, dropping to her knees beside him again. She wouldn’t let him go alone this time and pressed her forehead to the side of his own as his heated breath fanned over her face. She held him waiting for the aliens to get them or the coming explosion.
For the second time, while she sat in the cold with Scar a light of a ship opened on her, she looked up, a hunter’s gun going off over her head. There was a low growl and so she grabbed Scar, yelling in his face. “Get up! Get up you big asshole. Please, come on!” She grabbed his arm and tugged until he roared at her and stood up. The older hunter grabbed him by the back of his armour, dragging him forward as Scar snatched up his prize of the hunter-alien head.
They shambled onto the ship, Scar practically being tossed in before the hunter went to the controls and they were off at incredible speed. Lex went to the small window at the top of the door, watching as the town rapidly grew smaller behind them until a sudden bright light took over where it had been. Her fist hit the window and she cried out in frustration and anguish. She mourned the loss of life but she also hated herself for agreeing that those serpents couldn’t be allowed to spread. She didn’t know if she could have thought of another way to deal with that town.
She felt him behind her, the heavy rise and fall of his chest. She winced as Scar pulled away the alien head so he could grip her injured arm. “Okay… okay.” This wasn’t her first dislocation and she took a deep breath knowing the pain to come. She swore a few unsavoury words as strong hands popped the joint back into place. A few tears ran down her face from the pain but she looked to the fading light of the decimated town and the tears kept flowing. She hoped that at least that stupid ragtag group of people had managed to escape but God, there had been a whole town just killed off in a night. But again, she was one of the scares few survivors.
“I… I thought I could help them… I just…” She had started but the hunter pressed against her had been slowly putting more weight on her and soon stumbled against her. Lex grabbed onto his arm and as heavy as he was, took what she could and helped move him. “Scar… come on stay with me. I’m not letting you die on me again.” She brought him to the shelf like bed on the wall of the ship, making him sit as she rifled through his belt and grabbed the medical kit again. She found it and searched it for the staple device. “Scar, this better wake you up’ He had been wavering unsteadily, she was sure he had lost so much blood from their first fight that this could be fatal to him. “Stay with me.” She repeated, pinching the flesh in the device and stapling the wound. He jolted and there was an upset grumble and that worried her compared to the first time he had roared. She got the other side just before he started to slip. “Hey, I got you… I got you.” She tried to slow his fall to the side and helped him lay properly on the bed. His eyes closed but this time his chest kept moving so she just brushed the dreads from his face. “You won.” She murmured to him and traced her fingertips over the brand on his forehead.
She was holding on by a thread when the older hunter got her attention, growling loudly and beckoning her closer when she looked up. She wiped her cheeks and looked at the console of this ship, a holographic display of planet hovered above the console. He reached out with a finger and made the planet spin lazily with his finger. “Home?” he asked. She took a moment. She thought of her flat, her possessions, she thought of the Weyland corporation and the survivors connecting her to two disasters now. She thought of Scar, looking back at his rough breathing and feeling the mark on her cheek, making her one of them.
Instead of looking at the hologram of Earth she looked at the massive Spaceship hanging in orbit around it and pointed at that instead. There was a rough snort from the hunter but he nodded all the same and took the controls of the ship. The ship was filled with interesting devices, weapons, specimens and skulls unlike she had ever seen before but Lex ignored it all and walked back to her friend, fatigue hitting her and the dull ache of her body making themselves known. She crawled onto the bed next to her unconscious friend, curling up with her back against his side. She let herself breakdown then, she cried, one hand curled on his bicep as his arm lay stretched dropping off the bed. She cried for her old life, for her team that she lost, a town of strangers she couldn’t save and now the life she was leaving behind.
She cried until her body gave out, watching teary-eyed out the small window, seeing the colours change from the blues of the atmosphere to the dark void of space. She didn’t know if this was the right choice but she had lost everything except this connection to Scar and his species so she would take her chances among the stars.
She closed her eyes and let the darkness of the void take her. She would be somewhere very different when she woke up, for better or for worse.
Notes:
Okay I also want to note, why did the pred-alien only go after preggo women when like... it was putting the eggs into their stomachs still?
Did they not know their basic anatomy? It should be going after everyone and the original alien movies made it a point to use the fear of assault and forced carrying in men so it was a bad choice to make it a threat to only women again in avp 2.It should have gone after everyone and i will die on this hill.
Also there was a game based on avp 2 and in it, Wolf does live!
Chapter 4
Summary:
Lex has her first introduction to life on the mother ship
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The first thing she noticed was the heat. She was held down by the weariness of her body but could almost imagine this to be the familiar scenario of having back to a mountain lodge and falling asleep under the heater after a long trek. But her mind wasn’t as kind to allow her to forget what had recently transpired. She tried to get some more rest but her dreams had teeth.
She opened her eyes and saw a large window, darkness and stars stretching out in the distance, slowly moving by. But this wasn’t the small ship which she had been with the larger hunter. She turned her head and saw Scar, he was lying on something like a table, the surface of which was lit up with an opaque white light. With a quick glance down she saw she was on the same type of table, her outer clothes removed and folded up in the corner. Well, that’s disturbing. There were a few items littered on Scar’s table around him, including a bowl filled with a blue-coloured substance that seemed to have been plastered over his wounds. His chest was moving, he was alive. She let out a rough exhale and relaxed slightly.
It was then that she noticed they weren’t the only two in the room. The older hunter they had fought with, stood next to the hunter leader she had met before. She recognised him as being the one who had given her the spear that night. They were watching the motions of a hologram coming from the wrist gauntlet of the fighter. It was backwards from her perspective so it took her a moment to see that it was them. She saw herself catching Scar at the elevator, him crawling up and stalking after the hunter-alien. They watched the fight, her warning them of the bomb, speeding up to the end of the fight with Scar winning and then when she pointed her gun at the survivors before going back to Scar. They paused on that scene.
They had recorded all of it. She shouldn’t be surprised. they all must, seeing how Scar had so many recordings of her voice.
They spoke in clicks and growls as well as the occasional hand gesture but Lex couldn’t follow along. She instead looked at them properly, the two weren’t wearing masks, the hunter she had fought with had seen many battles, heavy scaring covered the side of his face and he was even missing his upper left mandible. It reminded her of the older predators she had seen out in nature, the ones that look after the newer pups. Like a big scrappy wolf. One whose single good eye moved up to meet her gaze. Both now looked at her and so she slowly sat up.
Lex was feeling remarkably better than she had before, still tired but as she twisted to look over her shoulder, she saw most of the burns had faded to just soft red patches aside from two silvery scars where the worse had been. Overall it still had healed much further than it naturally ever could. The green blood was still dried over her skin and she managed not to let any nausea she felt about that show with the hunters watching her. With further inspection, she also saw the arm she had dislocated had lost its swelling and only had some light bruising and her throat no longer hurt.
Barely looking away from the two she started to grab her clothes, managing to get her shirt on as the two hunters started moving. She slipped off the table and grabbed her pants but the Wolf hunter came right up to her. She felt awkward as he glanced over her and she was ready to dart away if he tried anything but he only placed his heavy hand on her shoulder. “I will have interest in... if you are dead or not... when I next return.” That was fairly ominous and hearing their growly voices speaking her language was very off-putting. She didn’t know how to respond to that so she gave a nod. He returned the gesture and then turned away, pausing only to give a bow to the hunter leader who stood patiently by the window before he left.
She finished dressing and with a glance back at Scar slowly approached the hunter leader, staying a good distance away from him still. She was nervous and she knew that this species had a lot of social behaviours which she didn’t fully understand yet. He seemed to be waiting her out so she finally asked. “So… what is going to happen to me?”
He watched her through the reflection of the window for a moment before he turned and she saw he was holding the spear again, slightly duller now and the length showing signs of acid damage but still whole and fierce. “Than-guan.” His voice rumbled deep and gravelled. “This is the clan you are now the blood of, you will hunt with your brethren, you either prove there is worth in your Ooman cunning-” The spear collapses in his hand and again he returns it to her but doesn’t let go straight away as she takes it, making her shyly look up at him. “-or you die for the hunt.”He walked past her and glanced at Scar for a moment. “The blood of my blood. While the youngest of his brothers, they perished while he brought down both a queen at his chiva and now the abomination while suffering from his injuries.” He turned away. “He was smarter than them, and he then chose to bestow you with our honours. Our lives and actions are dedicated to honour and the bettering of the clan. Once he wakens, he has responsibility for your training and teaching you our ways. Do not disappoint the clan, Ooman… however, do not forget I, Clan Leader, have acknowledged your place among us. For now.
He stared at her and she hesitantly copied the bow she had seen Wolf do, hitting her hand to her chest and bowing her head. “Thank you, clan leader.” She said, terrified that at any moment she would make the wrong move and he would change his mind about her but he just chuckled.
“May Paya watch over you, Ooman. You will need it.”
He left the room, leaving her in the silence of her choices. She made her way back over to Scar, there was no way she was going to move around the ship by herself. She hopped up on the table, sitting next to him and watching the stars pass. “Well, Toto… we’re not in Kansas anymore.” She spoke to the unconscious figure next to her. She didn’t know how long she stayed sitting there transfixed by the expanse before her but she was a little numb by the time she heard a rough groan. She looked back at Scar, small eyes lazily opening. “Morning, Starlight.” She said only for him to jolt awake, grabbing her and pressing her down on the table half atop her. “Scar, wait, it’s just me!”
He looked at her, head tilting before he looked around the room and out the window himself before back at her. She could see the cogs turning. He gave a huff which she was sure she could translate to an intrigued ‘huh’. She patted his arm which was still pinning her down and he let her go, sitting up. “So… disappointed you haven’t got rid of me yet?” She asked as she sat up too but he snorted and again, he placed his hand on the back of her neck and brought her in so they could touch foreheads. “Good… because the clan leader said you need to look after me so try not to get impaled again for at least a few days.” With an ugly snort, he pushed her back down against the table, though much gently this time so she couldn’t help but laugh.
---
She watched as Scar redressed in his armour chest pieces which had been removed by whoever had treated his wounds. Why the state of their healing must be very advanced there was still a mess of green and abused flesh at the centre of his chest and now littered over his body. “You really are living up to your name.” She commented. He made a clicking sound in return and she wondered if she might be able to learn what some of it meant and maybe Scar too could learn some English seeing as it was possible for his species.
“So, the Clan leader told me you were his blood… is he your grandfather or something?” She couldn’t help but ask. He made a motion with his hand which she was sure was a ‘Something like that.' gesture.
“Did you know they would accept me when you marked me or… well I guess I want to ask… why did you mark me? I got the impression it’s not something a hunter at your level could normally do.” This was a big question and she also knew he didn’t have his mask to fully be able to answer. She was about to wave off the question and tell him it didn’t matter when he walked up to her. He put his fisted hand to his chest and then upright. ‘You thought I was brave?” he nodded and then gestured to the spear. “I killed those monsters at your peoples' ceremony with your weapons.”
She looked at the floor for a moment, getting lost in thought when she felt his textured fingers stroke over the mark on her cheek. She looked up at his yellow eyes. “Do you think I can do this?” This time he held his fist up and gave a low roar. She might not share that belief yet but she was glad she had someone in her corner.
He finished getting himself ready then and Lex pulled on her shoes, the floor of the ship while metal was pretty warm, and the general heat was pretty high which she knew would take some getting used to, she liked cold climates more but with the reptilian-like features the hunters it did make sense they’d prefer it to be warm.
When she had properly gotten up, she saw, resting side by side on a hovering trolly was the two prizes they both had won. The hollowed-out alien head for her and the hunter-alien head which was a little banged up and creating a puddle of blood under it. Holding it again she could only think of Gunnison, all the destruction she had left behind. Scar took up his head, holding it roughly by the half-cut-off dreads and he encouraged her to take her own prise.
With a nudge to her arm, he escorted her through the ship. There wasn’t much variation in room design from what she could see. All dark metals, light panels, many of which seemed to be on the floor and shining up instead of ceiling down-lights. At the start and end of the hallways seemed to be alien lettering built into the wall in red lights, she assumed they were the signs for where this was in the ship not that she could understand it. But still she might be able to get markers so she wouldn’t get lost, because she could see as they continued to walk that she really would get lost. The ship was massive. She remembered seeing it from the outside back in the Arctic and how many hunters had stepped out. It was a whole civilization within here.
Because it had such a high population, it wasn’t long before they started running into hunters, many who would pause what they had been doing or saying to look at them. She didn’t know how many had known she had been taken aboard but so far none looked too glad to see a human. Still Scar walked proudly, head held high and slowing his pace so they stayed walking side-by-side. Scar was big, very much bulkier than many of the hunters but he absolutely wasn’t the tallest so in comparison they all towered over her. She hadn’t felt so small in her life. At first, she wanted to shy away from the looks she was getting but the clan leader had told her she had been acknowledged. If she wanted to survive here, she would need to stand her ground and show that she belonged. So, she kept her head held high alongside her friend, brushed her hair away from her marked cheek and tucked the cursed alien head casually under her arm.
Scar would occasionally stop, pointing out different rooms. He would identify the locations by repeating hands signs and she did her best to try and memorise them. She saw a placed where they seemed to make weapons and armour. Different blades, shuriken’s, war hammers and whips lined the walls as well as many other weapons she didn’t know. She eyed a line of the mask they wore with varying patterns a little early.
Nearby was the entrance to a very large hall which seemed to be where the most activity was, a training area, she could see many hunters sparring, practising weapons, generally working out, but in the centre of the hall was a large platform, some metallic structure build right atop it. For now, it was empty but she could see even from here dried green bloodstain splotches covering it.
There was also a mess hall which held long rows of tables and benches that looked like they were the sleek ergonomic type she had seen in magazines. She spied what some were eating, it looked like a lot of it was raw meat, as if the hunters didn’t look intimidating enough without pulling muscle tendons apart in their sharp teeth and swallowing chunks whole. She was concerned about that but she did see some also had bowls of a type of cooked stew which they would slurp right from the bowl, tilting their heads back in long gulps. She was glad she hadn't come here as a vegetarian.
She spied hunters which were serving the other, carrying around boards of meat, jugs with think opaque milky-cherry colour and larger pots of the stew to fill up the others. They seemed frailer, keeping their eyes down around the feasting hunters, she saw one looking at her and when they saw the scar on her cheek their eyes darted down in almost a flinch. She made a mental note to ask Scar about them later.
While this still only seemed to be a quarter of the ship, he led her down some ramps to a lower deck. This part made her more uneasy, many hunters were down here too but that was because it seemed to be the communal living area. The walls were lined with shelving and wicker type baskets which she could see had fabrics, weapons and maybe a few skulls in them, majority of the hunters here had shorter dreads and no markings. They were laying on or sitting on blankets placed against the walls, talking around lamp heaters, sleeping, polishing a great variety of weapons and bones.
One, luckily faced away from her was completely naked and yes majority of others were only in the bare minimum of clothing. She could hear the trills and low growls as she walked by and she had the uncomfortable notion she was expected to join them in sleeping and living here. She stayed even closer to Scar, who was currently looking at his newly replaced wrist gauntlet, a line of symbols displayed along it.
They kept walking and got to an area where the shelving on the walls had stopped and instead there were doors, many with symbols in red glowing above them. She realised there were numbers and Scar was finding one. “Do you have a room?” She asked trying not to sound too hopeful. His mandibles clicked and he trilled in a way that made her sure that he did and he was very pleased with that fact. She could see why.
They eventually found the right door and he pressed his hand to a scanner on the side and it opened up to them. It was spartan but serviceable, maybe the size of her old room in her apartment. The room was vastly empty but one of those wicker baskets sat in the centre of the room and after he placed the head in the centre of the display shelves started to unpack the box. The room was very newly acquired then, possibly even a reward for having completed the trial and killing the hunter-alien. She explored around, there was a little closet like space which seemed to be a type of en-suite with what looked very close to a toilet and a sink. Also, very good to know. On the side of the room was a desk and what looked to be a general work station, other than that there were a few places for storage and displaying armour and weapons and that was it.
The bed itself was pretty large, it actually had a type of mattress on it, a thin one but there all the same. Scar had spread out a whole bunch of pelts over it and she couldn’t help but bury her fingers into the longer furs. They were so soft and from a wide range of colours and textures. She didn’t have anything with here really, she ran away to join the hunters with only the clothes on her back, she didn’t know if she would have been able to ask to stop off at home anyway. God, she didn’t want to be out there. She placed the alien head on the desk not knowing what else to do with it and tried to sound casual as she spoke to the other.
“Hey, Scar?” He looked up from where he was polishing his armour. “Can I stay in your room, just for a little while, until they get used to me? ...Well, I guess it’s more until I get used to everyone but… if wouldn’t be any trouble…” he stood up and looked at her that amused purr coming from his chest, he rolled his hand in a sign for her to keep going with her attempt. "Please?" Lex sighed “Are you going to make me beg?”
It was a joke but it had been a human joke and for a moment he looked like he was actually considering it but instead he took her hand and pulled her along to a panel near the door. After punching in a few keys he pressed her hand to a scanner. It flashed red and he let her go. He had basically given her a key to his room. Scar sat back down and she followed him, just to gently touch his hand again. “Thank you.” He snorted and pulled away continuing to place his things in the best spot.
There was just a small cube space which so far just has some leathers which appeared to be under armour clothes and wraps so she pulled off her jeans and the jacket she had been way too hot in now anyway and placed them folded into that space. Her shoes with the socks tucked into them were pushed under the bed to keep out of the way. The bed was a little high up but she climbed up into it, going right to the wall so she would take up only a small amount of space. It felt too hot to even be under any of them but for modesty draped one over her hip. Bundling some of the fur up like a pillow, Lex rested her head, curing up on her side away from the dull lights of the room. “Good night, Scar.”
He purred back.
This would be a big adjustment and she didn’t know where this path would take her, or if she could even survive this lifestyle if she was being realistic but at least she wasn’t alone.
Notes:
I'm not addicted to the bed sharing trope, not at all~
Chapter 5
Notes:
did you know that Sanaa Lathan (Alexa Woods) voices Catwoman in the Harleyquinn animated show?
Keep that in mind~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex woke after something hit her back, the room was dark now aside from a few red lights which were inbuilt into the walls. She looked behind her and saw that at some point her friend had joined her in the bed. From what she could see, the room now properly displayed his trophies and equipment. She spied that even her alien head had been placed at the centre of an otherwise empty shelf. The indication that he saw this as the first of many trophies.
Lex gently rolled over to face her friend. She could see now that it was his hand that had hit her and was still resting against her side. While there wasn’t a huge amount of room on the bed there had certainly been enough for them to have space between them. Scar had ignored that and lay stretched out in the centre, arm and leg pressed against her. The whole ship had been warm, the rooms included but she remembered how the hunters outside still had space heaters. She guessed Scar was using her as one in his sleep.
She had only known about this species for a few days now, she had forced herself to rapidly adjust to the otherworldly in order to survive, but in this quiet moment, she really saw him as an alien. She watched how his mandibles would sometimes twitch in his sleep, he was ugly but he was kind of cute too. Out of all of the hunters she had met, she was still used to how he looked the most, and he was still pretty foreign to her. She was about to continue sleeping when there was a low reverb from his chest. She couldn’t help but coo at that, he purred in his sleep.
She hadn’t been very loud but it must have been enough to disturb him as she saw his chest move with a sharper inhale. She quickly closed her eyes so she wouldn’t be caught watching him. She figured since this was weird for her, it would be a little weird for him too. Suddenly having a roommate of a different species with no knowledge of each other’s customs and acceptable behaviours yet. Seeing them stare at you while sleeping wouldn’t be too comforting, especially since they started touching in their sleep. Though from what little she had seen of their culture so far, they were rather casually physical. All shoulder touches, forehead bumps and a lot of roughhousing. Maybe this was common. She didn’t know but she wouldn’t press her luck. She heard as he shifted around and sat up, his movement caused the lights to flick back on. There was a soft pressure as he touched the mark on her cheek. She could tell he was being very gentle and it only lasted a second and then he pulled away.
Like that, was that even was a significant action? She didn’t know but her skin tingled where he had caressed her. She let him go about his morning routine for a little while before she started stretching herself, acting as if she had only woken up now. “Morning, sunshine.” She murmured, the yawn she gave was in fact real. He gave a trill in response and yawns must be cross-species contagious as she watched his mandibles flared first before his mouth opened in a horrifying exposure of teeth and a blue forked tongue teased out. She didn’t know he had a tongue. Horrifying and cute was the general theme with him.
She managed to navigate the bathroom luckily without needing Scar’s help and finally was able to wipe away the last remains of the dried blood and muck off of her. She redressed in pants and put her bra back on under her shirt. Again, she regretted not even having her duffle bag with her. She’s going to have to get something else to wear eventually.
She stepped out and properly looked at her companion as he tired the leather cords of some type of mid-calf sandals. No armour and fishnets today, he was wearing a mix of cloth and furred leather. The cloth was wrapped around his midsection and was tucked between his legs and covered by a leather wraparound, so no anatomy lessons were being taught before breakfast. He had a harness on his chest which kept a skull and fur pauldron. A necklace of teeth hung over his chest and she was reminded of the teeth in her pocket. She might need to do something like that with them.
“Nice casual wear.” She first ignored the impulse to touch the skull but then she remembered how he had casually touched her mark so she ran her fingers over the ridges and bumps. He watched her closely but made that soft clicking purr so she was sure he was fine with it. “I’m assuming I’ll need to get my own skulls but you might need to help me get more clothes… food too would be nice.”
To Lex’s delight, they did head to the mess hall first before Scar officially started her training. Along the way, her friend tested her memory of the signing he had shown her of the different locations. She mostly remembered it. Similar to earth a lot of the hand’s signs were very direct in their descriptions, she hoped she was able to pick it up quickly and would occasionally gesture to things so Scar could teach her those as well.
When they entered the mess hall, she was still receiving looks from the others sitting there already but she ignored them, continuing to trade signs with Scar. When she sat down, the few growls around them were a little harder to completely brush off. Scar didn’t seem worried at all but he also sat very close to her. She didn’t think it was an unconscious choice but instead a very deliberate one. She belonged here, she needed to keep reminding herself that. She knew it, Scar knew it and the Clan leader knew it.
One of the servers came around, again not meeting their eyes but other than that seeming just to casually be serving them, placed a little tray which served as a plate in front of them and piled raw meat on it. She had told Scar as they had been walking here a human’s food preference and once, he was served said something to the server. He started digging into his own meal by the time the server came back with a bowl of stew for her.
It looked like it would be a long while until she ever had pancakes again. She was at least glad that it wasn’t all meat and there seemed to be some different root vegetables and something similar to savoury berries. The last thing she needed was scurvy in space. She picked up the bowl and had a small taste. “Not bad... no offence but I was kind of expecting the worst.” He chuckled as he gnawed on what looked like a foul's leg bone. That was more on the horrifying side but she could get used it that… someday. She ate slowly, only having a little bite of the solid ingredients just to give it time to see how her stomach reacted to it but she seemed fine and since she hadn’t eaten for a very long time, thoroughly enjoyed the hearty meal.
They had also been served a glass of that cherry-grey drink, Scar chugged half the glass in one go and she just took a small sip before coughing. “Jesus… is this alcohol?” he nodded and looked amused at her struggling. “A little strong to be having first thing.” Just because she was curious, she took another small sip, it was like a spicy mead whiskey but proofed at a level that could make you go blind if you weren’t careful. It warmed her up even more but gave her a very pleasant, light feeling in her chest. “Yeah, all yours.” She pushed her cup over to him.
Hands slammed onto the table and another hunter loomed down at her, she had flinched at first but looked at him, head-on, even as she shuffled even closer to Scar. This hunter either didn’t know English or just didn’t think she was worth speaking to in her own language. This hunter had more greenish skin tones and his dreads a pale dusty blue like she hasn’t seen on any of the others. Scar growled back and defended her against whatever insults and complaints this hunter had. She was just kind of sitting there and she hated that feeling so she took one more sip of that drink and stood up to even the height a little bit from where he was leaning down to talk to him. “Look, do you have a problem?”
There were trills and amused barks now from the other hunters sitting around as that got their attention. The new hunter, she was just going to call him Blue, flared out his mandibles as he growled at her, spitting some words that she just knew were insults. “Bold words from an ugly motherfucker like you. Now if you would excuse us, we're trying to enjoy our meal.” She hissed right back. When the leader had said that she had been acknowledged, she thought that was akin to protection. But the new hunter reared up for a strike.
The next thing she knew Scar stood up beside her, reaching for him across the table by the throat and pulling him. At first, she thought he was threatening him but after some clicked words, Scar let him go and Blue gave a nod. The mess hall cheered. “What did you do?” She hissed at him under the growing howls. He curled his two fists in front of him. The sign was pretty universal. ‘fight’.
---
They and a little group of other fighters made their way down to the massive training hall. Scar was still testing her signing memory while she was worrying over this fight. She wanted to ensure they didn’t think they could just push her around but she never intended to have a fight started. Let alone one of her friends was fighting for her. As she had worried, they went right to the platform that ran from the centre of the wall out toward the middle of the room. Lights shone down upon it, it was the one area that didn’t look to have been as regularly repaired and up-kept. Or maybe it was just used that often.
Blue climbed up onto the stage in a mountain of rage, spitting out more bitter growls and words. Scar was quieter and calmer, just before he went to climb up too, she touched his hand. She felt saying ‘be careful’ no matter her intentions will seem more like an insult to his ability so she settles with. “End it quick.” He seemed pleased with that and hauled himself up onto the arena. She couldn’t deny that she was a little curious to see how the hunters would do in a fight against each other. Others crowded around, cheering and growling so she made sure to find a good spot where she could watch and it might be useful to get an idea about how they flight before they officially start training. Blue was taller than Scar but from what she had been told, that didn’t count for much of an advantage on Blue’s end.
The two hunters settled on either end of the stage. Scar struck first, Blue stepped back dodging a few hits before surging forward and bringing a headbutt down against Scar. Her friend stumbled back a few steps but when Blue tried to take advantage of that, he grabbed his wrist and pulled him off balanced and he crashed into the stage. Blue hit the floor with a loud thump. When he recovered, he looked up at Scar growling and before Scar could move out of range struck out a kick to his knee. He didn’t break the joint but it looked like it hurt. Jumping to his feet Blue swung a few punches, some hit but some were blocked. Scar gave back as good as he got, countering a few strikes with his own. Blue threw a punch which over extended him just that little bit, but it was enough that Scar could move into his space and grab blue’s shoulders, keeping him still so he could knee up into his gut in a sickening blow.
He dragged Blue to the edge but the hunter recovered and elbowed Scar under the chin to break the hold. The two separated, again a few steps away eyeing each other down. Scar raised his hands and made a ‘come here’ motion taunting the other fighter, making him angry. Blue snapped his teeth and bolted for Scar who turned his stance and grounded himself. Before Blue could collide with him, he ducked slightly, using Blue’s momentum to catch him around the thigh and flipped him onto his shoulders and then tossed him off the stage.
The crowd watching cried out in celebration of his victory.
Lex clapped her hands slowly as Scar came towards her. “Well, my hero. That was amazing.” He seemed to preen at her words. Scar continued walking not looking back, she gave a glance back herself though. Blue was crouched on the floor, wiping some green from his mandible. He was watching them both with venom in his eyes, she didn’t think this would be the end of it. Scar brought her to another space in the hall, one which seemed to be a slightly lowered pit, marked out by glowing red light strips.
He pointed to his eyes and then to the stage. ‘Were you watching?’ she was sure he was asking.
“Yes, of course I was watching.” She couldn't have looked away.
He signed again ‘You, do that.’
“Oh… here I was thinking you would start with something difficult.”
He signed some more and after a little back and forth he had explained that this mark meant she could be challenged and have to fight there. The fights were until the opponent was thrown off stage or knocked unconscious but it was the one real condition where a hunter wouldn’t be punished from causing the death of another. Blue was going to be going after them both so she was going to need to prepare to take down big opponents without weapons, quickly. The clan was all about a structure hierarchy and you were only as good as your last hunt. Blue had done something wrong and he had planned to pick on the human to keep her lower but before he could challenge her Scar did it to him first. So she was going to have to learn how to wrestle with hunters.
Today, Scar was mainly testing what she could do. Now Lex prided herself in being strong for a woman her size. The work she did demanded her fitness but of course she had nowhere near the mass and power behind hit like the hunters had. Luckily, she did know enough that when you don’t have the strength, use your speed. While she knew Scar was telegraphing a lot of his strikes, lex was good at dodging or misdirecting the hit. He pushed her to start counter-striking as well.
They would occasionally have spectators watching them just to add to the pressure. Lex ended up sweaty and tired pretty quickly with the heat of the ship. She was more covered up than any of the hunters and they were the ones who were climatized to this temperature. She eventually had to remove her shirt and wiped the sweat from her brow. She didn’t even know it hunters did sweat but Scar looked fine.
They had a lunch break, which thankfully wasn’t interrupted, most seeming to not want to get challenged by Scar for now. After she was properly hydrated, they moved onto weapons training. Lex would be able to choose her main weapons eventually but she needed to know the basics for a majority of them so she was always prepared to handle whatever equipment she could find. This part was a little more fun, she was able to get her hands on a lot of technology and Scar basically let her go wild on some targets.
Scar started by showing her a few different types of spears, lances and throwing weapons but she looked idly long the weapons wrack and something else piqued her interest. “Oh… I want to try that.” She said, picking up a razor whip. Lex had seen Wolf using one of these and while it had more elements than a standard leather whip, she hoped it was able to be cracked by the same method. She had met very interesting people in her work, many farmers. One had shown her the basics of using a whip. Scar was happy to let her try and while some of the hunters watching her seemed to think she wouldn’t be able to used it she swung it up and it gave a loud crack and an electric pulse ran down its length, sizzling at the tip. “Wow.”
After all the stressful days she had she allowed herself just this moment to have fun and tear up some targets. The whip would wrap around the target, shock it and shaved off layers when the whip was pulled back. When she shredded the last one, she looked back at Scar who was standing a safe distance away but she could still hear him purr as he watched. “I like this.” Many hunters had a weapon they were known for specialising with and while the obvious would be her spear or the whip she didn’t want to make any final calls yet. But she ‘had some time’ to figure it out according to Scar. Which confirmed that she was in fact working up to something.
When she asked, all he said was “Hunt.”
Lex didn’t try his Shurikens when Scar offered, she would likely lose a hand trying to catch them but he did teach her techniques for throwing knives and spears. She didn’t have the best aim yet nor could she throw from the distances Scar could. She had to keep reminding herself this was her first day learning in the face of years, and Scar both had a lot of training and the strength her species did not. She had already proven herself now she just needed to expand her abilities.
---
They had spent the whole day training and she was a little sweat drenched which was intriguing for her friend who as she had guessed, didn’t have the capability to sweat. “So do you have any proper places to clean up?” She asked, threading her fingers through her hair and away from where it was sticking to her face. He nodded.
“Are you ever going to tell me these things before I have to ask for them?” He nodded again looking down at her with a schooled expression and no follow up. Lex chuckled and gave him a small nudge with her elbow. “You think you’re so funny but you’re really not. Not to humans and not to the other hunters I bet. Fine, where is it.” He pointed in a direction into the ship.
“I don’t know what I expected.” She sighed. “Fine, I’ll go get the whip and make you talk.” She threatened but he just trilled contentedly and roped her in around the waist to stop her going back for the weapon. She laughed as he physically pulled her along. He took her a little deeper into the ship, seemingly on the other side of the training hall. They came to a room which had some steam escaping from it. She peeked in with some surprise.
“You… have a in-ship bathhouse?”
There looked to be a large main pool in the centre of the room but around the room were partly walled off smaller, but still very big, baths which were currently emptied. The flooring was grated so any water dripped away to a drainage and large fans were removing some of the steam so it wasn’t too much more heated. The water itself was a have a milky quality to it but also a slight herbal smell so she guessed it was some type of cleaning or healing addition.
Scar brought them to a smaller one, pressing a few things at a control panel and the bath started to fill up. She looked at the control panel as he left. Wasn’t too hard to figure out this was volume and temperature. “Is the temperature going to be… you know, human safe?” She looked back as he gave an affirming grunt. “Oh, Jesus.” Looks like she was getting an anatomy lesson after all.
She didn’t know why she assumed they weren’t going to share since they hadn’t really separated for anything so far, and hunters didn’t seemed to care about personal space nor modesty. Scar had already undressed and stood back proudly waiting for the water to finished filling. Their bodies had seemed very humanoid so far, different skin yes and with some different muscle grouping from what she could tell but the general shape had been human. Between his legs however was another change, there was a full pouch with a curved horizontal slit. Would make sense in a way that they would keep a weak spot hidden but she hadn’t dared to let her mind wonder about how they looked and now that a hunter was naked and she still didn’t know it was all she could think about now.
There was a sharp bark and she looked up to see Scar looking at her with crossed arms. She had been caught staring. “Sorry!” She said turning away and looking at the wall instead. She heard him rumble a laugh before there was a splash as he probably entered the bath. Lex was a little mortified at both herself and this situation. She walked around the room and dropped the shirt she had peeled off way before into one of the pigeon holes. She glanced back, it was probably a lot to ask him not to look when she openly stared but he was dunking his head under the water so she used that time to undress quickly and hopped into the bath.
The water was predictably still very hot but after being tossed about like a rag-doll for half the day it did feel really nice. She ducked under too, rubbing the water over her scalp and then over her body before she swam to one of the walls which she saw had a little seating ledge under and sat down on that, leaning her head back and relaxing. Scar eventually joined her. She lifted a foot out of the water as she floated a little trying to keep most of her body under water, Scar copied her and she giggle. “Wait… can I see?” She asked shyly.
He gave her a pointed but amused look.
“I was sorry, I didn’t mean to stare I promise! Hey I am at least asking this time.” He snorted but lifted his foot and she swam over, holding his heel and actually seeing his toed claws, which included one on the inner side of his foot near his ankle. The toes themselves were fleshy and she gave the inner one a wiggle. They were more like paws than she expected. He made an offended noise at her playing and tried to yank his foot away but just ended up dragging her forward. She gave mercy on her poor hunter and let him go, swimming back to the seat.
He seemed hesitant for a moment but reached out with a questioning murmur towards her hair, stopping with his hand half way between them as he waited for an answer. She guessed it was only fair and pulled her hair over her shoulder before covering her breasts with her arm so she could move up higher. The water had caused her hair to curl a bit more and he twisted his fingers around a lock, rubbing his thumb over it to feel the strands. He seemed to be watching her for a reaction but she didn’t know which one exactly. He carefully took a handful, not pulling, just feeling it. “In a few months the treatment I used on it will fade and it will get really curly. Might just shave it then.” Scar made a surprised and kind of aggressive tone at that but managed not to tug her hair still.
“Keep.” He managed to say which made her feel like this was a bigger thing than she knew.
“Okay, relax, big guy.” She chuckled. He continued playing with her hair so she lifted her free hand to his dreads. “Can I?” He paused for a while before he tilted his head down for her. “You can tell me no.” he huffed and didn’t move away. She expected it to feel harder more like thick hair or like spike but it was smooth and rubbery as she ran a tendril between her fingers. She pushed her hand gently into the thick of it, and she saw Scar shudder. When she took a hold of two in her hand he sunk forward even more, the purr in his chest growing in power. “Should I be doing this?” she whispered. Scar shook his head and very slowly pulled back.
“You’ve been letting me get away with a lot, huh?” She let her hand fall from his dreads and sat on her knees, looking at him. “Scar… Thank you, for everything. For taking me in and for protecting me from… well everyone. You didn’t need to fight that hunter for me. But I promise I’ll be there for you too. I’ll learn to hunt, I’ll be fighting my own battles soon, and I’ll make sure I can use everything you teach me to allow me to keep fighting beside you.” Forgetting her shyness for a moment she put her hands on his shoulders and touched their foreheads. He nuzzled back against her for a moment before they both pulled away.
There was a heaviness in the air from that moment they shared and since they had a small room to go back to, she didn’t want it lingering so she changed her tone to a teasing one. “And that hunter didn’t measure up to you at all, you were so much stronger, and handsome and your dreads are more long and shiny than his-” He splashed her to get her to stop by she saw how he was steadfast, looking away from her and drawing himself smaller. “Okay now you need to tell me what it is about hair.” He grunted and swam away. She had chased him a little through the water but she wasn’t about to start a wrestling match when they were both wet and naked… maybe she was getting a little too heated in the bath.
---
They got dry and redressed, heading back to the mess hall. Blue still wasn’t at there at the same time they were so they ate their meal in a nice quiet. She managed to finish a glass of their alcohol with only a few moments of coughing. She felt good, it had been a long time since she had but as new and strange as it was being here, as much as she knew she would need to work to keep being her, she believed that she really could find a new life on this ship. At least for a little while. She was practically falling asleep at the table so Scar dragged her up. They both returned to the room, stripping down to barely anything and crawled into the bed together. She curled up on her side again but she could feel Scar again moved close enough that his arm was touching along her back. She found that she didn’t mind.
“Good night, star light.”
“Good night… Lex”
Notes:
More Yautja anatomy fun facts! One of the scrapped ideas (cos they were cowards) for AVP was that the predators would come out of suspended animation goo in their pods fully naked. Before they scrapped this idea they reached the point where they had lovingly sculpted a whole full body naked predator, thicc and juicy cock sheath and all. which to this day has been the closet cannon for Predadick that we have. So full balls, hidden cock.
Bless this movie, it worked so hard for us.Also if you have seen that Emerald Tree Boa yawn, that's what Scar's yawn was like
Chapter 6
Summary:
Dress for the job you want to have
Chapter Text
One of the more notable things she had learned in the early days on the ship was that there were actually female Yautja. She hadn’t wanted to question it before, she had originally thought maybe they were a single sexed species, seeing as they were somewhat reptilian. Or maybe they just didn’t have noticeable sexual dimorphism but she had been so wrong about the latter point. Her poking about her lack of suitable clothes while being on the ship finally worked on Scar and he took her on another field trip through the halls and walkways she hadn’t explored yet. The pair ended up at another training room however this one held the unblooded Yautja who had yet to take on the trial. They were somewhat closer to her height which was refreshing to be around, and had very short tendrils on the backs of their heads. They seemed more inquisitive than outright aggressive that a human had become blooded before them.
“Are there any recordings of what you looked like when you were young?” Lex couldn’t help but ask her friend. “I bet you looked adorable.”
“No.”
“That sounded like a lie.” She teased. They approached a group that seemed to be taking turns sparring with combisticks, and not even dull ones from what she could see. Now Lex had thought she had seen everything or close enough, to all that this species had to show but then the hunter who was training the unblooded stood up from where they had been crouching to speak to them and Lex stopped in her tracks. They were one of the largest Yautja she had seen on the ship by far, very muscled and just with slightly wider hips and her chest wrapped up like the males didn’t bother with. Her dreads were longer too and partly tied up in leather cords with bones decorating throughout the tendrils. She had a few marks of battle on her skin and a row of skulls strung along her waist but she seemed to be teaching the young now.
She barked orders and the young Yautja ran off so the two could approach her. Scar talked to her in their own language as Lex just looked up both impressed and intimidated. Behind her, she could see there were a few other Hunter women, all seemingly very large, a few of them also having something wrapped against them. She had to watch for a while before she could see they were actually carrying babies swaddles against their chests. This was a lot to take in.
She was pulled from her watching as Scar put his hand on her back and pushed her forward under the Yautja woman’s gaze. She assessed Lex before giving Scar a nod and then a dismissive gesture. Scar squeezed her shoulder and then started walking away in compliance. “Wait Scar-” he looked back only to indicate for her to stay before continuing to leave. The Yautja woman in front of her just rumbled something and two others of the females joined her and started heading off. Not knowing what else to do Lex followed the three as the rest of the women filled in and continued training the young unblooded.
This was the first time she and Scar had separated and she suddenly felt a little lost without him. She was well aware by now that she could get away with the few slips in social etiquette being protected by him, more than what would normally be allowed had she been alone. She was worried to be in a new place with new people without anything to fall back on.
They all travelled down to a lower section of the ship, this one seemed to hold many rooms which dealt with the building and repairing different things on the ship. She saw a smelting room for making weapons, one with a worker fixing wrist gauntlets, and another with someone putting together medical kits. The room they entered looked to deal with textiles and weaving. They caught the attention of the worker in the room and after a brief conversation, she was placed on a small platform that scanned her. Lex hoped that one day she would fully be able to understand what was happening to her at any given time.
A little 3D hologram of her body shape appeared on a work table and the worker started pulling fabric and showed them to Lex. She gently touched the navy-coloured fabric and the larger Yautja woman nodded and she saw as the worker spread out that material and suddenly red laser lights appeared over the fabric, a slight smoulder lifted from the lights as the laser cut the fabric and the worker began actually making her new clothes. “Oh, thank you.” She told the worker who looked up at her with a nod but did not meet her eyes before hunching back over to hand sew fabric together.
Lex had been content to just watch them work but she was taken by her arm and pushed down on a seat, suddenly her hair was being tugged at. “What are you-” she started a little defensively before the strand of hair was pulled in front of her face and she saw that she was braiding Lex’s hair. She considered protesting but it would make her hair more manageable and if she was going to fully become one of them might as well go all the way. “Okay.” She then thought about all the decorations that the others had in their hair and reached into her pocket. “Actually, one other thing I need to have something done with.” She said as she fished out the alien teeth, one of the other women came over and took them all, looking them over before nodding and going off to find something in the room. She just trusted that they knew what to do with them.
The women spoke to each other, occasionally even signing to her, just basic questions about what she had hunted, if she had children, if any of the males had done anything disrespectful. She spoke and signed back as much as she could, she found she actually enjoyed being around them, it almost reminded her of some family gathers spent with her aunties when she had been younger. If only more aggressive and the topics included the most impressive kills each had made.
She ended up with a baby in her arms at one point as the mother started wrapping a thin cord around each of the alien teeth Lex had given over before soldering it together to keep the cord in place. The baby was heavy so she was glad to just be holding it in her lap, the tendrils on its head and the tusks at the end of its mandibles were only just little nubs but its claws were already sharp as she found out as the child blinked up at her in confusion and grabbed at her face, probably from her lack of mandibles. She asked how old it was and was surprised when she was told it was only a few days old. It fell asleep soon, probably because she was warm. Her arms ached from holding it but she tried not to shift much and accidentally wake it.
They told stories of their homeworld which she had to half guess at since she was still learning their version of signing. Still, it was nice to learn and be involved in the parts of the culture which wasn’t just death.
A small pile of fabric and cut cloth was piled by her not too long into the process but they stayed where they were braiding her hair for a few hours. The women would take turns with her hair and one eventually pulled out a bottle of alcohol for them to share. The baby was taken back and she got to play with her new necklace of teeth. They prompted her to tell them about that so encouraged by the strong drink she told them the full story about her time in the pyramid and then at Gunnison, the first time she really had been able to talk about it. But the trauma part was ignored for the celebration of them taking down the queen and her choice to protect the fight with Scar and the abomination. They spoke a lot about Scar after that, and the impressive feat he had done since he was both young and smaller. She talked up his battles a little bit, as you would for your friends.
Once they finished her hair they showed her -in an overly touchy way- how to wrap and properly wear the clothes they had made. Her chest was wrapped with a strap over one shoulder where she would eventually get a plasma caster, the hunter's gun. Her midsection was exposed but similarly, she had more fabric wrapped around her waist which was wrapped down into underwear that was covered by a mid-thigh skirt that had two slits which exposed the front of her thighs. It was light and a blessing in the heat of the ship though she wasn’t used to exposing this much skin. The final touches added were some metal forearm cuffs and the necklace is wrapped around a section of her hair to hold it together.
She only got to see herself in the reflection of some polished metal used on the ship but she really seemed to fit the look of a hunter now. She thanked the women and walked with them back to the training room for the unblooded before she went by herself in search of Scar. She found him in their normal training room, he obviously hadn’t been idle either, she had to recognise him by his new mask which luckily looked like an exact replica of his old one which had been lost in the explosion.
He seemed to be adjusting the mask’s setting, having shot a few targets and then typing on his wrist gauntlet. Maybe it was the feeling this look gave her, maybe it was the alcohol in her system but she crouched a little and crept up closer to Scar. Stalking him down before running up to him and jumping onto his back, arms loosely around his neck. He had started turning but she still got onto him before he could even try and stop her. The little roar he gave showed that he had actually been surprised and she had succeeded in her ambush. “Got'ch, ya. Now, aren’t you lucky I’m on your side? If this was a real attack, I could have the whole bed to myself.” Okay, She blamed the alcohol specifically for how that sounded.
He snorted and the gun flipped up and back in her direction. “Cheating.” She slipped off him and then stood with her arms lifted. “So how do I look? As intimidating as you I hope?” She gave her best growl, showing some teeth as she did. Scar gave a growl in return as he started circling her, she couldn’t see his eyes but his mask at least moved enough for her to know he was looking her up and down.
“Do I look good? I mean… not like that but does it… suit me?”
“Good.” he purred.
She grinned and when he stopped inspecting her, stepped closer, tapping her finger nail against the metal mouth of the mask. “You too, I first met you with this face. Not that I don’t like how you look without it as well but… you know what I mean.” Okay she needed to stop, everything was sounding just a little bit off and she couldn’t tell if Scar was noticing.
They were just looking at each other for a moment before she cleared her throat and stepped back. “So, am I going to get a mask as well one day?”
“Soon… first hunt.” Scar beckoned her to a sparing arena again to see how she moved now that she was less restricted by her human clothes. Though she might be a little less calculated from the alcohol but they were having more fun with this fight. He removed the gun and mask from himself and they squared up.
As the days had passed Scar had never let up with how they sparred, he was rough, he didn’t shy away from bruising her and in returned would tell her off every time she would pull a punch or not take an opportunity to attack because she was worried of actually hurting him. But they would often slip into more playful ribbing, if Scar ever wore the heated netting her goal would be to get in close enough to snap the bands against his skin. Scar in turn would randomly change his tactics and pick her up and then hold her with one hand on her stomach above him and just watch as she tried to attack and get down him without falling
Lex was feeling bolder today, at both making daring moves and more importantly trying something that might fail. Scar was a good teacher with just explaining and letting her try moves again or in different ways. Back on Earth she didn’t really do much fighting but she was a woman who travelled alone to far off lands so she did have the necessary self-defence tactics with how to get out of holds. She bided her time waiting for Scar to try and grab her again before she grabbed his arm, pivoted on her feet to get her back to him so she could pull him over her and slammed him into the floor. It had been hell on her shoulders but in that moment, she didn’t know who looked more shocked him or her.
They both froze but she recovered quicker and while laughing straddled his chest to pin his arms down with her knees. He didn’t even try and get out of it so she put her hands in the air and roared in a less frightening mimicry of his victory cry over the abomination. A few others who had been watching joined her, obviously more at Scar’s expense than true support for her but it did still make her happy. She looked down at him, both still panting, Lex grinning as her braids hung down her face as Scar just stared at her. “I win.” She had been close to him before but why did he smell so nice now, it was something warm and earthy. She breathed it in but Scar must have noticed she was distracted and flared his mandibles with a growl which made her jolt back, just enough that he could push her off balance and flip them so now he was on top of her. “Damn it.”
“Good. Again.” He said and Lex groaned but accepted his hand to help her up and they began to circle each other again.
By the end of the day she could tell the lighter material she now wore did help a lot both with letting her move freely and with helping her cope with the ship’s higher temperature. But it did have the draw back that when Scar would grab her to redirect her hits or when pinning her to the floor, she could feel his hands over her skin and they were distracting in a way she couldn’t really decipher.
When they finished training and eventually made their way back to bed, tired and fed, Scar watched her, fingers tapping in the space between them. “Yeah okay, you can touch.” She said already guessing what he was thinking. He as hesitant about it but reached for her braids, running his fingers through them. “Actually, can you take the teeth out for me, I don’t want to stab myself in my sleep.” He looked at her like she suggested something shocking but still did as she asked, purring the whole time.
---
They continued for a while longer in the same patterns of constant training, day after day but she would sneak in some time to go to the Yautja women and learn a little more about their lives in the home world. Scar even started telling her more about their main Gods and the hierarchy of their people and where she fit within it.
There had been a memo passed through the ship that they were in fact returning to Yautja prime soon. This was when Scar brought her to a room she had only glanced out before. It was a kind of mapping and information selection room. Scar placed his mask onto a wired pedestal, plugging two cords into it. After typing on his wrist, a holographic image of a planet rose from a panel.
“Is this your home world?” She asked.
“No.” another planet grew beside it, much larger than the other, Scar pointed at that one. “Yautja prime”
“So what is this place?”
“Hunting world.” Which was a new term, she got in close to inspect it.
Some information came up on a specific location and among the data she saw the high levels of radioactivity. “I can’t go to this place in your home world, can I? And I’m guessing I wouldn’t be going to this specific area just for some sightseeing. What do I need from here?”
The planets disappeared and a new image of a creature appeared, it looked almost like a spiked praying mantis, every much an insectoid but much, much larger and armour plated. “Quatza-Rij. You survive hunting world… you hunt.”
“Ah so they are getting one of these creatures from your home world for me to hunt where I won’t be dying from radiation sickness. Thats is nice of the clan.” He gave her a disapproving look for speaking about the clan so lightly and she lifted her hands in an appeasing gesture. She studied the creature a little more, turning the holographic image of it. “Once I kill this, I earn a mask like yours?”
“Your own, yes.” And that would be a massive increase to he ability to measure up to the other hunters.
She bit her lip as she considered the prospects before her. It was a little daunting to be going out in search of a target to bring down. All her current kills had been her surviving in a situation she couldn’t control. Now she had to search out the violence. Not only that but while she was still a bit of an outsider they respected her for what she had been able to do, how many aliens she had killed. She would lose all respect from that if she didn’t do this right. “Will you be coming with me or am I doing this alone?”
“Not alone.” She let out a deep breath of relief which was a bit premature. “Not with me.”
“But… why not?”
Scar started to explain to her what this creature meant to their culture. It was usually one of the first trials given to the unblooded, they are would be in a team of three and an elder to track down and take down the Quatza-Rij with a concentration on team work. Through this they gain the rights to use their bio-masks, join one of the Clans ships and begin trials to become blooded.
She had already proven herself as a fighter and become blooded so she would be fighting alongside two others, each with their own targets being placed in the hunting planet but they will need to still ensure they work together. When Lex pointed out how she had shown how she worked well with Scar and Wolf, the other was quiet for a moment before explaining that the leader wished to see if she was loyal to and ready to fight with the clan, not Scar, and him alone. “Oh, yeah I guess that makes sense.” The lived together, trained together, she had been ready to die with him in Gunnison. She had only just started interacting with more of the other hunters. Though by the sounds of it the leader was also making sure the other hunters also took her seriously as part of the pack and not just a human who was around them.
“Okay.” She said, new determination growing to do this right and continue rising in the ranks. “How do I kill the Quatza-Rij?”
Chapter 7
Summary:
Cuddles and Conflict
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The days continued and they were now training with a new sense of motivation. Lex didn’t think she had been this driven on improving her fitness and ability since she trained to be the youngest climber up Everest without oxygen. She didn’t have long until they approached their destination so she had to make sure she was fully prepared to fight this new creature.
Since she arrived Lex had made way in having an understanding of how to use the weapons, and how to fight, now she needed to learn how to plan and strategize. Despite the alien’s being at a higher physical level of strength and general ability than humans, they still favoured ambush hunting as well as divide and conquer methods. These methods would be good for her, and Scar furthered that with trying to find ways she could make use of her specific array of skills. She was smaller, quicker and she had a lot of experience with difficult terrain and so Scar showed her the environments of the hunting world.
They had different sections of jungle, rocky outcrops and dense shrub lands. Her target is known for hiding in cave systems and will likely head for the outcrops where it will have a lot of places to hide, but so will she. They went over different plans for her when she found it, climbing to get better vantage points or attacking from above seeming to be her best bet. But she would have better chances to sneak around as well as the fact the creature will know the scent of the Yautja, but definitely not that of a human. She will have that advantage with most of these creatures.
She didn’t know what the others would be pursuing so she also had to be ready to play support in any way she could. Scar warned her about two things when with other hunters. If a hunter was struggling in a one-on-one fight with prey and another hunter came and killed it, that is considered a great dishonour that they needed help. The other was that large main targets could be attacked by the others but who’s prey it was needed to be the one to make the killing blow and there was more honour in doing most of the fight yourself. So she needed to watch for any kindness she showed and how the others aided her. There was a fine line between team work and them expressing that she wasn't trusted. These hunts were sacred to them. She didn’t fully understand it but she respected the rules and would make sure she wouldn’t break any of them. She would do this right.
The ‘honour code’ itself had a few policies and they were straight forward but rather brutal. Everything from when she needed to use less weapons, when you could take kills and trophies and even what creatures you could hunt for food. When you needed to give up your life for the honour, what happens when you don’t or if you break the rules. She felt like she was back studying at university some nights as her and Scar sat cross legged in front of each other signing and going over different rules.
The reason Scar wouldn’t be coming along is that he would be with the party finding and capturing the Quatza-Rij on a trip to their home world. She and her chosen team members would be dropped in first and she would need to keep an eye out for when her prey would be dropped in within a day or two later. But they had time seeing as there were three hunts underway, she might be down there for a week or even longer. That timeline didn’t help her nerves at all. Even more so that Scar would be off at home world, so far away from her.
Lex thought organising the hunt seemed to be a lot of effort at first but Scar explained that they often did this practise. It was the purpose of hunting worlds to have a collection of many dangerous prey and once she had her mask and plasma caster she will be high enough in the ranking to be in the teams which captured creatures. Creatures which included the serpent queens like the one they had fought before.
He said the Clan had only a few planets which they had exclusive hunting rights over which included Earth. But Earth was the only one with what they considered intelligent life and human to them were considered high level and dangerous prey for only higher ranked hunters. Humans were smaller and weaker but renowned for their craftiness and destructive nature. Scar signed that like it was a compliment, going on about how the previous clan who hunted on Earth had lost a good few hunters to human prey and how the Than-guan clan gained rights to it after a battle.
That news was a bit much for her, just how often Yautja had been on Earth, that humans were part of a territory which could be won, that it was on the clan’s right to send her back to Earth for hunts.
She stopped that lesson early just to digest everything. Lex didn’t think she had the capability to deal with it all right now. One issue at a time.
---
It was a few nights before her hunt began when Lex received a visit from Mother-blood, the eldest of the Yautja women and the one who had provided for her that day. Again, she just said something to Scar and he obediently stepped back to let her take Lex along. She and the two younger females who worked directly under her, Carver and Ha'sall, had another gift for her, body netting and some hardier armour which was sized for a human. They laughed as she tried to put the netting on and kept getting her toes caught in the gaps but she just laughed along. She wouldn’t turn on the heat setting on them while in the ship since she was hot enough already but it did mean she could also now use the camouflage that the others had.
Carver of course suggested how to test it, she distracted Scar so Lex could once again sneak up and surprise attack him. Amazingly Scar seemed very intimidated by mother-blood, actually most of the hunters were. She didn’t have a crowd of jeering voyeurs when the older woman had her practise with Scar going in and out of camouflage during a fight. Scar himself was very respectful to her and any cheekiness he usually showed when they sparred was gone. It was very humorous to see but Lex too made sure she was on her best behaviour.
From then on too, Mother-blood would steal her away and she started to help with the training of the youngblood. A lot of this culture was finding ways to improve the next generations, to help them survive longer and take down more complex prey. It would be part of her duties now to contribute what she knew. Her skills and fighting styles were going to be added into the mix, it was odd thinking that her showing off her way of taking down Scar might outlive her onboard this ship.
This might be her legacy of being the human who could hunt with predators.
---
The day of her proper hunt finally came upon her. She had been staring at the ceiling feeling her rapidly beating heart in her chest.
“I can’t sleep.” Lex said, rolling to face Scar, he scrunched up his face, obviously having managed to fall asleep himself before she spoke. He opened his eyes and made an inquisitive trill. “What if I fail? What if after everything, all the training all the expectation, I just lose. They all expect I can do this, Mother-blood, the Clan leader… you. What if I’m too… human.”
“Brave. You survive… you hunt… return.” He murmured sleepily, voice sounding like gravel just from sleep, more rumble than words.
“But what if I can’t?” She stressed.
Scar grunted and his eyes slipped shut again, for a second she thought he was just brushing off her worries but then his arm wrapped around her, pulling her against his chest. She made a little surprised squeak as Scar curled around her like a heavy weighted blanket. “Lex… hunter.” He yawned. “You’ll win. Sleep.” His chest continued to rumble a purr and so she relaxed in his hold and tried to focus on the vibrations running through her. Having him pressed up against her like this was admittedly one hell of a distraction.
“I know you lost your brothers that day.” She whispered and the arms around her clutched a bit tighter. “I know honour in death is a big thing in your culture but I think you’ve lost enough this year. I think I’ve lost enough.”
“Choose… not die.” Scar instructed
“That easy? Just choose not to die.”
“Yes.” He rumbled.
“…Okay.” She rested her cheek against his chest, listening to his steady breathing which after a while lulled her to sleep.
The buzz of her gauntlet told her when to wake up. She didn’t really feel rested but she was alert enough. Scar was still pressed up against her, she could feel his barrelled chest rising and falling with his deep breaths. For a second this didn’t even feel out of place for them. They shared so much already so in terms of intimacies sharing space like this wasn’t too wild but still another notch on the number of intimacies they had shared between them.
She stroked her hand over his arm, it didn’t take much to wake him and those strong arms unwound from her. They both rose and dressed up in their armours on different sides of the room. They had almost matching clawed boots and chest guards, she didn’t know if Mother-blood did that on purpose or if there isn’t usually that much variation in designs. Lex really wished she could properly see how they looked together now. They would have been quite the site and despite herself that thought had her smiling.
With only a few final touches left, Lex sat on the bed and Scar wrapped her braids together with the cord of alien teeth, being very gentle with them. She closed her eyes and just appreciated the feel of it. The hands pulled away but when she turned around, he was still crouched at eye level. He pulled out something which had been hidden under the bed and now thrust it in her direction. “For you… hunt well, Lex.”
She looked at the package fur curiously, it was only being used to wrap around something else. Lex looked up at him then excitedly back down to the gift, gently unwrapping it in her lap. Under the pelt revealed two very familiar shapes if very uniquely made. He had found a way to give her ice axes. They were one piece of metal grinded and honed into the proper shape, if a little more serrated than standard. The handles were even wrapped with leather cords which also had a wrist loop. He must have remembered these from all the way back in the pyramid. “Scar…” Him remembering something like this meant so much to her. Lex had had lost a lot of herself in this endeavour to find a new place among the stars. She had lost her clothes, her life’s work, her whole life. But this was something that was hers through and through.
Placing the axes quickly to her side she got up on her knees and wrapped her arms around the hunter’s shoulders. “Thank you, Scar.” She said and squeezed him as tight as she could so he might feel it. He purred at her ear and his large hand gently stroked down her side. She eventually pulled back and she was struck with the drive to do something she really shouldn’t want to do, something she also didn’t physically know how to do with him. Lex didn’t back down from this feeling however and for now gently touched the side of his face and pressing a soft but lingering kiss to his other cheek. His grip on her waist tightened as she pulled back.
“Truely, thank you.” Lex suddenly had an idea. “Hey, stay right there. I have something for you too.” She was flushed and Scar was looking at her bright-eyed. she didn’t know how much he knew about human affection but it wouldn’t be hard to deduce what she did had meant something. She honestly didn’t know if she wanted him to know what a kiss was or not at this moment. But what she did next would be telling enough.
Of all the random belongings she had managed to have with her when she arrived it had included a simple, red hair elastic which she had used to replace the leather cord that had broke. Now affixed to it was the vintage pepsi bottle cap Sebastian had given her. She folded the band in on its self once before she gently rolled it onto one of Scar’s dreads. Letting it rest within a metal decoration he had on it. “There… I know it’s not much but now at least we’ll have something of each other. It’s probably stupid isn’t it… I can just take it back-”
He took her hands in his before she could try and move them. “Mine.” They were so close to each other and something was building there between them, something she might have acted on before there was a loud beep from her gauntlet.
“Crap… I need to go. You’ll be here when I come back, right?”
“I’ll be here.” Scar nuzzled their foreheads together, bringing his hand up to cup her cheek and gently rub his thumb over her mark.
The ice axes were tucked into her belt at her hips, a small dagger at her thigh, spear at her back, and the whip wrapped around her waist like a belt. “I’m ready.
Scar held his fist up in the sign, ‘For Glory’, she returned the gesture.
---
Now, one thing she never really put much thought into was who was going to be with her in this hunt. This was a large ship and it could have been conceivably anyone, she was half expecting it to be a couple young bloods. Now she really wished that was the case. She entered the mapping room and paused to look them over.
One of the Yautja was a taller male, a little lankier than most, body pattern orange and brown/black, the left side of his body seemed to have suffered some extreme burns which seemed to have claimed a few of his fingers but were long healed now. He gave her an amicable nod, team work for him would probably be needed to ensure he still has his ability if he wasn’t looking to retire. He seemed fine.
Her second teammate on the other hand looked her over with a disgusted huff. It was Blue. Great. She had only seen him a few times since the fight but all each time he was been sour over her position. So far he has stayed away as Scar had also been looming over her shoulder at the time. Unless he wanted to risk being persecuted, he wouldn’t be able to attack her out on the hunt, but they had many dangers ahead of them and all he needed to do was not be an effective team mate and she might die anyway.
She looked back at Scar with some unease but he just stepped forward squeezed her shoulder steadying her. “keep it together.” He said and it was the first time she had heard that in his voice instead of her own.
“Make it to the surface.” She finished. She squeezed hard again, this time enough to cause an ache but then he turned and left. Like every time he left her alone she really felt his absence but she stood strong and looked Blue down. She was going to do this for Scar, for herself and in absolute spite against Blue.
The holographic panel soon lit up and once again an image of the Quatza-Rij appeared, the figure rising up on four of it's eight segmented legs and a grabbing pincer like tail bending around it in an attack. This was followed by a furred creature with many eyes over its head and a large mouth of multiple rows of teeth, the imaged moved showing it expand a pair of leathery wings with large claws at the joint. Finally a large fanged salamander-like creature with membraned along all it's limbs and tail and how it flared them all in a ball of thrones. Well, this is going to be fun.
“You ready, boys?”
---
They were placed in some kind of drop pod, on the way there she couldn’t help but pause by the window and look out, the planet loomed by them, one of many in a solar system which seemed to be orbiting the sun so close to each other. It barely looked real it was so beautiful.
One of the older hunters came with them and signed to her about the drop pod as she crawled inside, strapping her into a section of the wall. She tried to hide the fact that she was terrified, the other two seeming very nonchalant as they two were strapped in. ‘May Paya hunt with you’ the older Yautja signed and then the door of the pod closed on her.
For a moment it was just stillness, her breathing loud in the enclosed space and getting louder as her anxiety rose. Then there was a thrum through the pod and her braids and the fabric of her skirt were floating, she had that stomach feeling of low gravity. She kicked her legs out and laughed. But the lack of gravity didn’t last long enough as soon gravity slammed back down against her, the pod shuddering from the turbulence of re-entry. She gripped onto the straps and gave a few screamed swears as the shaking increased, and then it jolted. The straps yanked against her but more like she had a minor rear-end in a car than the horrendous crunch she was expecting from the landing.
Lex dropped her head back and gave a few more ‘fucks’ just to get it out of her system before the straps retracted themselves and the doors opened. She stumbled out and leaned on her knees for a moment, breathing deep and trying to hold down the nausea roiling in her stomach. Pushing herself back up she looked around and spied the other two pods not too far away and walked to meet the other hunters.
“Smooth ride.” She said faking it as the others who looked completely unfazed by the drop. They were in more of the jungle section of the hunting area and walked out to the edge of a drop, the whole area spread before them and the bright sky littered with planets stretched out above them.
There was no way to know how this would go but there was no denying the view.
The taller hunter pointed to an area down within the jungle but closer to the rocky outcrops signing ‘Base site’ before cloaking. Blue snorted, walking passed with a rough shoulder check before he too disappeared. Lex made sure they still appeared on her wrist gauntlet before activating her own cloak.
The hunt begins.
Notes:
If you can smooch your monster love easily and without risk of bodily harm, they are not monster enough for me.
Chapter 8
Summary:
We interrupt this love story so a local woman can go ape shite and rip apart some monsters with tol man and bastard boi
Notes:
cw: blood, big creatures getting hunted as Predators do
This is one of the more violent chapters but don't worry I didn't go too gory
Chapter Text
Ripples spread over the water, bouncing off the tree roots which hung twisted and gnarled over the edge of the lake. Lex climbed onto the roots, quiet and careful, hugging the trunk as she glanced around it. The Ri-Nikruil, the large spiney salamander-like creature stood in the water seeming to be trying to feed on what other little creatures living under the surface. This was the prey of the taller hunter who she called Slim. They had been tracking it down for two days and stalking it for most of this morning. But now was the moment they were going to bring it down.
She glanced down at her gauntlet, barely visible, looking almost transparent as she stayed camouflaged. As she brought it close, she could see just that faint light of what was on the screen. She waited for both dots indicating where the other hunters were to grow still. She moved further along the circumference of the tree. Quiet as she should, Lex uncoiled the whip from her waist as she watched the creature eat. She couldn’t get this wrong. There was a crack from within the jungle and the creature’s head rose up looking along with the mostly sparse trees around the lake. Now. She cracked the whip directly behind the creature but not at it. The Ri-Nikruil gave a deep cry and ran away from the water and towards the trees.
Away from its favoured environment and into theirs.
She ran after it as it tromped through the woods, just to keep it in sight but not be caught up in the ambush. It was sudden, one moment the creature was running and the next purple blood sprayed out and it was yanked back enough to have it rise on two legs by a harpoon buried behind its shoulder. It thrashed and twisted to the side, pulling at the attached cord and she saw Slim decloaked as he jumped down from his tree perch. The Ri-Nikruil changed tactics and all the spines flared out as it now rushed at the visible attacker. Suddenly tucking its limbs in and rolling at him.
Slim dropped the harpoon and jumped out of the way only just getting nicked on the outside of his leg by the spines. He hissed as he crouched and watched the creature. Once it stood up again its eyes narrowed in right towards him. Lex quickly lashed out her whip, curling it around the ankle of the Ri-Nikruil and the electric current pulsed down the length of the whip, shocking the creature while the multiple layers of scaled metal dug into the flesh causing more purple blood to spill down its limb. It looked from Slim to her, turning fast to snap its toothy snout at her. Finally, Blue made his appearance and picked up the Harpoon gun Slim had dropped and pulled it taut again. The creature thrashed and while Lex propped her foot up on a fallen branch and pulled with all her strength, she didn’t really stand a chance against it and she was being pulled forward.
Slim brushed himself off, releasing his wrist blades and charging in to slash across the face of the Ri-Nikruil. The creature reared up again and jolted Lex’s whip loose but not without losing a thick ring of skin. It spun around, knocking Blue to the side with its tail piercing his arm. Lex backed off, she couldn’t risk getting hit like that but she circled around, sending another whip crack to get the Ri-Nikruil’s attention before cloaking. It went to attack but she dropped flat to the floor and she felt as it rushed over her and collided with a tree, splintering the bark and sending pieces flying. It tried to run again but Blue was there, lifting his arm and suddenly flames erupted from a tank on his wrist.
This time when the Ri-Nikruil rose up Slim rushed in slicing it across its exposed belly. It dropped, losing a lot of blood now. He growled at the creature and the Ri-Nikruil opened its mouth wide and rushed Slim. All Lex saw was Slim disappear and the Ri-Nikruil crash to the floor. Lex scrambled up, dropping the camouflage as she ran to make sure he was okay. Slim rose up, pulling his wrist blades out from the roof of the Ri-Nikruil’s mouth before she got to him. He shook himself as he was dripping with purple blood. ‘Good hunt’ She signed to him before she smoothed her hand over the hide of the Ri-Nikruil where it now lay still. “You as well, you put up a hell of a fight.”
Slim lifted his heavily engraved mask and let out a roar before he pulled out a knife and began pushing the tip of it between the neck vertebra to start carving off his prize. This part she didn’t really want to watch so she made her way over to a tree branch that had fallen and dropped down onto it. She leaned back and caught her breath, wiping some blood off her arms. She was getting better at steeling herself against this kind of violence. Steeling herself, while engaging in it. This was their customs, something they had been doing for generations a with an outsider’s perspective she didn’t have the scope of knowledge to make any judgments about whether this was right or wrong. All these creatures were considered dangerous predators, they were worth killing and it was now expected of her. That’s all that really mattered now.
She pulled a water canteen off her belt and took a few sips while she watched Blue across the way, surveying the area. One thing she learned early on was that this planet had many creatures let loose upon it. Not just what they were hunting. A whole selected ecosystem of aggressive creatures which can attack unprovoked. The sounds of the battle might keep them away for a little while but soon a lot of attention would be on this spot.
Blue started chittering away to Slim. She didn’t know what he was saying but with the way his tusks would rapidly click when he glanced at her, Lex could get that he was trying to trash-talk her. Slim for the most part would ignore him or give only a few short responses. Right now, he seemed more focused on pulling the head off the body, she heard the sickening wet pop and then a sound like an aerosol spray. In a few moments, she dared to look back to see all the flesh had slewed off leaving behind a large, purple-stained skull. He held it under his arm with pride so she rose up and they all cloaked again and made their way back to the base.
They got back to the campsite as the sun was starting to set, though the sky was never really dark when the planets and cosmos were so bright and clear. The campsite was one that had been used long before this hunt for many other hunters in their position. She had to watch her wrist gauntlet’s sensor when walking into the site as it was surrounded by pressure and sensor traps, some of which still held skeletons a loft on pikes or crushed under objects. When they first arrived, Blue had beckoned her over and happily shown her a pile of skulls which proved she wasn’t the first human to make it to this planet. The whole site was spread around an angularly build totem pole at the epicentre, it was coved in images and engravings which she had studied for a while but had no idea what stories it told. Throughout the area, there were shrines crafted from bone and twisted deadwood and more engravings going up a face of a cliff that sheltered one side of it. It gave off a very frightening feel to the place and she had been unnerved when they first arrived but now, she was sweaty and tired.
She found the bowl of water and cloth wedged in the fork of a dead tree and used it to wipe away the blood and sweat that was still sticking to her. The netting was actually useful to her now, keeping her warm as she cleaned herself over it and helping her dry faster. The boys did similar cleanups before they all went off to do their own things. There was still half of a big… rodent? Thing? Hanging cooked above the fire pit which was embers now but she cut off a piece of the meat and chewed on it as she relaxed at her sleeping corner. Slim did some more polishing of his skull and Blue menacingly sharpened his large knife while watching her.
Just a few more days of this cheery place and then she’ll be back on the ship and Scar will need to wrestle her out of the bath because she is staying there for as long as she can. Lex relaxed back, closing her eyes until she heard that unpleasant chittering from Blue again. She glared up at his mask and thought of a few human gestures she could sign at him before Slim pointed over her shoulder. Oh no. She carefully closed the handle of her knife in her fist and pulling it out, she slowly turned her head. With a cry of alarm, she thrust the knife forward, just as a little winged snake looking thing was about to strike at her. She luckily struck it well enough to half decapitate it, its body coiling up and rolling around as its mouth containing four fangs welling with yellow venom at the tips was frozen how it was mid strike. “Bastard.” She told Blue to his face. Slim was shaking his head, probably regretting being caught in the middle of their petty conflict.
Still, she looked at the head, cutting the rest of the neck off and watching in disgust as the body still roiled. Taking stock of her weapons, she pulled out her spear and let the dripping yellow venom coat the main tips, maybe this might be useful. When it seemed to be done, she walked over to slim. He genuinely didn’t know her language so she signed if she could borrow the spray and he obliged. Blue barked and gestured how small the skull was and she just pointed at his lap and made the small gesture right back. Blue roared, standing up from his perch but she ignored him and placed the skull away from them so she could start spraying it down. She handed it back to Slim and thanked him for it. Still ignoring whatever Blue was yelling. She then apologized and gestured between her and Blue. That got a chuckle out of Slim at least.
Eating a little more as she played with her newly acquired skull, she stayed up to watch the sky for a short while but didn’t bother waiting for a respectable time to try and sleep. Humans needed more sleep than the yautja so she needed to get it where she could. Lex slept away from Blue, clutching her knife. The first night she hadn’t really slept then either which made the following day that much harder and exhausted her much faster. She was scared about Blue trying something but Slim at least seemed not to actively want her dead so she hoped he wasn’t dumb enough to try anything against her in his company.
She didn’t know how long she had been out but a touch on her shoulder woke her and she automatically lashed out with her knife. Only for her wrist and bicep to be grabbed, redirecting her knife back at her. much to her relief it wasn’t pressed back enough to pierce her. She looked up panicked but saw Slim. He and a clicking sound and then slowly let go of her and she lowered the knife. “Sorry.” She said and he must have understood what she said or just her general jumpiness and nodded. He gestured up and she sat up, looking at the sky. There was something dark moving against the backdrop of planets and stars. A square attached to an umbrella? She rubbed her eyes and looked again, her sleepy brain catching up. ‘The cage drop?’ she signed and again he nodded.
Lex looked around and grabbing her ice axes, ran around to the side of the rock wall and started to climb up, she kept looking over her shoulder so she wouldn’t lose sight of it. She didn’t go too high, just enough that she could have a narrower idea of where it had dropped. She saw slim looking up at her and she pointed in the exact direction it had been before it went below the tree line. He made a line in the dirt directly parallel to her arm. Now they had their next prey in sight.
---
The rocky outcrops were formed from grey stones, weathered with cracks and veins of mineral deposits. Where huge crevices would open up, revealing tunnels and cave systems running below the surface. It was like a naturally formed maze though who knows, it could have been intentionally built like this. Nothing about this planet’s creation would surprise her at this point. They arrived there when the sun had only just started rising and had moved to the centre by the time they found the dropped cage. As their luck would have it, it had fallen into one of the crevices. The Quatza-Rij had hours since it had been released so it was down there, probably hidden already.
They all made their way down. Blue showing off how far he could jump off from as Lex had to climb slower as some of the rocks were loose and she couldn’t risk that type of fall. Well, now he just had to wait for her, she thought bitterly. She eventually hopped off and the yautja were already studying the area around the cage. There were scuff marks and knocked over rocks from where it probably was confusing and scrambling to get out of the box. They followed the path, the two seemed to see things she couldn’t and she was pretty sure it was because of their masks. God, she really needed to get her own, and this was finally her chance. She just had to be the one to strike down this prey.
This area was quiet. You would still get insects and bird-like animals when in the jungle but this place was still. It was making her jumpy. They continued through a few twists and turns, sometimes with the expanse of the sky above them, others with only cracks in the stone letting light in if it wasn’t completely sealed. They reached a point where the two looked around, the trail seemingly getting lost on a path leading up to a fork in the passage.
The boys looked back at her expectedly. Shit okay, this was her hunt, her call. Well, if there was one thing, she learned though everything was don’t split the hunting party. She signed for them to stay together. Blue snorted but Slim just nodded. Lex looked between the two paths, one stretched on for a while, and the other was a cave system that looked more promising for where it would go. She gestured for that way and now took the lead, she went to the mouth of the cave and crouched low, looking into the dark expanse of it. She asked if they could see anything which was negative. But she didn’t know if she trusted it. Well, time to do something human.
She gestured for them to get close to the wall before she grabbed her whip again and moved to the mouth of the cave. This had worked on the last creature. She cracked it and it echoed through the cave. This thing was confused and angry. She counted on it attacking instead of running away. The echoes faded and nothing happened. Fuck.
Blue came behind her chittering, she stepped back not wanting him close to her but he kept moving into her space until she was backing up into the cave. “Give up. Soft meat.” And she fucking knew he had known how to talk. Slim rumbled and went after them grabbing Blue by the arm and yanking him back. They started growling at each other and she was trying to figure out her next move when a few small rocks and dirt started falling around them. Lex looked up to the cave’s high ceiling.
“Guys?” Lex tried but the two were still arguing. “Guys!” she yelled before she shoved at the wall of muscle which was the both of them just as the Quatza-Rij dropped from the ceiling crashing to the ground centimetres from them. Its roar put the hunters' to shame. “Go. Go!” They were too close and the chitinous blades which dropped from its forearms started swinging back. No time to think she yanked both of them and headed forward to go under the creature instead of away. They thankfully followed her, Slim going so far as to release his wrist blades and strike the joint on one of its back legs, breaking it as black inky blood leaked out.
But this was hers, she needed to start doing some damage. Before she could try anything its thick, flat tail folded and thrust in under its body after them. She and Slim ran out from between the legs but Blue had been too slow and was captured by the pincers and thrown against the wall. It screeched and ran after them now, its tail knocking against the wall and causing more rock to fall around them. A piece of falling stone crashed down on Lex’s forehead large enough to hurt and break the skin. If they sent it running out it might keep running but staying in here could cause a cave-in and then they all die.
‘Distract it’ She signed to Slim seeing as he would probably be the only one to listen to her. He roared loudly and used his harpoon gun to clang loudly against his chest armour. Lex wrapped her whip back around her and cloaked her. Running behind them she started climbing up the wall nearby, she had a plan. The Quatza-Rij stalked him down, slashing its bladed forelegs at him, he glanced at her, hopefully guessing what she was going to do and not actually use the harpoon.
She jumped when it was under her, axes hanging from her wrist as she now had taken the spear in hand. She landed on its back and it started thrashing and bucking, she tried to get the spear in between the segments but it was moving too much and she was slipping. Holding the spear in one hand she used the smaller axe to wedge in between the segments of the Quatza-Rij’s neck to keep her spot on the bucking animal. Lex closed the spear and held it to the gap of a wider segment on its back and let it spring open, it forced her hand back but the tip was still buried into the soft flesh beneath it. The tail rose up and tried to pincer her but she was only just out of reach if she flattened herself against the neck.
The creature continued to scramble and thrash around more of the cave started to collapse. Blue ran out of the cave but Slim just went to the entrance and then used his harpoon, it was strong enough to break the hard armour of its shell and he started pulling to lead the creature out. It took off running towards, almost trampling Slim and crashing into the walls as it sprinted. She pulled the spear out and tried the same method again but her axe was jolting and slipping out of its hold. She managed to prick it three more times before her axe slipped out and she fell off its back. She landed roughly on some rocks, banging her legs on some sharp stone and scraping her hands. She cried out in pain.
There was an echoing scream and she looked up. The harpoon gun the Quatza-Rij was dragging got caught on some rocks too, holding it in place. Lex checked her legs, nothing broke just bruise and bleeding. She stood up and limped over. The creature fought against it but its legs were getting wobblily and its pull getting weaker. The venom was taking effect. It probably wouldn’t be enough to kill it but it had slowed it down and that’s what she needed.
She put the spear on her back and now took both ice axes in her bloodied hands. It was snarling at her even as it was struggling to keep itself up. Slim caught up to her, giving a nod as they descended on it, eyes on that cracked bit of shell guarded behind the arm blades.
Slim rushed in first, wrist blades out and batting at the arm blades, keeping them away as Lex ran in under them. She hooked the axes in the cracks around the harpoon and wrenched them back harshly. The creature screeches as she pulls the shell back, it also causes the harpoon to come loose but before it can try and escape, she slashes both axes outwards, ripping the soft membrane open. Its legs started to give out under it and Lex slashes again, just ripping at it more until it falls.
She is shaking. Victory, pain, adrenalin, fear, anger, disgust, relief. It all washed over her.
Slim put his hands on her shoulders and gave it a tight squeeze. ‘Good hunt’ he then signs ‘worthy of the mask.’ And that actually did make her smile and she thanked him. She’ll need to keep in mind what this was for as she did the next part.
Unlike Slim’s prey, she luckily doesn’t need the whole head, just the armoured face covering. The body was still twitching as she straddled the neck. Using her knife starts wedging it under the shell and lifting it from the thin film underneath. It’s gross but she is a little numb right now. When she is almost done Blue uncloaks a few feet away from her. Green blood was dripping from two punctures in his torso, but he was simply chewing on some little creature he must have found. “Where the hell were- you know what, I don’t even care.”
---
Lex’s legs started to shake when they were walking through the maze, she tried to push through but she ended up leaning on the wall with her arm and coming to the realisation she is going to have to haul herself up out of this place when she couldn’t even grip properly. The two boys stopped and looked back at her, Blue huffing like she was a burden. ‘I‘ll find my own way back. You go ahead.’ She signed.
And with a bark, Blue turned right around and started leaving her behind. Slim however still stayed with her, dropping down to a crouch to look at her legs and hands. ‘How long to heal?’ he asked.
“By themselves? A few days… maybe weeks?”
He looked up at her, clearly not having known how slow human healing was compared to their magic blood. And she still needed to be there for Blue’s hunt, even though he hadn’t been there for most of hers. Maybe this is what the leader had wanted for her because now working with anyone would be so much easier for her than working with Blue ever again.
Slim however grabbed a tie from his belt and started wrapping up their dreads so they were held up in a high ponytail. She didn’t get away until he turned, still crouched, on his heels. “Oh, you don’t have to, I’ll find a way.”
‘No more talking, get on, camp too far.’ He signed back, she hesitated but then accepted the piggyback from Slim. Making sure she didn’t touch his dreads, she held on as he stood up. Jesus, this was high up. It was a little surprising to him. He had been respectful if a bit aloof before. However, now he has seen her take charge of a hunt and kill so that must have been proof enough for him to accept her.
He brought her back to camp and let her down on the ground, partway through the trek the pain started to ache and burn. She just winced and stayed on the floor, not wanting to move. Maybe she could sleep it off and just hope there are no alien bacteria that’s gotten into her bloodstream. Slim went to pull at her armour but she stopped him scandalised. ‘Netting off.’ He signed
“I can do that myself.” She assured and started slipping off the netting under her clothes so she could stay covered for whatever was going to happen next. Some of the netting had been pushed into the wounds making a few lines cut into her skin. Slim went to Blue and another growling match ensued, but then Blue was pushed towards her. Blue took his mask off and was chittering, looking too please for Lex’s comfort. When Slim came back with a medical kit and that gave her a worse feeling considering Scar’s reaction to the equipment from his.
Slim grabbed three things from the kit, a blue gel which he lit on fire a container of powder and a syringe. Blue grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down, pinning her. She fought against it but he was laughing as he kept her easily pinned. Slim trilled softly and first gave an injection to the outside of her thigh before he started putting the powder on her wounds. Her body jolted as it burned, she managed to kick slim in her struggles but he just kept trilling and making sure her legs and hands got completely covered. When he was done, he pushed Blue away.
She was a shaky mess but whatever was in the syringe was starting to dull the pain at least and she was feeling a little loopy. She sat up and didn’t know if she should thank him or tell him she hated him. He gave a nod and put the powder and syringe away. She looked at the blue gel. ‘Are we done?’ she signed.
‘You are.’ He said before suddenly tackling Blue where he was still kneeling and locking his arms above his head. Slim looked at her and then tilted his head towards the gel, Blue made the same connection and started struggling.
“Nasty puncture you got there. Must be, since it knocked you out of the flight.” She grabbed the little tool and scooped the gel onto it. “Teamwork, unity and all that.” She said before spearing the gel onto both of his wounds. Blue roared and thrashed but Slim managed to keep him still.
This might have repercussions for them in the future but besides Scar and Blood-Mother, Slim letting her do this was the most she had felt accepted by the hunters.
Chapter 9
Summary:
One last target before we're home again
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex woke up by herself to the midday sun shining warmly on her face. She lethargically stretched out, hearing her arm joints pop with that satisfying feeling. She looked around the camp, before jolting to sit up. She had never been able to sleep past dawn since she had arrived here nor had she ever been left by herself. There was no sign of the hunters around the camp. The two were gone and it stung thinking they went hunting without her. It was less about her wanting to have another round of maiming some dangerous alien beasts but more that she wanted to be seen as good enough and she thought she had managed that much so far.
That night she had been a little out of it after the injection really set in, staring up at the sky as it came alive and moved like a Van Gogh painting. Honestly, she was lucky no snakes or other dangers came after her. She might need to find a way to work out the proper doses for humans at some point as she goes on more hunts. But it was no wonder why the yautja med-kits hurt so much, the rapid healing it causes was unlike anything she had seen. Lex looked down at her hands, the powder seemed to have bubbled and caked over her skin. She picked at the edge of it for a moment and saw the scraped off skin, while still a little raw was now rapidly healed to a pink-hued, new layer of skin. Same with her legs. The bruises she had been growing had also faded to dull patches that were only sore when she poked at them. The Yautja technology here was very advanced, she didn’t agree with how readily they accepted fatality but she was growing to see that unless a hunter was mortally wounded, they could bounce back from anything. Did they even have illnesses? Cancers or flu? What would happen if Earth had access to these types of medical technologies?
That was a what if she couldn’t linger long on because of all the unknowns.
Pushing away all those thoughts Lex took this time to clean herself properly now that she was completely alone at camp. Privacy wasn’t really a thing with the Yautja so she made use of it now. She didn’t know if she needed to leave the olive-coloured mess on her skin or not, but it was already flaking off as she moved around so she decided to scrub it off. As she did, her fingers grazed the patches of softer skin it had covered, she would be as good as new in no time. When she finished her impromptu shower, she set her sights on her weapons. She should have done a clean up on them too before she slept but she had been otherwise out of it. Scar had impressed on her the importance of looking after her weapons and tools so she took extra care with seeing to them now.
She scratched the dried black blood off of her ice axe, smiling a little as she marvelled at the similar yet alien way it had been crafted. Just for her. She missed Scar. She had started this venture thinking maybe the longing which would creep up on her was from her almost always being within arm’s reach of him. But she really missed him. She thought of their moment before she had left, together in that small room they shared. She thought of his sharp and dangerous mouth. Lex flushed and buried her face in her hands. Something was wrong with her. She was becoming depraved in her time away. She tried to keep her focus on getting all these weapons in the best condition but her thoughts would occasionally slip back to him.
Once all her weapons were cleaned and honed to a wicked sharpness, she had nothing to do. If they were off tracking down and hunting Blue’s prey there was no telling how long they would be gone? She didn’t want to wander around so she would just be left alone with her thoughts for the rest of the day. She really needed to be distracted from them right now. When she was about to start organising some of the bone piles just to keep occupied she heard something just outside the camp and quickly snatched up her spear.
She saw two blurs at first before Slim and Blue decloaked, they were carrying some small four-legged creature between them. She relaxed. Not a threat and not the target, just an animal. They had just gone out to get more food. They dropped the creature and a pile of roots and bulbs in the centre of the camp. The animal was like a small tri-coloured zebra but with cloven hooves and the head of an ant-eater. While it had a wide puncture through its neck, she could see the old scars of an incorrectly healed wound. Only take the prey which had a weakness when hunting for food. She remembered that rule.
She heard the crackling purr from Slim and he was once again crouching in front of her, looking at her legs, she showed off her hands too. ‘Are you well?’ he signed.
‘Much better, thank you.’ She signed back, even if the powder didn’t have any lingering effects it shouldn’t take too long for her to heal up at her own human rate.
He stood back up and clapped a hand on her shoulder. ‘Good, pick a cut to cook.”
---
Lex cooked her meat portion on a small fire as they ate and signed over plans for how to find the last target they needed to collect a trophy from. Blue’s prey was a Drauq'iex, a large furred creature that could fly, which would be a unique challenge. Slim explained that they are the alpha and the largest within a swarm of these creatures. Because of course, this one came with a swarm.
“Hell of a target to pick.” She said and Blue, unfortunately, took it as a compliment.
They knew the areas it would like to frequent but just like how they searched all the lakes for the Ri-Nikruil they would need to be out looking for all the jungle warrens where it might be hiding. She honestly was just lucky they were able to spot her target being dropped in for her hunt, it saved a lot of time.
For the rest of this day, they talked over plans and had a little trek out, separating for a little while to look for signs of the smaller Drauqs of the swarm. She wasn’t as useful for this but she did her best. She did see something flying in the distance but she couldn’t be a hundred percent sure it was a Drauq but luckily Blue managed to see a few so they did have a direction to begin their search.
Having an early night, Lex was woken up again before dawn, chewing on some meat and softer new roots as she got all her gear in order. Blue was taking the lead now. This luckily meant he had less free time to be grumpy with her involvement, especially when she made it clear she wasn’t going to take the bait of all the insults he dished out. Lex had dealt with her fair share of assholes in her life so she ignored his mood and focused on the mission. She'd bide her time to clap back later.
Blue was leading them deeper into the jungle, the three of them at a point having to sneak around a pack of wiry scavenger aliens feasting on something which had unfortunately crossed the pack's path. However, it was an otherwise quiet trek. She stayed back with Slim and they had a companionable silence between them. When they were visible, she would sign to him just a few small questions, it was when they stopped for water at a stream that he placed his hand to his chest. “Taka’inde.” He told her.
“Alexa.” She replied copying the action.
He was much older than Scar and fairly older than Blue as well. He told her how he had been caught up in a fire and that while they might not get sick, the Yautja apparently still got nerve damage. He was losing strength in his arms and when his main weapon was a harpoon that caused an issue. ‘Have been hunting until I find I am unable.’ He signed completely unfazed but Lex didn’t feel the same coolness towards that kind of outlook.
‘Not much of a compliment but… you’re still stronger than me.’ She signed to him. and his mandibles clacked in a laugh.
‘You’ve done well… for a weak human.’ He signed but she could tell that he was teasing her. ‘Am glad to have seen your skills. Reckless but effective. Very human.’
Lex took that as a compliment. ‘Hunt with me again and I’ll show you even more crazy things humans do to achieve their goals.’
‘If you ask it so, sister.’ He signed and it made her smile.
They continued on and eventually found the area of jungle where the Drauq were more densely populated. All hanging in the treetop canopy making noises that sounded like they were crunching on eggshells. Which only grew louder and more disconcerting as they moved to the centre of the swarm. It was there they came across a large gaping hole in the Earth. She saw the blur which was Slim crouching down so she did the same and waited as Blue checked out the den.
They waited for a little while before Slim started moving back from a signal she didn’t quite see and they exited the swarm’s home. They decloaked a little way out. ‘Not there.’ Blue signed himself. ‘Take vantage points and wait. Once it starts resting all attack the wings. Then I will kill it. You deal with the swarm, it should fly away.’
‘Don’t want to try and catch it away from them?’ she questioned.
He growled at her. “Scared, Soft meat?” and look at that, he even spoke again.
Lex held back from rolling her eyes. “Look, I’m just saying.” She said whispering in the most even and direct way she could. “Both of our targets were alone and we were still all injured, I’m happy to let you run this but don’t ignore dangers just to look better.”
"I am better." Lex was pretty sure the next thing Blue said in his own language was for her to go fuck herself.
She looked at Slim and he just signed back. ‘It is his prey. We can only help.’
She looked back to Blue “Alright, have it your way.”
---
Night fell and they all put up their camouflages and found a vantage point up a tree not crawling with the Drauqs. Up this high she was able to see that they were currently the size of a medium dog, they were loud and bitey. They had an odd downwards slope on their heads but through the dark tawny fur she could see their many scattered black eyes in irregular diamond patterns. She had been worried she might fall asleep but that sound never stopped and it kept her right on edge. They stayed for a few hours on their perches before above the murmur of the smaller creatures the sound of air rushing past wings alerted them to the Drauq'iex return.
She was big. Larger than the prey both she and Slim had as marks. It landed and caused a tremble through the ground. She watched as the large furry creature crawled on two small legs and two large clawed wings. It moved into its hole, shuffling around until its head was just at the mouth of the borrow as it settled down. She waited for the clicking sound from Blue before she started to climb her way down the tree.
An axe in each hand she made her way to the large sleeping creature. It was her and Slim at the sides while Blue went to the elevated back lip of the huge burrow. There was a pause and then a torrent of fire rained down on the Drauq'iex. It reared up with a cry and as it rushed through the flames to flee, she and Slim were waiting. She thrust both of her axes into two of the membrane sections of the wings between the long dactyls. They ripped cleanly apart like slashing a sail. The wings flared open and Lex didn’t move fast enough to completely avoid being hit by them and was pushed back hard but as they flapped down it couldn’t get enough wind resistance to fly away. Slim too had used his knife to carve at the membrane, something which the creature just noticed now.
The canopy was alive with noise, the rapid cracking of the Drauqs’ teeth hurt her ears it was so loud. The swarm started circling, many of them flying away but others coming down to swoop aggressively, looking for the attackers. Blue leapt down, in full uncamouflaged view and rushed at the now grounded Drauq'iex with a long spear that looked more like an angular halberd. The Drauq’s of course started to swoop at him so Lex uncloaked as well and used her own spear to attract their attention while trying to keep them away from him. Blue charged and she could hear the fight starting to rage on behind her.
No matter how many she pierced or swatted away, they just kept coming down. She heard a heavy thump and looked back to see that Blue had gotten tackled down by one of them. The larger creature started to stalk toward the fallen hunter. Slim must have seen it too and harpooned the Drauq'iex through the meat of its leg, Lex could see, now that she knew to look, how Slim’s arm shook as he tried to keep the creature back.
Lex walked steadily towards Blue, he was holding the creature’s snapping mouth of prickle teeth back with one hand as he went to grab his knife. As soon as his hand went to the handle but before he could strike it and claim it as his prey, Lex twisted and used the backwards swing like Scar showed her to imbed her spear tip into the creature’s skull. Its mouth gaped for a few seconds before it grew still.
Was it against the code? No. Was it a heavy insult that she ‘thought’ she needed to save him? Oh yes. Blue battered her spear away with a roar and stood back up. She smirked and went to go back into the fray but his hand caught her around her throat, pulling her in close. She didn’t think he would dare try anything while they were in the middle of the fight but it seemed that was a push too far. She was keenly aware that Slim was now alone with the swarm and the alpha. She tried to tell him to stop but he continued to growl.
“Never dare think a soft meat like you could ever come close to the might of a Yautja. Don’t act above your level.” He tossed her back and she gasped, fingers scrambling to find her spear again. She looked up to see Slim holding the harpoon in one hand and slashing at the diving swarm with the other. He was fighting on all sides and before Blue or her could get to them the Drauq'iex swept its wing out, knocking Slim over. Before he could even get up it pounced and sunk its many rows of teeth into his side.
“Taka!” Lex rushed up. By this point, Blue had slashed his halberd down slicing halfway through the creature's already injured back leg. It cried out, dropping Slim, a bright glow of blood coated his body. She rushed to him crouching at his side. “No… no, you need to tell me what to do, how do I-” She hadn’t looked around her and another Drauq from the swarm had collided with her head, scratching at her shoulders and biting into her arm as she tried to push it away. She eventually brought her knife up and stabbed it in the neck. She had to get back and protect Slim.
Blue, now with the attention of the Drauq'iex again, sent another cloud of flame over its face and into its eyes, catching its fur alight. It shook itself, now blinded and burning. Blue buried his halberd into the creature’s side and tore it down, crimson blood gushed out before he struck again somewhere softer and gutted it. Before it was fully dead, he started slamming his halberd into the wing joints to remove its clawed hands. Still, it was over, they were done, Lex stood above Slim as the swarm still dived. “Hurry we need to get him out of here!” She yelled in a panic. His whole side was ripped up, she didn’t want to look too close into the mess of pulpy green for what she might see about the reality of the wound. She just kept swinging her spear. Scar had survived being impaled, their technology was so advanced, they could save him. She knew they could save him.
Blue came back to them, stabbing out a few of the other flying creatures, he looked at Slim, gave him a nod before he snatched her by the wrist and started pulling her away. “What! No, no, let go of me, you ugly bastard. We need to get him!”
“Stupid human he is already gone and the swarm is coming back. I would leave you behind to die with him.”
“Then leave me!” she yelled and used her blade to slice at his arm, not to cut him but to break the straps which held the bottle of flammable liquid to him. Flicking on the electric lighter, she threw it as high as she could into the swarm. One of the Drauqs gripped hold of it with its short legs only to crush the bottle. The explosion it caused lit up the sky and Lex hadn’t been far enough to escape the rush of hot air which pushed her off her feet when Blue released her.
Lex ran to Slim’s side again, she dropped down and her knees hit snow, she was right back in the arctic watching as Scar was dying. “No… No Taka stay with me. You promised me you would go hunting with me again. Come on, we’ll get you patched up.” She didn’t know if she should try to hold his belly in place or just risk trying to drag him away. The burned bodies of the creatures fell around them while the rest for now seemed to have flown away.
“Alexa.” A bloody hand touched her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. ‘It is my time… it’s alright.’ He signed with shaking fingers before they dropped to his side. He coughed up some blood before his rasping breath drew still.
“Taka!” again her wrist was grabbed and she was pulled away from him, barely managing to keep her spear in her grip and she was dragged along by Blue. She kept struggling from his grip but he ignored her aside from a few snarked comments about her breaking his weapon. He finally let her go when they were closer to camp and she roughly shoved him. “You… You left him alone to fight because of your fucking fragile pride! he is dead because of you!”
“He was a warrior. But a weakened one. Best he lost his life now before he became an embarrassment.” He snorted. Lex’s grip on her spear tightened and she held it up at him. Blue looked back at her and opened his arm for a clear target. “He would have ended up a shameful thing like you, he died with honour, you should have joined him.” She almost did it but she knew that’s what he wanted. If she tried to strike him here and now, he would either kill her first and be justified in it or she would win and be hunted down by the clan.
They stared each other down before Blue turned away, disappointed she didn't try anything and walked back to camp. Lex was breathing hard and took a moment before she returned her spear to her back and followed. It felt so wrong to just leave him there. She couldn't stop crying and she didn't care what it made Blue think about her. Was this what she had waiting for her with everything relationship she made? Everyone, herself included, was one bad call, one misstep, one moment of bad luck away from going from a hunter to hunted.
---
Back at camp Blue typed into his gauntlet, sending a signal to the ship. Lex went to the spot Slim had normally slept and held up the purple-tinted skull he had claimed. He had bested his own fight, he shouldn’t have died for this one. She gently placed it at the base of the totem, she was tired and filthy. She wanted to go home. She realised she still had his blood on her hands, green mixing with red. Part of her knew she could have used it but it felt so wrong and instead she quickly scrubbed it off.
Lex was in such a daze she didn’t really know how long it had been when the shuttlecraft finally landed but the sun was up in the sky again. She took her trophies and with one look back at what they were leaving behind, the doors of the ship closed behind her. The shuttle flew and seemingly created a tear in space to fly through. On the other side, she saw the larger red planet of Yautja Prime and the mother ship hovering above it. They landed in the hanger bay and as Blue stepped out, he held up fistfuls of bloody claws and roared in pride as he walked through the ship. Lex followed along on autopilot.
That was until someone stepped in front of her, their large hand cupping her own that was gripping the Quatza-Rij’s shell piece. Scar held her hand and the Trophy up in the air and gave a roar. The other hunters in the lower pits looked at them. He let her hand go but she kept it up for all to see. She gave her own roar putting all the emotion welling in her chest into the scream. The chorus of cries went up around her.
Despite everything that had happened, she had still triumphed and earned respect.
---
They went to their room first, Lex dropped her things on the workbench and gently rested the Quatza-Rij’s trophy on her little appointed shelf next to the alien head. She did it, she earned to right to have a mask and find her place working on clan missions. But she didn’t really feel like celebrating this victory. She rubbed her hands over her eye and was met with the feeling of blood, sweat and tears. “I probably smell terrible.” She complained tiredly but Scar pulled her close and nuzzled into her neck, she could feel the smooth texture of his tusks over her skin and in her hair. It had her shudder and Scar pulled away. “Not that bad then?” She said, skin tingling where he touched her. “Still, I want a bath. You want to make sure I don’t fall asleep in the water?”
They went past all the fanfare Blue was trying to make over his kills and headed for the bathhouse, going to their usual corner. Lex sat on the ledge in the water and zoned out a little. She flinched when Scar touched her but he just carefully started washing the dirt and blood from her shoulder wounds. He cleaned her and it was so soft and gentle that she burst like a damn and started talking, tears down her cheeks about the last fight, about her frustrations at Blue, about Taka’inde.
“Giving your life to the fight… good way to die. Taka’inde was respected, had many children. Worst fates to befall us than that of an honourable death” Scar told her, hands going down her arms, his fingers rubbing the grime off her hands. “You should not morn… but he may have appreciated how you burned the swarm in his name.”
Lex still had a lot to get used to with how they viewed the world. She didn’t think she could ever as fully embraced it as the yautja. She pressed a hand back to one of his knees. “Promise me you’ll always keep fighting… that you’ll always choose not to die. It hurt losing him… I couldn’t bear to ever lose you. Not again.”
Scar was quiet for a moment before that rumbled voice spoke low and soft. “I promise.” His hands moved to her back, the pressure of his touch making her sigh. “To be an elite… must be alive to gain its position.” He was quiet again as his hands moved to her lower back, now she was practically purring. “How much would you kill in my name?” He asked with a trill that made her think he was just being cheeky.
“Of course, you would ask that.” She brought water up to wash her own face and sorrows. “Hmmm you die, I'm going to bring you back just to hunt you myself” she chuckled as she heard the deep crocodile-like, pleased rumble from Scar. Lex dropped back so she leaned against his chest, she could feel the vibrations coming off of him. Scar’s hands moved away from her body and he just let her rest like that. She closed her eyes and indulged in the comfort and protection she felt when she was with him. His thick arm went around her waist and kept her close so she wouldn’t slip under the water if she fell asleep. She reached up and idly played her fingers over the dread which still held her red hair elastic and faded bottle cap. They stayed like that until the water started cooling.
She was in a sleepy haze as she dried off and dressed in a fresh pile of clothes. She and Scar made their way back to their room and she almost face-planted in the bed but she suddenly remembered something and searched her old clothes for the little pouch she had on her belt. “Oh, I have something for you. As thanks for letting me get all weird and human over you.” She pulled out the little snake skull and smiled as she handed it over. “This helped me killed the Quatza-Rij almost as much as you did by teaching me how to fight it.”
Scar carefully took it in his hands, it looked small when he held it but he still looked fascinated over it. She had no illusions about it being anything of actual significance or value but Scar spoke like she had gifted a serpent queen. “I will treasure this.” Lex inelegantly climbed into the bed, going to her normal little spot before Scar dragged her into his side. They had cuddled once already. And she had just been sleeping against him in the bath. She wasn’t going to try and resist, she needed this and she couldn’t say she didn’t want to nuzzle up against him. Lex rests her head on his shoulder and pressed herself along his side. Scar was still inspecting the skull in his free hand as her eyes dropped closed. “Good night, Starlight.”
“Rest well, little dagger.”
Notes:
This partly inspired by the story Machiko Noguchi from the AVP: Prey comic which the AVP movie was inspired by. In her story She was marked by her dying Yautja hero who was the clan leader, She used her mark to get on board but struggled without having anyone to rely on like Lex does here with Scar. So she proves herself by saving another Yautja on a hunt so the others laugh at him instead of getting snippy with her.
Sorry to those who liked Slim, RIP one good tol boy but it's a hunt and be hunted world out here.
But if it helps, I have a gift for y'all the in the next chapter
Chapter 10: Art break
Summary:
Got bored, enjoy.
Edit: CW second image is NSFW!
Notes:
Ive only had an art tablet for like 2 months so still working on how to colour but this was great practise.
Chapter Text
Edit: I learned to use an art tablet
Chapter 11
Summary:
The fighting isn't over yet.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
After all those days on the hunting planet which took both a physical and mental toll on her, Lex slept deeper than she would have allowed herself to since leaving. She was comfortable and warm which was all that mattered to her right now. Wakefulness came with much resistance from both her mind and her heavy limbs. She may have spent hours just staying in this comfortable daze but a beep from her wrist gauntlet sounded loudly from somewhere in the room where it had been carelessly shoved aside. She groaned and pressed herself up closer to the bulk she was wrapped around, nuzzling into it. Maybe if she pretended to have not heard it, she could just keep sleeping.
An amused crackle could be felt as much as heard under her body and suddenly she remembered who the bulk she was clinging to actually was. “Crap, sorry, I trapped you here, didn’t I?” she murmured, yawning herself awake. She had gone from being lightly pressed against Scar to being sprawled half on top of him, arm draped across his chest and one of his thighs held firmly between her own. She stretched out her legs to subtly release him and rolled onto her back. “You could have pushed me away.”
“Could have moved you… but there was no need to tempt your wrath. You would hold very tightly when I stirred. Felt like a warning.” He didn’t sound like he minded at all but Lex still covered her face in embarrassment.
Remembering why she was awake, she crawled over his legs and went to the bed to get her gauntlet from the table. Playing with it she saw she was getting summoned by the Clan leader. She relayed that to Scar who also got up. She slowly started cleaning her teeth and making herself look presentable. She was tying her sandals on when she perked up. “Wait… Am I getting my mask now?” she asked excitedly. She started to rush now. “Hurry, you can help me design it.” She looked up at him but then something caught her eye.
Scar sat on the edge of their bed, fitting on his own gauntlet as she stepped into the gap between his legs. He looked up at her but she was looking at his chest, more so the decorative skulls that hung across it. He didn’t usually wear it when he was dressed casually but he did so today. She traced over the familiar ridges of one of the skulls. It was the one she had given him. He was wearing it proudly at the top of the cord. “I’m glad you liked it. It looks good on you.” Not that Lex had a reference for this type of decoration but still she mostly meant what she said.
Scar’s hands moved to rest on her hips, pulling her even closer so that she had to place her other hand on his shoulder to keep her from falling into him. “I will bring many trophies worthy to adorned you with as our tasks begin.”
Again, just like the moment before she left, there was that energy, like magnetic attraction between them. She may have been in denial but wasn’t an idiot. Lex knew this connection they had with each other had been pushing the limits of ‘friend’ for a while. But she still didn’t know if this was right, if it was even possible, or even allowed. Yautja respected directness so even with her heart rapidly beating against her ribs in nervousness she tried to ask. “Scar-” before she could start her wrist computer beeped again. “Oh, never mind... I shouldn’t make the clan leader wait.” She lost her nerve and stepped back out of his hands. He looked at her for a moment before putting his mask on and standing.
She walked through the ship with Scar dutifully following behind her to where the leader had requested to meet. It was small but she could see the behaviour of a few of the others change. While she had previously still been sneered at, there had been no hisses towards her now. A couple of hunters which she recognised as those who didn’t shy away from sitting at the same table as them in the mess hall even gave her a nod. She is making her way up the ladder, slowly but surely. She didn’t know how far she could or would even want to go but right now was a long way to go and she would keep pushing. Scar himself mentioned he was on track to becoming an elite. She may need to add that to the list of things she still needed to learn about.
One hunter who still didn’t care about her successes was Blue. He was currently leaning against the wall beside the door to the Trophy room. He glanced at them with a rolling grumble but then his eyes narrowed at the small skull topping the prizes on Scar’s chest. Blue was the only one who would know that it was from the creature she had killed at the campsite. He sneered deeply and approached her, leaning one arm on the wall before he leaned in close to her, too close for her comfort. Scar was growling steadily where he stood behind her but Blue ignored the shorter hunter.
“Soft meat… Is this why you are here? Were you hunting just to impress me? Were you weeping as I did not find you worthy of my bed? Maybe if you showed me more respect, I would have accepted your trinket, like I know you wished to give me that night.” He glanced up at Scar as he said that. She had no clue what he was talking about but she was sure he was just trying to sow discord between them. “I may have pitied you enough.” And that was just laughable.
“Wow, you really think that, huh?” Though it did tell her one thing, it might not have mattered if she didn’t have the confidence to talk about it. Lex might have just propositioned Scar without even realising it when she gave him that gift. “Now as disturbing as what you said is, tell me. Why would I ever need the notice of a low tiered hunter who I needed to save?” Yes, she was doubling down on that moment because she knew it had really offended him. “Why don’t you stop embarrassing yourself and focus on learning to hunt so you stop getting your teammates killed. And for the record, you would never be worthy of me, I only like those who are strong and smart, and you are just a waste of my time” Blue’s growl turned into a roar and Scar returned one right back before the door swished open. Both boys quieted down, not needing to be caught squabbling and they all walked in together with a heavy unease hanging in the air.
Lex had been here only a few times before but it was by far one of the most interesting parts of the ship. Red bar lights lined the room which caused the wall panels which were carved with hieroglyphs and engravings to take on a more mystical aura. But the true marvel was the reason for this room's namesake. Skulls of so many different species hung mounted around the room with an occasional weapon or other skeletal structure. Some were even human. There was an old wild west style pistol hung up near one of them and the implication of that blew her mind whenever she thought about it. Even more so was that she was pretty sure there were two whole dinosaur skulls. One was a T-Rex and the other she was sure was a Spinosaurus. She could spend hours in here investigating everything and slowly having to rethink the history of both their species. Not to mention how old these aliens could reach.
On the back wall was the largest of the skulls, a serpent queen skull, one that looked much bigger than even the one she and Scar took down, its mantel splaying out with waves of bone. In front of this skull was where the throne had been placed and where the clan leader sat when they were called to be addressed.
The three of them walked in and now used to the decorum of the clan, Lex bowed completely in sync with the two others. The leader again had his gauntlet up, there was a quick view from what must have been Slim’s mask of her prying open the shell and ripping into the soft skin under it before it switched to Blue gutting and then starting to cut at his own prey. The leader had a rough rumble in his chest and he spoke first in the Yautja’s language to Blue before going to English for her. “-you as well, little Oomen. Though not with strength but with skill and mind. You have aided your brothers and taken down many prey, including your own Quatza-Rij, I see you value respect and have great determination.”
“Thank you, leader.” She said, keeping her head down now that she knew it was the custom.
“The time of another group of unblooded to take the chiva will be soon upon us. We are in need of a new queen to replace the few who have died from our clan's promising blood.” Scar stood up a little prouder knowing they were in that group. The leader then rose from his seat and loomed tall in front of them, crackling as he eyed both her and Blue. Suddenly a new recording played with an image of her wild and bloody, pointing a spear at the camera.
“You… You left him alone to fight because of your fucking fragile pride! He is dead because of you!”
“He was a warrior. But a weakened one. Best he lost his life now before he became an embarrassment. He would have ended up a shameful thing like you, he died with honour. You should have joined him.”
She and Blue shared a look and for a moment she thought they might get reprimanded for that scene. “Only one warrior’s death has yet to be replaced for this mission.” The meaning behind his words slowly sunk in for the three of them.
Lex stepped back but it was just a second too late and Blue grabbed the cloth that covered her chest, dragging her forward, his hot, putrid breath wafting over her face. “I challenge you soft meat. No getting away from this now. You deserve to be reminded that you are only a Oomen”
Lex took hold of his wrist and hit the joint of his arm as she twisted out of his grasp before kicking him in the chest hard enough that he stumbled back a step. It just never stops, does it?
But this fight was long coming. “I accept.” Lex spat back.
---
Blue, overconfident as always walked through the halls of the ship, arms up calling out to everyone about the fight. Lex had conflicting feelings about this, there was a very real chance he could try and kill her right now.
No weapons, just one-on-one fighting, this was what they had trained for since she had first arrived a few months ago but as rough as Scar had been with her, she didn’t know how that will measure up against someone who truly wanted to see her dead. But at the same time, she was sick of his games and she still held him highly responsible for Slim’s death. She honestly did want to win this fight. Win it and embarrass him in front of everyone he had invited to watch because he underestimated her.
Scar’s hand dropped onto her shoulder as he walked beside her, keeping her grounded. They got to the training room and many others were already crowded around waiting for the spectacle. She handed Scar the knife she had on her before doing some quick warm-up stretches. “You remember our lessons?”
“Strike quick, move fast, making him angry makes him impulsive and stupid.” She said, the crowd behind them already starting to jeer. Scar took her chin in his fingers and made her look at him.
“Do not hold back. Do not pull your punches. Do not run from the ferocity you carry. If he dies, he dies at the hands of his better. There is no place for your humanity once you climb that stage, Little dagger… end him quick.” She reached up and placed her hand on his shoulder as well and gave it a squeeze. “If he survives… it will be a great embarrassment I will not let him forget.” Scar clicked his mandibles.
Blue was already up on the stage flexing and legs wide in a battle stance. There was a large crowd around them and a lot of pressure to step up and perform well. But before trying for any style points, she just didn’t want to die. She took a page from Scar and didn’t try to match the aggressive energy from him, she stayed focused, squared up and bounced lightly on her feet to keep her moving. She would have less stamina than him, she really did need to end this quickly before she got too tired and started to slow.
They eyed each other for a moment before Blue let out a roar and charged at her, he swung his big fist at her but she quickly ducked before skirting around him to dodge the kick thrown her way as well. It gave her a chance to send a kick to his back but it wasn’t strong enough to unsteady him. He spun around and sent a few more hits her way but she dodged back from them. She was on the defensive but she needed to start attacking. She waited until he was growling in frustration before she grabbed his fist and pulled with his momentum and locked her leg behind his knee to send him sprawling down.
She went to stomp down on his arm but he turned and grabbed her leg, yanking her and grabbing her arms as well, throwing her into the wall which backed the stage. That hurt. But it was also stupid for the both of them. She has a balance of working out when and where to strike, she should have gone for his knee cap instead of the elbow but his mistake was worse. He didn’t throw her out, he showed he truly does want to kill her and left her in the ring.
She pushed herself up, arm and back throbbing with pain but she looks up and sees more of that shelving higher on the wall. Blue came running after her while she was cornered so she quickly jumps to grab hold, using it to gain momentum with a two-legged kick, right in the face. But she wasn’t done yet, while he is still disorientated and shaking his head, she climbs up onto the nook properly and pushed off, using the height to knee him in the face with all her strength. They both went down, Lex rolled as she hit the floor but almost sent herself off the edge, just managing to catch herself. Blue was down, green blood all over his mouth and two mandibles now bent.
More skittish this time, she crept closer to see if he was really down before she grabbed his arm and started to pull him to the edge. But he was heavy and she only made a few steps before he was no longer stunned and he twisted, sweeping her legs and sending her down. His fists came pounding down again and she rolled out of the way. As she tried to stand, he launched at her and landed a hard punch to her chest which sent her back, again almost to the edge. She was winded and pain radiated out from her sternum which made her struggle for every breath. He might have cracked it. She could have pretended to fall here. She could climb back up the ranks another day. But this wasn’t just for her, it was for Slim too.
“I barely… even felt that.” She struggled to say but managed not to wheeze. She pushed herself up but moved only a few steps further to the edge. She just hoped he didn’t know her moves but again copied Scar and gave that beckoning motion, however, saying “Come on, bitch.” was all her own.
Blue roared, blood and saliva spraying over the stage before he was charging again. Lex watched his feet and his arms. She would only have seconds to get this right. She bounced getting ready and as he swung, she grabbed his arm, turned into him and dropped low, sending him tumbling over her back and off the stage. He tried to grab hold of her, his sharp claws digging into her shoulder and slicing ribbons down her arm. She cried out and dropped to her knees but Blue hit the floor while she remained. She looked down at him, never wanting to do this again.
“You ever… challenge me again… I’ll kill you.” She threatened as he pushed himself up onto his hands. He glared back before he dropped his gaze in submission.
The crowd went wild around her but she didn’t hear it, she could barely breathe and blood was gushing down her arm, making a slowly growing puddle on the stage. She won but only just and now she still might lose everything.
Suddenly hands were circling her waist and she was being pulled off the stage, the arms moved to support her around her thighs and she looked down at the familiar mask of Scar. He was carrying her and she managed a smile partly for the sake of everyone watching. “I won!”
Scar joined the cries of victory and would occasionally thrust his fist into the air but he was steadfast in making his way out of the room with her. A few people caught her and pat her shoulder which hurt every time but he got out into the halls, Scar now swiftly walked to the medical bay. He carefully set her down on the exam table and another Yautja stepped into view and looked at her. Scar had red blood dripping down his side. “Oh, that’s… not good.” She struggled. Her chest was burning to the point she just wanted to hold her breath.
She saw the other, the medic, grab a syringe going for his own arm before Scar snatched it and used it to collect some blood from himself and injected it into her injured shoulder. Them and their magic blood, she chuckled, oh she might be going a bit delirious. “Worry not, little dagger. The wound is not severe-” Scar told her as if he wasn’t still covered in her blood. Another needle went onto her neck. “-but it is large. You can sleep now. It will be cauterised when you wake.”
“Scar-” She slipped under the sedation before she could finish.
---
Lex woke sometime later. The first thing she realised was that her breathing no longer hurt which was a relief. The second thing was that it sounded like there were a bunch of feral animals around her bed. She cracked her eyes open and she saw the strong and familiar contours of Scar’s back as he leaned against the medic table she was laying on. She sat up slowly, her arm was bandaged up and a cooling pack was on her bare sternum. It wasn’t just her and Scar in the room now, there were a few yautja around but they were focused on something else.
She quickly looked around and found her top to cover herself back up. Her movement caught Scar’s attention, he was no longer wearing his mask and she saw his mandibles clicking. He placed a hand on the other side of her hip before leaning down and nuzzling against her forehead with a deep purr. Right now, Lex appreciated the cover more than the affection and as soon as she was all tucked back in, she gently pushed him away. Lex wasn’t used to them sharing this sort of contact outside their shared room and she didn’t know if she had enough blood left in her to blush. “Hey Scar, yeah, I’m alright. Hope you weren’t worried.” She assured him and it wasn’t even a lie, she did feel pretty good considering the damage she had recently taken. Not for the first time she wondered if there would be any repercussions for the advanced medicine and other species blood transfusions she was constantly getting.
“What’s going on?” she asked in confusion and sat up, pushing herself to the edge of the table. Lex could see a few of the women she knew and some other hunters watching a holographic record of the fight. A bottle of their alcohol was being passed around along with it. She spied the glass in Scar’s other hand which answered for his behaviour.
Blood Mother who had been leaning against the wall, downed the rest of her glass and came over. Scar straightened up a little and moved his hands away from her. She only glanced at him before she took Lex’s chin in her hand and gave her a proper once over, then gave a nod before letting her go. ‘You did well, child. No one expected you to win.’ She signed, which didn’t feel too comforting. ‘Hope you show as much resilience when you join in clan missions.’ She gave her a small pat on the top of her head and with another sharp look at Scar, she walked off again.
Lex was brought a bowl of stew by another woman and Scar poured her a generous glass of the drink. She was starving and ate the food hardily, the drink she went a little slower with. With the recording over, the others were sharing stories both spoken and signed about their fights and challenges. She paid attention at first but just ended up leaning on Scar’s shoulder and just taking everything in.
She looked around, this is the parts that she really liked when being on the ship, the connection between hunters, the sisterhood, the need they shared with humans to tell stories. She still didn’t think she was ready to happily give her life up for the cause yet, she didn’t know if she truly ever was but she thought she was slowly finding more to fight for. She might just have found what she was staying for even though it had always been the reason.
Scar’s arm rested against her back and she placed her hand on his, tracing the scale pattern she could feel on them. It wasn’t long before she could feel the purr rising in his chest. One of the women was in the centre of the room, talking about someone who wronged her and how she challenged them. She was interrupted as the medic asked them to leave the medical room since Lex was awake and a few youngbloods with injuries from training now needed the beds. Most went to the mess hall to continue eating, drinking and sharing stories.
Lex curled her fingers in Scar’s hand and gave a small tug to them, he stopped walking after the others and didn’t even look back at them when lex gestured for them to go the other way. She walked them back to their room and waited for the door to close behind them. Lex then placed her hand on Scar’s chest and pushed him back until his legs hit the back of the bed and he dropped down to sit on the edge.
“Okay I want you to know that I have thought about this before now, this isn’t an impulse decision… well not really. This is me knowing that you mean a lot to me and I don’t want to waste time because I don’t know how much time either of us has. I could have died today, I don’t know when it will happen, weeks, years, decades, maybe I have the rest of my natural life. I don’t even know how much or how little I’ll be part of yours… but still” She put her knees on the bed and straddled his thick thighs, he reflexively placed his hands on the backs of her thighs holding her close and steady. She brought her own hands up, holding the side of his alien face. Their eyes met before she looked at his mouth. “I also don’t know how to kiss you but I’m committed to learning how.”
Lex leaned down and dragged her tongue over his sharp teeth and she felt his quick intake of breath and how his hands tightened where they held her. She pulled back to see his reaction. Scar’s mandibles twitched a few times before he moved quickly to thread the fingers of one hand into her hair and buried his face into her neck. She shuddered at the feeling of his sharp teeth and long tongue teasing over her skin. She brought her own hands into his dreads, pressing her body against his as they touched and explored each other.
Worries and clothing began to drop away.
Notes:
Alternative summery:
Lex still in morning over the death of her friend, takes in the reality of the high mortality that this lifestyle leads but she has no time for reflection as she is once again sent into another life-or-death situation. All while struggling with emotion she feels someone who is her friend but also so different in many frightening and unknown ways…And Scar is being young, dumb and full of pure love and affection for his future wifey, already planning to become an elite just so he can openly choose her as his mate, he is thinking maybe a winter wedding on Yautja prime, lil house, white bone picket fence, 2 hunter dogs, maybe find a surrogate or ten so Lex can raise a little army of yautja pups as strong as him but with her mind and tactics. He wistfully sighs, looking on with heart eyes as she threatens to kill someone.
((Also, only while editing this I learned that the mother ship matriarchs are usually the leader’s mate so basically the moment in medical was Scar getting caught acting a fool with his crush by his tough, brick house of a grandma, if this was Earth he'd be getting chased with a wooden spoon ))
~ Anyway look forward to the next chapter ;3
Chapter 12
Summary:
Lex gets the alien dick downing she fully deserved and the baby 50 year old virgin gets his cherry 𝒹𝑒𝒸𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 by his feisty human wifey.
Notes:
cheers to this being the longest slow burn i have ever written because i just had to rewrite the sequel and make the hunt take two chapters but finally, here is the alien fuckery
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Scar was strong. She had been manhandled by him a lot during training but never like this. His hands seemed to want to explore everywhere at once. They were rough as he groped over her body but she could tell he was still trying to be gentle with her. Lex pressed her lips over his mandibles, mindful of his tusks but also of the rumbling purr that was a pretty discernible tell for when he liked something. Her own hands roamed over his shoulders, feeling the unique texture of his skin. All the curves of his muscles and little spikes and patterns covering him.
Scar pulled her in tighter and she jolted “Ow.” Scar looked at her concerned but she just tugged on the cord which held the little skulls which had dug into her chest. “Might need to lose some of the armour. I promise I won’t try and hurt you… for now” She chuckled out a mock threat but the rumble in Scar’s chest deepened as he was probably thinking of her fight again. He held her hips and turned them over to sit her down on the bed before he stood up. They had seen each other naked often, to say the least, Lex had tried keeping a few things left to the imagination but they bathed together, slept and dressed together. He had seen her through all the medical visits and they always wore the spartan clothes of the Yautja.
But that being said, she was no less excited to see him in all his glory now.
“Slowly.” She hummed and watched as he stared down at her, removing each piece of clothing one by one, the mask and weapons which had been hanging from his belt dropping heavily aside on the table. He stood with his chest puffed out and proud. He was pleased with the body Paya blessed him with. All his strength, all his marks. All except the large mess of scar tissue at the centre of his chest. He seemed to usually keep that one covered.
He stepped back and gestured ‘Your turn’ so Lex stood up from the bed and into his space, not breaking eye contact as she slowly pulled off her own clothes until all that was left was the bandage around her upper arm. They just eyed each other until Scar just had to touch and he closed the gap between them, leaning down to nuzzle into the other side of her neck, nipping gently at her skin as he pushed her back to the bed.
Lex sat in the bed and moved to the centre, Scar following and crawling over her. God he was big. This reminded her of when he was actually hunting her when they first met, that slow stalk full of dark intent. But she didn’t need to fear him now. He placed his hands on her thighs, sliding them up her sides, and to her chest. She could feel the light drag of his claws over her skin. He cupped her breasts together with both hands before dropping his face down into them, breaking the scene and making Lex laugh “Really?”
A muffled “Soft.” Was his only reply and he nuzzled into her tits. Lex just laughed more and rubbed her hand over his back. Definitely, nothing to fear now.
His long, forked tongue dragged lightly over her skin, on one of the sweeps he caught her nipple and she sighed contently at the feeling. His tongue was a little rougher in texture and the prongs were thin enough to tickle. “There?” he queried because of course he was keenly watching her reactions.
“Yeah, there is good.” She said softly and as he ducked back down to tease her with that tongue, she found his hand and brought it up to her other nipple and he didn’t miss a beat before making sure to play with them both. Lex buried her hands it’s the long smooth tendrils over his head, not holding back any sounds to help him learn what she liked. His free hand continued to explore, finding where else she wanted to be touched, making her moan as he slipped his hand under her to grab her ass and rubbed at her inner thighs. It wasn’t long before she noticed the way his hips started rolling and looked between them. “Wait, roll over for me.” She asked him.
Scar paused and looked up at her, head tilted and mandibles curled close. “Not good?”
She smoothed her hand over the side of his face, he was really trying and that was so sweet. “Really good but…” she slipped her leg between his and lightly rubbed against the slick appendage she felt there. “I want to explore now.” Scar hissed and bucked down against her leg with a growl before he took hold of her and rolled over so she was on top. “Thanks.” Lex kissed over his mandibles and then worked her way lower, over his neck, it was there she realised that he smelt really good, in a way he hadn’t before. There was a type of musk that made her want to eat him up. She continued kissing down his body, taking special care to kiss over the scar on his chest and then down the tensing muscles of his abdomen. She gave those abs a lick because she could. She settled herself in between his legs pressing open his thighs to finally see the one part of him she hadn’t before. “Wow.” She breathed and then almost rolled her eyes as Scar purred and seemed to be gaining an ego.
His hard cock, now out of its sheath was proportional to the rest of him, which was to say, sizeable enough to make her a little nervous. It seemed to be already coated in slickness and was slightly tapered at the tip but grew thicker at the base. Along the length of it were many ridges on the underside and raised scale-like patterns on the overside. There was one more quite noticeable feature to it as well. “So, it does glow.” Mainly at the tip and dips between the ridges but it had a gradient going down of greenish to his more creamy brown/yellow skin. It was also dotted with the same cute freckle like spots that covered his forehead and scattered over the rest of his body.
“Okay don’t be offended but I have to ask. You don’t have any knots or spikes I need to worry about, do you?” she asked and Scar chuckled.
“Come find out.” He challenged. Well, it was not like she was going to stop now.
Lex curled her fingers around his cock and gave it a slow stroke up, it was firm and hot in her hand, the skin much softer and smoother than the rest of him. She watched as Scar hissed and couldn’t help but rock his hips up, thrusting into her hand. She stroked him for a while, watching how he reacted now to different touches, feeling how it twitched as she played with the head. She then switched hands and used the slickness she had collected to rub over her pussy and then pushed two of her own fingers in. Regardless of the nervousness which came from the unfamiliarity of him, she was also pretty turned on by it all as well. She was already wet and eager for this and she wanted this to be good for both of them. Scar seemed to be enjoying himself as she explored him with her hands but she heard an intrigued trill. “Ready?” he asked, eyes locked between her legs as she played with herself.
“No, not yet. You won’t fit unless I do this… and don’t get smug about that.”
He sat up looking more interested “I’ll get you prepared.” Scar told her but Lex grabbed his wrist as she reached for her.
“Uh uh, big boy. Claws. I’m much softer down there so… I can do this part.”
Scar gave a low growl, his fingers curling and uncurling one by one as he thought. He then reached and grabbed her under her arms and easily pulled her up and to the side of him so he could slip off the bed. “Scar?” he pulled out a knife and placed two of his claws between his thumb and knife and carved the claw tips off. “Scar! You didn’t need to do that.”
He came back to the bed and showed her his two fingers. “Good?”
She pressed her fingers against the tip of his own and yes, she couldn’t feel any rough edges of the cut claws. “That was unnecessary.” She told him before she hooked a finger to one of his mandibles and dragged him closer to press another kiss on his face. “For someone who is meant to be the ‘smart one’ you sure are an idiot a lot of the time. Okay, fine… one finger first.”
She propped some furs up behind her and sat back, legs spread and Scar grabbed under her knee to tilt her hips up, getting a better look himself and while she felt shy even while knowing she didn’t need to be she struggled not to close her legs under the scrutiny. It was only fair. He watched her closely as he pushed his finger into her. “So soft and hot inside.” He rumbled lowly. He soon added a second finger and gently fingered her open.
“Okay now move your fingers like this.” She said and showed a come-hither motion with her fingers “And put your thumb right there. Gently.” She adjusted him so it was on her clit. Tilting his head, he did as she told making her gasp. He watched that reaction and then proceeded to thrust his fingers into her faster, abusing that new trick until she was gasping and clutching onto his dreads.
His wrist didn’t seem to tire and she was eventually scrambling her hands to push at his shoulders “Scar! …Scar, stop… if you keep that up I’ll cum before we… just… stop, I’m ready.” He purred deeply and slowly drew his fingers back, curling his long blue tongue around them to lick them clean which was a sight that distracted her for a hot second. He looked monstrous but god he was attractive in his own way which shot through her body like fire.
“Okay…okay lay back again, this will make it easier for the first time.” She pushed at his chest before he lay back down, she straddled him and grinded down against him, shuddering as the ridges teased against her sensitive skin already. It was already so wet between them both, they were going to make such a mess but she really didn’t care, she wanted this so badly. “Lex.” He growled with some desperation. She took pity on him and rose up, holding his cock to her entrance and slowly sinking down onto it.
“Oh, fuck!” she moaned at the same time Scar growled out a “Pauk!”
She took in as much as she could before she just needed a moment, clenching around him, how deep and full he was inside of her. “Fuck, you’re big.” She moaned as she rubbed over his chest.
“You’re tight.” Getting impatient Scar thrust his hips up with enough force to make her bounce on his lap. “Burning hot around my cock.”
“Fuck.” She didn’t know how long she would last. She braced her hands on his pecs and started to ride him. The ridges and their unique shape of it already had her toes curling in pleasure as she fucked herself on him. Scar hands were all over her thigh before grabbing handfuls of her ass and helping her go faster. He sat up and again curled his fingers into the braids at the base of her skull, pulling her head carefully back to expose her neck and chest. His long tongue and wicked teeth continued to tease over her heated skin.
The room was filled with panting and growling and the wet smack of their fucking. She guessed it was a little late to ask if the rooms were soundproof enough for this. The ridges of his cock pressed against all the right places and she lost herself just chasing the pleasure. Eventually, she pressed down harder, rocking her hips to make his cock rub against that one spot until she was a moaning mess as she reached her climax.
She tried not to stop, Scar was still hard as steel inside her but as she kept riding him she started to slow as her thighs started to get tired. Which was when Scar took over, flipping them once more like this was a sparring session. He held up her lower back off the bed, bending her a bit as she wrapped her legs around as much of his torso as she could. Then with barely a pause, he started to jackhammer into her relentlessly. Lex scrambled to hold onto him, her nails scratching harder than she meant to on his shoulders but that just excited him more. She couldn’t do anything but just take it, moaning with each thrust. Wrapping his arm around her back, he used his other hand to tease at her clit again and it was just too much. The build is quicker this time, she was feeling oversensitive from coming once already and she cried out loudly as she orgasmed again, clenching hard and digging her nails into his tough skin.
Scar gives a low vicious roar before he thrusts in as deep as he could and held himself there as he came into her. Lex was a mess. she was panting hard and sweating in the heated room but it had been the most intense sex she had ever had. Scar nuzzled into her neck, hand rubbing over her navel as he still lazily rolled his hips. “Okay?”
Lex made a noise that she just hopes came across as a ‘yes’. He licks her cheek before gently easing out of her. He collapses down heavily next to her and satisfied purrs continued without pause, his own barrel chest heaving deep breaths. Once her breathing finally evened out, she pushed herself up, knowing as much as she wants to sleep, she needs to clean up first. She went to slip off the bed and half-collapsed. She would have ended up on the floor if not for Scar gripping onto her arm with his fast reflexes to stop her from completely falling. “Okay… legs might need a second to work properly again.” She chuckled. They both end up in the en-suit for a quick clean up and Scar fussed about making sure she was okay and that he hadn’t actually hurt her anywhere.
Then they return to the bed, throwing some of the messed furs to the floor to be cleaned later, Scar splayed out on the bed with Lex draped over him. “So… your cum glows too, huh? What other anatomy things are you hiding?” Scar huffs in offence and Lex can’t help but laugh into his chest.
---
While she has been learning up close and personal all the differences between Yautja and humans, something else they have in common is a honeymoon phase because after that Scar could barely keep his hands off of her. Admittedly, Lex hadn’t been that much better about it, herself.
She was allowed to design her mask now and the whole time Scar was meant to be assuring her at it looked right for a hunter he was just pressing against her and feeling her up every time they were left alone in the room. They were in the little metal works section of the ship. Her head measurements had been scanned in and she was set loose on a computer that helped her design it before it was hand made by one of the metal artisans.
At her level, she wasn’t allowed to go crazy with it or it would be in very bad taste so she need Scar to tell her if what she had planned was okay. Lex had to literally elbow him to get his attention when he tried to slip his hands under her clothes as she was finally happy with how it looked.
Their sparring sessions too tended to get rougher now and the last few days ended when one had the other pinned and then they would be in a rush to get back to their room. She was scared about what any of the others in the clan would think, she tried to keep it low key but they wore such little clothes and she was getting a collection of small bite marks on her shoulders and chest, while Scar had scratches over his back and greenish hickeys over his neck and chest. He healed very quickly but hers not so much.
One day she had been collected by the women and Carver came to her after helping with teaching different defence moves to the unblooded. She pulled her aside and signed “Is her servicing you well? Just know if he disappoints you can just challenge him and take the room for yourself.’
Lex almost dropped her combe-stick and placed a hand over the mark she had hoped the cloth strap had covered ‘Is it that obvious what we’re doing?’
‘You have scented each other very thoroughly, yes.’ She signed with chittering tusks.
That gave her pause and she was mortified. ‘You can smell that? I am so sorry.’ She flustered and hid her face and Carver just laughed more at her before giving her a rough slap on the back which sent her forward a step. ‘He is good stock. I’m considering him too if you finish with him.’
Carver was very nice to her so she knew that wasn’t intended to be rude or anything towards her but it did make her realise that they had never properly talked about what this was between them. The sex was great but she had hoped it was more than that.
Scar sat at his workstation, fiddling with the mount of her very own plasma caster. It was exactly made to fit a human so Scar was adjusting it to her size before she started learning to use it when her mask was ready. “Hey Scar.” She said as she approached him. He didn’t look away from his work but did reach his arm out and pulled her into his lap. She straddled his thigh with a chuckle and pressed a kiss to the side of his face. She tried to think of how to ask and what exactly she was asking.
He must have noticed her odd behaviour and sat back, resting his chin atop her head. “What happened?” he asked and she saw him placing his hand on the hilt of his knife.
“Nothing… well someone did say what a catch you are. Asked if they could have you when I was ‘done’ with you.” She said and watched his reaction.
He made an amused snort. “I am a sort after mate, very worthy.” He sounded quite proud of himself and nuzzled into her braids.
“I think what I’m asking is… how do relationships work for yautja… are we going to be ‘done’ with each other? Humans usually have a partner that they are dedicated to for a long time if not life. What does this mean to you?”
Scar huffed and she knew it wasn’t like them to talk about feelings and things like this. She tried to keep her questioning tone light and didn’t mention her own emotions yet. He moved her and she followed so she was now on his lap facing him.
“Clan works to be stronger. Worthy fighters continued blood is highly sort after. We fuck for the enjoyment too but there is a season, where females at home planet make demands of the better hunters and they usually keep to the same group of females. Spread the right bloodlines.” He explained. “It isn’t as common but some mid-level hunters become a couple who choose only each other.’
“But you’re of good blood and a well-praised hunter.” She pointed out. “What does that mean for us?”
He took her face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together. “I would choose only you. Brave. Fierce. I found you and fought beside you. Twice almost died together. I wished you to be mine for as long as you wish me yours.”
She reached down and wrapped her arms around him. “Okay, good, because that is what I want too. I care about you Scar, so much.” He hugged her back tightly.
“As well, you have the tightest little pussy-”
“Scar! You, motherfucker, okay, moment over let go of me, you immature brat.” She half-heartedly pushed him away but he held her closer and nuzzled at her.
Notes:
Okay so lore says they produce strong pheromones while wanting to mate, not much said about it, the comics said they usually smell like bitter oil so the pheromones might not be great smelling to humans BUT this is my fic and Im going with pheromones smell like your favourite musk candle and no one can say otherwise.
Also glowy cocks and cummies supremacy!!! They bleed green glow, it only makes sense, don't even try and change my mind.
Chapter 13
Summary:
Mask acquisition and the Clan mission begins
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex woke up as she now normally did, with her and Scar partially entwined. Bare skin pressed against scaled skin as he held her to his chest. She took a moment a just enjoy this soft closeness, it was rare that she would be the one to wake up first. She had to take care when she pulled away from him, making sure none of her braids were tangled in his mandibles. She was still quickly scooped back after only getting an inch of distance. She chuckled and tapped on his arm when he pulled her back to sleepily keep her from leaving.
She went to the bathroom and got some water from the tap. They had a few easier days while she fully recovered from both her hunt and her fight with Blue. Most of it was spent developing what was growing between them. The claw marks on her arm had mostly faded away after a few more coats of medical salves but the deepest punctures seemed to be stubbornly staying. Just another to add to the collection, she was going to have to get used to the idea that she would grow quite an array of marks in this lifestyle. While she was looking at the scars, over her shoulder she saw a blinking light on her gauntlet computer. She fiddled with it and saw a request for her to come back to the metal works.
“Scar.” There was a low rumble from him but he didn’t seem to be moving. Lex put on some of her clothes before pouncing on top of Scar’s larger frame, sitting on his back. “Scar, wake up.” She pressed a few kisses over his shoulder. “Wake up, handsome, it's ready. Come on, get up.”
“No rush.” He murmured as if he hadn’t been pulling her out of bed for training since she had arrived here.
“Yes, rush. I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long and we only have a few days before the clan mission.” When he still didn’t appear to be moving any time soon, she gave a playful but still hard swat to his ass. That got him up. With a small growl, he rolled, knocking her over onto the bed as she laughed. He pinned her into the furs and nibbled on her neck. “Don’t get distracted! We need to go.”
“Do not start fights if you are not willing to finish them, Little dagger.” He told her and only let her go once she was flushed and had light teeth indents marking her neck.
She dressed in her full armour as requested but despite her excitement Scar dragged her to the mess hall to eat first. She saw some of the women there, as well as a few of the hunters who had been introduced to being on the hunting party that they would be a part of. She told Carver and Ha’all about getting her bio-mask and while yautja didn’t seem to feel or at least didn’t show excitement as humans did they at least seemed please for her. She scoffed down her meal but Scar seemed to be taking his time. He leaned his arm on her head to keep her at the table as he spoke to the girls about something she couldn’t understand. But finally, they got up and walked to the metal works.
There were a few replacement weapons on the tables but there in the centre of it all was her mask. You could tell it was hers from just how much smaller it was than the other masks she had seen, but it had been the last little piece she had been missing from being one of them.
“Is it too much? It’s too much, isn’t it? I just wanted to show that I earned this but it’s going to seem-” Scar cut her off by placing two hands heavily on her shoulders.
“It's good. Show them why you are here. Let them all know you have the might of a queen.” He told her before pushing her forward to take it from the stand. Bragging rights were an important part of establishing your placement with those on the same hierarchy level as you. The front of the mask was designed to have the same simple pattern that Scar’s mask had but with her clan symbol at the same placement as the one on her cheek. But where she had her own unique twist was that she left a little of the flared top that the yautja used for their forehead to form the same pattern as the crest of the alien queen they had fought together. She picked it up, the metal cool in her hands. She would have put it on right here and then but she wanted to have a little ceremony the first time she got to see the world how they yautja saw it.
Even though Scar said she didn’t need to, she thanked the artisan gratefully to their surprise before they left for the weapons training area. She stood face-to-face with Scar in the middle of an empty training room, squares of metal rising to create obstacles around them. He placed his mask on slowly, each gesture deliberate to allow her to see how to plug in the rebreather and place it on comfortably. Mimicking him, Lex put the mask on as shown, the tubes leading into her armour and the metal shaped in a way to cling to her head. Fresh oxygen flowed over her mouth and the weight of the mask was felt but it wasn’t heavy. A perfect fit. The current view her mask gave her didn’t have anything special yet but she knew it came with different modes.
“Focus on me.” His voice suddenly showed on a sound wave register at the side of her sights and the sound itself seemed to be amplified. She stared at him and a little note came up identifying his mask as from their clan. She looked down at the height of his body and it also circled around his weapons and identified them. Scar started walking back and she kept her eyes on him and once he stopped, her visions zoomed forward on him. There was a crackle “See?”
“Yeah, this is amazing.” She said and he just chuckled at her before he disappeared. She looked around before she remembered the controls. A thermal filter swished over the sights and she saw Scar had now silently moved in closer at her left. She turned to face him as he crept up before he could try anything cheeky. “Got’ch ya.” She chuckled. He was orange now and she could see the yellow marks of his netting which were hotter than his skin. She briefly brought up her own hands to see them glowing brightly.
He tilted his head and purred before just for a split-second Scar was covered by something that was the same ambient temperature of the ship before she realised it was something on a path to collide with her mask. It was a hard hit and while her mask protected her from any facial damage she was knocked back onto her ass. “Ow.” She said before turning off the vision and could see that Ha'sall was there with a full body armour which looked to be made of the serpent’s shell.
‘Got’ch ya.’ Her own voice was parroted back to her from her friend.
The lights suddenly went out in the arena and Ha’sall melted into the darkness. Lex fiddled with the other buttons and the different filters rushed over. She had a tactical sight, a thermal sight which showed Scar even while he was cloaked and a blue/green vision which showed where Ha’sall was. She understood it to mean the serpents, and who knows who else, could escape from her different modes of vision. She needed to be ready to know which one to use. She pushed herself up and flicked between the sight modes, clocking where both were currently as they backed off and started hiding behind the blocks. “Two-on-one? Okay, bring it.”
The next few days Lex got her ass kicked.
They pushed for her to learn how to fight at the same time as rapidly switching between the different visions at her disposal. Using this training room to hide and strike out at random as she did her best to counter stalk and get in her own attacks. During the time when Ha’sall or Carver couldn’t come to help, Scar also taught her how to use the plasma caster weapon but it was aimed with sights in the mask, so luckily these were much easier lessons. Most features of the mask were controlled either by eye-tracking, using her gauntlet computer or just thinking really hard about it. This added a lot of controls to juggle when hunting but she understood the great advantage this gave the yautja. And now her.
The one other feature she was enjoying the most was now she could also play with the recordings the mask logged. She had been waiting for the right moment and when she got in a good hit and down one of her fighting companions she press her foot down on them and played a recording of Scar’s roar that she was now keeping on a hotkey. It had been so worth putting herself in a position that easily got her pulled down too and it also provided a few more sounds she was keeping. They didn’t get to play around too much as the mission was fast approaching.
At dinner meals, she was pulled along to a table with some of the other hunters she was now going to be working with. There was a rough introduction to how things worked on a hunting party. Very similar to her small three-person hunt but larger and they would be under the leadership of a more experienced hunter. They had a marching order in which she would be assigned a position that was determined by how she was seen and when she had last proved herself worthy. Many commented on the fight she had with Blue and how that would have pushed her up a few spaces.
She didn’t know if any resented her for gaining this position. None had been showing any disdained and the women had told her that for a limited time, no one would mess with her as they don’t want to join under the title of yautja who have been beaten by a human. But it wouldn’t last forever so she needed to keep herself sharp.
---
“Scar, when I said I couldn’t sleep I… I didn’t mean, fuck Scar!”
Scar had been learning a few things himself, mostly centred around human sexuality. He found the use of mouths during sex to be weird and threatening but not enough to not want to try it. So now lex was on her back across the bed while Scar crouched on the floor, head between her legs, with his mandibles, clamped on her thighs as he teased her with his tongue.
He lapped over her clit and since his tongue was so long, he was able to push inside her with it which was a weird enough feeling to have her squirming under him while still wanting more. Lex dug her heels onto his back, she has to use her willpower not to let her legs jolt too much for both their sakes. “Fuck… I feel like I’m going to break your mandibles.” She whined but Scar didn’t stop, simply removing a hand from his grip on her to make a fist and signed ‘For the Glory’. And he probably meant it, the smart idiot. He focused on tonguing her clit before using that hand to press the two fingers he kept trimmed into her.
Lex’s fingernails ran up his back before gripping into his tendrils, he purred deep and predatory and she could feel it travel through her. She couldn’t help but squeeze her thighs around his head. “Scar… Scar…” She keened, back arching as she fell apart under him. But he still kept going. “Stop… too much, Scar… Scar!” she had to pull a little more roughly on his dreads to get him to pull away once she started getting overstimulated. He was wet all down his chin but there was a growl in his throat as he licked around his mouth. “You’re... a fast learner.” She panted out. Lex dropped back against the bed, properly worn out as Scar had promised to leave her.
She heard the slick sound as Scar stroked himself while watching her, and well, she couldn’t leave the poor hunter like that. Now they were going to do a lot of walking tomorrow so she couldn’t hop on it like she was tempted to but she still crawled over to him, pushing his hand away to wrap both of hers around his cock. It was still amazing to see the tip glow through the gaps in her fingers.
She leaned in to kiss over his chest and up to his neck, she bit at his throat like he enjoyed doing to her. She needed to use more pressure, working on dissuading the notion she could hurt him in any way that he wouldn’t like. She kissed down his body and felt as he tensed up. “No biting.” He warned and she grinned up at him.
“Why do you think I’d bite you here? You didn’t bite me and between the two of us your mouth was the more dangerous one…" He snorted like she was lying. "But right here on the other hand.” She sunk her teeth into his inner thigh and she could feel him jolt in her hands.
“You are a fierce and devious creature.” She continued to stroke him and nip over his skin and start relaxing before she flicked her tongue over the tip. He made a lion like keen but didn’t stop her. She continued to tease the head of his cock with lips and tongue until his hands dug into the furs and he spilt over his abdomen.
They got cleaned upped and ended up entwined in the bed again, she had her arms wrapped around his shoulders while he rested his head against her chest.
“Be safe, do that for me, yeah?” She whispered to him.
“No death, only glory. Same for you?” He said, already sounding on the verge of sleep.
“I promise.”
“Now sleep or next time I won’t move away until you pass out.” he purred.
She laughed and gave one of his tendrils a sharp tug. Nevertheless, she did actually fall asleep quickly against him feeling safe and content. Not stirring until both their gauntlet computers beeped the order for them to start preparing. She made sure her hair was kept back with the cord of teeth and she smiled as she saw Scar securing the little skull in place on his chest. When he secured his mask, she beckoned him down and pressed a kiss to the cool metal covering his mouth. “Good luck out there, hunter.”
He purred, watching as she placed her own mask on. He then pressed their foreheads together and she giggled as the metal clanged. “May Paya see your kills, Little dagger.”
---
Lex stood among a group of around twenty yautja males within a capture shuttlecraft. She thought she was used to feeling so short when compared to them but she hadn’t been this closely packed with them outside of in the crowds of the stage fights. Some of them were familiar now, from meal times and training sessions. All of them joined in being newer blooded when compared to the more experienced hunter leading them. Each one of them looking for recognition and to help advance their Clan.
The hunter who was leading them piloted the ship. She had seen him just briefly without his mask, his skin a more yellow/green colour but with black stripe-like marks around his face and over his body. Scar had signed that his name was Cutthroat and while she is on this mission, his word is as good as law. When he tells you to do something, you do it and don’t stray from it. Even if you had a better plan, even if your bothers -or your partner- are in need of help. That had been drilled into her by Scar. They would be watching to see if she could keep on task and not do anything ‘human’. Cutthroat had barely glanced her way as he explained the plan through gestures but she saw that as a good thing. As small and human as she was, he wasn’t seeing her as anything other than one of the blooded.
The cloaked ship flew low over an alien world, mostly rocky but with sections of grass and snow in patches between bare soil. So, it would be cold which Lex looked forward to. It would be a nice break after all the time in the heated mother ship. When the doors opened and she stepped out and stretched, the netting kept her body warm but she could still feel the air move over her skin. It was refreshing. She saw a few of the others shudder a bit even though their netting would be kept at a much higher temperature than hers and that amused her. The ship closed up behind and then disappeared from sight, making barely a sound but displacing some dirt as it moved back up into a hover to find somewhere safe to wait for them to bring back their prize. The queen.
Before them stretched an almost volcanic landscape, dark soil and large rocks. It was eerie, to say the least. They started to walk off in messy rows they had been placed in, Scar was up the front end of the group, in one of the more coveted positions because he was most likely to get kills. She herself was in the middle, ready for side attacks and getting what the hunters at the front missed. Which was better than being in the back which was thought to be a necessary position but one which didn’t offer as many chances to prove yourself.
She tried not to glance at Scar and kept her focus on her surroundings as they walked through, flicking through her mask settings every so often from necessary paranoia. It was by virtue of this she saw a spike of the heat off in the distance between an area of long stone columns, she wasn’t the only one to have caught it as one alerted Cutthroat. They crouched behind some rocky outcrops and looked across the distance. No movement.
She was curious about what else might be out here but she didn’t have a chance to ask. Cutthroat signs ‘scouting party’ and pointed at three of the smaller yautja and then herself. They all cloaked and darted off. She did her best to be quick and quiet, getting closer to where the disturbance had been, making sure to stay low and duck behind all the natural structures provided by this landscape. Her fingers hovered near the handles of her weapon in case she needed to defend herself.
She and another hunter ducked behind two side-by-side pillars at the edge of the stony arrangement. Peeking in, they saw a sight she hadn’t really expected. The other hunter and her looked at each other and signed to make a quick retreat when the sound of stone rubbing against stone filled the air. She looked back at where they had just come from and one of the rocks which she had thought was one of many in the field lifted itself up, legs and a snout emerging from the rock-like shell. It was like a short furred wolf within a tortoise shell. Some of the other scout hunters joined at their location and they agreed to spit up and run. It wouldn't be able to chase all of them and they hoped it would be confused enough to give them extra time. But as was her luck, the creature wasn’t looking for hunters, it was looking for prey and Lex was the only one who looked and smell like that. It didn't even glance at the other hunters and chased after her and her alone.
She turned to see it leap at her, its jaw splitting apart in four revealing the sharp teeth inside.
Notes:
Did i mention I'm majority a smut writer? cos yeah expect sprinkled in sexy times,
SO, Xenomorphs will adapt to the ambient temperatures of where ever they are, hence they needed their own special bio-mask vision. I didn't know if i would do the clan mission but hey, why not, Let go get a queen and bond with breaking open some cold ones with the boys.
Chapter 14
Summary:
Meet and Greet
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex brought her arm up just in time for the creature to clamp its jaws around her gauntlet instead of flesh. Its sharp teeth were chomping on the metal, ferocious enough to knock her down with the substantial weight. Either from the rough landing or teeth in the gauntlet, her cloak dropped around her as she hit the ground.
Not that she thought it mattered anymore, they would know she was here.
She activated her wrist blades and they jutted out, ripping at the mouth of the creature but it was in a frenzied state. Still trying to bite at her through the metal blades, hurting itself more. With her other hand, she grabbed for her dagger as she held it off but there was a sudden shrill whistle in the air. The creature clamped onto the blade, snarling at her as bloody drool spilled from its mouth but it eventually let go and started to back off. Any other time she would have let it go. It was just an animal doing its master's bidding but it had attacked her and having it be called off would be an insult. One she couldn’t afford and risk losing her place if she wanted to stay close to Scar. Holding her dagger tighter she jumped onto the creature before it could leave and stuck it through its throat. It struggled for longer than she liked but eventually grew still.
Lex dropped back, sitting on the ground looking up as a hunter materialised to stand over her. He was unfamiliar but her tactical visor identified him as someone from a clan whose name translated to ‘Hard-mouth’. He looked down at her, head tilting to the side and a curious rattle came from his throat. Curious was better than aggressive. They had every right to now attack her back for killing their… hunting rock-dog-tortoise? Even more hunters from his clan started appearing, all eyes on her, the human in Yautja gear. ‘greetings’ she signed, not really knowing what else to do but she might as well show she knew how to communicate.
Movement sounded behind her which she assumed was her clan now stepping out now the commotion had passed. She watched as Cutthroat appeared and approached one of the other Clan members who was flanked by two of those creatures. They signed to each other and from what she could understand from their conversation, this planet was shared by a few clans as a breeding ground for the serpents to be harvested. But some conditions gave clans precedence over times and places to hunt. Their clan was special because they hunted in the cold seasons while the majority of other clans marked their time with the hotter seasons. This would explain why Scar did his cheval in Antarctica of all places. They liked the extra challenge apparently.
It was fascinating to see the two Clans beside each other. They were very similar but she could see that they had slightly different shaped masks which bore clan marks higher on their foreheads. Many had tendrils that had a red or brown tint to them. Another big difference was they seemed to carry a few fewer weapons but made use of these creatures which sat obediently at the heels of many clan members. She stared back up at the hunter looking down at her as the commanding hunters agreed on a test for who would get to continue to this alien nest.
Heavy and deliberate footsteps came from behind her but the hunter didn’t look up until the familiar sound of a wrist blade being unleashed filled the air. Scar rushed past her and went right for him, catching him off guard while he was trying to figure her out. There was a short scuffle, both clans watching on almost indifferently. It didn’t take long before that hunter was stuck on the end of Scar’s blades. This had been the test, a fighter from each clan and Scar had the added motivation of killing the hunter that was indirectly responsible for the attack against her. The commanding hunters both acknowledged his victory with barely a moment's pause. Lex thought that this would be it but Scar took hold of the fallen rival around the head and with a foot on his body, pulled. Lex closed her eyes but it didn’t prevent her from hearing the sickening pop which was louder in her ears now thanks to her mask.
She felt him come closer to her and when she looked up at him, she saw Scar holding out the head of the other hunter to her. She was so glad she had a mask on because she wouldn’t want the others to see how sick and pale she felt looking at it. But still, she opened her hands and let Scar give it to her. Even with his own face covered, she could tell from his purrs and body language that he was happy to give her such a gift. He had promised her gifts in return for the one she had given him. She stood up slowly with the head dripping from between her fingers.
She was trying to watch how the clans interacted, she had been so curious about them and took note of how they were sharing news from homeworld and the other clans. But then the mask of the hunter’s head fell off. She couldn’t do this anymore, not when he had a face. “Honey, this is… lovely, but it’s… going to make me glow when we go after the serpents.” She whispered quickly, hoping that sounded like a reasonable excuse.
‘Cloaking hides our blood too. You will be well hidden.’ He signed back.
“So, it’s not …weird for you that I’m carrying around a head of your species?” She had to ask.
‘No, I killed him for you. Is it weird that we have heads from yours?’ he questioned.
“…Well, I mean…yeah?” She answered honestly.
He actually looked surprised by that but just shrugged ‘we have time to dissolve the flesh, would that help?’
“Yes?” She glanced at the other clan and a few of the hunters were still glancing her way but more curious than hostile. Some pointing to her in a way she knew would lead to her existence amount the Yautja would be added to the news chain being spread. “Maybe away from the other clan… that has to be disrespectful to do that in front of them.” He shrugged and reached down to also pull off the head of the creature she had killed. Such a gentleman.
They moved behind the rest of their group and Scar pulled out one of those cans and sprayed down the head as she wiped the green glow from her hands onto the ground. The amount of hunter’s blood she has been splashed with, coated in or even injected with was obscene at this point. Suddenly two others crouched next to them. ‘First blood’ was signed to her and a hand slapped onto her shoulder hard but in camaraderie. She recognised him as one of the scouts that she had gone off with and she gave a grateful nod.
Scar was accosted by the other larger hunter who nudged more playfully and teased him for going off and making such a ‘passionate gesture’ in front of the clans. It distracted her from the melting heads, watching as they respected Scar for his ability but still pestered him as he was younger. ‘Bruiser, don’t heed his words.’ Scar signed to her about the larger hunter who was now leaning against his shoulder. He was more ruddy in coloured with maroon splotches on his shoulders and covering the back of him. He had a more unique mask that had bull-like horns at the top of them and he did look very much like a tank.
The other hunter beside her was introduced as Vah’kea, they were smaller than most and had similar colouring to Scar just with larger-scale patterns, their mask had angular shapes over the mouthpiece and their eye visor stretched as one piece. She used this time to quiz them a little on the other clan and if different clans meeting was a common thing. Vah’kea mainly did the talking, he told her about how the clans had their own ways which they believed made them stronger. The Hard-mouth clan was just hunters so came from a ship much smaller than theirs but they had tamed and began to train specialised beasts. Clans didn’t meet too often and they weren't always as friendly as this meeting.
‘This was friendly?’ she asked.
Bruiser did that chittering laugh. ‘Only one died, our clans are as good as brethren.’ He smacked Scar hard against his chest with enough force that she actually saw him move with it. ‘What have you even been teaching the Ooman? Stop wasting your seed for a night and teach them our history.’
While Lex was busy choking on air Scar roared at him and they started bickering, only just managing to keep it non-aggressive. While that was going on, Vah’kea seemed to agree and started giving her pointers about being in a scout position, which felt like criticism but if they wanted to be mean they wouldn’t have been trying to help her. ‘Cutthroat is sending you down our path and it isn’t like you could become a berserker, we could use more scouts. Even if you are human.’ He told her to keep her head up instead of watching her feet and be faster. They wanted her to survive so Lex saw that as her gaining some more friends in the clan.
Scar and Bruiser suddenly quieted up, looking behind her so she turned as well. They all stood as the other clan’s lead approached. He placed his hand on Scar’s shoulder but also gave her a nod before he turned around and left. He and his clan -including the hunting beasts- disappeared from normal view.
They organised again, Lex with her newly acquired green-tinged hunter’s and beast’s skull hanging from her belt, ending up next to Vah’kea. Lex did want to get along with him but she just kept thinking about the last time she had gotten closer to someone during a hunt. There was a high chance many around her would die at the end of this and it made her hesitant with pursuing any more connections. They continued along a few more miles until Cutthroat gestured for them to get low as they approached the end of the odd rock formations. They came around to a vantage point where they could see the entrance to a cave which reminded her of the homes of the funnel-web spider, except instead of webbing it was that black misshaped terraforming the serpents created whenever they took over a place.
Lex flicked through the mask's modes and found the sight which showed some of the structures around the mouth of the cave appearing yellow. The entrance was being guarded. Cutthroat signed to hunters at the front to be ready before he himself pulled out a spear and slid down the pebbled slope on his feet. They were still a little distance away from the cave but with nothing but flat land between us and them, he wasn’t hard to spot. Lex watched as the aliens slowly reached arms and legs out to creep down the wall. There were about six of them and they were soon crawling in a sprint towards the hunter. Cutthroat raised his hand as they all converged on him. waiting until they were just about to pounce before he closed his fist and each of them were blasted back by plasma casters.
He looked over the pile of dead serpents in tangled limbs and hissing blood when one, missing an arm but not dead lunged at him. Only for him now to catch it with his spear through its mouth, exploding out the back of its head. With a boot to the alien’s chest, he pinned him down and pulled the spear out, spinning it in his hand to flick the acidic blood off.
With a flick of his hand, they all came sliding down to catch up with him and go for the cave. The first length of the tunnel was pretty clear, it was when they got deeper that the blasts really started going off. The front hunters cleared the path while she and the others in the centre dealt with the aliens which jumped out of holes and crevasses around the tunnels. It was almost a full 360° combat. This was different from the training she had done with Scar which hadn’t covered the panic of needing to keep the alien sight on but the panic of also not changing it. The fact that she needed to trust her teammates but the paranoia of something being in her blind spots.
They got to an intersection and all grouped in a circle in the middle, mowing down the aliens until they had a moment of quiet. Again, she, Vah’kea and the other smaller hunters were chosen to scout down one of the three ways forward. Vah’kea stayed with her and they both hugged the walls stealthing forward and deeper into tunnels. They came upon an alien facing away from them and after a countdown they both went for it, spearing it in the head and in the back so it dropped down quietly.
She wondered just how far they were expected to continue alone when they found an opening to a room that was filled with those eggs but in the centre guarding them all was a larger alien she hadn’t seen before. Not a queen, but it had a mantle coming off its head but otherwise looked like a regular alien but bigger. ‘Found them.’ Vah’kea signed and they crept back at first before running.
They made it halfway back when suddenly her mask was covered, she let out a small scream as she felt the spindly legs of a facehugger attached to her mask. Her arms going up had stopped the tail from wrapping around her neck. While the wet skin of the alien was revolting, she managed to pry it off her mask and toss it away. While it wriggled on its back trying to get back up, she pinned it with her spear. ‘I hate those things’ she signed and the other snorted in agreement. But there was a screech behind them, the sound she made might have alerted more aliens so they quickly started running again.
They made it back to the defensive hold and Vah’kea signed that they found an ‘egg chamber’ and something else she didn’t know. She joined the circle, competing to blast the approaching aliens first until Vah’kea joined her again. She made the same sign they had used.
“Praetorian. Protectors of the queen. One will become the new queen once we take her from the hive.” He told her above all the blasts. “Good sign that she will be close. Learn this well, little sister.”
Once the other scouting teams came back as a bigger group, they moved down the way they had seen the praetorian alien. A few serpents now came down the tunnel and were blasted away. But a few of the face huggers were arriving too. Once they returned to the egg chamber, Cutthroat gave a roar and again had their attention, telling the fire wielders to go to the front. Three stood while two others crouched and fire spread out over the eggs lighting them up and making them and the aliens inside pop. This was a risky tactic as the fire would mess up their mask’s vision but was the only way to deal with the eggs and would keep some of the aliens away now.
The praetorian alien stood back out of range of the fire but screeched out something fierce causing her to shudder. She had her normal vision back on and saw as it stayed standing between them and where the queen must lay. They entered the chamber proper, Lex needing to take extra care not to get burned by the eggs which were still on fire around her. The yautja did not appear to feel the heat of the flames around them so she couldn’t afford to be either.
She saw Scar and Bruiser along with a few others going right for the praetorian and she was ready to follow them but Cutthroat directed her to the sides to get a clear shot at the tunnel behind the praetorian and to start clearing it out. She complied and looked back to where Scar was ducking not to get hit by a tail which instead knocked another hunter into a still-burning fire. She forced herself to look away and ran off, trying not to get distracted from her task. He’ll be fine, they had taken on a queen as a pair, they could handle that thing with a whole specialised hunting party around him.
She skirted around their fight and blasted at any aliens coming from the tunnel while other hunters were assigned to her and those helping clear out the tunnel to stand behind them and watch their backs. There was another screech and she looked back to the main fight happening in the room, just for a moment, she saw Scar and Bruiser both sticking spears into the alien. But its tail was free and thrashing around and all she could think was all the times she had seen Scar get impaled on those. She almost sent a few shots towards it, her gun turning to aim where she was looking but she forced herself to turn back to her job. She had been warned, don’t go against Cutthroat’s orders, no matter what. She made friends but others less friendly would let it be known if she broke rank. There was a pained roar and she didn’t look back. There was screeching and the sound of metal and acid and then a loud thump and she didn’t look back.
Cutthroat came into view and gave the signal to keep pushing forward. A hand rested on her shoulder and she smiled up at Scar who looked no worse for wear other than missing some armour pieces now. They ran down the tunnel and even with the squeals and blast sounds Lex could hear the heavy breathing of the queen.
They exited the tunnel and Lex couldn’t help but stare up at the monster before her.
She and Scar both pulled out their net guns.
Notes:
Hard mouth – a dog that regularly damages game when retrieving. Considered to be a major fault in gundogs.
It's kind of funny that with Yautja etiquette, when you meet another clan (which isn't practising anything methods your clan doesn't agree with), as poof that you are worth being friendly with, you just straight up kill a member to show your strength and that you're worth their time.
Praetorian -exactly what it was described, these were in a bunch of the avp games and comics so I thought I would throw them into the soup for flavouring.
Chapter 15
Summary:
Time to take on the terrible tyrant
Notes:
Oooh random but the new prequel Predator movie had finished filming a few chaps ago and i was gonna comment on it, basically another woc is the lead which gives me hope since in the comics and move women leads tend to get close with the aliens, so if the director is smart and knows what modern audiences wanna see, Preddy will stay alive and get good close interactions with our lead.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex and Scar walked side by side, entering the cavernous room as a few more clutches of eggs were lit up in flames between them and her. Lex was surprised by the spite which welled up in her chest at the sight of the Queen. She knew the hunters too had a big role to play that night in the pyramid. They had almost equally been responsible for the death and destruction she had seen back on Earth with these monsters. She would never let herself forget that completely. But standing here now, it was a hunter that cared for her and warmed her bed while these serpents chilled her to the core and haunted her dreams.
As soon as the first tongues of flame hit the eggs, the Queen's drooling mouth slid from under the shell of her mantle, and her cry filled the room, echoing around the cave and through the tunnels. She was the same size as the Queen they had faced back on Earth, with her normal sights she could see the dark void of her chitin shell only visible in the firelight. She, as was her instinct, was ready to defend herself and her eggs with otherworldly ferocity.
The other tunnels leading to the room were set up with a red laser grid to keep the drones out but they instantly began testing them for weakness. She could hear the cries and the sizzles from their attempts to get through or break the devices. They were smart enough to find another way if given enough time. They needed to work fast.
Cutthroat had given them all roles for when they had reached the Queen as the party had gathered in the planning room before the drop. Lex herself needed to go after the arms and keep back any face-huggers which hatched in the room. Scar would be going for the Queen head-on, trying to rope up her mantle. The Queen backed herself up, but she could barely take a few steps while the sack of eggs bulging under her kept her stationary. But even with that disadvantage, her long sharp tail swished aggressively behind her and she could see the second mouth behind her teeth prepared to spring forth. She would be ready for them.
A sharp bark shot through the air from the lead hunter and Scar was about to get in position but Lex quickly reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. She wanted to tell him to be careful or to not get hurt but again she couldn’t insult him like that so in a hurry what came from her mouth was. “I love you.” Which was not what she had meant to say and she almost apologized for it. But Scar stopped her before she could even try and took her head in his hands. Their masked heads collided in a bump as he nuzzled her. Then he abruptly lets go and ran off to his position with the other heavy hitters ready to start this fight. She looked dazedly after him before she heard chittering laughter beside her. “Don’t you dare say a word!” She threatened Vah’kea with her knife before the two moved off as well.
Most of the eggs in this room weren’t mature enough to hatch yet but they still needed to keep on guard for the few that were. She blasted a facehugger which leapt from a hidden nook and she could see a few others getting pegged off around them. The Queen who was now being surrounded cried out again, making Lex wince from how close she was now.
Then at Cutthroat’s command, they all moved at once.
They had modified net guns, one specifically for the queen, she let one fly in an attempt to wrap it around her form and pin her smaller set of arms to her body. Other netting and ropes also tried to be secured around the queen but she began thrashing around, knocking some of the ropes off with her tail and moving in a way which stopped them all from securing. The real issue in capturing the Queen is that if they want to transport her, she can’t be injured, no slicing off the tail which Lex saw as the main threat for obvious reasons. If they planned to make it back safely without the ship developing holes from the acid, they will need to ensure she is in one piece. The tail whipped back to her side and she ducked just a little too slow and it felt almost like being hit by a car, knocking her back into a pile of eggs. A few broke open and she was covered in a slick liquid as small spindly not yet matured facehuggers wiggled out.
“Oh, god no.” despite the ache she pushed herself back up, still grabbing the hunter’s skull which unhooked from her hip and reattached it before she eyed where she needed to be. She reared up and slashed one of her arms down, knocking some other hunters, leaving gashes across one’s chest. Two lines secured around her mantle and she watched Scar, Bruiser and Cutthroat pulling on the line to keep her head down. She dashed back to her spot, limping a little but nothing she couldn’t push through. They were having issues with that tail and she saw another hunter get impaled and flung off which made her wince.
Cutthroat was roaring at them and she could see a second wave being ready to get unleashed. She almost slipped a few times while running but she returned to Vah’kea and dropped down to one of her knees, trying to be as steady as she could, calming her breathing and shooting the netting in time with the others. She couldn’t keep track of whose nets were who’s but enough wrapped around trapping her inner arms and one of her primary ones.
The next time the tail flung out it two of the other hunters grabbed onto it when it collided with them, holding it against her strength. She had technically done her job so she and others ran to grab on too. Lex's strength wasn’t as significant as the others but every bit counted. As more hunters jumped on, they held the tale still against the Queen’s growing struggles. Suddenly a rope was shoved roughly at her chest. “Be of more use.” A hunter growled and she took the line, not arguing because she did know her way around ropes and started wrapping and knotting it around the spines of the tail.
Vah’kea came up to her and signed more instructions on what she could do. Taking the cord she ran, circling around the Queen before throwing one end over her with all her might. Vah’kea caught it and they used that to start moving the tail to wrap around the Queen’s body. By now the alien’s mantel had been completely roped up and the ovipositor was pinned shut by more ties. She was completely bound up and all the cord lines were brought together and clamped by a device. They all joined in grabbing onto the ropes.
Cutthroat stood in front of the Queen, despite no longer being able to move her tongue spiked out, bitting just inches from his mask. He held his hand out and a hunter placed the wrist firer flamethrower in his hand. He let out a torrent of fire into the air just as stone crashed from the roof of the cavern and the aliens flooded in, teeth bared and charging. Lex’s heart thumped in her chest and she was ready to let go of the cord to grab her weapon but Cutthroat pointed the device to her egg sack.
The Queen’s lips trembled from the force of the snarl but Lex watched in amazement as all the aliens started to back up away from them. They manually pulled the Queen through the tunnels, they moved slowly and the alien drones were always watching and moving with them. Lex stayed on edge but just focused on moving forward. They left the hive but still on all sides, the aliens followed in an escort behind them. There were so many now, she could see other praetorian aliens in the crowd but still, none broke from the group to get any closer yet clambered over each other to stay watching and waiting.
She didn’t even hear it but above her, there was a sudden movement, she switched off her alien tracker vision and saw nothing but when she then switched to thermal Lex saw as the shuttle landed in front of them without a sound. The larger doors at the back opened revealing the inner holding section and a ramp protruded down, the tense stillness continued as they pulled her up into the capture part of the ship. Metal arms came down from the walls and ceiling to hold the Queen in place, closing around her body and head and allowed them to step back. The following drones started moving closer and closer, they didn’t even wait for the door to close before they started flying away.
The hunters stayed on their feet easily enough and started walking through the doorway into the main passenger cabin but the force of the ship taking off while the doors were still closing made Lex jolt and she had to grab onto the metal bars which helped contain the Queen. When the door shut and full gravity was back in effect she slowly stepped around the large alien. It was just the two of them now and she felt the hot, wet breaths of the monster rush against her as she stood before the Queen. Caught by an impulse, Lex removed a glove from her hand.
There was a muzzle keeping her mouth shut, she knew she was still dangerous all the same but feeling brave or maybe stupid, she pressed her hand over the hard cool shell of the Queen’s head. Looking at her through the eyes of her own queen serpent mask.
She didn’t linger there long, pulling her hand away and turning to go and join the other. It was then that she saw Scar, leaning against the door frame, watching her intently. She quickly closed the distance between them, jumping up on him in a hug, almost headbutting him as she held him close. His hands automatically went to her thighs to hold her up as he purred deeply as they nuzzled. The door sealed shut behind her and they were left alone in a little hallway that ran along the side of the main room. She could hear the sound of the hunting party celebrating a good hunt but she ignored it and focused on Scar.
“Are you okay?” She asked, running her hand down his arm, there were a few little burned pock marks from where he might have been splashed with acid.
He held her up with one arm as he reached up and felt that red elastic on his dreadlock and after confirming it was still there, he replied. “Okay. You?”
“I’m amazing!” She laughed. “I can’t believe we did that. Really, I can’t believe how any of this is real.” She flipped her mask off and again pressed a kiss on his own mask. “You looked good taking her head-on. So brave and skilled. Didn’t even get pierced this time.” She teased.
Scar moved his hands higher and roughly groped at her ass, pulling a squeak from her. “One more queen I wish to take, head-on.” She could feel the rumble in his chest as he leaned in closer, she pushed his mask up too and she felt his mandibles on her neck. “She will be the one getting pierced after that fight. I promise you this, Little dagger.” Lex was about to protest that just in the next room was a whole squad of hunters when that fact proved itself as a staticky voice interrupted them.
‘I love you… I love you… I love you.’ Lex jolted and they both turned to see Vah’kea and Bruiser leaning into the hallway and looking at them. An equally staticky growl voice came from Bruiser and it took her a second to realise that a larger hunter was playing a recording of Scar’s voice.
“What did you say?” Lex asked but Scar dropped her to the ground. Pushing his mask back in place he stalked over to the other two hunters, a roar in his throat. Bruiser roared back before slamming his hands against his chest in challenge. The two hunters collided and began ‘playful’ roughhousing. More rough than play.
Lex eyed the scout.
Vah’kea eyed her back. ‘I love you.’ Played again in her voice.
“You rude little-” She dashed after him and she bolted, they entered the main room where all the other hunters were. She chased him and tried her best to trip him while laughing. He was a squirrely hunter and it didn’t help that one in the team tried to trip her. Scar and Bruiser had grabbed each other’s hands, trying to push the other back or break their wrist, she didn’t know. It stopped when Cutthroat walked up and slammed his fist into their joined hands and broke them apart. He hissed something at them and then grabbed her by the back of her neck stopping her pursuit of Vah’kea “Pups. Save it for the arena before you cause destruction on my ship.”
Lex was pushed back to the group, grabbing onto Scar to stop her from falling. He picked her up at his side and she raised her fist and gave a loud cry of triumph whether they liked her or not, their mission was a success for all of them and there was an answering roar from the pack of hunters.
---
They piled back into the mothership, still a little rowdy but more composed now. Cutthroat left them to inform the clan leader of their successful mission, that there had been no deaths and of whatever news the other clan had shared. She rushed to him before he left. “I wanted to thank you for taking me on for this mission and for what you have taught me.”
“Do not thank me like I am Ooman. It’s my place to capture and teach. Your place is to join your brothers and sisters for the good of the clan. Do your work, more eyes than ours will be on you.” And with that, in a flick of his dreads, he walked off.
She rejoined the others after collecting some clothes from her room and as they bragged through the hallways of a job well done, all uninjured ended up at the bathhouse. Lex was a little conflicted at first, she was used to sharing with Scar and had also shared with the women a couple of times now but not the whole squad. Still, she was covered in ick from when she had been swiped by the tail so she needed to get clean and couldn’t go offending the party when she had just become a part of it. They used the big pool-like bath at the centre which she had never seen been used before now. Lex covered her chest with his arm and dipped her toes into the water, hissing a little at the temperature. It wasn’t enough to burn her but it was still pretty damn hot. A clawed foot suddenly pressed against her back and she pushed her in. That had her sharing a few colourful words with Bruiser when she looked up to see it had been him. She got used to the heat and got close to Scar’s side as they cleaned up.
There were more stories told and she and Scar also were caught up in excitingly talking about their fight with a Queen, focusing on the alien being dragged to the floor or the arctic ocean rather than the almost death it had caused. They luckily didn’t stay too long in the water which had quickly started overheating Lex. They dried, redressed and went to the mess hall next taking over two tables. She was pulled in to sit on Scar’s lap as they scoffed down meals and drinks. Again, the energy that took over after a successful hunt was unlike anything she had experienced and she enjoyed it a lot. But even as much as she enjoyed that feeling of community and belonging, she left the table rather early. Trying to get away before it would have been noticeable that Scar had let his hands start to wander over her under the table.
The two didn’t even make it back to their bedroom, ending up in some empty viewing room at the front of the ship. Scar pinned her up against the wall and rutted desperately into her. They used up the last of their adrenalin, kissing and pawing at each other. She rested her head against his chest, sinking her teeth into his skin to muffle her moans as he fucked her like it would be the last time he could. From over his muscular arm, she could see out into the depth of space and as all the stars moved passed them.
They ended up on the floor, Lex again in Scar’s lap, leaning back into him as he held her close and touched her so reverently. Like she was precious and dangerous. His little dagger. She continued to look out as they passed nebulas and coloured dots of far-away planets. Maybe one of those dots was her planet, where she had been born, where they were probably saying she had died. She sighed contently as Scar started to lick and nibble at her neck.
“I don’t regret leaving with you.” She told him, tracing her fingers over his rougher hands. “Not saying I’m not still scared, for myself, for you. I am scared and I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand your culture and the drive you have the spreading darkness just to prove you can kill it but…” She leaned back and felt the bumps of his mandibles against her cheek as she also brought up her hand to cup the other side of his face, caressing him and digging her fingers into his dreads. “I think I can picture my life here with you, the home I can build. I can be happy here with you. I meant what I said even if I didn’t mean to say it at the time, I do love you, Scar.” His arms wrapped around her and held her close. “You don’t need to say it back, I know it’s different for your kind. Still, I am curious about what you said to Bruiser.”
“I saw you were throwing the tail rope… said you were the perfect mate…” He answered as if embarrassed.
“Naww, guess you can be romantic.” She turned and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Humans use words a lot but I know how to read your actions, I never doubt that you care. I’ll treasure every gift you give me, even when they’re dripping gore in my hands and try and give you a few back as well.”
But she had underestimated the yautja’s drive to prove themselves. “Alexa woods… I would fight armies for you, travel through the darkest corners of space to ensure you were safe, I would have myself beholden to only you and create a new family with you, or I would forsake my bloodline and have only you. I would give my life for yours or take my life if you wished it from me. I hope this proves what you are to me.” Scar’s voice rumbled. Lex turned to sit facing him now, wobbly smile on your lips. Her under the twinkling lights of the cosmos she held him close and kissed over his face.
She didn’t know where they would be in a few years but she knew it would be worth it and that she wouldn’t have missed these moments of happiness for all the worlds she could see.
Notes:
Literally, in the comics, with all their technology they really do just drag the queen out with ropes, I can respect the dedication to the rituals.
The aliens don't attack because the queen will use her hormones to control the drones/warriors/praetorians which has a few story lines of people trying to replicate those scents.
So, does this feel like a closer? Stick around to see where we go next, Same Pred time, Same Pred channel :3
Chapter 16
Summary:
Time skip, where are they now.
Notes:
Gonna edit this again when i wake up, i started getting sleepy in the middle
but yeah i had my rest and then things suddenly got hectic But im still alive!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex pulled on the rope, one of many dragging the queen as she walked proudly at the head of the party with her friends, right behind Cutthroat. The ship had landed a short distance ahead and the group was rapidly closing the small distance to it. But then she saw it.
One of the surrounded drone serpents placed its hands right out of the line they had made as they followed, another started edging close, and then another. The normally uniform separation they had between each other wasn’t broken yet but it wouldn’t be long now. Their behaviour was changing, they were getting more aggressive. The party would need to be ready. She had seen this only once before. The Queen will always prioritise the hive's continued survival, their drive is to always grow their population, and she was smart, she knows if she bides her time and goes with them the hive will go on and her progeny always had a chance to find an escape and take down her captors. Restarting the cycle.
But sometimes, a Queen decides to take a risk.
She gave a series of clicks with her tongue and there were a few clicks back from the other scouts that had seen it. The hunters didn’t give pause to hauling off the Queen, but as she glanced over them, she saw a few closed their hands around their weapons.
There was no sign given, not any they could see at least, but one drone dashed out to them only to be shot down midstride. But that had been the first drop from the damn breaking and soon from all sides, the drones were running at them. She and a quarter of the part let go and created a line of defence with weapons in hand to kill any that got too close while everyone else continued to pull the Queen inside, plasma casters firing from their shoulder mounts. Lex used her whip, getting them from afar, wrapping around their heads or limbs, with a zap and a pull they would be dismembered. “Stay together, don’t break formation!” She yelled out at a few of the newly blooded hunters who hadn’t even known this could have been a risk and were breaking formation. They quickly complied with her orders those she was sent a glare. They’ll learn.
They continued taking down the aliens but she saw a praetorian which had left the hive now coming for them. She jumped as something touched her but it was just Vah’kea who signed for them to start falling back. They started to withdraw to the ship as the queen was now going up the ramp, this was still going to be tricky. Getting closer to the ramp, they had to ensure the ship didn’t get too damaged by the serpent’s blood but they didn’t want to risk any serpents getting inside either. Lex snapped her whip, trying to keep the serpents from following when again she was yanked back by Vah’kea just before a wall of flame suddenly erupted as the flame-carrying hunters opened the valve to empty their containers so the rest could get inside.
The doors started closing as the shuttle began to lift off but they could hear the bangs as the alien had crawled up on top of the ship. One was fast enough and crawled over, jumping through the fire and into the gap in the door. Lex, being one of the last insides pulled her knife out, pushing it cleanly through the neck. Its tongue lashed out but as it wriggled it just pushed the knife deeper a few others poised around ready for it to lunge but it eventually dropped where it was pinned.
There were a few barks from the younger ones as the acidic blood started to well up at the edges of the knife. She chuckled at them and said “Relax. Bruiser, wanna help me, buddy? I have an idea” A heavy hand rested on her shoulder before he took hold of the creature’s body and they both heaved the body onto the back of the queen, her body should keep the acid from dripping onto the floor of the ship until they returned to the mothership.
She and Bruiser shuffled everyone to the main hold as the queen was secured, growling menacingly but locked in place. Before they both left, she held her hand up and with an obviously fake huff of annoyance, slapped his palm to hers in a high-five like she had taught him. “Good hustle today big guy.” They walked out and Vah’kea came excitedly with both hands up, she had to jump for it but she still got them both. As they joined the others, Cutthroat was waiting, arms crossed as he stared at them. He grumbled at the boys before turning to her and saying. “Risky move Oomen, but it worked.” He walked away and head to the controls but barked a “Follow.” She lifted her mask and have a nervous look to the boys but clicked his mandibles and Bruiser to pushed her after him.
Cutthroat sat at the controls of the ship, taking over from the autopilot which had spun the ship to shake loose any of the aliens which may have tried to cling on. She was very glad the doors had close and they hadn’t needed to feel that. Just looking at the screen was making her dizzy.
“You disciplined the newly blooded well.” He said, not looking at her, it threw her a lot to hear a compliment. “I have spoken to our Leader, we can speak on your behalf to the Elite clan, you can join your two brothers in undergoing a trial. Never has one of an inferior species such as a Oomen been allowed this privilege-” That was more like it. “-But while your survival is unlikely, it isn’t impossible. You had helped kill a Queen on the very day you learned of its existence, or so I have been told. One member has already voiced that he will support your rise in position. I know you have joined your mate on many on hunts and trials, may as well have the title along with it.”
“You’d do that for me.” She asked in surprise, Cutthroat was gruff but he genuinely wanted the best for the hunters under his care. But going as so far to push her forward this much was still a bit of a surprise. Or maybe it wasn’t considering how quickly he accepted her and started her on a path to find her position within the group.
“I plan to move on from dealing with this, ungrateful lot. you and your brothers can take over. Give you a taste of dealing with these rowdy pups!” he yelled the last part to the hunters in the back before he eyed her. “Though, from what I heard you’ve had a taste of that already.”
Lex leaned back on the control panel and tapped her fingers along the metal, thinking. She didn’t know if she wanted to be on call for the whole galaxy of hunters, it was daunting to think she could have missions of her alone and not with Scar or her friends. She didn’t know if she wanted to find a ‘relatively’ comfortable position and live out her days trying not to die or really push herself and prove herself on behalf of all humanity.
“I might need some time to think about that.” She told him and he gave an understanding nod. She smiled and pulled her mask down so she could press their foreheads together. “Thank you, Cutthroat.” She said sweetly and he made a disgusted noise and pushed her away.
“Don’t make me change my mind, go fuck off back to your brethren.” But she knew regardless of his posturing she wouldn’t have gotten away with that if he truly disliked her.
They got back to the ship, Lex quickly went to the capture cell they were moving the queen too, and before they disposed of the drone, she cut out a small trophy from it.
She cleaned up with the party, long being forced out of her shyness and the party long used to her being there. Well, almost all. One of the two recently blooded had been unsubtly glaring at her since she had corrected them. They seemed to be simmering and she was sure she was about to be challenged but an arm went around the shoulders of the younger hunter, locking around his neck and Blue snarled down at him. The younger hunter was eventually intimidated into settling down before Blue let him go. She and Blue shared a nod of understanding but stayed at opposite sides of the pool. They had settled their differences but there would be an unthawing iciness between them which she wasn’t ready to let go of. Neither was he apparently. His fight back up to the position he had seemed to be a hard one, he was sporting some rough injuries but she hoped that whatever he went through had knocked some sense into him.
Eventually, half of them occupied a table in the mess hall. She leaned back against Bruiser's side with one leg up on Vah’kea knees as she had a proper catch-up with the rest of the party that she was now more familiar with. But she didn’t get to talk to them too much as she had split her time in the last few days between training with Vah’kea and being the one to help train new bloods.
New scars were shown, kills were bragged about, and news of hunters who had continued trying to rise up were told as they moved on in this life or the next. When her drink was filled up, she poured most of it in Bruiser’s glass and he was soon sloppily signing to her about a huntress he wanted to court who most others were scared of. She did her best to offer some advice based on what the women had told her to expect from males. All the while Vah’kea was just shaking his head in bewildered amusement at them.
They all continued messing around for a few hours but she was exhausted and needed to make a choice between staying here one more night or going home. But it didn’t take long to choose. “Okay, I will be with you next hunt, call me if you ever need me. And try and come back in one piece after you’ve courted her alright” She told the big brawler hunter as she hugged her two friends.
“Bruiser isn’t the one we are worried for, go easy on your own mate when you see him again, Ooman!” Vah’kea called back and the two clicked out chuckles.
Bruiser giving up on signing spoke in broken, mispronounced English. “You dare try restrain a woman’s passion?” Bruiser paused yelling to punch the smaller hunter’s shoulder before continuing. “Go, wreck him! He would greet Paya happily if he could tell her you had sent him, and she will be just as impressed.
There was chittering all around now and she covered her face. “Should have let the serpents eat you. Changed my mind, don’t call me, bye.” She said, not meaning any of it but she hoped they had at least a few seconds thinking that she did. After she waved to the rest of the hunters who were making the growl equivalent of wolf-whistles before heading off to find her shuttle.
The use of autopilot really saved her because spaceships, even smaller ones like these were tricky as hell to learn. She sat back in the chair, keeping her eyes open as she watched as the stares moved passed her until she was going fast enough to use the rift to get herself to Yautja prime. The place she had been calling home for a little while now.
Her shuttle landed and she stepped out, stretching out her arms as she absorbed the bright light of the binary stars high above the dessert planet. The sky was streaked with the rocks and dust which made up the rings encircling the planet. The heat sunk into her bones, humidity already causing sweat to bead on her neck. On most days she usually couldn’t stay outside long, the planet wasn’t meant for human life but for a moment she just enjoyed the alien sight of the landscape. The desert landscape expanded far and wide, stone formations jutting out in jagged protrusions, and there was a glow of lava streams that looked like the veins of the planet. In the distance, she could see great statutes, temples and pyramids the Yautja had built thousands of years ago. No matter how many times she looked out at the sight it stole her breath away. It was a harsh, arid land but now the novelty of being on an alien world hadn’t worn off yet.
The clans had little communities of houses, many carved out of the rock structures of the desert, side by side with others from the same clan. There was a clashing mix of ancient and high-tech. They still slept on furs and had bonfires on cold nights but they use volcanic geothermal generators power to run massive high-tech equipment which was blended seamlessly into the stone and around them was a constant traffic of shuttles and massive faster-than-light ships landing and taking off.
She walked past the stone wall which surrounded their home as a defence against any other wildlife trying to wander in. Going right to the door of the home Scar had been given when he had reached a higher status. She was almost to the house when she heard a shifting of pebbled sand behind her. She smiled under her mask and kept walking, maintaining the same pace, trying not to show that she heard it. The sound followed her, something dashing in small sprints between pillars before rapidly heading towards her. When it was close enough, she quickly spun and grabbed the little creature which had tried to launch herself at her. They made a surprised noise as they were caught but still nuzzled into her with a deep purr.
“Hey, baby girl. You’re getting bigger every time I come back.” Lex said but still lifted the yautja child up and against her hip. “Don’t worry Razor, you’ll be winning these ambushes in no time. Just remember, get closer before you start running.” He gave a little booped to the little one’s forehead before carrying her inside as the pup trilled excitedly, making just small clicking sounds as her tusks were just starting to grow in but her dreads were still short little nubs.
“I’m home!” she called out and then there was a thunder of more little footsteps as a little hunting party of infant yautja appeared and tackled her legs. Lex laughed and was eventually brought down by the little one’s collective effort, lifting up her mask to nuzzle all individually. “Miss me?” she asked and was met with purrs and excited and clumsy signing and chatter. There were five very young children currently, all sired by Scar.
They had what she could only guess was a good many years on the mother ship together and after the stressful process of Scar undertaking the rites to become an elite himself, they had a large home gifted to them. She still hunted with the clan when she was needed but she usually was allowed to stick by her mate for when he was called in by any of the clans they were on good terms with. But this large house had been empty. She had known enough of the culture to know what children meant to them so after a few long talks they agreed on taking a few surrogates. A few of the women stayed around but some took this as a chance to have a child and then go off on their own escapades knowing it was being looked after. But they had made sure all the women had known Scar belonged to Lex above all.
But she loved the kids and with the way communal child-rearing nature the Yautja had, she was seen as much of a parent as the rest of the women. “Here, I’ve got you something.” She told the children and reached for her belt, before jolting out an alien tongue at them, squeezing it on the point near the mouth which made its teeth open and close, making the kids jump away or give adorable attempts at battle cries. Lex used it to snap at them a few times before she gave the prize to Bastian, the smallest of the kids and he went off chasing his siblings as they mock-hunted each other. She laughed as she watched them scamper before Carver, being momentarily used as a shield for a child to duck behind greeted her too and helped pull her up off the ground.
“Have they been good while I was gone?” She asked as Carver, mother to a pup named Butcher, who acted as head of the household while Lex was gone. The other woman checked her over for injuries as she spoke proudly of the children’s development and the advancements in the lessons they were in the middle of being taught. Compared to others, their pack of kids were a little more chaotic seeing as they had a main influence from a human, it gave them an edge. But she was a lot softer on them and those little brats knew how to take advantage of that with her.
‘Mischievous brats, planned a whole ambush on their sire while he worked. He was proud but if they worked better together, they could have hurt him. We will need to instil that more in their training so next time they succeed in it.’ She signed.
“Stealthing too, bless those little mongrels.” She could still hear the mass pitter-patter of puggy-clawed feet and squealing as they played. “So, is Scar still getting word on those bad blood sightings? I wanted to go with him when they were found.”
Carver chuckled and dropped her hand atop Lex’s head. “Your mate would never think to go into such a glorious fight without his favourite little weapon. Go on, I know you wish to see him already. You can tell me of the ship and mother-blood after you go through your sickeningly little romantic rituals with him.”
Lex rolled her eyes and knocked the arm away. “I missed you too, but I am not declining that offer. See you at dinner.” And with that Lex dashed off up the house, walking passed the room to the walkway above the training courtyard to their own trophy room which held a large command chair and computer system which put him in contact with ships across the galaxies.
She crept to the chair hanging back and watching Scar as he sat, typing away as he watched something on the screen. Around him, the walls were covered by trophies, many of which they had hunted together. It was oddly touching thinking back to the small shelves in their room they had started off with to the half-filled room they had now. He of course noticed her there pretty quickly and after sending one last communication dismissed the screen and his work carelessly to rise up and pull her close. She hugged him and pressed her face to his torso. He had gotten half a head taller now than when she had first met him. Their growth rates seemingly took a longer time than humans, but then again, they did live so much longer than humans did too.
She tried not to think about the fact she might never live to see all the children they cared for now even become adults. Then again, that might be a good thing, she couldn’t imagine what it would do to her if one of their kids failed a hunt and never came back to her. She pushed those thoughts from her mind and reached up to Scar who diligently picked her up so she could properly press kisses along his mandibles while his hands caressed over her, to touch and check for any injuries. “Hey, missed you.”
“It had only been a few days, my little dagger.” His voice rumbled at her ear but he was still holding her pretty tightly.
“A few ‘long’ days. Besides, are you saying you didn’t miss me?” She teased back, faking offence.
Scar nuzzled into the side of her face, his tusk points teased over his skin. “I longed for you with all my being.” He replied and hiked her up half over his shoulder and started walking away from the hub.
“Wait, weren’t you asking clans about bad-blood sightings?” She gave an amused huff and tangled her fingers into his dreads, pulling them in a way with had him purring.
“They have been laying low for a while now. Besides, it would not matter if they were out announcing their intent in a mass broadcast, my wife has come home to me again.” He was playing dirty by calling her that and he knew it. Scar brought her to their bedroom, dropping her down onto the bed of furs before taking her leg and gently unfastening her armoured boots. “My first duty is to take care of her, after so long away, leading successful missions for our clan. Only a bad mate would fail to do any less than that.” Both boots were dropped down to the ground with a heavy clink and he knees on the bed, nibbling at her ankle before mouthing his way up her leg, to her thigh before he started removing the rest of her armours and netting. He narrowed his eyes at a small area of her thigh with welts from where some acid spray had reached her. “I promise to bring you a serpent head for every mark I find on you.”
“Kill later, right now I want you down here with me.” She hooked her legs around his thick frame and pulled him closer so she could kiss him and get her own hands on him. He was quickly stripped bare as well.
If she hadn’t been tired before the flight here, she was properly worn out after Scar he ensured blissed out and napping in their bed for the rest of the day.
They eventually did get up and she properly caught the Carver and the two other women who stayed with them updates on the ship and passed along messages from Mother Blood. Sometimes she would sit, back, leaning into Scar’s side, thinking back to how alone she had felt when he first arrived here, alien among the aliens with only Scar by her side, but now, she had such a large family around her. It was odd and not even close to the one she expected to have but nevertheless, it was hers.
They sat by a fire and the kids sat at her feet aside from Tha-Hitith, the youngest who curled up in her lap. They all listen enraptured as she spoke of the hive raid she had just completed, how the serpents had stopped being held back by the force of the queen and they all needed to fight. Eventually, they all retired, the pups, living up to their names and puppy piling over each other in the furs of their shared room.
Scar spooned her from behind and she looked out at the red glow of the lava in the distance from the large open window of their bedroom. Her husband held her close, nibbling at her neck and soothing her to sleep with the low rumble in his chest. “I love you… I love our family.” She told him and the purrs grew louder.
“Lex…” He pressed himself completely flush against her and she could feel his mandibles playing with her hair. “Our family will grow stronger. I am glad you made one with me. I am glad you are with me at all.”
She fell asleep happy, in Scar’s arms.
--
She woke up from a deep sleep as the first of the suns was rising for the next day. There was a sharp sound which she knew meant she had received a message on her gauntlet. Lex groaned as she felt Scar start moving from where he was laying curled around her. He just chuckled at her and shuffled a little to get her wrist computer. “I swear unless there is a queen running around on the mothership they can call at a later time.”
Scar was quiet for a moment before his large hand rubbed over her uncovered back. “Alexa. You will want to see this.” The way he spoke so calmly had her alarmed before she even read the message.
The ping had been from a distress signal. The ship wasn’t in their database so they couldn’t tell which clan it had come from. However, the signal came with a message which had been translated to. “Ship damaged beyond repair, crash in your territory imminent. Pursued by bad blood. Request aid from you and your elite mate.”
She and Scar went back to the main computer panel, she half perched on the seat's arm as she watched the screen. A hologram of Earth appeared brightly in the centre of the screen.
She hadn’t known much about what was happening on her old planet. Sometimes Blood-mother would get the yautja who monitored frequencies to download any songs from stray radio ways but there was never any news about the fallout of Wayland’s death or the destruction of Gunnison. Hell, there was never any news in general, she didn’t even know what year if was on Earth and how long she had been away. She didn’t know if that intentional or not or Mother’s part. She wished at some point when she first arrived, she had thought to try and keep track of times but it had been a good few years by now.
She watched that small spinning planet and then the trajectory course of a Yautja ship heading into it and some distance away another, larger ship on the same path. A hunter crashing on Earth would be one thing, they would clean up after themselves, and people would die but only those who were able to hunt them back. A bad blood, however. That was a cause for alarm.
“Shit.” She said. “Okay, who are these two? I understand why he messaged me but I also don’t.” Scar typed away on the computer and the clan’s name appeared and he made a hissing noise.
“I think I may know the clan, they are from the same, splicers. The Than-guan clan may ignore them as we do not agree with their ways but many know of the human hunter, they may be counting on your pride. You wish to take care of this, do you not?”
“It’s Earth.” She simply said, suddenly nervous to go back but she had to.
She turned back to their wall of trophies and looked at the clan leader’s gifted spear which featured prominently on her side. She took it up again, feeling the thrum as it extended in her hand, all new shiny tips replacing the originals which had melted off from use.
“Alright. Let’s go back to planet Earth.
Notes:
Imma redo another less than stella Preddy movie
Also the names of the five kids are, Butcher, Night-Terror, Razor, Bastian (after Sebastian), Tha-Hitith and the oldest would be like, Four in at most humans years.
And like basically if you know, The ones that sound English are just translations of the names which, as they learn the main languages of Earth the Yautja know to respond to but the other complex names just means it has no direct translation.
Chapter 17
Summary:
Alexa: The government is hiding aliens? That's a little too sci fi conspiracy theory for me.
Scar, her alien husband: …𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex was quiet as she readied herself for the trip. She didn’t know why going back to Earth had her so worried. She knew her clan watched over Earth, she would have had to go back eventually.
But Lex had turned her back on the planet after everything she had gone through, after learning about the serpents and life out in the stars. Maybe she was scared of how much she would have missed it once she stepped foot on familiar soil again, that she would realise how bad her decision to leave it all behind was. Maybe it was because now she knew the rules of this new life and going to Earth meant more death… maybe by her own hands. Maybe it was everything and nothing all at the same time.
She had been tested against many creatures but they had yet to ask her to prove herself against other humans. She still didn’t know if she could do it and cross that one final step. The Yautja had no qualms fighting against their own kind, that was something she learned early on. She had been challenged by others, not just Blue to fight on the stage and while she didn’t kill in that arena, they had a few more hunter skulls on both their sides of the room from when she fought against the bad bloods.
Lex jumped as Scar pressed himself against her back, hand on her waist as he nuzzled the side of her head. She had been staring down at her ice axes for the last few minutes. “I’m okay, just thinking. We ready to go?… Let me just say goodbye to the kids. You should too.” She said giving him a small nudge, Scar huffed but followed.
It was midmorning now and she found the kids tearing into the prepared leg of a creature one of the women must have hunted for them. She chuckled as the kids mid-chewed made adorable confused trill sounds along with head tilts at seeing them both dressed in their armours.
She spoke and signed to help with the children’s different levels of understanding “Sorry, I know I promised to help with the ambush training but human mum needs to go back to her planet, she is responsible for taking care of something there. I’ll try and bring you back something nice.” She went around the table giving hugs and nuzzles to each kid. Carver said she wasn’t meant to be so affectionate with them but she had a few more years before they’d actually be too old for it and they understood her human eccentricities and they all happily nuzzled her back.
Scar on the other hand growled in their native language, giving what sounded like a promise of them winning glory and rubbed his hands over the heads of Razor and Butcher, the oldest girl and boy, probably telling them that they are in charge of the rest of the kids as he usually did. He stayed back as she found the women eating their own meals and filling them in on their task. They were used to them popping in and out of the house by now and thought nothing of it, just interested in if they were brought back new trophies which would raise the notoriety of their household.
They headed out when there was a little mewl behind her and she looked back to see Bastian running up. She crouched and let him grab onto her face and press his head against hers. “I’m coming back, I promise.” She told him. He fidgeted shyly for a moment before he took something from the folds of his clothes. It was a small little shank, make from a sharpened beaked skull, stone and twine. “For me?” She kissed the back of his chubby little hand before taking it. “This is perfect baby, you did so well. I’ll use it and think of you.” He trilled happily before running off.
She showed it off to Scar who nodded proudly, tracing his clawed fingers over the knife to see that it was sharp. Lex tucked it safely under her chest guard. There were no cards covered in glitter or badly made coffee from her kids, but bones and claws, she treasured the little gifts they made all the same.
They left the house and headed to the landing pads attached to the housing lot. The spacecraft she had been given was a simple scout shuttle, the basic a-to-b craft meant for docking with the mothership or getting her back to Yautja prime when needed. Scar, being both of good blood and having proved himself worthy with his status had the equivalence of a sports chevy, built imposing and decked out with its own weapons with the ability to travel much longer distances. So, it would be the one they were taking. They dropped into the two seats at the front and within an hour or so of receiving that message they were off.
She looked out into the distance of space, the novelty of the sight was that of sunsets, you saw them a lot but it was still so beautiful. She must have been zoning out again as a heavy hand rested on her thigh. “Wife, you know you are one of us now. You are more than them of your species.” Scar told her as he piloted the ship with his free hand. “This isn’t a clan-sanctioned mission. No one will see and I will not judge you for any hesitance which stays your hand against your own species. But you do know you are more than they are. That as you follow our ways, any death given to your own is honouring them.”
“…I know, we pursue only those who are worthy and lawful to be hunted.” she recited, the code of honour ingrained in her now as natural as breathing. She would only really need to fight people who would be trying to kill them or get in the way of their mission. The mission is to kill the bad blood who would carelessly kill many more if left unchecked. “Though, I am only more than just a human to you.” She gently lay her hand over his own, his big meaty paw almost doubled the size of her hand.
But Scar just shook his head. “You have become much more, not just to me. I was informed about the discussion of you joining my rank. The one you called Wolf, told me.” He picked up her hand and held it to his mouth as if pressing a kiss to it.
“You didn’t tell him I called him Wolf, did you?” He sent her a mischievous glance. “You little bastard.”
He laughed. “But if this is successful, Oomans are considered one of the top prey species, they will have no doubt of your ability. I would not think to instruct my wife in her choices but it is something to consider.”
“I guess we’ll see.” Lex said, not letting go of his hand as she looked back into the stars just as the ship pulled out of the warp gate it had passed through. And there before them was the small blue and green rock which she had been born onto. The ship was cloaked as they drew near. The hologram rose up from the controls and showed the triangulation of the ship’s trajectory. They tracked it to a place where she happily informed Scar was known as Mexico. They flew close enough to pick up the beacon from the escape shuttle but from what they could tell from the readings, what they were likely to find was only what was left of the after it had crashed pretty spectacularly.
They entered the atmosphere and hovered silently over the site of the burning wreckage. While they had acted fast it was obvious that the crash wasn’t subtle and it was already swarming with humans which was not ideal.
They would need to do some recognisance and stop the ship a short distance away from the crash. The back of their ship opened up where they stayed hovered, just above the tree tops. She stood at the edge and looked down, before walking a few steps back until she bumped into Scar. She could feel the amused thunder in his chest. “You enjoy this part too much.” She said before she pulled down her mask and held tightly onto Scar. He wrapped his arm around her and pushed forward, she dragged her feet which did nothing to slow him down as he walked out of the ship. No matter how many times Scar lugged her around like this she still had to grit her teeth to stop her from making any terrifying sounds as they just dropped. The only thing stopping them from becoming paste on the forest floor was Scar’s inhuman abilities which he just loved to flaunt around her still.
He let her feet touch the ground again and she finally pried herself from Scar’s side, her heart and stomach lowered from her throat. She looked around the woods but then just stopped. It probably wasn’t smart but while they still had some distance, she took off her mask. It was like she forgot what fresh air tasted like. Even with the smoke, as the wind picked up it was clear and sweet and more oxygen-rich than she could get without it being filtered through her mask. For just this short moment, she needed this. To remember who she had been and where she had come from. But they had a mission to fulfil. She slid her mask back down.
They both crouched low and drew closer to the main section of the crash, cloaked and going in separate directions to investigate the crash site. these people, whoever they were, were moving fast. Bagging and tagging anything they could find in the wreckage. They had been lucky that the ship this came from didn’t appear to have been carrying any serpents or facehuggers. It seemed to be more of a space hopper like her own than a planet seeder or warship. She did see splashes of green blood over some pieces of the shuttle. Lex considered the chances of the hunter even surviving the crash when there was a clicking noise on Scar’s side of the crash. Two of the people in the white plastic anti-decontamination suit seemed to have been close enough to have heard it too and jolted, stopping pointing their flashlights out into the woods. She and Scar stayed low and still, curiously enough they checked the branches of the trees which could have been a coincidence but that was usually a hunter’s go-to perch.
She didn’t know enough about them to start making judgement calls so she didn't think about it and stayed on the fringes of the site and made her way closer to Scar who pointed at something in the trees. Well, it looks like their little runner was alive, a body being mutilated and hung up by the ankles was usually a pretty obvious clue. Though the body was in halves. It was hard to tell with the crash having turned up so much dirt something big seemed to have fallen under the tree with the half body, a lot of footprints seemed to have gathered around that particular spot.
‘Taken’ Scar signed.
At the same time, she gestured back. ‘They got him.' She didn’t even know if it would have been better if he was dead or alive but either way, now they needed to find him. Either to free him or destroy the evidence of his existence.
They both watched the group around the site. Lex used her different visions and saw half of them were unarmed. There was a divide between scientists and soldiers. Scar then got her attention and gestured to the helicopter that was sitting a little distance away from the site. Pilot smoking while leaning against it. He pointed to one of the analysts around the site ‘Distraction, get them further away.’
‘On it.’ She crept around the edge of the site, focusing on the. For a second, she was considering what sounds she could make from her mask to get their attention before he had the stunning revelation that she didn’t need to.
“Hey! Excuse me, I think I found something, can you help me pull this damn thing out.” She stage-whispered to the guy. Hoping that this group didn’t know each other that well for this to ring any alarm bells.
Either way, he turned and walked a little closer “Uh, yeah, sure thing… um, where are you?”
"Over here." She stayed out of the light and ran closer to the next one. “Hey can you pass me one of those tools, I think I found something embedded into this tree.”
Lex went around to each of the four scientists and got their attention, leading each further away from the centre of the site.
“Where are you, what is it?” a lady asked and was at least smart enough not to walk in and follow the weird voice in the dark. “Okay who are you and where are you. You don’t sound familiar.” But Lex could see Scar moving so she went for her, pushing her further out. Her scream at being touched by an invisible figure was covered by the explosion that happened three seconds later. They had still been close enough that it pushed them roughly forward and her cloak started fritzing so she ran and hid again before she was properly seen.
The shuttle parts and the soldiers who had been standing guard had now been completely destroyed. The scientists all screamed and swore, Lex watched as the woman she had roughly ushered scrambled up and ran going right for the helicopter, the rest following suit.
Lex too, ran back to Scar and he held her again, jumping up into a tree and managing to get high enough to jump back into the open door of the ship which had been the only thing visible from the outside. They climbed in and got back to their seat just as the chopper rose up, hovering at their level for a moment, blind to their ship.
“Okay, let’s see where you run home to.” She said, already guessing the plan.
They followed the helicopter in a silent unseen stalk. Lex had her hands on the control panel leaning over, looking out the viewing window at all the lights from the roads and houses below them. Watching them all scramble from way above. She had been part of that ever-moving network before. “If we have time, we could… I don’t know… I was going to suggest seeing a few of my favourite places but I don’t know if any would be that interesting to you. I want to get something sweet though, it’s been a long time since I had something with pure corn syrup, fully processed nothing naturally occurring.” She reminisced for a moment.
Scar gripped her and pulled her back onto his lap, lifting his mask so he could nibble on her shoulder. “I will see whatever you wish me to see. After we take control of this situation. I will try the corn syrup with you.” That made her chuckle. he wouldn't like it but she wouldn't let him rescind that offer.He squeezed her tight for a moment and then asked. “Did you ever regret leaving your home? I never anticipated you to have followed me, nor become so dear to me.”
“No, never.” She assured him and pressed kisses along his mandibles. "And I wont every regret what we have made together." He pressed a few buttons and the ship kept following at a steady distance on autopilot. The helicopter was very slow compared to what they used to, so Scar, probably picking up on her odd mood kept her on his lap, touching over her body softly, more reassuring than sexual. They stayed like that as they wiled away the time just talking softly and he dutifully listened to her retelling the stories of her times here. Of family and high school, of climbing with her father and getting her degree. The wild variety of jobs they had on Earth. They had such different life styles but humans were adaptable if anything.
She was cuddled up under his chin as the ship slowed down. They both finally separated and looked out at where the helicopter landed. “Well… this doesn’t look ominous at all.” She said as they neared a base which looked to be built within a dam. All thick grey concrete and cold water.
“So how do we want to do this? I wouldn’t think they would be autopsying him or anything too extreme yet if he was alive but we don’t need them having him for too long. So, stealth or guns blazing?” she asked.
---
Scar kicked in the door to one of the side entrances they had clocked on the base. The two nearest guards went to reach for their guns but weren’t fast enough before a shrunken was tearing them both apart in one throw.
Lex went to the puggy man at the computer. “Bring us to where they have the alien.” She demanded.
The man stuttered from fear. “I-I shouldn’t-” she fisted her hand into his hair and slammed his head down on the table.
“I’m only asking one more time before I figure it out myself and won’t need you anymore.” She snarled almost like a yautja hunter, just to complete it, she played the recorded sound of one.
“Okay… I said, okay!” His eyes were screwed shut in a whole-body flinch but he still reached over and pressed a button and the floor under them jolted and started moving down.
“Thank you.” She switched drastically to an overly cordial tone.
“Please I have a family.” He started but Lex knew what she was going to do and slammed him down harder into the desk this time, only knocking him unconscious. His body slid down out of the chair onto the floor of the lift. Scar pulled the shuriken out of the wall before it was out of reach and looked down at the still breathing man. But true to his word he didn’t make any comment. They were half way down when the lights went red and there was a sudden alarm sounding.
Evacuate all personal, code orange
Was blared through a speaker. For a second she thought they had been made, they hadn’t really been trying to hide. They already knew they existed but as she looked at the computers, Lex was able to identify the alarm was coming from another area of the base. One she assumed what whatever lab held the run away. “Finally decided to do something for himself. That took longer than I expected.” Lex said.
“He must be young.” Scar replied with a condescending snort.
“Unlike you, Ancient.” She teased.
The lift finally landed and the door opened to a chaos of guards, all heading another way but stopping at the sight of them. They had to move fast. Lex charged the one closet to her, dropping and sliding the short distance between them, kicking their legs out from under them and sending them careening forward as she pushed herself back up. Sending a kick to another guard’s stomach, she stunned him long enough to get behind him, placing them in a headlock. His hands and nails scrambled at her gauntlet but he was soon unconscious. The first man she attacked was getting up now, searching for his dropped gun, so she pulled out her whip and cracked it out around his wrist. The shock has his body spasming before dropping down, unmoving.
Scar had easily ripped the other guards apart, blood splattering on the white sterile walls. Once she more carefully removed the whip tip from the man’s arms, they continued down the brightly lit halls. They had a rough idea where the lab was but this place was a maze. They were knocking out or taking out everyone they came across.
Eventually they turned a corner and saw some carnage which hadn’t been caused by them. Not only that but as they followed it, they saw an intersection which had a broken display case. Inside it along with a gun which seemed to have broken it in the first place was a hunter’s mask and a plasma caster, along with another mask fallen on the floor. Her and Scar ran to it “Are these familiar to you?” she asked, one was a basic mask which most hunters had but the second one looked more personalised.
It was then as she looked in the case, she saw a reflection in the broken glass. “My god.” She spun around and ran to the wall behind them, pressing her hand to the glass tracing the length of her spear. It was hers. Her first spear. The one Scar had made her which has been left in the snow of the Arctic. Or so she thought it had. “What is this place?” she wondered aloud.
She wasn’t forgetting this again and so pressed her first to the glass before unleashing her wrist blades, the glass shattering around it. A few more strikes with the blades allowed her to easily pull out the spear. For a moment she studied, it expecting it to have some big difference to show it wasn’t the same but regardless of how long it had been since that night, she remembered this perfectly. Scar too, made a crackling sound from his throat as he gently held the spear right under the tail tip.
“Your first blood.” He said deeply before letting it go. “Keep.”
“Of course I’m keeping this.” She hooked her whip back on her belt and held the spear tightly in her hand. “God, what else does this place even have. I thought all those ‘aliens being hidden’ conspiracist were just crazy… I say that with complete acknowledgement of the irony.”
Moving on from the cases, they could see from the glass walls that there was a lab which seemed to be an epicentre of the violence. They must have just missed the fugitive hunter on the way out but he wasn’t making himself hard to track. They crossed the broken doors to the landing only to hear a panicked sound. Some was hiding, badly, in an opaque glassed off little section. Scar unleashed his own wrist blades and stalked off to it hissing, but then he stopped. He didn’t retract the blades but just loomed menacingly. Whoever it was, obviously wasn’t threat enough to be worthwhile game.
Lex joined beside Scar, spear tip pointed at a woman who seemed to be in the process of getting redressed for some reason. “Answer my questions and you won’t be harmed, what is this place?” She wouldn’t be harmed anyway but she didn’t know that.
“My god you’re… you’re human.” She said surprised but it was muted as she then looked down muttering something to herself as if coming to an epiphany. Something about finding human DNA. She then jolted her head up, looking determined at Lex. “Don’t hurt me, I can tell you what happened to your son.”
“My son?” Lex questioned in a deadpanned schooling her voice and mannerisms as much as she could before she looked up at Scar. She could just tell he was giving a similarly odd look under his mask from his body language alone.
“Listen my name is Brackett, Dr. Casey Brackett, I’m an evolutionary biologist and they called me to look at its genetics. Sorry, his genetics, I know there was human DNA that Predator’s genetic makeup.” She continued. “And if you were with them… Traeger was actually right.” She looked somewhat horrified. Which was kind of offensive. Because she wasn’t right... but she wasn’t wrong either.
Lex signed to her lover ‘We had a biological child and you never told me?’
‘My obligations with the pups end after I have flooded them into you. If you didn’t notice having our child that is all on you.’ They were both trying not to laugh while they were intimidating the doctor.
‘So, what? The splicers have human genes now?... Paya, I hope it isn’t actually mine.’ She thought back to all the hunting planets she had been injured on. That was a lot of blood just left around in space.
‘You are the worthiest of your species, they would have been fools to settle for less. That clan’s methods are corrupt but it would get your blood into our lines.’ He signed looking way to contemplative.
‘Don’t get any ideas, big guy.’ she warned.
“So, they have a no verbal method of communication?” the doctor asked, some of the fear forgotten in her curiosity. “Who are you? How did you… get… with the predators? How did… it even work?” She marvelled.
Suddenly a new voice rang out. “Alexa? Are you Alexa Woods?” Both she and Scar held their weapons out in the direction that a meek looking scientist peaked out, adjusting his glasses and straightening his lab coat as if it wasn’t covered in blood. “Oh, we have so much to talk about.”
Notes:
The alien tail spear, masks and other weapons scene in this movie were the actual props used the previous movies, and the pictures were also screen shots taken from the previous movies too, all implying a merged timeline as the AVP and Predator 2 were meant to be in their own universe.
Which proves the multi-verse theory and hence there is a possibility that mine and every fic you have read for this fandom is canonically real in an alternate but 'linked!' universe.
Chapter 18
Summary:
Everything is cannon
Notes:
Sorry its a little dialogue heavy this chap but if you take away anything it is, read the comics :D
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
They had a mission, Lex needed to remind herself of that. They had only just missed the Fugitive hunter and the longer she stood there, the more time he would have to get further away. But she looked down at the spear that was still cool in her curled fist. They knew her name, they obviously were on a cusp of great discoveries about the hunters, even when the clans worked so hard to keep that secret. What else might they know and have hidden away? All of the mystery drew her in. It opened too many questions, new ones and those she had carried with her for years since she had left. Lex looked back at Scar who had made no move against the two humans still alive in this room. They held no threat against them so there was nothing he really could do about them.
Looking back, she quickly made her decision. “Go. Catch up to our runner. I’ll come find you after.” She told him.
He paused, his tusks moving as he considered her words. “You will return to me?” he questioned, apparently worried any answers she found might make her run for it. The scientist watching below them gasped at the low rumbled sound of his voice mimicking their speech.
Lex ignored her and brought up her free hand, gathered some of her braids over her shoulder, they were now decorated with a few gold links as many hunters had, but she still had the alien teeth entwined throughout her hair. She deliberately ran her fingers over what had arguably been the first courting gift she had received from him. “Always.”
Scar reached up and briefly touched the frayed red hair tie, still coiled around one of his metal links. It had been repaired a good few times over the years but he never wanted to be rid of it. Then he turned and bolted off after the other hunter.
Turning back to the man, who had crept closer and was watching them closely. Lex lifted her mask and he lit up at the confirmation that he had been right. “How do you know me?” She had to ask.
“Know you? My dear, Miss Woods. I have been working on your case for… oh for so long now. Quite the mystery you were.” He seemed giddy and rand off through the lab, pressing buttons over a control panel. A screen was filled with employment records for Waylen’s company, and photos of security cameras of her and the Arctic expedition team. She looked at the face of those from the team and realised how long it had been since she thought of all but one of them, how their faces had started to blur in her mind.
“A team of twenty people went out onto the ice in search of a pyramid. Only one returned, telling stories of an accident with detail that didn’t really add up. Not that good at improv, miss Woods?” He chuckled to himself. “Then after a few days, she disappears off the ship she had been travelling on. A helicopter pilot is found, who says she gave him an egregious sum of money to take her to Colorado. Now, that! That’s when the story gets interesting. The screen is then filled with videos, he played sections of them, one by one, but it wasn’t until she saw the soldier and her daughter that she remembered them from the group she had seen in Gunnison. All of them were recounting about ‘terrible and ugly monsters’ and a ‘woman who had followed them’. A woman who seemed ‘to work with them and defend them. Who may have ‘died with them.’
“they said it was a power-plant meltdown, a memorial has been tastefully built for that small town but we know better. The predators aren’t even the only ones to be visiting us, huh? But I knew you were alive. If aliens could exist, then you could have escaped the blast. I just knew it! Oh please, tell me, what was it like? Living among the apex predators of the apex predators?” The screen again, taken over by images, of hunters, ones she didn’t recognise personally but knew were from the clan that hunted on Earth during the hotter seasons. The ones who had lost their lives to the humans. At least it wasn’t only her clan who had been careless.
“You see, you aren’t the only human to survive the predators. We have been compiling evidence and developing technology for decades. Hell, my father helped start this project. I’m just continuing this work. The things we could learn the advancements we could make.”
“How long has the world known?” She had to ask.
“Oh.” He laughed. “The ‘world’ doesn’t know. Could you even imagine the panic? But we are collecting a group force made of a select few who do. All the way back with the brothers, John and Major Dutch Schaefer back in 1987. Dutch… well he worked with us for a while, eventually escaping- well escaping is a bad word for it, more like… quit after he got a little sick. John when looking for his brother and encountered more in Russia a few years after that.” She looked at the images of the two largely built blond men on the screen and the obvious signs of the gauntlet’s self-destruct going off in the jungle.
“Then in 1990, a whole street saw one of the predators in a battle with a one, Lieutenant Harrigan of the LAPD. It was written off as a stunt by warring gangs, and people believed it. No phone cameras back then like we have now, a real shame. But miracle of all miracles, an arm was recovered. Harrigan too worked with us for a while and told us about what he had seen, their ships, their ways. Just how long they had been visiting.” She could see the ways they had tried to counteract their thermal vision, learning about the hunter's DNA, they had been busy.
Suddenly her face was on the screen. “2004, that my dear was the last time anyone had seen a trace of you, all you left behind was green blood with the same type of DNA which was found in the ice and two separate locations wiped off the map!” He seemed much too excited about this and it was making Lex apprehensive.
“2010, lights in the sky were seen in multiple locations over the whole world leaving only a blip on our satellites but the same blip we saw when you were taken. Nothing proven but we have speculated on some disappearances in connection to that event. More human among the stars.” He sighed wistfully but she wouldn’t hold her breath in assuming that they had received the same experiences that she had.
“And now, finally…2021, consistently we can be sure at least once or twice every decade, this species comes to Earth. We’ve been preparing for you, Miss Woods. If we’re going to fight them, we’re going to need your help.”
“Fight them…” She repeated but her mind was reeling from everything they had known about the hunters, they had witnesses and equipment. But it was being kept secret and used for trying to join a fight they would not be able to win. But was it even within her rights to stop them from trying to fight back against them? The internal debate which was raging in her mind caught a snag when she focused on the dates. “Wait… what year did you say it was?”
“2021… it has been almost twenty years since you left.” He stated.
Lex knew a lot of time had passed but she thought maybe it had been half that amount, they didn’t have proper mirrors when she was with the yautja but she thought she would feel some changes from her age. She would be turning fifty now, halfway through her life and she didn’t feel it at all.
“And my, aren’t you looking good. Their technology is fascinating but we haven’t been able to get our hands on much. Think of all it could do for us, the wars that could be stopped, the advancements that would be had.”
She walked closer to the screen, looking at all the statements, the breakdowns and experiments that had been done on their collect items. “You had samples of their blood and tissue?” She saw.
“Yes, but if you are ever so inclined you could help up find more. Alexa, you can help your fellow humans.”
She was quiet for a moment before she turned to him. “All you did was try and weaponise it or created regenerative elements for soldiers. You didn’t even try and push for healing advancements in normal society?”
“Well… we needed to support those who are funding us. We can get to the bigger picture eventually but we need more results if we’re going to be able to prepare for them in the next few years. Please, Alexa, you can help us. We can protect you from them. You could teach us what you know.” He implored her, rushing up to her and taking her free hand in his own.
She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before in an even and cold voice, told the man. “You should start running.” When she opened her eyes again, she saw the scientist’s excited smile dropped from his face.
“The… The Major said that you didn’t hunt those who were unarmed, I’m not-” He kept talking about what he thought their rules were while Lex walked to the table which had armour left behind from the Fugitive. Silly pup, he was lucky she was used to cleaning up after young Yautja by now. She took his wrist gauntlet and for the first time input the code which had been drilled into her since she had received her gauntlet.
“We don’t like you knowing too much. The matriarch hasn’t ruled humans to be overall worthy of that kind of help yet... Maybe one day, if we’re really lucky one of us might live to see it. But… for now…” She told him and placed the gauntlet on the control panel of the computer. “Start. Running.” She demanded and the beeping from the gauntlet bounced through the room. The man hesitated for a moment before he swore and ran up the stairs and down the hall, slipping on a puddle of blood during his getaway. Lex took a few deep breaths and then stalked out herself. Glancing to where the scientist had been she must have been long gone by now.
She wasn’t naïve enough to think this would destroy all of their knowledge, they probably had back-ups if they were this smart already. Weapons were here she saw no sign of the severed arm they had mentioned. In truth maybe humans should know, the hunters were obviously not being as low profile as they had before. Not all of them chose hidden subsurface ruins as their hunting grounds.
God, it had really been seventeen years since she had left the planet. No wonder the small glimpse of the world she had seen so far felt more alien to her now than space had in a while. She was a stranger here now.
Lex made it out of the building just in time to see a group of men and that doctor woman escaping on motorbikes. A sweep of her thermal vision led her to where Scar and Fugitive were hijacking the back of a military truck. All thoughts aside, Lex sprinted to the middle of the road and cloaked up. Just as the truck came around, she swung open the driver’s door. Before the man could even react, she uncloaked and pulled him out of the seat, flinging him onto the road. The truck swung dangerously to the left and Lex quickly dropped into the driver’s seat and steered back to the right, over correcting and the truck screeched at the sharp turn. She finally took control of the swerving truck and slammed the door shut again as she held the wheel steady. The previous driver chased after them but then the facility behind them blew sky high. That was a pretty good distraction.
Lex looked back through the window, seeing the two hunters holding cargo shelves desperately from the reckless serving, looking back at the explosion. “You boys, okay?” She called back. Turning to her, Scar nodded while Fugitive amusingly gave her a thumbs up. For now, she put her foot to the peddle and tried to get them out of here before more emergency services arrived.
---
She got a good distance away from the burning compound and then pulled into a side street and slammed the breaks. The Truck stopped with a jolt and the hunters in the back either could keep their balance or couldn’t, that was all on them. She hopped out and circled to the back, getting in with the two alien males.
Just so he knew she was serious she didn’t give him time to react and pulled out her ice axe and placed it on the Fugitive’s neck. he had a green-tinged parlour, black dotted markings and you could see the clan's different breeding with how he only had two fangs on his top jaw while Scar and their clan mostly had a full row of teeth.“So, as you can see, we received your message. Start talking.” There was a low growl from him but she just played a recording of Scar’s growl right back at him. She might be biased, but Scar sounded more intimidating. Either way, Fugitive relented and sagged under her axe point and her command. “Why are you here and who is following you?”
“A Ooman is in possession of my bio-mask. I have his location.” He stressed.
“So you better answer my questions fast so we can go and get it.” She replied.
He grumbled but explained, “I am Thwaun'Touarh, blood of the S’Po’Jen clan.” Yeah, Lex is just going to keep calling him Fugitive from the splicer clan. “I was tasked with tracking down one from my hunting party who was suspected to have deserted our clan and joined with a bad blood’s clan. He had been stealing trophies from other hunters, slaughtering prey regardless if they were worthy game or not, and modifying himself beyond what his station would allow.”
“Yet you haven’t killed him for his grave transgressions against the code yet?” Scar questioned.
“I learned more, I needed to inform my clan but my ship was attacked, knocked out my long-range communications and then my engines. You were one I could still reach, seeing as you value this planet, I hoped to get your aid.
“Now, was that so hard?” She dropped her axe. “Okay, we’ll get what’s left of your equipment and kill the bad blood. There are three of us, how strong can he really be?”
Fugitive repeated the words he had seen through a mask transfer and she moved back to the driver’s seat, there was a little screen at the front of the truck and she found the GPS, plugging in the location Fugitive had seen. She tried to remember all the road rules as she took the main road and started heading towards the suburbs. The whole-time marvelling at the radio and the sites she came across on the road. Honestly, if they weren’t in a rush Lex would have grabbed some take-out on their drive down just to share with Scar. But they didn’t have enough time, as they drew near to the location in the distance, she saw the lights of an explosion. “Yeah… that would be too coincidental not to be related.”
She sped up to follow the smoke from whatever explosion happened, they ended up in a small suburb which was when she realised all the decorations weren’t just leading up to Halloween but heralding it for tonight. She parked back from the crowd and laughed. “Okay, this is going to be easy. I can see the mask, must have scared off whoever found it.”
“They’ll see you.” Scar pointed out.
Lex chuckled. “If you had stayed as short as you had been when we met you could have come out with me.” She teased and hopped out of the truck. There was a little crowd gathering around the burning house and she easily fit in with all the costumed people. She snuck closer, working her way through the crowd to reach the mask identified by her own mask’s analysis vision. She picked up the mask and tucked it under her arm and started to walk off.
“Umm excuse me? Lady, that isn’t yours.” Some woman in the crowd called out to her.
Lex lifted her mask completely off and showed them side by side. “This is my-” she paused for a moment, not wanting to say boyfriend’s seeing as Scar might hear that but because of that scientist the only thing she could think to say was. “-my oldest son’s, we’re matching as you can see. Poor thing was here when the explosion happened. He is being questioned by the firefighters over there.” She said pointing behind the fire truck. “But thank you so much for looking out for it, he worked so hard on this. Have a good night.” She said and then swiftly walked out of there before she or anyone else could stop her.
Hopping back into her seat she passed the mask back. “There you go, kiddo.” He cocked his head at her, concerned but he didn’t question what had happened. Scar, however, was in on the joke and looked very entertained by the whole thing. She and Fugitive placed their masks back on properly, establishing a link between their visors and Fugitive shared how he had been tracking the bad bloods ship. Red glowing figures like in the ship map rooms filled her mission and she could see the pulsing proximity signal tracking the bad blood's ship. The sensors indicated that he had already touched down not too far from where they currently were. “What are the chances that if we took you off-world, he would just follow us?” she asked.
“You know the answer to that, little dagger.” Scar snorted.
“We must retrieve my gauntlet before we attempt something so drastic.” Fugitive pipped up.
“Oh, so not the one you left in the lab right?… I may have blown that up.” She admitted gently.
He snorted, “No, the other, it is carrying evidence and details of those who broke away from their clans and started bastardising our methods. They are not just acting randomly. They are planning.” and a new location tracker pinged up in her visor.
She took the bait and asked. “Planning for what?”
“For a war.”
Notes:
So, working out a plot from this movie was hard, and it was hard for the movie to work itself out as well. They did a few reshoots including basically all of the final scenes.
However, Did you know that originally, Fugie was coming down to Earth to help prepare for a war BUT he wasn’t the only one. You can still see set photos of a clan of Preddies wearing camo print and riding human tanks because there was a whole group of ‘nice’ preddies who were going to be working in conjunction to Star gazer?
I for one, am keeping this in mind.- on the drive over -
Fugitive: We don't have time to waste on questions, you said you would give me aid, now we must hurry!
Scar: Vicious slugger, do not disrespect your mother like this *chuckles*
Fugitive: I... What do you...
Lex: We're getting you your toys back, but if you keep complaining I will turn this truck around and you will be grounded Mr! *chuckles*
Fugitive: .... What!?
Chapter 19
Summary:
Fugitive sat alone against a desk in an empty classroom. He had folded away his med kit and now held his arm and straightened his posture for his many cracked bones to begin to heal back in the right place. A sounds of shatter tile filled the air. He took out his knife, the last of his weapons and crept to the door, the hallways began to echo with the wailing cries of some wrenched creature. “𝐎𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞.”
No aliens dogs were harmed in the making of this fic but cw for alien dog death.
Notes:
I’m going to break my cool and mysterious illusion and tell you some facts about me, my little brother had a disability and I have worked for 6 years with disabled children So, that is the context in which i say I believe Everything to do with Rory was handle badly in the films. From the Autism is a savant, superpower to especially the use slurs and insults used in this film. All bad. I am cutting that all with spite and confusion at everyone involved.
edit: It's been a few months and Lmao guess who just got diagnosed with ASD!
I take it back, the movie is great, I canonically can use Yautja tech and they all want my body~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
War among clans.
Now that was a terrifying thought. There had always been battles, fighting over territory, leadership or insults. Those were scary in general but they had a strict code of conduct and would usually be kept between the two clans with not many outsiders lost as collateral. However, the bad bloods would be fighting without honour, killing all those in their path just because they could. Any other lifeforms or planets which got in the way be damned.
And they were already using Earth as a battleground before the fight as even begun. They would know that she, a human, and Scar, one whose clan oversaw the use of the Earth had fought against them. She thought again about the lab she had destroyed. Maybe it wasn’t bad for Earth to know about them, they just needed to find the right humans. The ones who would know how to better use that knowledge. Maybe there could be an alliance between a clan and a group of humans. She would happily be an ambassador for the human side of things.
If she was still even human.
One issue at a time and the first issue they needed to face was found waiting in the middle of a high school baseball field. She drove through a few hedges and parked the truck just on the outfield.
Lex didn’t know who she expected to have been the one to steal the alien equipment. Another scientist or a soldier was at the forefront of her mind. But that wasn’t who she saw. “How many kids are getting involved in this?” She said, finding a small boy wearing the big hunter's gauntlet.
There was a pause before she heard a growl from the back. “Was that a slight to me? I am older than you Oomen.”
“That really doesn’t count for much. But no, that wasn’t an insult. You’re part human, you get to partake in the human pastime of gentle ribbing.” She said looking back at him, really seeing his mask which was a very unique style compared to some other clans. “You’re really going to need to tell me exactly where you got your human DNA from eventually, but for now, you two stay here. I’ll get the gauntlet from the kid without scaring him for life.” She told them and hopped out of the car.
The boy startled a little but she held her hands up. “It’s okay.” She slowly pulled up her mask and smiled at him. “Hi there, my name is Alexa. What is your name?”
“Rory…. But my mum said that I’m not meant to talk to strangers.” The kid called back, he made a point of not looking her in the eyes and was nervously moving his hands and arms in a repetitive motion.
“That’s a good rule to follow but right now, I need your help, Rory. See, a friend of mine lost something very important and I believe you have it right there.” She said, gesturing to his arm.
“Your friend is an alien?” Well, there goes her hope to keep the kid completely in the dark about this. “I used the computer, I saw things…”
“What kind of things?” She asked gently before he could answer there was a roar behind her and she recognised it as a call of danger. “Oh no… kid, come here.” She ran across the field just as two creatures leapt over the chain-link fence surrounding the field.
Hunting dogs, not like the ones the hard-mouth clan had but showed a similar type of clan was also missing a deserter or two who are building up the strength of the bad bloods. Lex placed herself between the boy and the dogs, pulling out her old spear. She hoped the time it had been locked in a case or had who knows what type of experiments done on it, hadn’t diminished its effectiveness. “Just stay behind me and my friends okay, I’ll keep you safe.”
One of the dogs pawed at the dirt before galloping full speed at her. She twirled her serpent spear in front of her watching as it leapt up, mouth open ready to bite. Then suddenly a cloaking device melted away revealing Scar in front of them who caught the dog by its jaws, using its force to help rip apart the flesh keeping its jaws together. It then tumbled to the ground, still alive but bleeding, its lower jaw hanging uselessly.
The other Dog side-stepped Scar and ran at them, she swung out her spear and whacked it away, leaving a deep scratch along its side. A bolt of a plasma caster fired from her side as Fugitive took on the other dog
“Come on, follow me.” She went to take his arm but he flinched away, so she held her hands up to show she wasn’t going to try again. “Please follow me, it will be okay.”
“I want my mum, please.” He seemed to be too scared to move. “I want my mum, please.” He said louder, still stimming with his hands.
“it’s okay, shhh it’s okay, we will find her, but it’s dangerous here. We need to leave and then we can find your mother.” She said, keeping an eye on the two hunters engaged with the dogs and making sure there were no more coming. “Rory, listen to my voice, and not anything else, okay? We’re going to go to that truck over there, can you see it?”
He was looking around at the battle still, she could hear the caster going off and the sound of wrists blades releasing and cutting through the air but she encouraged him to look at the truck. “It’s… It’s a standard M35 series 2, they’re used in the military, my dad sent me pictures of him in those. My dad would fight these monsters.”
He nodded. “Good, sweetie, now one step at a time, we’re going to go to the truck, let’s go.” She kept talking to him, encouraging him to talk more about his father and the things that the man had shown him. They were halfway to the truck when there was the sound of a solid slam against the metal of the front car and she saw another of the hunter dogs waiting for them on top of it.
“Okay, close your eyes, baby.” The dog leapt and she braced herself, holding the spear out, slicing at its belly and keeping it from landing on the boy. She kept the dog at a distance, piercing out the tail tip, creating deeper punctures and herding it back. The creature barked and bit viciously at the spear but before it could attack, a car jumped through the hedges and skidded to the side, and two leaning out the window shot at while a few more cars made their way in.
It took a good few hits, its skin insanely thick but with it snarling at the new additions it provided enough of a distraction for Lex to throw her spear, burying it deep into the creature’s neck. It turned back to her, blood now spilling out of its mouth like drool. The gunfire stopped and she watched as it unsteadily crawled it her to attack but it just collapsed at her feet. She pulled the spear out and looked at the humans who were all looking at them.
There was a brief pause both sides unsure of the other, she saw both Scar and Fugitive tightening the grips on their weapons ready for another fight. But still holding back, they needed to stay focused on the task.
“Daddy!” The kid yelled and ran forward.
“Wait!” She went to stop the kid, they hadn’t gotten the gauntlet off him yet but Scar was closer and grabbed him by the scuff of his shirt. But this made the kid panic and then all hell broke loose again as the humans now rained down bullets at them. She jolted back and tried to guard herself, but a bullet lodged into her thigh and she dropped with a pained scream. Scar dropped the kid and used his own gauntlets to protect himself against the headshots the humans were taking.
“Stop! Stop, that one’s human!” She could hear Dr Brackett yelling and the fire faded. “That one isn’t!” and the gunfire started up again but as Fugitive ran after the humans and more specifically the gauntlet. blowing up a car in the chance. She crawled back behind the truck but with the other hunter in pursuit humans retreated into the high school and the gunfire was redirected.
Scar’s hands wrapped around her thigh as she cried to curl in on herself and away from him, body protesting from the pain. Dark blood was flowing freely from the bullet entry wound but there as he felt under her thigh there wasn’t an exit wound. They looked at each other at the same time at that realisation. “God, I hate this.”
He grabbed her own med kit which was on her belt. She had spoken to the medicine women and they personalised her dozes so she would get as delirious when given painkillers now. Scar used the anaesthesia injector on her thigh before pulling out the tweezers. She automatically tried to pull away from him again which just made the pain flare-up. Scar moved to a crouch and pinned her leg down with his and pressed his hand to her chest to keep her still.
“If it hurts, you’re alive. Deep breaths wife.” He said and started digging around for the bullet and even with the painkillers and what she guessed was some restraint on his part to be gentle, it still hurt like hell. She whimpered out in pain but he soon got it out. Looking at the bullet, they were impressed and tucked it into the pocket on her belt.
Scar then let her go and she sluggishly sat up and looked at the mess of blood on her thigh still streaming out. They might have nicked if not fully hit an artery. Scar held his hand up and took out a knife, about to cut the back of his arm. “No!” She jolted and stopped him. “I don’t want… I don’t want any more of your blood in me.” Being with him for so long she could tell by the tension in his shoulders and the way his fists clenched that he was hurt by what she said.
A roar suddenly ripped from his throat. “You will bleed out, this is the only way. You haven’t finished your mission yet, die on your small planet another time.” It was testament to how long they had been together that she didn’t fear him even with the monstrous noises he was making.
But still, he didn’t continue but the snarling sound didn’t stop “Okay!” She snapped before she gave a long exhale and placed her hand in his dread, pulling him down to rest their foreheads together. “Okay, yeah, I’m sorry, I promise you I didn’t mean it like how it must have sounded to you. It’s okay, heal me up, husband.” The sound died down and he stuck himself at the back of his arm and dripped his own green blood into the wound, making her wince as he rubbed some into it before he finally wrapped a compress bandage around it. She didn’t like the tense quiet which still hung thick and smothering between them. “It’s not you… I’m just worried about what is happening to me. You know, aside from the saving my life part.”
Scar looked up at her but their moment was interrupted by a large crash that sounded from the high school. “Shit, I think we just ran out of time. He found us.”
---
Scar half dragged her through the school as the blood still needed time to take effect. they reached a broken window at the tail end of the humans jumping out. They got to the edge and looked out at the overly upgraded predator that they had been warned about so much.
“Oh… he’s big.” She hissed. They both gave each other a concerned look before staring back at the hulking figure. He was almost double the height of Scar, His charcoal skin looked rougher and almost armour-plated in some areas, with red line patterns decorating them. Some of his extra height was from the more animal way his legs were bent so he was walking on the balls of his feet. It almost reminded her of the hunter-alien but favouring the hunter side rather than the serpent.
He was growling down at the smaller predator who was making a pained noise and taking a moment to stand back up again. “Yeah, this is bad. The fugitive is going to die if we don’t help.” The upgraded hunter seemed to have engaged in fighting with Fugitive already as his plasma caster shot out but missing its target. She would have hoped he knew better than to have engaged him in battle without them.
“Keep your distance, you’re not healed yet.” Scar warned before jumping both of them down. The other humans were making a lot of noise, trying to get into their van but they ignored them for now. Fugitive tried trading blows up at the upgraded hunter but it was like he was just hitting an unmoving punching bag. Fugitive was then grabbed and whipped around like he was nothing, being full bodily smashed into the roof of a car. The smaller hunter might have lost his life at that moment his mask was removed and the other winded up for a hit. But just in time Lex used her whip and wrapped it around the upgraded hunter’s wrist before he could reach him again.
He looked back at her with a threatening roar but she played Scar’s roar back. Right before a matching roar filled the air as Scar climbed over the wrecked car, standing over Fugitive. Scar drove both his wrist blades into the larger hunter’s sides, but they barely pierced through his skin but it kept him there as his own shoulder caster charged and blasted the other directly in the face. He got one shot in, the hunter stumbling back but then dodging down, after all, the casters weren’t made for close range. But still the spikes over his head and dead seemed to grow and his scales thicken, meaning he really was armour-plated in a way and the blast didn’t do nearly as much damage as it normally would.
Lex pulled more, tried to get him off-balanced and sending the electric current through him. But they just seemed to be pissing him off. As soon as Scar’s gun overheated and had to stop, the upgraded hunter’s swung his free arm at him, missing the first time but when Scar went to back off, the hand shot out pulling the gun off and crushing it in his hand. Scar roared at him and tried to make a swing to punch his face but the hunter just took it before wrapping his hand around his neck.
“No!” She upped the voltage of the whip, risking it short-circuiting, he turned towards Lex, staring her down as he started winding the sparking whip more times around his wrist, dragging her easily through the dirt. With a wounded noise, Fugitive rolled back onto his feet leaping at the arm holding Scar up, biting into it with teeth and tusks which did make him release Scar but more spikes protruded and pierced into his mouth and tusks.
Lex had to let go of her prized weapon before he could reach her and stumbled back. Now taking out her older spear again, the upgraded hunter’s attention was on her now as he stomped towards her, ripping her whip apart in his hands. She jolted back away from him and he chuckled before saying something to her. She didn’t know what he was saying but she wasn’t going to find out what kind of threat it was. She cloaked and on her limping leg circled around, trying to regroup with the boys. But even though he didn’t have a mask he still seemed to have a sense of where she was, suddenly lunging out, eating up the distance between them. She thought she had ducked quick enough but she was yanked back by a hold in her hair, strands pulling painfully at her scalp.
He was still speaking to her in his language, which gave her time to figure a way out before he changed his mind and easily killed her. Scar ripped his mask off, mandibles flaring wide at the fearsome snarl he gave the hunter. He changed and while he got hits in and dodged many of the counter's strikes, like Fugitive, his wrist blades were soon shattered on his grip before Scar was backhanded back into the broken car, a sliver of metal now piercing all the way through him.
She reached for her knife and was going to try and cut herself free, even if it meant sacrificing her hair but there was a screech of tire as the van came back and the group of humans all leaned out of the windows and the sunroof, firing now down at the big predator. She could see the little boy, still wearing the gauntlet inside looking up in abject horror at the sight they must have made. The upgrade predator must have seen the boy too however and Lex was tossed aside as the predator stalked to the van now.
“There, we even for shooting you, baddie. Now, if we live give me a call.” A man who seemed to have too much energy laughed and then flipped off the upgraded hunter as they sped back off. She didn’t have the time or energy to figure that out as she saw Fugitive, pulling Scar off of the spike. She grabbed both the boys dropped masks and came to Scar’s other side.
“Our weapons aren’t working, we need to restrict his moments and-” Scar started
“He’s leaving, we’re letting him. I’m limping, the whistle-blower’s got a lot of bones broken and you’re bleeding out.” Scar pushed them off as he stood up properly by himself. She couldn’t even see when the upgraded predator was, switching to thermal she could just see him walking across the field. He didn’t come back to finish them which was a big insult but a very foolish mistake on his part.
“You are both right, we can’t fight him this carelessly again. We will know where he is heading too next. We need a plan for how to take him.” She could see police lights in the distance.
“Shit, come on. We’ll find a wing in the school and properly patch you boys up before this place is swarming with cops.”
---
They went to the wing furthest away from all the damage and she hoped the shot-up or burning cars, and green smears on the field cars on the field would keep them occupied for a little while. A few staples and injections later she left the hunters in a classroom to try and wash off the green and red she was covered in.
She turned the sink on bundled up some paper towels and started cleaning herself before her hands stopped and she just stared at her mask in the mirror. Her mask had changed a little since she had first received it. It now had red paint sprayed around the edges of the queen’s crest and it proudly held signs of wear, scratches and scuffles, even an edge that had gotten a little melted. Her mask had changed. Taking it in her hands she carefully lifted it up, seeing herself properly for the first time in seventeen years.
She looked stronger, her hair now in braids, luckily saved from the knife was very long now too, almost to her belly button. But her face. It was completely the same. She looked closer and she didn’t even have grey hairs or deeper wrinkles. Seventeen years and she had barely aged a day from how she was when she left. Now, her family tended to age gracefully but this wasn’t the same. She just stayed staring at herself in the mirror as the water heated up and started fogging it up.
She broke out of her tranced and wiped the steam off. The first streak reveals a dark hulking figure standing directly behind her. She yelped and swung around with her knife only for her wrist to be caught by Scar. “Damn it, Scar. You gave me a heart attack.” He let her go and with a shaky breath, she leaned back on the sink, turning the tap off.
“Your reflexes continue to serve you well.” He said and she rolled her eyes at him. “I just wished to make sure you were well.”
“If I was well before, I am not now.” She said pressing her hand to her own chest, feeling her pulse still thudding hard behind her ribs.
“… I’m sorry.” She looked down at his chest, not looking him in his eyes. He moved against her, gathering her smaller frame in his arms and holding her close. “Do not fret, wife, we now know our enemy, we will be ready next time.”
She buried her face against him and hugged him back. “You know, when I hunt with you, I feel immortal sometimes. Regardless of how many times we’ve gotten hurt before, it feels like when I’m with you we’re untouchable.” She closed her eyes and focused on the feeling of his hands rubbing her back. “It’s been a while since we’ve been whipped like a couple of pups.”
A sound rumbled in his chest and he picked her up, sitting her on a sink top so he could more comfortably nuzzle against her head. “His bones will soon be toys for our own pups, I will ensure it, little dagger. My fierce and beautiful wife, I will see you with only his blood on your hands next battle.” He gently took hold of her hand and pressed a few nibbling kisses over her wrist.
“Talking about blood.” She started, cupping her free hand over Scar’s mandibles. “Scar, did you know it’s been almost 20 years since I left with you? Why… Why haven’t I changed? Is it the blood? Did you… Did you know all the times you used it to heal me it was affecting me like this?”
He huffed a breath. “There were rumours. Of other clans encountering a creature, including a tale of a human, who would attempt to gain our blood and eat of our flesh to increase their physical abilities and extend their lives. I didn’t know for certain if it was true, or if what I gave you of myself was even enough to affect you but… I knew without our medicine and my blood you would have been maimed.” He started getting defensive.
“I’m not mad or accusing you of anything.” She reassured him. “I just… It would have been nice to know. In human years I am halfway through my life. I expected to never see our kids become adults, I was prepared to be in just a fraction of your life.” Scar made an injured sound and dropped her head to her chest as she held him close.
“Halfway?… your lives are brief little things… Do you wish for me to stop healing you by our blood?” He asked hesitantly.
And that was the question, could she hand living to an unknowable age, if twenty years was a breath how many more years lay ahead of her. How much more would Earth change between her visits. Could she handle living for much longer than humans ever should?
“No… No still heal me, but you need to know I might change my mind one day, I don’t want to be immortal but, hey, you all still die. This overpowered, asshole still might kill us so I’ll need all the help I can get… So, no, I’m okay with sticking around for a little longer now at least.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Besides, as much as I love her, I can’t let Carver think she had a chance with my man just yet.” She teased.
They held each other like that for a moment, adrenalin from the fight and emotions still running high. Scar’s mouth suddenly opened on her neck, that warm tongue licking over her pulse point, making her gasp. “Scar… Scar we have a hunt.” She said but at the same time, wrapped her legs around his large body, pulling him closer to feel the strength of his body pressing up against her core. “This is so wrong, we almost died.”
“That is why I want you right now. Worry not, little dagger, I have mastered this tactic. I will have you shaking apart under me in no time at all.”
“Oh, will you now?” She tugged on his dreads a little harder than normal. “Don’t go wasting too much time hunter or you will pay severely for it.”
“Do not tempt me with that sweet threat.” He growled and pushed down the wrappings on her chest, freeing her tits which were still covered with the netting. Her nipples were poking through and he teased his fingers over them while still mouthing over her neck. She gasped but quickly busied her own hands unclasping his belt to get his codpiece out of the way.
She moaned as he rocked against her, but he suddenly pulled away, dropping to his knees hard enough that the tiles cracked under him. She laughed as he, almost annoyed at its existence, pushed her skirt away and held the cloth covering her to the side. “This is really not the time and place for this, the things you do to me, love.”
Scar nuzzled into her thigh and purred deeply “I can already smell how much you need this too, Ooman. Let me prove that we haven’t lost each other yet.”
His mandibles opened and clamped on her thighs as he started licking at her pussy through the large spaces in the netting. His hands went to her tits, groping at them as she leaned back against the cold mirror and enjoyed this treatment. Lex moaned contently and braced her legs over his shoulders, touching over his dreads and gently raking her nails over his back. He didn’t waste time and went right for her clit, teasing and toying over it relentlessly in a way that had her squirming. He never let up she started holding onto his forehead crest. “Hmm, Scar… that’s haha a little too sudden and fast, sweetie.”
“Oh no, my little dagger, as you said, this is neither the time nor the place. So, I will need your cunt sopping wet before you can take me. We just stopped you limping, we don’t need you with another. You may wish to hold on to me.” He buried himself back between her legs, lapping at her clit as he pushed his two trimmed fingers into her, curling them up in that one spot with no stopping. She wiggled a bit at first under the overwhelming onslaught of stimulation but then her body was tensing up, she did clutch onto him, a pathetic mewl escaping her lips as it was all becoming too much too fast. She tried to muffle her cries but they echoed through the bathroom.
Her leg kicked out and she was pretty sure she scratched him with her clawed boots but she couldn’t stop, she tried to pull him back, begging him to pause but he continued until her head banged back against the mirror. Her orgasm had her trembling and fighting back against Scar. She had felt a rush through her and when Scar finally leaned back between her trembling thighs, he had fluid dripping from his mouth and running down his chest armour. “That is my favourite human trick.”
Lex was gasping and still a little seized up when he rose again and stepped between her legs. Pulling aside his own coverings to rub his cockhead at her fluttering entrance. “Ready for me?”
Lex finally got herself back in order enough to spit out a “Fuck you.” But then pulled him in closer by his armour to bite and kiss over his mandibles.
He chuckled and pushed in, both of them getting louder than they should be as Scar started rolling his hip. The slide in was easy but she could still feel that slight burn of the stretch. He wrapped one arm around her waist and the other, braced on the mirror, cracking it under his fist as he brought up his speed, fucking her hard, fast and dirty. Lex couldn't tell if she was stuck in the aftershocks of her first overwhelming orgasm or if she was climaxing for a second time, she held on desperately. Scar roared out and slammed into her a few times before he stayed buried in her cunt, adding to the mess that was already between them.
They were both panting and ruined by each other.
“You remember the first time we risked having a quickie during a mission? We were capturing those camouflaging hyena-looking things? Cutthroat was so mad at us” She laughed breathlessly and hugged Scar close.
Scar gave a pleased rumble, licking over his fangs. “To see you riding me under that sky, taking what you needed with no fear of the dangers of that planet, it was worth how insufferable Bruiser and Vah’kea were the rest of the hunt.”
Another voice joined behind them “If you two are done not-breeding, those humans are searching this section of the facility. Maybe because of the feral noises. Are we departing or shall I string them up while you finish?”
“Oh, Motherfucker.” Lex jolted in surprise and looked behind Scar at Fugitive as he leaned on the door. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long, just wished to warn you of the approaching humans so you can take your time in deciding to stop rutting.”Scar, unfazed at being caught replied with that mischievous look of his. “You sound bitter. Jealous, as you have Ooman inside you but you have never been inside a Ooman?”
“Christ, Scar!” She slapped his chest. “Okay get out, we’ll leave in a minute.”
Notes:
Also this wasn’t gonna be smutty but then it just flowed that way, it was going to be heart felt and full of sad desperate clinging but then it turned into Scar trying to eat her into a coma, which was fine, and then I had to figure out it I kept it here and had it in the next chapt cos it’s like 4am and this chap got longer than normal. This was a ride of a chapter.
Finally, check out Hunter Borgia a human who, when exposed to Preddy blood as a baby, got all big and strong and so started stealing their blood and eating Predators to stay young and swol.
Chapter 20
Summary:
Time to meet the humans
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Alexa stole just one more moment of affection with her lover under the blinking, fluorescent lights. They would never let this be considered a ‘just in case’ moment, they didn’t do that. Having a ‘just in case’ was like admitting to a fear of failure or a chance of defeat. Scar softly touched the mark on her cheek reverently as if still surprised she had come all this way with him. They separated and Lex tidied herself up, almost spiking herself with the beak knife which had been tangled up with the folds of her wrappings.
She tried not to think of how their poor young pups would react if one or both of them didn’t return. That would be just as bad to have on your mind when going into a battle.
They stepped out and Fugitive huffed at them where he stood leaning against the lockers, knife idly twirling in his fingers. He looked causal but she could see the bruises over his scales and the stiffness in his posture. He had been sassy but he had needed that little bit of a break just as much as they did.
Lex could now hear the footsteps of the cops searching the school as beams of flashlights breaking through gaps in the stairwell doors. “Well, don’t just stand there looking pretty. Let’s go.” She lightly kicked his boot on her way to open the window. The cops entered the hallway just as Scar again, gave her a lift and they all dropped to the ground unseen.
Only She and Scar could so Fugitive stayed low and hidden as the two crept closer. They watched the buzzing activity around the high school increasing with all the emergency services around. So much for any stealth and subtly when hunting on Earth. The truck they had arrived in was now swarming by emergency vehicles. Which gave her an idea.
Lex signed to Fugitive to get into position near the entrance gate of the school and once there, she scampered to the police car which was parked the furthest back. The officer man leaning against the open driver’s door, talking into a radio. Scar opened the passenger door which caused the officer to turn toward the empty space, distracted enough for Lex to sit in the front seat and use both legs to kick him, sending him flat on the ground. They barely had the doors closed before she put her foot down on the pedal, turning tightly and speeding to the entrance, picking up Fugitive and speeding off, siren flashing as the few cars still roaming moved aside for them, letting her build distance between the cops while they were still hopefully confused and scrambled.
Lex laughed giddily, switching the FM radio, blasting the newer music of Earth as the streets cleared out, allowing her the chance to really go fast. “This is very illegal in human law. It’s kind of exhilarating.” The two hunters, both unused to the roughness of cars when compared to space crafts, were holding onto the sides of the doors.
“There is a navigation in place so we don’t collide with anything, correct?” Fugitive asked.
“Nope, we just do it by eye.” She happily supplied and took a turn a little quicker than she usually would just to give them a little surprise. She eventually turned into a random side street and parked around some other cars, shutting off the light in case any other cars started trying to follow them. Lex turned back to look at Fugitive. “Do you have a trace of where they took the gauntlet?”
“Yes, I will transfer it to you now. But I believe it is better if this time you allowed one of us to retrieve it.” Fugitive said.
Scar also spoke up. “The Oomen pup will be more guarded now. That would be how I would respond to such a threat to our whelps.”
“We just need to be more aware of the boy.” She gave a glance to Scar. “He’s not like our kids, he doesn’t appreciate roughness or any physical contact for that matter. Least of all from a big, scary alien.” She paused and then quickly added. “Who is also very handsome.” He purred contently and they ignored the exasperated sound from Fugitive. “… But the point is, he is smart and I think he understands that the gauntlet contains some important information. We just need to ask and he will return it and then we can focus on killing the bad blood. They might want to pitch in seeing as he had been a threat to their little pack as well.”
Fugitive didn’t seem to share her confidence despite his own brush with humanity. “That is a big presumption you are taking on behalf of the humans.”
“The humans did come back to help us. I think they know that we’re not the primary threat, we might be able to talk to them.” She pointed out.
“They are frightful prey. They can’t be trusted. Even if they choose to help, they can just as easily turn on us again.” Fugitive replied.
“I never turned on my hunter, even before I was part of the clan.” She pointed out but his mandibles just drew closer like he was resisting speaking out a doubtful comment. Lex sighed and relented. “Okay, let me just try talking to them and if it doesn’t work out… we can kill them.”
Both hunters seemed happy with that compromise. The new coordinates were transferred to her own mask and she started making her way in that direction, Sirens on again, driving swiftly while the two hunters watched the world outside the windows. Scar’s hand rested on her thigh. She could hear their rumbles and clicks as they spoke to each other, occasionally questioning Lex on things they saw. She ended up having the chance to explain Halloween to them.
She turned off the siren as the urban sprawl gave way as they ended up driving over rougher roads surrounded by fields. She had been popping over many different planets for her hunts but none of them came close to the same feeling that Earth had. And after being in the deserts and lava flats of Yautja Prime for so long, the rolling hills of green were refreshing. They eventually came upon a small farmhouse, turning off the headlights she drove closer but still parked a fair distance away from the house. She didn’t want to give themselves away just yet.
“You go speak, but I will be watching. If they even look as if they will attempt to hurt you again, their skulls will become my next gift to you. The only reason this truce has the ability to be entertained is because of our status and what is at stake in this fight. It’s very risky, wife.” Scar told her.
“I know. But remember who the real enemy is. Right now, we are ill-equipped to face our current foe. We might need the bigger hunting party.” She looks at the both of them. “Humans are crafty after all. You both should know that well.”
---
Lex was invisible at first as she snuck into the camp, the humans were spread out and she just wanted to get a feel for them and who she should approach. Overall, they seemed to be a pretty unstable group in her opinion. They were snapping at each other, one seemed to be in a state of panic. The child seemed fine at least which she was glad to see. But maybe that instability might work in her favour because who in their right mind would be willing to work with the hunters.
Besides her, of course.
She found the doctor she had seen in the base, speaking to the child’s father in the RV, getting a sense that they might be the best to approach. “I think I know what they are up to on predator world these days.” She heard Brackett explaining as crept to the doorway, staying very still to ensure they didn’t see any haze from her cloaking device. Anther long-haired man sat in the front seat as well, watching as the doctors held up samples she assumed were taken from Fugitive. If this theory was anything like the last guess this would probably be entertaining. Especially going by the fact, that they were both holding bottles of beer. “So, remember how I told you they take people’s spines, right?”
“Yeah for trophies.” The man responded, okay good so far.
“Yes, yes! From the strongest, smartest, most dangerous species on every planet, they visit.”
“Collecting the most high-end survival traits from most high-end specimens.”
“I think they are attempting hybridisation.” The doctor said, looking pleased with herself. It was much more accurate than Lex expected from them all.
“…You just pulling this out of your ass?” The father said, clearly not yet coming to terms with the fact they’re highly advanced aliens.
“Did you not see the new predator?” She sat back at the table with the other man. “It’s evolving.”
“Or being upgraded.” He pointed out.
Lex chose then to decloak but they didn’t notice her until she spoke up. “Pretty good.” She said and the humans all jumped, the man spilling his beer on himself in his scramble to get his gun and point it at her. “But it’s not what is happening on ‘Predator world’ there are only a few clans that dabble with genetic modification. It is largely seen as straying from the hunter’s way and so clans that do engage in it have it heavily regulated. The big hunter is a unique case, to say the least. That’s why we’re hunting him down.” She pushed up her mask and calmly regarded them all but she was tense and ready to run and defend herself if they did start attacking.
Hearing the commotion, the others of the group ran to the RV, leaving her uncomfortably surrounded on all sides, guns pointed right at her as the men were shouting on top of each other.
“Shit it’s that woman.”
“Is she attacking, is this an attack?”
“Wait are we shooting her?”
“No, she is human remember! don’t shoot her.”
“Then why is she dressed like that?”
“Wait is she human or are they like, transforming themselves into a pleasing form to seduce and take over humanity? That’s it isn’t it, I fucking knew it!”
She held up her hands in a clam and placating manner. Lex knew that Scar and Fugitive were watching her which helped calm her somewhat but these men were aggressive and jumpy. All her training was screaming at her right now but she had tried the yautja method, now it was time for something more human.
She hoped Brackett would be a little more level-headed so she looked at the other woman. “He is from a clan of… exiled law breakers, you might say. He had gone against the rules and has been excessively upgrading himself, as you said. Making him a bitch to kill. My friends are hunters too, I won’t lie and say they are pacifists in any way but we have rules and a code to follow. The upgraded hunter doesn’t. He’ll kill everyone in his way, those who are unarmed-” She gave a pointed look to the doctor who had met her hunters, both not harming her at all before she looked at the father. “- or even children.”
“But why are they here? Your son, if he really is your son.” She said waving the yellow vile of spinal fluid. “He started this, didn’t he? Why did they come to Earth?”
Lex winced “Jesus.” She said as there was a sudden chorus of whistles or sounds of disbelief around her, well at least it got them to lower their guns. She ignored that comment and stepped into the RV, going to the fridge, the three inside jumping a little and moving out of her way. “We don’t really have time to go into that, we had tracked you from the gauntlet and upgraded hunter might be as well. The only reason we got here first was because we stole a car.” She found a beer and snatched it, using her gauntlet to pop the lid. “But even on foot I can imaging he’ll be very fast and he’ll be here soon.” She moved back to leaning the doorway just so she could still see them all.
The father didn’t back down. “No, you need to tell us just what the hell is going on. So, make the time… that thing isn’t really your son, is it?”
Lex couldn’t imagine how Fugitive was taking this right now. “No.” She stressed. “He is not my son. I don’t know whose DNA he has in him but I only met him during the rescue. We received his distress signal since he was counting on my sense of humanity to motivate me to help.” She sipped the beer and it was nice and familiar even though seeming to be pathetically weaker than the alcohol she was used to now. “The gauntlet that you stole has information about the bad blood clan… the clan of exiles. Now we need it back so we can sort this mess out. His ship was attacked and while he didn’t intend to crash here, Earth might have been dragged into it anyway.”
“Hey, here’s an idea, how about we just destroy the thing and you guys can have your alien pissing contest somewhere else?” The longhaired man in the RV hissed.
“Yeah, look you’re hot so I wanna help, but this shit has been insane and I don’t want to be murdered by aliens!” yelled the man who she had seen panicking before outside said, carelessly waving his gun around.
“Yeah, why are you even involved if this is an alien beef? Respectfully madam, who the fuck are you and why are you-” A darker-skinned man asked as he gestured up and down at her.
“It’s complicated.” She replied.
“Oh yeah, because everything else has been so simple so far.” The father said.
“I killed an alien in an underground Arctic temple gaining the clan mark and the respect of the hunter’s elder who took me in after I had to watch a town explode.” She summed up.
“You killed one of them?” the father asked.
“What Gunnison? That was done by aliens. It all makes sense now!”
“Oh… well, no, it was the humans that blew it up. A lot was happening.” She corrected first before continuing. “No, not one of the hunters but another type of alien. A much more dangerous one.”
Someone else yelled. “There are other aliens!?” They looked like they were getting overwhelmed already.
“What do you even mean more dangerous!” the man groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with his eyes screwed shut.
Lex took a deep breath and spoke as blunt and simply as she could. “Listen to me, right now. We need our tech back because if the bad clan goes after my clan, Earth will no longer be watched over and it will very likely be turned into a battleground or a game planet. I know it’s a lot to take in but I am going to need you all to keep it together.”
Brackett stepped forward and looked her in the eyes. “Why are you telling us this now? You could have at any time before but you didn’t seem to want to share. You blew up our information base but now you decided the fate of the Earth was worth sharing?”
“Because this thing is stronger than we realise so… we need your help.” She heard a scoff from almost everyone around her. “Or we need you to just give us back what you stole and then get the hell out of the way.”
---
Lex sat on a box, drinking the beer as the humans stood in the RV talking over their decision like they even had time to waste on this. She heard two very distinctive thumps of the hunters having jumped down from whatever rooftop they had been hiding on. Scar reappeared beside her a moment before Fugitive did. “Well, that went better than expected actually. Now they just need to come to a decision on whether to help us or not but I think they’ll willingly give us back the tech at least.”
“I heard you mention the war, that wasn’t enough for them?” Fugitive asked, crossing his arms.
“Just give them a sec, it’s a lot to take in the first time.” She sighed.
Scar was watching her as she wrapped her lips around the bottle and took another swig from it. She looked down at the bottle and then a small smile grew on her lips. “Take your mask off for a moment, you can too if you’d like kiddo-”
“Do not call me that.” He grumbled a long-suffering sigh. If he doesn’t challenge her after this all is over it will be a miracle.
“-I want you to try this, this is a weaker human alcohol. I’ll need to steal a bottle of whiskey or maybe wine before we leave. But still, have a taste.”
They both did unhook and placed down their masks. She passed the bottle to Scar who took a second to figure out how to drink from the glass bottle when he didn’t have lips, pouring some into his mouth before handing it over to Fugitive who did the same. Scar made a curious noise and held his hand to get the bottle again but Fugitive flared out his mandibles, hissing in disgust with his tongue peeking out. He quickly handed back the bottle.
Lex laughed “Yeah, that might be the human in you. It can take some people a while to get used to the flavour.” Scar easily finished off the half bottle that was left. “So why did you choose human DNA. Actually, while we have time, how did you choose human?”
“You Oomans are one of the most highly regarded prey, yes. But in my clan, one of the least utilised in splicing. Most go for the direct effects of strength, speed or natural defensive capabilities of our other prey. Oomen's provide higher endurance, yes, but it mainly affected my ability of problem solving and caused behaviour changes, or so I have found. I had heard of the human who had joined a clan, it didn’t take long for me to find some-” he stopped just as Lex had leaned in closer to listen.
“You found?” She prompted but then she heard it as well. A helicopter. “Fuck.” They saw the flash of the spotlight and Lex grabbed the bottle from Scar, throwing it with all her might so it crashed low on the door of the RV before they made themselves scares. She had considered that the upgraded hunter might find them but there seemed to be some human drama happening around this too. Great.
The humans opened the RV door as the helicopter started landing. She heard them swear and many brought their guns up against but the father, Mckenna as she heard be him called, got them to lower them again. “We’re not starting another firefight around my kid. Do you wanna help? Go get us a helicopter and some pyro. Now Go!… Where the hell is that woman? Hey, scary lady, don’t go anywhere, we’ll handle this real quick!”
“Let us see how effective they are.” Scar murmured at her back.
The group split into other positions and tasks, leaving two to meet with the newcomers. This new group were also after the tech, McKenna -the father- and Brackett didn’t give it up at least and they were dragged off to separate locations for interrogation.
“The woman isn’t a fighter, correct?” Fugitive asked, watching curiously as they took her.
“Yeah, she is a doctor… a scientist. She is also the most likely to convince the others to help.” Lex whispered to him.
“I will follow her, I do not trust them to not kill an unarmed doctor.” He growled and then used the shadows and carefully made his way to the barn she had been taken to.
Scar hummed and watched the scene unfold. “They are retrieving other transport. I will call the ship unless you wished to join in with the humans for some bonding time. If they survive long enough to aid us that is.”
Lex chuckled. “I’ll go keep an eye on them, you get the ship.” He pressed his forehead lightly against hers before they went their separate ways. Lex followed to where Mckenna and the other man had been taken.
From the questions they were asking, they were after the tech to find the remains of Fugitive's hunter’s ship, wanting the technology and weapons that it holds. That would be risky, and it would also piss off the bad blood as well. Which is something that they could use, this organisation could possibly help tire him a little before they were wiped out… was that cruel? The moral implications of being on Earth again was exhausting her.
They were roughing the men up, and she was about to step in when she saw the leader of this new group, dragging the son away. Fuck, she didn’t think they would sink as low to just kidnap Rory, she assumed he had been safe in the RV. But she saw in his eyes, a switch had flipped in McKenna at the sight.
The two men interrogating him were dismissively making plans to play golf tomorrow over McKenna’s downed and beaten form. He did the very human thing and made a sarcastic quip to them. “You boys didn’t read my file, did ya?”
“What makes you say that?” One of the interrogators asked.
“‘Cause you two morons are making plans for tomorrow.” He replied with a grin. “The worst part is, you’re making me lie to my son.”
The other, larger interrogator leaned in and cooed mockingly. “What lie did you tell him, hmm?”
“That I won’t enjoy this.” He then half rolled, grabbing the wrist of the closest man, twisting it as he used the leverage to get his legs up and around the man’s neck. He squeezed around his neck tightly and brought him down hard on the ground, flipping them and then using the grip on his wrist to shoot the second interrogator.
At the sound of McKenna’s fighting, Nebraska, the other unstable marine started taking out his own captors. Tripping his guard and slamming the butt of the gun he pulled from his hands right into his nose before throwing him down on the ground and knocking him out with another hit.
Now Lex reappeared making those in the room all jump again. “Jesus, can you stop doing that.” McKenna said.
She chuckled and released her wrist blades, heading for Nebraska. “Woah, woah, we cool, I voted to help you.” He said and flinched away but she just used it to break the bonds on his wrists. They all walked out and watched the helicopter leaving but one of her hunters would be able to locate where the other ship would be.
There were some harsh-sounding impacts and a short scream from the barn. Suddenly, a body was tossed out the window but arced slamming into the wood as he hung by the ropes tied around its ankles. There was a bunch of swearing all around before the large doors were kicked open and Fugitive stepped out, carrying Dr Brackett over his shoulder. The doctor looking equal measures of terrified and fascinated. He brought her to the rest of the gathering team before letting her down gently.
The doctor seemed to be slightly out of breath as she said. “Okay… okay, thank you for that… you… were very efficient… and strong.” She looked like she was going to give him a friendly pat on the arm but chickened out and then cleared her throat awkwardly. God, she wished Scar was here right now to see that.
The men on the other hand all looked uneasily at Fugitive but Mckenna, coming to a resolve stepped up to him. “Alright… Look, I don’t think I can forgive him for dragging our planet into the middle of this. And I haven’t forgotten what you did to my men but… If you can help me save my son, I’ll stay friendly long enough to help you bring down your big bad alien.” He held his hand out to the hunter. “Deal?”
“Deal.” Fugitive told him and grasped his forearm in a solid hold which had the man swearing under his breath.
There came another doppler effect of a helicopter, she and fugitive went on the defensive but they saw it was the other men who had actually found a news helicopter… were they even near an airfield? How did they get that?
They all walked out of the field as the helicopter landed and with a sweep of her thermal vision, it hadn’t been the only thing to land. “Well, I don’t know if you guys will fit in there with us.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. We have our own ride.” She said hopping Scar was listening in and he must have been as the invisibility on the ship dropped right then, showing it off behind her in all its glory.
there was a stunned silence, only broken a few seconds later. “Oh, I’m coming with you.” Brackett said and rushed over to follow her.
Notes:
Okay So, cats like bread, so I'm thinking Scar will like beer but Fugies taste buds have changed from his human DNA so he will need some time to get used to it. Going by this, Scar wont like sweets but Fugie will so Lex will have a field day feeding the boys human things.
And really, poor Fugie, he is genuinely badass but Lex and Scar just don't give a shite because they are also badasses.
Chapter 21
Summary:
Rescuing the kid & Lex gets angry
Notes:
Lol okay so, I know I seem like I am very nerdy and knowledgeable but I messed up, wrote that Fugies ship got exploded by Scar at the start of this and they were going after Big Boi’s ship, that was wrong, it was his shuttle that was meant to be exploded and now we go after his ship (which in the movie explodes.) I went back and fixed those chaps now, but for y’all reading this in real time, my bad.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex leaned against the control panel of the ship as Scar piloted, following the coordinates they had taken traced. Just out of sight, Lex could see the helicopter outside beside them, having to reduce the ship's speed significantly to keep them in sight. If anyone else could have seen the two vehicles it might have looked as amusing of a team-up as it felt for her. But with these numbers and skills, they were a proper hunting party now. In a sense. Lex just hoped that it was enough, there was so much riding on this. For both their worlds… For both her worlds.
Keep it together, make it to the surface.
She started to repeat that phrase in her mind for the first time in a long time. She didn’t like being still and moved around the ship. She unlocked the weapons hold to let Fugitive ‘Borrow’ the few weapons they had stashed in here. Brackett too was running around the ship but more like a kid in a candy store. She spent a good minute just examining a couple of trophies that were in here. Her hands were on everything. “Careful, you press the wrong button and we’ll fall out of the sky.” She warned. And chuckled and how the woman straightened up at being caught about to play with a screen.
She walked back to the front of the ship and leaned against the control panel where Scar was piloting the ship. They shared a comfortable silence, she guessed they were both just focusing on different strategies they could use to rescue the child quickly to bring on the main fight.
It wasn’t long before she saw Dr Brackett following behind Fugitive as he started looking at the few extra weapons. Lex didn’t hear what she was saying to him but soon she watched as Fugitive reached up for a razor disc and handed it to her. Even going that extra step further and going behind her to take her hands and show her how to activate the weapon. The woman laughed excitedly and looked up wide-eyed and fascinated at the other Yautja.
Lex chuckled at the scene and clicked her tongue softly to get Scar’s attention, nodding her head in their direction. He turned his chair and looked at them briefly before looking back at her. ‘While I am beyond grateful for you, I would not have thought attraction would be this commonly found. What is wrong with your species?’ He signed to her.
Lex lifted her foot and placed it on the seat between Scar’s legs, sliding it up close. ‘Lucky for your species, a lot.’ He purred and rested his hand on the back of her leg, caressing up to her thigh.
The moment was interrupted, however, at the sound of the power disk being activated. She pulled back away from Scar and looked at how Fugitive just left the untrained human with a whole weapon that could damage this ship. “No live weapons on board my ship!” She called in the same voice she used on the children who have done the same thing.
They landed and cloaked their ship before joining back up with the humans. Together they found a good vantage point over the camp which had grown around the remains of Fugitive’s crashed ship. It looked to have been a rough landing, downing many trees and breaking up the stone of the landscape. The ship too seemed half-buried in a cliff face. From what she could tell, they seemed to have needed to clear a lot of rock and boulders away just to get it. This meant there was just a small valley between two of the cliff faces. A bottleneck if she had ever seen one.
The humans -aside from Brackett- were still staying very far away from them but the focus was now on how to get into the camp. “Scar and I can go invisible and get in there.” She pointed out.
“Yeah, funny thing about that.” Mckenna suddenly went invisible as well. Fugitive gave a low heavy growl. “Yeah, trust me, buddy.,” he said, appearing again. “You don’t want it back knowing where it has been.” Lex wasn’t going to even ask.
They watched as the man identified as Traeger started escorting Rory to the ship. “I don’t get it, what does he want with the kid?” Nebraska asked.
“Well, he is a smart kid and he has been playing with the devise thing.” McKenna said, gesturing to where Fugitive was now in possession of it again.
“Rory said he was able to activate it and look at the information on it. Does it have a connection to the ship?” She looked to Fugitive.
“Yes, among the plans were codes, ship signatures and everything I could gather before they detected me. If the welp can remember it, he can get inside.”
“Oh, he is gonna remember. Trust me on that.” McKenna added.
“Being inside will create cover, Lex, you and the pup’s sire will go in undetected and retrieve the pup. Thwaun and I will go from the fringes and clear the way for you to leave.” Scar orders, being an elite meant Fugitive just nodded.
“Distract and flank, just like when we went after the Ravager.” She said fondly and nodded as well.
“Um… when did I lose control here? Buddy, who do you think the leader is? This is my kid we’re talking about.” McKenna piped up. Scar turned his head slowly to look at him and with his hulking figure didn’t even really need to say anything before the other humans were grabbing at the man's shoulders.
“It’s a good plan though.” Nettles added
“Great plan.” Lynch said.
“The pup had entered the ship.” Fugitive interrupted the bickering before it could start.
“You have a better idea? Because we better go now.” She asked.
“…I could have had a better one.” He pointed out firmly before he activated this stolen cloaking device.
She was just about to go slink off with him when Scar put his arm around her and pulled her in closer
“I love you, Alexa.” He said softly, and privately.
“I love you too, Scar.” She whispered back. She then cloaked herself too but knew Scar could still probably see her, she flipped up her mask and pressed a kiss to the mouthpiece of Scar’s mask. “Give’em hell, sweetie.”
---
She and McKenna carefully made their way down and through the camp, she could easily follow him with her thermal sights. They breezed through without any issue, taking stock of all the trucks loaded with weapons and the fence surrounding the area which was being electrified. She doubted that the voltage would just give a small deterrent type of zap too.
Making their way inside, she choked out one of the hired guns dropping him to the side as they caught up to the man Traeger talking to Rory. They had seen two more who had entered with Traeger and so she kept an eye out for them.
“Code three, we have motion at the south fence line.”
She heard from the man’s radio watch. That would be their boys. She crouched by the man who probably didn’t know where she was and whispered to him. “Go on, make your grand entrance and I’ll follow.”
“That’s my dad! He’s gonna come and save me now.” The little boy said, nervous but standing up for himself to the man.
“Oh is he? Is that what he’s gonna do?” The man taunted. “I’ll tell you what buddy. If it is your daddy, and I truly hope that it is, he’s gotta be just about the dumbest motherfucker I’ve ever met. I mean, a ranger sniper tripping wire sensors? He’s gotta be…” And she could see when it clicked and she so pulled out her Serpent spear. “Creating a diversion.” The man pulled his gun out and that was when McKenna moved. He shot the guard at the furthest side of the ship's haul with a dart gun he had taken from Brackett. This gave her time to slip around to the other guard, using the metal length of the spear to compress his windpipe and choke him unconscious as well.
McKenna then punched Traeger, knocking him down and pointing the dart gun right at him. “Rory, you alright little buddy?” He asked.
“I knew you were coming. I warned them.” Rory replied. With his gun still trained on the downed man, McKenna walked over to the boy, crouching down and opening his arms, Rory rushed in and gave his dad a hug.
“I got you bud… your mum would have killed me if I came back without you, huh?” he pressed a kiss to the boy’s forehead before ruffling his hair.
Lex came over and pointed her spear at the man on the floor’s throat. Traeger jumped at the sight of her. “You teamed up with one of those things? Looks like only the runt was willing to come with you huh.” Lex played a sound bite of the hunter-like clicking and then a simmering growl which had the man flinch again. “Still, that won’t be enough, you idiots are surrounded. Look, Littlest predator that could, whatever he did or said to get you to work for him isn’t worth it. Now, maybe we can come to an agreement. What do you say?”
Lex looked back to McKenna and scrolled back on the sound bites and played the voice recording. “he’s gotta be just about the dumbest motherfucker I’ve ever met.”
Mckenna and even Rory chuckled, while Traeger just gave a soft “Yeah, real cute.”
“Here, take this, son.” McKenna handed the child the dart gun so he could pull out his pistol and forced Traeger onto his feet. “Now, my deadly friend here isn’t going to touch you, I just want the boy. Nobody’s got to die, alright?” then with the gun to his back he was marched out of the ship. “That being said, if you open your mouth, I’m gonna blow your brains right through it.”
They exited the ship and there was a multitude of guns pointed right at them. But she trusted that her boys and the humans were thinning out their numbers but she still placed herself in front of Rory just in case.
“Tell them to put their guns down.” Mckenna ordered, but Traeger narrowed his eyes and sealed his lips tight. “Tell them!” he yelled and Lex played a low growl from her mask.
“If Captain McKenna doesn’t lower his weapon in the next ten seconds, shoot the kid's knees out first and then mow down this ugly bitch to be cut open later. Even if it's a tiny, pathetic example of the species.” He called out defiantly. “That work for you?” he said now to the other man.
“Oh, that’s a really bad idea.” McKenna said to him before addressing the gunners ahead of them. “My guys have this placed covered and we have two more of those ugly sons of bitches. That’s a whole squad and three ugly-ass predators and two of them are the parents of the one you kidnapped. So who do you think will take the kidnapping of their kid the best? Me, or the aliens who will rip out your spine just for a living room decoration.”
Lex let out a very human-sounding sigh, she really shouldn’t have let this become a thing. Now it was getting annoying to her as well. If she survives this, Fugitive is going to kill her.
“He’s bluffing and I don’t give a flying fuck. Ten! Nine!-” Traeger started to count down.
After a scan of her surroundings, she could see the heat signatures of the approaching larger figures of Scar and Fugitive. She crouched down by Rory and whispered quickly. “My friends are coming, they’re going to make a distraction and you’re going to stay behind us, no matter what, okay?” he nodded, fidgeting with his sleeve.
On the count of five low echoing grumbles of a predator filled the area which made Traeger pause but only for a moment. “Four!” Then seconds apart Scar and Fugitive both landed onto trucks on either side of the camp, arms spreading wide as they both roared in a terrifying display of power and horror. All guns turned towards them and started opening fire so her boys did as they did best, they started to rip their prey apart.
Scar had her spear, the one which had been given to her by the elder, and with one well-aimed throw impaled two men before leaping to another group. Grabbing a soldier by the face, Scar threw him into the electrified fence which surrounded the area. Then pulling the spear out, he slashed it in a wide arc, slicing through the arms and chests of whoever didn’t move back in time. He roared and stomped through, picking a soldier up by the neck and easily breaking it.
Fugitive on the other hand still had his plasma caster on his mask and started picking off the gunners one by one. Eventually also jumping off then there were too many bullets flying at him. He locked his hand around a man’s neck, picking him as a meat shield while grabbing his gun and doing his own rapid-fire spray with it over the crowd of people. He used the gun one way while his plasma caster took the other.
All this time too, a rain of bullets from the humans started taking out any that were staying still and exposed from the shock of seeing the bloody show from the hunters. These men were being ended like fish in a barrel.
The new carnage was distracting and Traeger managed to slip from McKenna’s grasp, running to a truck in the distance, some who were still watching them and their boss instead of the rampaging hunters shoot out, making them run for cover instead of following them.
“So, what, you sold out your own people for these monsters? You think they would think twice about killing you as well? Yeah, smart choices here, sniper boy.” She couldn’t see what he was doing behind the truck but there was a sudden yell from him. “We’re too exposed here, head for the trees!” The half of the men that were left started to retreat, throwing a few grenades behind them which stopped them from following right away.
The flames erupted and they watched the torches and lights disappear into the trees. Those who were on the ground level regrouped in the middle.
“W-We going after them?” Baxley asked, twitching a little. “I mean, we got the kid, took… took the ship. Now we just need to you know? Beat the big alien. We good, right?”
McKenna hummed and looked at his kid. “He’s got a grudge now and hell, so do I. I need Traeger to pay for what he did. Besides we don’t need him coming back and fucking up our fight with the upgraded douchebag, so…. You don’t need to follow but-” He looked to Scar and Fugitive. “This is your thing, right? This is my plan, you get the rest, but I get to fight Traeger.” And yeah, that was ‘their thing’.
Brackett spoke up. “The big guy’s not here yet, so maybe we can use the time you’re avenging to clear out these weapon trucks and the ship. See what’s useful, maybe see if we can find a better battle arena and put some traps up or something? From what little I know, traps seem to be the best bet.”
Scar did spend a moment looking conflicted at leaving her alone when they still didn’t know where the bad blood was. “He comes, you signal us. Do not engage directly.” Scar said to her.
“…Okay. Be quick.” She replied. “And have fun you two.”
She ignored the “God that is fucked up.” From Coyle.
Fugitive snorted. “These are not the fiercest of the human challengers we have faced. We will not be long.”
The two hunters sprinted off. Mckenna, swearing quickly scrambled to his feet to go after him. “Brackett, look after my kid.” Coyle slapped Baxley’s arm and started arguing with him about going with them or not.
Lex started looking around, it was a gory place right now. “Maybe we should set the kid up somewhere… maybe in the ship?” She looked at the truck which Traeger had been looking into before he ran. She picked up a package within it, the only thing which seemed to be left.
“Oh sweet, more pyro.” Coyle spoke up.
“Pyro?”
Baxley shook his head at his friend before clarifying. “Like pyrotechnics. Plastic explosives.”
This must have been what they used to break up the larger pieces of stone and debris. That could be useful in setting traps for the upgraded hunter. It was definitely very powerful compared to what they currently had.
She opened her mouth to say as much to the group before stopping.
From what little she knew, that’s what Brackett had said, they had records of how they downed the other predators. Traeger would know of that too.
“No… shit, no, no, no.” some of the others heard her and stopped what they were doing but she didn’t have time to explain. Lex turned to see how far the other’s hand ran. She could see McKenna stopping but the hunters were already gone. “Scar! Scar stop! It’s a trap. Scar!” And then there was a sound that shook the whole forest, causing a few rocks to start sliding down the piles and the forest ahead lit up in bright orange light. “Scar!”
She ran, ignoring the few voices calling after her. Not like this. He can’t. Some stupid human trap couldn’t be what kills him, he was one of the best warriors of their clan. She still had so many years left of this life he had given her. She wasn’t doing that alone. Lex passed McKenna, who was okay, just knocked from the force of the blast. He didn’t try and stop her.
She rushed into the burning grounds of the woods, panting and shaking, just looking for any sign of him. But everything was hazy with kicked-up dirt and smoke. The burning trees and vegetation had everything still glowing through with orange but shadows were moving everywhere. Thermal sights couldn’t do anything to help so she was left just wondering through.
Some humans must have been too close to the trap, maybe they couldn’t get away in time, maybe Traeger sacrificed them, she didn’t know. Lex looked over the burned bodies, but they were too small. Too small to be yautja and she was sure there was red under all that charcoal. She stumbled through, the filter in her mask doing its best but she could still smell the smoke, burning fabric and flesh around her. She did see a flash of bright green and she rushed to it, dropping down onto her knees as she carefully picked up the bio mask. Scar’s bio-mask.
The inside of it was splashed with fluorescent green blood.
“Scar! Scar, where are you, Answer me, please!” She screamed. There was no answer.
Not for a few seconds at least.
“Huh, so you were just some human?” Came Traeger’s voice, along with a few other footsteps of his remaining few soldiers circling around her. “Guess, I was right about something. Well, looks like it’s back to the dating apps for you, sweetheart. Ooh, what a shame. You see, I should have known you were just a bitch in a mask. These things never hesitated the kill, but you were a lover and not a fighter, huh? Cuff her, let’s see if she learned anything useful about these aliens asides from how many inches they got going for them.”
A soldier reached for her arm, touching it for just a moment before she punched him in the dick before grabbing the front of his bulletproof vest as he doubled over and used him as a shield against the bullets as she quickly walked backwards into the woods. as soon as she was out of sight she tossed the bleeding man aside so she could hide in the shadows without his screaming.
Lex leaned back on a tree, half collapsing as she raised her mask, she was trying to quiet her sobbing and wiped away the tears streaming down her face.
“Come on out, sweetheart, we just wanna talk. Look, I’m sorry about your dead boyfriend, honestly. Why don’t you tell me all about him? Maybe I could hook you up with someone better, someone more human. Or is that too kinky for you now?”
She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. She squeezed the metal of the spear in her hands. The spear Scar had made for her all those years ago. She gently stroked over the tail tip. He knew she was a worthy fighter even then. He had marked her, believed in her. Thought her worthy of support, love and care.
And this man was trying to take that from her.
“He was my husband.” She called back, sorrow giving way to a wave of anger blazing so hot in her chest numbing her from the inside out. McKenna missed his chance. “We are the blood of the Than-guan clan. The Arctic midnight. So no, you were wrong about everything. Because I’m not just some human.” Lex squeezed the spear tightly in her hand and pulled her mask back down.
“I’m a predator.”
Notes:
Been a while since we had anatomy facts so here is another. I'm sure this is what you want now.
Out of all Predators shown on screen as of 2021, Fugitive has the beefiest visible tiddies of them all. He is around 7ft 8, which is taller than Scar in the AVP though he is taller now in this fic so Scar will be a few inches taller now. The abilities he got from human splicing are that he is physically stronger, faster, more agile, than most yautja, he had enhanced intelligence, 'human cunning' and social understanding. And he is a good climber but most Predators are.
Chapter 22
Summary:
We interrupt this lover story before female rage and pure, cold revenge.
Notes:
CW: Violence, this is a rather brutal chapter, if people literally getting torn apart isn't your thing proceed with caution.
Also heck, writing fighting takes so much brain power.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The heat and smoke still spread throughout the woods. Her mask filter was working hard to ensure she was breathing clean air but the scent of the smoke was inescapable. it was cloying and thick and made the forest feel smaller. Walled off and they were all trapped within.
It was probably past midnight by now, the sky dark and the moon far from full. Getting sights on each other was going to be difficult for both hunter and prey. But if Traeger -and by extension, his men- knew about the hunters, he would know being within the cover of the smoke gave Lex a greater disadvantage. If they left the smoke, Lex would be able to easily see them but they wouldn’t be able to see her. Within the smoke and fires, her thermal vision also wouldn’t be able to work.
Off in the distance, she could hear Traeger’s voice bouncing around the woods. From what her mask was picking up they were staying together and starting to move in her direction.
All the fear and worry were pushed just under the skin, she could feel it but she couldn’t let it take over. But it was anger that gripped tight around her throat and with it, she moved almost on autopilot. All the years of fighting and training were taking over. People kept trying to make her choose between her home and her family. She was going to show them what forcing that choice would mean.
The man who she had used as a shield was still laying there on the forest floor. Hands futility pressing to the bullet holes, blood which showed no sign of stopping slipped freely between closed fingers. She returned to him and for a second did think of Sebastian as she stood over him. “Please… Help me…” He looked up at her, there were scared eyes under that helmet. He needed to know that even if she was inclined there was nothing that she could do to save him now.
The first time she had taken a life, human life, it was out of mercy and kindness. But Lex wasn’t going to apologise to this man the way she had done for her friend. She let fly her wrist blade and tore out his throat and it was quiet again.
Lex stayed low, darting from tree to tree. It didn’t take long at all until she saw the group of six soldiers. They met her halfway, all standing in a circle, guns raised, flashlights on. Traeger was standing in the centre, going through his pockets until he pulled out some gum and rapidly chewing a bite. He looked calm, maybe even bored. That just made her want to bare her teeth even more. Carefully and patiently, she moved just ahead of their path. Slowly pulling out her axes, and using them to climb up one of the taller trees not burning.
“Where are you, girly?” He called out before saying off to the side. They were still looking for her at eye level. They didn’t think she had the same hunting patterns as the Yautja, but she was trained and outfitted exactly how they were. Going to her wrist gauntlet, Lex pulled out the snare which was coiled up tightly within. It was invisible to the naked eye. She made it into a wide ridged lasso before lowering it down. She could wrap the cord around the branch a few times before clamping the reeling back against the cord.
Traeger was her main target, which would demand of her a proper fight. But his lackeys needed to go and they needed to be taken out quickly. Back in Yautja prime, she would go hunting for food with the other women on the cooler days when it was bearable. They taught her a few things too, about herding around groups of prey. Things like when herds are startled, they are stupid, and they run to the easiest path to take. Crawling down, she crept back behind them, waiting until they moved just close enough to the trap before she aimed her plasma caster at the soldier at the back of the pack.
That soldier had managed to see her and started saying a word but the rest of it was garbled as the bolt went right through his chest. “Take cover!” was yelled and predictably they ran to the trees for protection. Soon there was a choke and the sound of friction of the cord as someone had ran into her trap. “The trees are trapped!” another voice rang out.
“Stay calm! Keep together. Leave him there, he’s already dead. Go!” That was Traeger and she skulked around, watching as the soldiers were forced to leave the man still wriggling and kicking where he was suspended, slowly being garrotted by the cord. She didn’t let him suffer too long. Flicking up the spear she threw it and by the chorus of swears, they saw as the alien tail pierced all the way through the soldier’s torso, stilling him. They were on high alert again, but this game of cat and mice had only just begun.
Lex reclimbed the tree and cut the device with the rest of the cord-free. The man’s body dropped a few feet and hung limply. After retrieving her spear, she took the time and methodically wrapped more cord around the ankles of the man she blasted down.
She had asked Scar one day why they strung up their prey. It wasn’t every species, at first, she thought it depended on size but she noticed that it was usually the smarter species that they did it to. They sat together on the bed, her on his lap. He spoke lowly, She remembered his hands on her own, teaching her how to use the cord. It was a taunt as much as it was a warning. Showing how easily this prey was to take down. How those who are left would need to do better or they would share the same fate. Ritual savagery is used to weed out the weakest of their challenges.
She was giving her prey more time to move but she would find them again, she believed in her skills. Soon the second man was hanging upside down from the other branch. She spared them both a look. They made themselves worthy prey when they attacked her and her family. This was the honour they received for it. It was still hard to look at.
The men were panicked now, the situation finally sinking in. Their footsteps were heavy and quick. Easy to follow. They were moving on a curve to circle back. They were going to try and leave the woods again. Can’t have that, there was no escape now for either of them. McKenna was probably still at the edge, and while she wouldn’t fault him for stealing back her mark. She wanted this more.
Lex took a sharper turn, looking to cut them, off. She watched the lights of their torches now fading in through the haze and listened to their amplified breathing. Some were even, some rapid and scared. Fear was as useful a tool as her blades were.
‘Help me...’
The sound bounced around, all the gunners jolting and looking in different directions at their lost man’s voice.
‘Please… Help me.’ She played again.
“Matt? Matt where are you?” a man stepped forward only for Traeger to physically pull him back.
“What, are you, some kind of idiot? She is playing with you. It’s those creatures MO.”
“Please… Help me!” She played it louder this time, the last word sounded slightly bit distorted by it but it looked to work in her favour.
A rapid-fire spray of bullets splintered across a few trees, Lex flattened herself behind another and just listened in as a man started to panic. “Where is she, Where the fuck is she. I didn’t sign up for this shit.”
“Son, calm down.” Traeger's voice was still annoyingly calm.
“No! Fucking aliens? Now, whatever this bitch is! Game over man, I’m not getting picked off like a fucking-” a bullet rang out.
Half the soldiers were left now.
“Now, does anyone else want to have a meltdown? Speak the fuck up. Alright, The aliens are dead, and she might have all this psychotic alien tech but it is one girl. She’ll go down just as easy as that man. Okay, let's get ready.”
They were quiet for a moment. She gave a peak and saw they had moved into a tight circle. She went to move in closer again when all the men opened fire in every direction around them. She hit the ground instead, crawling to find whatever cover she would get. Hissing as her exposed skin met embers and heated ash. The fire stopped and she covered her mouth with the back of her wrist to not make a sound but she couldn’t stay here. She turned on her cloak but it sparked at where the netting had burned. Little sparks of light refracted off the soot in the air before it started properly working after a few seconds. The gunfire quieted. She carefully and slowly went to a crouch. She managed not to flinch as a man stepped right up to her. Only a short distance away, but his flashlight pointed deeper into the forest than where she was.
“I swear I saw something here.” He said and Lex held her breath as she reached for her axes again. He took a step back, gun relaxing in his hand as he called back. “Not here.” But that made the light fall on her, showing the shimmer of her cloak.
“Pull the trigger!” was yelled in warning but Lex moved then, crossing her blades before swinging them out, catching the man’s wrist between them. It took a lot of strength but the metal the Yautja used was strong and it was sharp. The gun fell as one hand let go but the other dropped with it. She ran again as the man screamed, holding his bleeding wrist. She made it a short distance before she turned and released another caster blast into the head of the screaming man.
Lex kept running, getting distance away from them again but she could hear them coming after her. Defence had failed them, now they were switching to offence in desperation. She again used the cord and quickly tied a length low to the ground across three trees. They were still firing wildly, hoping to get her and being unpredictable enough for her not to be able to rush them. She waited for bullets to hit in her general direction before she dropped her cloak and clutched her shoulder in a pained cry.
Torchlight fell on her again and she looked back at them before running forward again, “She’s wounded!” It was said with such hope before she heard the yelp and drop as someone tripped. She turned back to get him, It was just one man, looking back to see the wire. She brought up her spear when hands when something hard hit the back of her head.
“Think you’re so smart, huh?” one of the men must have seen it as a manipulation and had waited for her to go after whoever sprung the trap. “No bullshit now sweetheart, come on. What are you without all the gadgets, huh? You hiding behind them because you know I’m stronger?” She grinned under her mask.” I’ve been trained in special forces to-”
She punched him in the mouth just to shut him up. He stumbled back and then looked at her, absolutely pissed off. “Oh sorry, were you not done?” She asked as sweetly as possible before she played a growl and rushed him, jumping for a front kick but he did block it. She didn’t back down, she kept trying to push him back, they traded a few strikes, both blocking and getting hits in equal measure.
He ducked under her right hook but she over-extended herself and he was relying on muscle memory or quick thinking because he hit her mask and winced. She giggled at him and turned, kicking him across the face before he could recover. The claws of her armoured boots left deep scratched lines on his face.
When she went in for another hit with her fists, he managed to grab her wrist, stepping into her space and this time his hand went for her throat. Stunning her before he pulled her in again, bringing his leg up to knee her in the gut. She groaned and stomped her metal boots on his foot, making him let go on a reflex to get some space between them. She was being too reckless, if this was a staged fight, that move could have easily killed her.
“He was right, you’re just another bit-” She mocked punching him in the face again, making his hands go up before she gave another hard kick to his thigh, getting him off-balanced for when she clamped her legs around his waist and the backs of his knees and dropping to flip him onto his back. He landed hard, head jolting back onto the ground. She didn’t waste any more time with him and grabbed her knife. She got on top of him and swung down but he reacted in time and caught her wrist, knife inches from his chest. They struggled for a moment, knife trembling between the forces of each other’s strength.
The knife started moving back so she brought her head down hard against his, her mask breaking his nose and giving the final push to plunge the knife into his chest.
She wiped at the blood smudged over her visor “You talk too much.” She spat, pulling her knife back out. She looked but to see if she could spot the last soldier remaining. It was only with her mask that she could hear his running footsteps. She gave chase after him. He was terrified and swearing. She wouldn’t be able to catch up with him. But when she got him in her line of sight, she was able to drop him with another bolt from her caster.
He wasn’t dead straight away, but she slowly walked back up to him, alien growls and clicking being played from her mask. He looked to be trying to crawl away, the blast having him on the back and through to his stomach. Once more, she held up her spear and brought it down hard.
She tilted her head back and gave a long exhale. The smoke too was starting to be clear by the wind. She still hadn’t seen or heard from Scar and Fugitive during her time running around the forest. Her body ached but she continued the process and strung this one up as well. All while waiting to see if her main prey would reveal himself or not. He didn’t.
“Traeger!” She yelled out through the woods. No reply. “You’ve learned about us. You know I won’t stop until I hunt you down. You made sure of that.”
The quiet continued for a long while before clapping filled the air. “Well, I’ll give it to you… you damn sure made my men look like a group of incompetent children.”
“Wasn’t too hard. I’ve been training actual children who are much stronger than them for the last few years. I’ve gotten used to it.” She kept her spear in hand and walked through the trees, trying to follow where his voice had come from.
“So, what now? You kill me and let those things keep popping by to kill us every 10 years.” He snapped.
“I kill you, take your skull, and then make sure a clan war doesn’t happen here. This thing is much bigger than you realise.” She started to stalk into the trees, following the direction of the voice. But they must have been circling each other. Always just missing.
“Oh, I think I get how big this thing is, but I don’t think you do. So what, your ex-boyfriend… sorry, late husband was it?” he made a disgusted sound. “-He and his buddies, they can just keep treating us like wild game, using our planet for fucking sports hunting but we can’t get any benefits from it? You don’t think we could use some invisibility? Some advanced weapons to keep the peace? A fucking spaceship could be really useful these days.”
“Humanity can get the technology… when people earn it. Only the worthy.”
“Will I earn it from killing you? I think I’m pretty worthy.”
“You’re an egomaniac, tripping on power.”
“I’m the only one willing to do what I have to, damn the women, children and fucking aliens.”
He’s behind her.
One deep breath and then she ducks down and out of his aim, he pulls the trigger a few times to try and get her but she runs a circle around him before using the caster to shoot his gun and only the gun from his hand. He goes to dive for it but she shoots the gun again.
“You know what’s coming.” She said and took her mask off, and propped it up on some tree roots.
He gave a long sigh and started to shuck off his beige jacket. “Come on now, I know they’re big but they can’t be that good. No lay can be worth this drama.”
“I’m so tired of all this talk.” She sighed “You just had to stay out of it. That’s all you needed to do.”
“Yeah, why don’t you tell your alien friends that next time.” He spat.
Lex was vicious now, even without the mask she was practically growling as she went after him.
This should have been an easy mission, she had kept trying to balance that line, keep as many humans safe from the crossfire of the warring aliens. She had been sick of people dying around her and all the frustration started bubbling up within her.
Traeger was the one to push into the fight, trying to reach her. He knew how to fight but he wasn’t as practised as the other men had been. Still, she didn’t let herself get overconfident.
When he went to try and grab her, Lex grabbed his arm instead, twirling back and elbowing him in the face before yanking him and tossing him over her back. He rolled with it and got back up, bouncing on his feet a little before he rushed back in.
She went to kick him again in his torso but he caught her leg, pulling her forward and off-balance, landing a hard punch to her solar plexus which had her winded. She grabbed her shoulders and then kneed her again.
“You’re just going to be another relic like all the other toys we found.” He had another gun tucked into the back of his and pulled it out. The gun shots were too close and hurt her ears as they rang out but she rushed him and knocked him back to the ground, wrestling for the gun, deafening her before she was able to knock it away.
Traeger was saying something else now but she couldn’t hear it. She didn’t want to or need to. Lex wrapped her hands around his throat and squeezed. He thrashed and struggled, soon his fists were coming up and colliding with her torso but she just took it. She barely felt their impacts, too intensely focused on squeezing as hard as she could. Her knuckles were going paler from her grip. His nails dug into her arms and he pulled and shook but soon enough his eyes went back in his head and after his mouth gawked a few times he was gone.
Lex didn’t stop squeezing until her arms were shaking.
She took down the most cunning prey that Yautja revered.
She roared out to the sky in a scream.
But there was still so much adrenalin in her. She wanted Scar to be here for this but there was still no sign from him and now all the terror she pushed down threatened to overtake the anger. But She wouldn’t let it, she had won.
Pulling out her axes she went to take her trophy. She couldn’t just pull the heads off as her brethren could. She had to dig her blades in as she still trembled. It was messy and ugly.
There was a wet and sickening pop and suddenly she fell back, She had her prize. Lex clutched the head to her, breathing hard, feeling the blood trailing over her legs. She thought she would feel better, a triumph like she did after all the other tests that she had gone through to be a hunter.
But now she didn’t even want to look at the head in her hands. She might get sick if she does. Her breathing was rough as the ringing started to fade and she was left in the complete silence of the woods.
She didn't know how long she stayed like that, trying to breathe normally before she felt something or someone at her back. But then there was a low purr and a clawed hand tangling into her braids. She shuddered from relief and leaned back to the touch. “Scar. Thank god.” She whispered turning to see him.
But instead of his familiar face and yellow eyes, she saw someone else. Someone much bigger. The purr turned into a growl and before she could even move, the hand in her hair went around her neck, lifting her up as she struggled to claw and hold at his arm. But before she could even attack, he ripped off her plasma caster.
The upgraded hunter pushed her back into the tree behind her, watching her feeble attempts to struggle. She knew she couldn’t get out of this so she stopped, facing death like a hunter, she glared at him in defiance. But no fatal blows came. His growled and clicking voice rolled over her but this time there was a translation that came from his gauntlet.
“I have greatly enjoyed watching you Ooman’s kill each other. I see now you are the victor of your species. A true warrior. I came here to destroy the rogue and all that he stole. But you will now be my prize. You will be torn apart and merged with my clan. Your skill and might will live on in us.” He leaned in close and she struggled but there was nothing she could do as his long tongue dragged over her neck to her clan mark. “If that of lesser blood hasn’t tainted you to the core.”
He held her easily and started walking away. So, she screamed, crying out for the other, Scar, Fugitive, McKenna, Brackett. Anyone who could hear her. The hunter just laughed at her, not in the smug purr that Scar make but actually mimicking human laughter.
“Alexa?” A voice rang out, she had been heard by someone.
There was a sudden feeling of vertigo as he stepped out of the woods and jumped down from a cliff edge. She managed to turn enough to see a ship suddenly uncloaking. “No… No, you bastard.”. She knew what her chances of survival would drop to, alone on a hyper-fast ship with the enemy would be. If she left the atmosphere, it was all over. He brought her aboard and carelessly tossed her into a little pod. The doors closed behind her and she just screamed and hit the door.
She could hear the ship powering up around her. There were no panels or anything she could access while in here. She didn’t know if anyone was coming for her or not. She looked at her gauntlet. Her fingers hovered over the keys for the detonation sequence. It would take him down and this whole ship.
But she hadn’t lost yet and she still didn’t know what happened to Scar. She went for her knife instead, trying to jam it into the gaps in the door to see if she could wedge it apart.
Notes:
From popular demand (yes, all two of you, hello there) small art project based on a comment in another chapter, Domestic Au of this fic's Au.
https://twitter.com/RayeCaptain/status/1440017442957238272
Chapter 23
Summary:
Human va Predator vs Ultimate predator
Notes:
LOL hi y'all, sorry there had been a lil hiatus, and will be probs be another one between now and next chapter but my final assessments are happening and i need to get my degree so i need to actually focus haha.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex yelled out in frustration, her metal boot kicking harshly at the door. It just wasn’t opening.
She kept forcing the blade into different sections of the seam but she didn’t have the strength to properly wedge it apart. She kept trying, the blade was scuffing at the edges of the doors but no matter how much she pushed and jostled it, the mechanisms for the door stayed stubbornly unresponsive. She closed her eyes and dropped her head to the cold metal. Breathing in slowly and releasing a long exhale. She tried to think of what else she could do but nothing came to mind.
It was slight, but she noticed a vibration thrumming within the walls of the ship. With a frown she flattened her hand against the metal. The ship was silent but she recognised that feeling as the sign that the ship was now moving. “Just come and fight me, you coward!” She called through the door. “You are a fucking deserter without any honour! You needed to cheat and go against code because you lacked any strength of your own. You are nothing more than the parts you stole!” Lex tried to make him angry. She wouldn’t win this fight, not alone, but she didn’t want to be brought before the whole bad blood clan. However their process for splicing worked, she doubted it would be painless or without indignity.
But still there was no answer. She kicked the door one more time before she leaned back, falling against it. She thought of her little dangerous family back on Yautja prime. She had only just accepted that she would get to watch their kids grow up. But she was grateful for the time she had, she would leave this life fighting to her last breath.
Her thoughts were interrupted as a loud boom which cracked through the ship, making her ears ache. Around her the whole ship shuddered from turbulence. There was another boom but this time the force of it threw her back against the wall of the capsule. For a moment it seemed like the gravity in the ship had been disrupted and she was pinned with her feet off the ground before she crashed down violently against the floor. The pod was luckily only a small space so she braced her arms and legs against the walls to stop herself from being tossed around like a ragdoll.
There was metal groaning around the ship, she could feel it tilting and the sounds of its guns were going off. While she couldn’t see it, she could tell that there was a aerial dog fight happening outside. Something or someone was stopping the ship from leaving. Just like that her fatalistic acceptance dried up and she was ready to get out of here. There was a whirr of a struggling engine, no longer completely deathly silent. It must have been badly damaged and soon enough she could hear scraping along the belly of the ship. They were crashing. Even with her bracing, once the ship slammed hard into the ground again, she was tossed up, her body slamming into the wall but this time she slid down for good as it ground slowly to a stop.
Lex was panting and shaking slightly from tensing up for so long during the crash and she didn’t know if any part of her wouldn’t be covered in bruises now. She pushed through the pain when she saw the seal of the door was now slightly ajar. She used her spear this time, removing it from her back sheath, where she was sure she would have its shape imprinted into the skin along her spine from all the impacts against it. Lex wedged it through and started to leverage it against the door, crying out as she put all the strength she had left into it before the bottom door shot down. She threw her spear through before pushing herself through the gap.
The ship seemed pretty ruined, wall panels had fallen off and were sparking, the view screen up front was scuffed up and possibly even cracked, the lights too were no longer working. This ship wasn’t going off world any time soon. Lex had never been more relieved in her life. She grabbed her spear and stayed low, creeping down the short walkway to the cockpit. It was dark, only lighting up from the sparks from the broken panels but she needed eyes on the enemy. She turned round the captain’s chair but it sat empty. She swung her spear in case he was cloaked but it just clanked into the chair.
Where was he? She glanced around, expecting an attack from every shadow, jumping at every spark. She was sure he was watching her either way but with her mask back out in the woods she wouldn’t be able to see him. If she was lucky, he might have been tossed around in the crash, possibly injured. If she was really lucky, he would be unconscious somewhere. If Paya herself was intervening, he could be dead from the crash but she didn’t hold her breath for that outcome.
There was a sound, again she wished she had taken her mask with her but she managed to make out that it was a human voice. She slowly started to creep back down the hall to the door of the ship. Not just a human voice but someone calling her name. Whoever had come for her and grounded the ship. She ran to the entrance of the ship and slammed her fist to the release button but its light was dully blinking. “I’m in here! I’m okay!” She called out and kept hitting the button before the door grinded open letting the early sunrise light in.
“Oh.” Coyle said as he and Baxley were in the process of sticking explosives to the door of the ship. “Okay, I mean that works too.”
The ship had landed in some shallow water atop some rocky forested area. She looked around and saw the other humans up on a higher level, weapons all pointed at her until recognition set in and they lowered it and waved. Lex rushed the two men who were still holding plastic explosives and threw her arms around both their shoulders. “Thank you… for coming after me.”
“I mean… it-it wasn’t tech-technically our idea-” Baxley started before Coyle whacked him upside the head.
“Man, shut it. Yeah, you’re welcome, hope you remember how we helped and maybe pay back a favour or two, yeah? Maybe a field trip to the moon or something?”
Lex chuckled and let them go. “I’ll see what I can do.” She stepped back.
“Is he dead?” McKenna yelled out from his perch.
“Shit…” She turned and closed the door of the ship. Hopefully locking him in. “Keep placing the explosives." She told the men before yelling back. “I don’t think so but if he is inside, we can blow him up with the ship! We just got to keep him there.” she yelled back which got her a thumbs up as Mckenna started barking orders. She waded through the knee-high water, looking at the damage which had been done to the ship. There were large carbon scorch marks, this wasn’t done by any human weapon she knew. Excitement started to build in her chest. But then she narrowed her eyes as she saw the view screen that had been cracked when she left it, was now shattered.
“I l-li…li… I think this plan will work.” Baxley stuttered. “So why stop at the moon, let’s go all the way to Mars.”
“Yeah, that’s my boy.” Their voice carried over from the other side of the ship and then there was a splash. “You know why even stop there, let’s go-” Lex rushed back to the men after hearing a thud and grind of metal on metal. “-we… we can go…anywhere.” Coyle’s voice sounded off.
Baxley scream in anguish and she arrived and saw Coyle standing there with a metal beam through his back and out his stomach, pinning him into the side of the ship. He was looking at it, clearly in shock as Baxley clutched as his shoulder. “No… no man stay with me, we’re going to see space and we’re gonna get you a fucking moon rock, no, no Coyle please.” But blood poured from his mouth and he was slumping over.
“He’s outside!” She yelled. “Grab your weapons!” She turned to the man, understanding his mourning but grabbing him all the same by the back of his neck and pulling him away from the body “Come on, we don’t know where he is, we need to go.” She could see a shimmer at the side of her vision and the sparking as the water started to interrupt the invisibility matrix. “If we’re going to stand any chance of taking him down we need to regroup.”
“No! No, I’m going to kill that bastard.” He pushed Lex back and as the hulking alien fully appeared she could only watch as he charged in, gun raised. The bullet would make him jolt slightly but still didn’t pierce his armour plating. The predator walked forward to meet his charge and simply grabbed the hand he had around the gun, squeezing till his hand and the weapon were crushed under his hold. Baxley screamed in pain and rage but there was nothing Lex could do for him now. The man was then thrown and pierced by the other end of the beam pinning Coyle, his body falling back against his friends. She could hear the cries of the humans behind her but the red eyes fell solely on her. She needed to get back to the hunting party.
They stared at each other for a second before Lex bolted. She leapt over dips and uneven rocky ground. She could hear the heavy steps of his longer strides gaining quickly on her. She saw the humans, led by Mckenna and Brackett. They were all beckoning her closer, weapons raised.
She almost made it to them.
But Lex still never could compete in out-sprinting the Yautja. She was snatched up once more, held aloft with her feet dangling above the ground. A hand curled around her wrist and another around her torso, pulling her limb taut. He brought her close, she could feel his damp, heated breath as he growled at her. The upgraded predator spoke out, his gravelly voice right by her ear while the gauntlet translated. “You throw more of your species at me to kill. But you are only prolonging the inevitable and being an annoyance.” He started to tug at her arm, making the joint ache. “Remember human, I do not need the whole of you. Only parts.” Lex cried out in pain and the pull got strengthened and she was sure she was going to lose her arm.
A roar echoed throughout the site and she looked back and saw him. Scar. He was alive! Their ship hovered above the group of humans and he jumped from the open door to land in front of them. Green blood and blue cauterisation medical gel was smeared over half his face and down his shoulder and arm, he had been burned but all that mattered was that he was alive. . They were the ones who shot the ship down, she knew it had to be them but she was still elated to see she had been right. His eyes met hers for a brief moment before they returned to the monster holding her and he snarled out what sounded like threats as the spear extended in his hand.
The predator was still holding her and threatening her with pain but she ignored him and focused on that bright rejoice that he had come back to her. Fugitive too, dropped down beside her husband giving his own threatening growl, he looked mostly uninjured but very pissed off.
The upgraded predator just laughed at them in that mocking human mimic. One of his hands left her body and she wince as she was now hanging just by her arm but at least he wasn’t actively pulling her apart anymore. “She is your woman? I could smell you on her.” He held her closer and his tongue flicked out at her face again as she tried to flinch away from it. Scar snarled and took a few steps closer but he squeezed her hand hard enough for a pained noise to escape her and he stopped. “How much is she worth to you, elite? I spoke truth. We only need part of her to gift the worthiest of my clan her desired abilities.” He looked between the two hunters. “Kill the rogue. If you prove yourself worthy, we will allow her to survive the process. You would fall from your status, you will be an outcast, your bloodline will be soured. But you can join our clan and keep your little human.” Scar hesitated, turning to look back at Fugitive. She could see him debating within himself but Lex couldn’t allow him to be forced to make a decision like this because of her.
Lex looked down at her knife sheathed on her thigh, he would notice if she went for that. But then she remembered what else she had on her. trying to keep her movements slow she slid her fingers under the material of her under armour wraps. She found the small handmade dagger Bastion had made for her and held it in her fist.
“Kill him! Or she will broken right here!” The predator yelled, watching the hunters intensely. Scar and Fugitive were staring at each other now. Weapons held tightly in both their hands. Fugitive knew their relationship and didn’t appear to trust Scar not to turn. She didn’t even know what he would do. And they wouldn’t find out. Lex curled her fist around the dagger and with all her strength swung her arm out and plunged the beak tip into the predator’s eye. Lex was dropped as his hands went to the wound. Pained cries echoed through the forest as he tried to remove the little weapon. Lex managed to roll out of the way as his feet stomped around her. He pulled out the beak tip along with parts of his now ruined eye, blood streamed down the side of his face.
“Fire now!” McKenna gave the order and they all shot at the predator. With all the concentrated gun fire, the upgraded predator was forced a few steps back.
Lex stayed down and rushed to the group, when she was close enough Scar grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. She let out a broken sound from all the warring emotion inside of her and buried her face into his neck. “My smart and perilous little dagger.” He nuzzled back into her, both of them falling to their knees as they desperately clutched to each other. “I feared for a moment, how I was wrong to underestimate your ferociousness. My formidable darling. Alexa.”
“Scar… I thought… I’m sorry, I thought that bastard got to you. I was so scared.” She leaned back and cupped the side of his face, only just remembering to avoid the burned scales. “I killed that man for you.” She sobbed out a laugh. “I ripped him apart thinking… I thought you had…” She couldn’t get the words out but she didn’t need to.
“I know. My fearsome little dagger.” Scar nuzzled against her forehead and they breathed each other in. For just a moment, they had each other completely again and the outside world wasn’t worth their attention. But they didn’t get to enjoy their reunion for long, as a feral cry echoed out above the din of rapid fire. Scar leaned back only slightly. “We will end this now. Because I need to have you while you’re covered in the blood of your foes like this.”
A laugh was surprised out of Lex’s chest as she looked down at how she was still drenched in Traeger’s blood and a spray of green from when she took the eye. “Ever the romantic.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead before they regrettably pulled apart and watched the chaos of the humans, dodging and weaving around the large hunter to get more shots in. They seemed to be inspired by her and were going for his remaining eye and mouth. Fugitive was circling him and exploiting any openings the humans gave him to land strikes with the intention of dropping him.
She and Scar let out aggressive growls, this fight had gone on for too long. They needed to rip him apart. With a shared nod, Lex and her mate stood back up. Scar unhooked her mask and the ice axes he had gifted her from his belt. She lit up and eagerly took them back. Both donned back in their masks and weapons, they eyed their enemy.
The upgraded predator was snarling out a few insults as he swung out both his fists and his long single wrist blade. The humans had done well to kite him but he managed to knock Nettles back hard, he landed with his head cracking against the stone floor. They didn’t know if that had killed him but the wrist blade in his spinal column would have finished the job if it hadn’t.
Lex dove in to the fight, trying to slash at his joints and all spots that might be softer between his heavily armoured patches. The tip of her blade did sink in at the back of his knee and he roared out at the site of her. “You are more trouble than you are worth, human.” The predator slashed his writs blade at her but she jumped back in time. However, he kept going for her, violently hacking at the space between them.
Lex was running out of battle ground as she was grove back to the edge of a drop. She had to think fast counting out the time of the strikes, she ducked forward and rolled under the larger alien’s legs. Scar and fugitive had been following and when he turned to get her, he was met with the two pissed off hunters. They now started to swiftly attack, less for damage and more to keep pushing him off the edge.
He was teetering on the edge when the upgraded predator caught Fugitive’s fist and brought his wrist blade down. There was a whine and a spray of luminescent blood as the hunter lost his hand. Brackett yelled for the hunters to duck and Scar tackled Fugitive back and got him out of the way as the doctor threw the powerdisk she had stolen from the ship. The predator managed to dodge out of its way but that had caused the rock to crumble under his feet and he fell off the cliff edge.
Scar rooted around at Fugitive’s belt and pulled out his medkit by the time Lex and Brackett dropped down beside him. Fugitive whined as he held onto his bleeding stump. “Hey, we got you. Just think of the amazing stories you’ll get to tell after this.” She looked at Brackett who was freaking out, only getting worse as Scar pushed the cauterizations gel to her. Lex gave some quick instructions on how to use it make sure he didn’t bleed out before this was over.
With those two set up for the unpleasant healing process she and Scar started heading back to the fight. The upgraded predator was still alive but he was starting to look rough. Taking more time to rise back onto his feet as the humans still swarmed with their persistent attacks.
Lex stopped Scar and explained her attack before she did it. It was a dumb move, but Lex ran further along the path leading around the drop where the ship had crashed. Making a short climb down the cliff side and dropping on top of the broken ship, running along its smooth surface before she dropped to a slide. Using the momentum, Lex jumped onto the predator’s back and used her axe to try and hack out his other eye. She missed that target but managed to cleave a tusk off and cut into his mouth and gums a few times before she was thrown off. She hurt her ribs on the landing but she looked up from the water, smirking at him as she flicked his blood off her axe. He roared out at her, blood flying from the wounds.
Scar’s cloak crackled from the water, revealing him right before his fist landed into the side of the creature’s face as he was leapt to strike him. The predator stumbled back against the side of the ship. “You cannot hope to best me! I am superior.” He punched his fist down against Scar’s mask, smacking him down and denting his mask.
A human hand reached out and caught him by the belt, Baxley, pale and dazed but not dead yet gave a bloody smiled. “Nah… you’re just an u-ugly asshole.” He then held up a small device, Scar turned and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her away. “But so am I.” Pressing the button, the side of the ship blew up spectacularly.
Scar crouched over her, protecting her from the blast as debris flew over head.
The upgraded predator was on fire, crying out in pain as he dropped to the water to put himself out. Fugitive returned and now held the powerdisk Brackett had thrown in his hand. Scar got back up and walked over to the smouldering and bleeding hunter, grabbing one of his arms. Lex clicked at Mckenna and they both rushed over to grab the other arm. Nebraska flipped the predator off before grabbing a handful of dreads and pulling his head back. Brackett, looking shakey, still joined them, wrapping his arms around the one Scar was holding.
Fugitive stalked up to him, looking intimidating even with his limp and harsh signs of injury. “You betrayed our people. You are not superior. You’re an abomination. It is my duty to put you down before you dishonour yourself even more. So, in the words of the humans-” he lifted up the powerdisk and activated it. “Fuck you.” He swung it down and cleanly took the predators head from its body.
Notes:
This is now my longest running series!?!?
I have no idea how this happened.
Chapter 24
Summary:
Fluff and smutt lil book end
Notes:
Time to wind down after all the action and I am sorry for those who came for the plot because i am a monster fucker and I must do as my people do.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The it was still very early morning as Lex pushed open the doors and for the first time in almost two decades, just acted like a normal woman in everyday society. She entered the 24/7 fast-food joint with Brackett, not many people were in there and she marvelled at all the little upgrades it had from the last time she had entered one. The other woman led her to the touchscreen where you could now place your orders.
“Do you have hologram screens yet?” she asked as she poked at the little icons, excited for just how much option she now had with food. She tried cooking a little now that she had a home and a somewhat kitchen but nothing would taste the same seeing as she had to make substitutions for pretty much every ingredient.
“Well… not in general commercial use yet but some places have it yes.”
“Wow. Earth has changed.” She tried to remember everyone’s orders and then pressed a few things at random including a whole bunch of desserts for the hunters to try. She looked at the large total price this order had and then glanced expectantly over to Brackett.
“Oh… Oh right yeah, I’m pretty sure they said you were dead or something so no bank accounts. I got this one.” She said waved it off and paid now by just tapping her card to the pay-machine. It was all little things which had changed but they were all adding up to make everything seem so foreign to her from 2004.
While they waited, she explained in whispers about how the yautja had more of a bartering system for a lot of goods but also Artisans and Eta who needed to provide with their work to keep their placement when they couldn’t contribute to the hunt. Brackett would excitingly ask her questions about her adjustment living with them and every day necessities and items she had to find replacements for. It was refreshing to have another humans perspective on these things.
A bunch of tired teens entered the store as well, they glanced her way a few times before a girl in red and black dress with a witch’s hat atop her head approached her. “Hey… I love your costume! Did you make that or buy it?”
“Thank you, ah my husband helped make a lot of it for me.” She smiled and fiddled with the small and very real alien creature skull on her belt.
“Naww that is so cute. Are you guys matching?” She looked around the store.
“Yeah, but he’s waiting in the car for me.” She said easily.
The girl looked a little disappointed. “I’m sure you both look great together, oh and I also appreciate all the fake blood, real dedication to the look.”
Lex looked down at the mess of red and glowing green soaked into her thigh-slitted skirt. “What fake blood? It’s real.” Lex told her and she saw Brackett dropping her face into her hands. “Fought my way out of a secret military base that was holding aliens. Because, yeah, my husband is a big scary alien.”
The girl laughed. “Oh yeah, sure lady, nice to see that raid on Area 51 really worked.” She laughed. “This wand is real too so be careful or I might curse you.” She flicked her plastic wand around. “Anyway, I just had to ask about your costume, again it looks great, hope you had a good Halloween, see ya.”
“You too!” she called back as the girl walked back to her friends. Lex turned back to the other woman. “I can't believe how convenient it was that this happened on Halloween of all days.”
“Yeah, very convenient.” She hummed but looked up as their order was called. The two of them collected the bags of food but while they were heading out Lex asked in confusion.
“By the way, what was that about Area 51?”
“Oh, you are going to enjoy this, it ah… lines up with your current interests?”
---
They walked back to the park, Lex being quickly caught up on a lot of things she had missed while off world. They saw Nebraska and Mckenna waiting for them with a carboard box filled with bottles from the near by liquor store they had gone to while the women got the food. With a quick glance around the door to the ship opened and they all re-entered it.
The two hunters were putting away the medical equipment as Scar had properly patched up Fugitive. She had worried those two might be a little antagonistic after Scar hadn’t denounced the idea of killing the other to save her. But Yautja didn’t really hold grudges for that kind of thing and they seemed to wing back into their normal aliened dynamic. Rory had stayed with them as well, he sat playing with the ships computer looking half asleep. It was testament to how meaningful their team up was the McKenna let Scar and Fugitive look after his son now.
She just hoped Scar remember that the boy wasn’t like their kids and he hadn’t tried to teach him how to field-skin prey or child bonding activities like that.
The ship brought them back to the farm they had occupied before. They ended up all sitting on the rooftop, distributing the food as they watched the low hanging sun continue to rise. It had been a horrid night but it was over and a new day was ahead of them.
Lex hadn’t eaten all day and while she hadn’t felt hungry all it took was a few fries and then she realised she was starving. She tucked herself into Scar’s side, devouring her food as she watched the two hunters inspect the burgers they had been given. She could hear Rory giggling as the bread of the bun would get stuck in their sharp teeth. Burgers weren’t a favourite but they went for the fried chicken which they both seemed to enjoy. Fugitive tipped a box of popcorn shrimp right into his mouth which had Lex laughing and a few of the other humans looking both amused and disconcerted.
But the later dinner/early breakfast seemed to do them all some good and they were all civil enough to each other that she would dare say it have been enjoyable. Soon, McKenna opened a bottle of whiskey and took a long gulp from the bottle. “To those who have fallen.” The father said solemnly, giving a quick side hug to his little boy before passing the bottle around.
“To surviving some crazy bullshit!” Nebraska said and he too gave a heart chug before handing it off to the doctor.
Brackett took a sip and wince a little before adding “To new alliances!” her eyes glancing over to Fugitive for just a second before she looked around give it to Lex.
She paused for a second needing to think. “To protecting your home and family.” She said and savoured the sweet burn from the drink. She was enjoying the familiarity of things she had missed and maybe drunk a little more than the other humans, between all of them a third of the bottle was now gone. But again, her mind went back to her father and the toast they shared on that mountain top. She had no idea what he would think of her life as it was but she saved the planet, that must count for something.
Lex passed the bottle to Scar, Yautja would occasionally share similar kinds of toasts so he was familiar enough with the custom to add to it. “For the glory in the slaughter of that abomination!” he barked and then proceeded to down half of what had been left by himself.
She watched as Scar handed the bottle over to Fugitive, he began reaching for it when his now bandaged arm before he corrected and grabbed it with his other. The hand had been damaged and so while there was a chance it could be reattached now that it was on ice in the ship, there was no guarantee. It was a blow to his ability but others would see it as a sign of dedication and most had nothing against the use of prosthetics. “For sacrifice and the bloody triumph over a powerful enemy.” He downed the rest of the bottle and looked like he had needed that. He flicked the bottle off the roof and purred as he managed to smash it dead centre of the metal windmill fan accords the yard.
“Nice hit.” She heard Brackett say and he looked very pleased with himself.
“Well.. all right then.” Mckenna said and opened a bottle of vodka and a cheaper whiskey which they all passed around to enjoy.
“So, what now… we’re just, okay that there are aliens? Just like that. Go about our days like we don’t know?” Nebraska asked, not with any really negative tones. She saw it as his way of dealing with everything that had just happened today.
“You get used to it.” She said and reached up to feed Scar a piece of an apple fritter. His sharp teeth nibbling at her fingers as he ate from them.
Nebraska looked between them. “I think you more than got used to it, sweetheart.”
“Well… when in Rome.” She chuckled. “Besides, you might need to get used to it. No promises but this might not be our only team up. Once we get our little Fugitive back home-” She looked to him where he was trying to figure out how to eat pancakes and ended up rolling it one handedly and dipping it into the syrup. “I’ll talk to the elders. Might be good if we did have a home base here in case the war returns this way.” She could also swing it towards keeping tabs on how much the humans did know about them too and what the technology is being used for. She’ll get Scar to help her finesse something which would be appealing enough to the but also beneficial to the humans.
“Well, if you ever need a bunch of humans crazy enough to help with that, give us a call.” Mckenna said, raising his bottle up with a smirk.
“Careful, I just might hold you to that. Oh, and if we’re going to find more humans for this cause, I might know a few others… though whether they will want to help might be more tricky.” She said and started telling the man about her time in Gunnison and the survivors -especially the solider- who had escaped by helicopter.
They all stayed a bit longer up on the rooftop, making bets with which hunter would stop hitting bullseyes first after drinking so much. Lex and Fugitive were eating most of the desserts seeing as Scar wasn’t a fan of the sweet stuff. But he enjoyed the cooked meat and the alcohol a lot at least. But one by one they started to separate to get some rest before she and her two alien men were the last to leave.
---
Lex removed her armour and let it drop to the ground before she started removing the wraps which covered her body. The material was grossly stiff from the dried blood so she felt much better to be freed of it. The netting was taken off next, she brought her leg up on a bundle of hay and rubbed at the imprints from it. There weren’t enough bedrooms in the house so she grabbed a few blankets to rest there. She was used to sleeping in weirder conditions with more dead bodies than just the one handing outside of the barn door. She might need to do something about that eventually.
She didn’t know where Fugitive had gone off to, but they were allies and yautja didn’t care too much about nudity anyway.
Still feeling a little jumpy, with her body still on high alert from all the adrenalin, Lex felt like she was being watched. She looked up, almost grabbing for a weapon only to see Scar having come in with a fur hide and knew clothes for her which had been stored in the ship. “Hey.” She stretched her arms and yawned. “That looks comfy. Though, I don’t know how much sleep I’ll get. You know what I’m like after intense battles, no matter how tired I am I tend to stayed too wired to properly sleep.”
Scar was quiet as he tossed the fur over her little blanket nest before he started removing his own gear. she had been planning on scrubbing most of the dried blood and soot off with some water and what was left of her clothes. However, first, her eyes caught the burned skin on Scar’s left side and she came over to him, whiping at some of the blue. “A few more dedications to your name, huh? You and Wolf might match now.”
He snorted before he reached down and took her leg, hiking it up on his thigh making her grab onto him for balance. “Do not get too excited, his one will heal. But, by your logic, does that mean this is for my sake as well.” He asked, fingers tracing over the now clean bandage on her thigh from the bullet wound. His hand lingered over it briefly before sliding up higher with very clear intention.
“Hmmm, maybe, if you ever accomplish any feats worthy of it.” She teased before going up on her toes and pressing a kiss to his chest. He gripped her hips and she winced from all the bruising she was covered by. He relaxed his hold but didn’t let go.
“I found the head of that human and hung bodies as we ensured none of our weapons were left behind.” He purred “I know what that meant for you to do.” He ducked down and pressed their foreheads together, his hand cupping her cheek and caressing her clan mark. “When I think I could not burn for you any more than I have done every day since our paths crossed. It is like a star has imploded within my chest.” Lex’s breath caught and she reach up to gently place her hand over his own. She didn’t want to think back to that moment yet and focused on pressing herself to Scar’s warmth, nuzzling into scaled skin. They stood there just like that for a moment before he let go of her leg and gently led her down to lay on the fur. It took just a look into his eyes for Lex to suddenly remembered the promise he had made when they had first been reunited and as exhausted as she was, a different type of heat rushed through her.
“I would do anything to protect you, or avenge you if I needed to. No matter how much I hated doing that last night. But you know I would do it for you.”
“Yes, I do know that, Little dagger.” His large hands tangled into her braids, pulling her head back so he could press his tongue over her rising pulse.
Lex chuckled and melted under him. “Okay, big scary alien, you can have your way with me but you need to do all the work.”
“If you prefer that I stop, I will.” He questioned.
“god no, please, keep going.” She pleaded.
He purred deeply. “Then, as my wife wishes it of me, I will do all the work.”
Scar flipped her onto her stomach, his body soon blanketing over her as his fingers slipped between her legs. “Does your body still remember me from before?” she gasped and clutched the fur under her as his two fingers rubbed over her pussy before slipped in easily. “Yesss.” The word turned into a growl which gave her goosebumps.
Lex sighed into her arms, spreading her legs a bit more for her hunter. “You’re hard to forget.” His long, thick dreads curtained around her, safety everything they had gone through it was nice to be completely shielded by the larger being. The smell of blood which linger on was replaced with his own scent, trading the violence with something warmer.
“We saw the human’s ambush just a moment too late. We had to back off and returned to the ship after I was caught in the flames. We hadn’t known you had run after us until we met back with the Oomens.” Scar murmured against the back of her neck, tusks scraping lightly against her skin and tangling in her braids.
The topic change back to the events of the night before threw her for a moment, she had thought they were done with that topic. Lex tried to turn around but Scar’s heavy body over hers didn’t give her much wiggle room. “…I don’t think this is the type of dirty talk needed right now.” She said, giving one of his dreads a sharp tug. He curled his fingers slightly within her to tease at that spot which has her moaning and loosening her grip.
He hushed her with a gentle rumble, nuzzling at the side of her head. “We were tracking the path of you tracking them. I saw the wake of carnage you left behind you. My little dagger, all by herself, took on a pack of our most dangerous prey. Her own kind.” He shifted above her and suddenly there was the hot wet drag of his cock against her thigh. “I knew you could take such a conquest yourself. You have always been so capable and amazing. I made sure to take your mask because I needed to see it.” Scar’s hands now moved to lift her hips with her chest still down on the fur. He groped at her ass as he started grinding down properly on her entrance. “How did you feel, my wife, as you picked them off, one by one?”
She was torn between arousal and confusion. “I… I was scared and angry… Scar, what are you doing? I thought you were taking care of me.” She intentionally rocked back against him, feeling haughty from causing the sudden hitch in his breath.
“I am making sure you know why you deserve to join me as an elite. I won’t have you down playing your accomplishments this night. You always had it within you. I am so proud to have you as my mate.” There was a clicking from his throat before he slipped one hand along her body, rubbing at her back as he slowly entered her, not stopping until he was as deep as he could fill her.
Lex buried her face into the nest below them, trying not to make too much sound considering people might still be awake and wondering around outside. “T-tell me later, Scar please…” He braced over her again, no space between them as she was trapped completely under his frame, she could feel the work of his strong muscles as he agonisingly, slowly rolled his hips. The ridges of his cock sparking hot pleasure through her body but it wasn’t enough.
“Your mate was gone. You ignored the target and went alone after the pack of your own kind. It was just you and your brilliant mind. You were outnumbered and injured but you stalked, ambushed and killed... them.. all.” She could feel the vibrations of his growl through her whole body.
Lex reached back, tangling her fingers into his dreads, She tried to thrust back onto him but he just held her tighter. “Scar, please come on just fuck me. No games right now. I didn’t feel anything good.”
“No hunting party, you weren’t protecting anyone or fulfilling a task for the clan. You took the time to hang their bodies up, was it a warning or a taunt, little dagger?”
She bit into her own wrist to keep her desperate whimpers down but it just put the metallic taste in her mouth again. “It... it was a warning. I needed them to know what I could do. What I would do.”
“That’s it, my darling wife.” He finally started to pick up the pace, she let go of his dreads completely burying her nails into the fur under her. Scar’s larger hand enveloped her smaller one and threaded their fingers together. “Tell me.”
“Scar, please.” She moaned desperately.
He spoke in the low growls and clicks of the yautja language, repeating the same question.
“I felt…” She started but stopped. Scar moved their joined hand and pressed them to her navel, his fingers teasing above her clit but not yet touching. Where he had her hand pinned, she could feel the firm pressure of her abdomen rising and falling as he moved in her. He was so imposing, physically she couldn’t fight him like this but he looked and spoked to her like he saw the same fearsome traits in her.
Lex moaned and swore until she managed to caught her breath enough to tell him. “Powerful… I felt powerful and dangerous... Like I was an unstoppable predator.” She could feel his body tensing and how his cock twitched inside of her. “They fought back but even when they got hits in… I knew I would still win.” His breaths were low and beastial in her ear. “I was scared and I couldn’t believe what I had done… But I wanted to rip him apart… part of me enjoyed it. I wanted to give you his skull.”
Scar not caring if anyone heard, snarled violently and then stopped holding back, starting to fuck her with the intensity of them heading to the battlefield instead of being newly left from it. Lex tried to swallow all the obscene sounds bubbling up from her throat but it was a losing battle when Scar’s hand left hers and teased over her clit. Lex’s whole body shuddered and her climax forced her breath from her. She writhed under Scar until he finally moved his hand from her, panting heavily as he kept fucking her until there was a wet mess down their thighs as he finally growled through his own release.
They both ended up spread out over the little blanket nest, panting hard, the rest of Lex’s energy zapped from her.
“I swear… if you woke people up.” She couldn’t think of a threat but boy would she follow through with it when she did.
“What do they matter? You seemed satisfied and was I not going to take my mate while she still smelt of her victories? You would ask too much of me.” Scar however still had enough energy to move and ripped the least bloody sections of her old clothes and wet it so he could help give her a quick clean up. The coolness was amazing on her skin and she nuzzled into the hand holding it when he wiped at her face.
He made quick work of her before cleaning himself up. Her eyes were barely open as she smirked up at her husband. “You see… this is exactly why only Bruiser, Vah’kea, Carver and Ha'sall are the only ones who want to go on long hunts with us. We're not teenagers anymore, act your age, you’ll be a century old in around twenty more years.” She yawned and with a sigh melted into the blankets.
“Complain all you wish now that it is over. Yet, I see you will sleep easily now.”
“I’ll do more than complain next time you ambush me with questions like that again. Now, shut up and come hold me.” She demanded.
“Anything for my wife.” Scar chuckled and cuddled up around her, his hand lazily moving over her body, his low content purrs being the final push she needed to fall asleep.
---
It was late afternoon by the time Lex properly woke up again. Scar was snoozing like a lion at her side and she looked over him fondly. Lightly tracing her fingers over the mark on his forehead, watching as he twitched lightly in his sleep at her touch. She leaned in and gave a smooch to his crest before whispering. “I’m going to see if the RV shower is free so I don’t need to wash up in cold water. I’ll be back.” He grunted to let her know he heard her but otherwise sluggishly started to stretch in a slow rising.
Lex wrapped herself up in a blanket and bundled up her new clothes before making her way down from the loft. It was warm out now but the air was fresh and she could see the breeze pushing through the fields of long grass around the farm. She took a deep breath, savouring the sweet air of her home before continuing to the RV. From the other side, in more of a rush Brackett stepped out, she also was covered in a blanket but there was a singlet top that she spied under it.
“Oh! Alexa… I was just going to use the shower, sorry didn’t see you there.” She said, slightly flustered, looking more nervous than Lex could really understand her being in this situation. The woman seemed to be trying not to glance over her shoulder back to the house but failing.
“You can go first if you want.” Lex offered, continuing to eye her until she saw a cluster of four little dots on her neck which Lex was very familiar with.
“No, no, it’s fine. I can just go back to the house. Get some coffees going. Umm Quinn’s gone with Rory and Nebraska to get some more food but we have a few left overs I guess, umm.” She heard the door of the house open and Brackett flushed a little as Fugitive walked out. Naked. Shamelessly strutting across the yard to meeting up with Scar who was now up and cleaning himself with water from a rainwater barrel.
“Hmm, house all to yourselves for a while.” She hummed. Brackett cleared her throat looking pretty flushed. “I’m really the last person you would need to explain yourself too, I’m not saying anything.”
“Thank you.” She said and there was a small moment of silence where Lex was tempted to just take the shower when Brackett cleared her throat again. “So, like… it’s fine. No… reactions or whatever happens when you have sex with the big aliens.”
Lex laughed. “Aside from a sore back when they blow it out, they are chemically compatible and the medical advancements keep them clean so… you’re good.”
“Okay, thank you.” She said before leaning in with a dopey smile. “I am really good, actually. That was… a lot, but it was amazing. See I thought it was weird that anyone would ever want to try something like that with an alien. Let along one that looks like…” She looked up at Lex’s pointed expressions before she started to back pedal. “But... but then the guys at the lab guys put the idea in my head and... oh man, It was so amazing. Like that might be my only chance to see what it was like and I am so glad i took it. He was… Mmm the way they just grab you and… well you know.” She said with a gleeful grin.
“Uh hu… I’m going to have a shower then because, yes, I really do know but also have blood in my hair. Don’t worry, I’ll be quick.”
“Okay… I’ll… go make some coffees, yeah…” She looked like she was going to say something else but hesitated.
Lex went in the RV before giving in and leaning back out. “You can ask more questions before I leave.”
“Yes, okay thank you! I'm writing a list.” Lex smirked and have an amused eye-roll before he closed the door. "It's a short list at least." She heard the woman call after her. "Hey, when you say they are compatible... that's not... it was a joke that he was your kid, because that isn't..."
Lex started the shower. "I regret that joke, I don't need him, I have a five kids already."
"Excuse me, what?"
Notes:
Yautja sexy facts: Murder, hunt competence and light aggression isn't just a kink for Scar. As we know female Yautja are bigger and more aggressive and that had been hardwire into the males. To the point where males have Died trying to sexually please females. One of the novelisations has a Predator thinking fondly of when his mate Threw him through a wall, during sexy times.
While Scar would probably also enjoy it, he is lucky that Lex isn't so inclined as to try and do that. (though while i haven't found a good place to write it I am very sure Lex has slapped his handsome face a few times during) But here how she enjoyed killing for him, like she promised she would do after Slim's death go his hyperdrive humming.
Also idk, let me know if you anyone wants me to write about Casey Brackett and Fugitive's little comic afternoon delight~
Chapter 25
Summary:
Jumping the shark the way that 4 Predator movies tried to do but were turned down all 4 times.
Notes:
All of this is actually based on several plot point wanted and dropped in the Preddy movies. Lets see if I can use my brain enough to make it work.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex spent the rest of the morning, sitting on the RV steps, drinking coffee and answering the questions she could sparce out of the excited and confused verbalised train of thought coming from Brackett. She had to reiterate that no, she didn’t personally birth those 5 kids, she was just messing with her again, but also no, she doesn’t know if Splicing effects everything so keep taking your birth control. But Eventually Brackett calmed down and then excitedly started going on her views on their bodies from both a scientific genetic breakdown for why they had those adaptions to just being horny.
Lex didn’t really mind. Lord knows that she had a lot of questions when her and Scar’s relationship was properly established. But she had to ask Mother Blood and while she was very informative and straight forward it had been a horrifying experience. This was probably the first time she felt 50 as she helped the younger woman out. Lex was eventually freed from playing the matriarch when Mckenna came back with more food and everyone ended up in the farm house kitchen.
They sat around and the two groups gave a quick rundown of the plan. Mckenna was going to leverage his position and what he knew of what had happened yesterday. The goal was to start up and independent task force to work alongside with the Yautja should Lex and the hunters succeed in their plan. That plan would involve organising a truce and joining forces against and teaching them how to better defend against any bad bloods who may come a’knocking. From what Fugitive had gathered all Yautja hunting locations -which did include Earth- was potential battle grounds. The fact Earth was factored in with so many clans and blooding rituals ensured it as an attractive target.
This was the simplified version of the plan at least. There was still a lot of information to get through and Fugitive thought it best that it would be given to Scholars to find what was important and how to interoperate it. Which meant it was time to bring Fugitive back home.
If Brackett was attempting to hide her tryst with Fugitive from the rest of the humans the way the younger hunter, yanked her against him and bopped their forehead together might had raised some suspicions.
Scar crossed his arms as he watched the two “Will this happen to all the warriors we bring?”
“…I don’t know. You tell me, hunter.” She asked right back, giving Scar a pointed look.
He seemed to think for a moment before saying. “We should ensure the hunters that wish to help have enough mates already.”
Lex laughed at that, giving him a small nudge with her elbow. “Why? Worried that you won’t be special any more as the only Yautja with a human mate?”
Scar’s hand came down heavily on top of her head. “I worry for how much trouble humans get themselves into and for myself and others who would need to keep chasing after you.” She chuckled and pushed his hand off of her.
“Well, sorry that I was kidnapped, I won’t do it again.” She said, leaning into his side, enjoying as his arm almost automatically drew around her waist.
“Be sure you don’t, little dagger.” He warned lowly.
They climbed aboard but Lex paused on the ramp at the entrance of the ship. She looked back at the small group of people and then out at the high-noon country side stretching out behind them. In all the years away, she knew now for sure that she had grown past what had happened at the pyramid and Gunnison. Though this mission had been hard and they had still lost many, and she had still made some questionable choices. She knew she could protect those she cared about. That she could take down the enemy before the whole party was lost. This wasn’t being left alone on the ice lost and alone. She wasn’t crying being one of the only survivors on an escape shuttle.
She was Alexa Woods, a hunter, leaving Earth with pride knowing she did her job, protected her husband and kept this little rag-tag team alive. She was leaving with the knowledge that she could come back without any worry or hesitance.
Lex slipped her mask back down over her face and dropping the end of the spear down on the ramp. She first gave the Yautja sign ‘For glory.’ Before she changed it to a peace sign which the humans gave back with chuckles. She walked into the ship and the door closed behind her.
They got into their seats and the last remaining ship rose up, pointing to the sky. She saw the rapid colour shift from blue to the void of the cosmos. She let out a breath and leaned back into her overside seat. “How long before we can talk to the council?” the fight never stops after all.
“I have sent a request for an audience but it will take a few days.” Scar replied.
“As well, we have scholars who will go through the data for what we need.” Fugitive added.
“Then we have time to think up a really good argument.” Lex said, mind already whirring.
They arrived back in the Yuatja prime solar system and and sent out a beacon to the S’Po’Jen clan so they could drop of their wayward fugitive. They were given permission to dock with their clan ship, taking one of two spots in the underbelly of the heavily armed ship. It was around a third of the size of the mother ship as it only held the hunters and the clan leader. Unlike the mother ship which held almost the whole clan and all the different sectors of it. Including free spaces for people to come and go as they pleased.
The door opened and they were greeted by the elder clan leader, like Fugitive they had very detailed silver masks with a blue lit visor. Their body was half covered in a thin scale like armour with the same silver metal and bronze trim and detailing. The leader himself had a complex engraved pattern over his mask and black cloth under his armour. The three of them bowed, Lex staying behind Scar. She wasn’t an elite yet and knew to let Scar handle the situation with a new clan.
They spoke in a mix of their growled and clicking language and signed. It was hard to see when they were wearing masks but they weren’t sneaking looks out her like most clans do upon first meeting. But Fugitive had known of her so she probably wasn’t too much of a surprise to them. She greedily looked at all of them and as far into the ship as she could. There was suddenly roar from the leader but she didn’t jump at it, just listening a little closely as whatever they said got a bit more heated. This was usually how it went, she just hoped returning Fugitive was enough for neither of them to get stabbed.
To her relief, the leader gave a nod and Scar bowed again. Fugitive turned to them both, clapping his hand on the back of Scar’s neck and they shared a forehead touch before he came to Lex and bend down to do the same thing. “I will see you again to fight alongside you in the coming battle. You have my thanks.”
“It’s would be my honour for you to do so, until then, happy hunting my friend.” She replied back. With that, she and Scar returned to the ship and made their way back home.
---
Back at Yautja prime, their home was dark and quiet. It was night, almost dawn and Jet lag was a killer when you’re crossing planets as well. The ship landed and they walked over the familiar carved bricks of home. The air was cold and night was the only time Lex could really bare to stay outside for long. She looked out at the distant light of the stars and ships floating around the planet, all looking amazing against once she was able to refresh her reference from Earth.
She felt Scar come up behind her, hand resting on her waist. “You think we can really do this?” She asked eventually.
“Yes.” He answered “To what are you referring to?”
Lex laughed and brought her hand up to hold onto three of his fingers. “Make the truce? win the war?… It took a lot of us to bring that one hunter down. Who knows what other abominations will be waiting for us?”
“I think you are forgetting something, Little dagger.”
“That the humans are going to keep trying to steal Yautja technology and the hunters are going to see the humans as an even better target?” Lex replied dryly.
Scar turned her around and kneeled down on one knee, she eyed the large dent on the side of his mask from the upgraded predators hit but his low growl got her attention. “You forget what we have done, the triumphs of our clan and the worthy blood which flows through our veins. What did I tell you about doubting yourself?”
“Oh don’t worry, your lesson stuck. But hunting is one thing, debating with the council is another thing entirely.”
“It is a battle all the same, just with more words. I have also sent a message to Wolf and Cutthroat. To arm yourself better, I will soon share in the same privilege which you hold. To be mated to an Elite.” He teased out with a purred.
“Oh, it’s terrible really.” She replied with an exaggerated sigh just to toy with him. Started walking back into their house, Scar stood and followed her. “So many interesting missions, nice weapons, all that unneeded respect. Honestly, it’s a horrible way to live, you should run now.”
"I think you should run, my wife." Scar huffed and paused at the doorway as she walked inside.
“What was that?” She asked before hidden, just behind the door frame Night-terror ran to try and tackle her and she stumbled but managed to stay up right. “Hey, what did we tell you kids?” She huffed and scooped the child up, letting him nip her cheek with his little blunt tusks. She gave him and affectionate nuzzle to his forehead. “If you’re taking on some one bigger, come with a team.” She squeezed the chubby little boy in a hug and Scar pressed their foreheads together before he scuffed him at the back of the neck and pulled him away from her to go put him back to bed.
She had liked returning to Earth but it was nice being home.
She and Scar stayed up, watching over the kids. The sun rose and she greeted the other women and caught up with what was happening in the household. It was randomly in the middel fo the next day she let out a disappointed groan.
“I never found out where the Fugitive got his human DNA from!”
---
The next few days was spent recovering and figuring out their ‘battle plans’ for talking with the counsel. Cutthroat had come by to greet her and took her mask as evidence to show her taking down the humans and see the skull she had claimed from Traeger. He wasn’t as aloof with her as he usually was and she was certain that it had meant that he was proud.
But then they received the messaged and she and Scar headed to the temple on Yautja prime. It was a type of pyramid like the one under the ice where they had first met but much bigger and covered in even more statues. She had learned from a few other yautja that their culture had taken influence from humans and other species when making these pyramids and not the other way around. However this main temple where they were now was it's own thing developed by the yautja and it was grand, beautiful and savage. A lake of lava flowed under it and just walking up the stairs was a hot and gruelling process but she just zoned out and kept moving. Getting to the right entrance they entered into the temple, all carved out stone bricks and metal. The edges decorated in images of Paya which she was most familiar with. There was also the Black Warrior who was somewhat of a alien serpent looking grim reaper who they all fight while living but who always wins as they meet death. and Kaail, one of the first Yautja who had freed their kind from another species and taken the first technologies that the Yautja are still know for replicating and using. There were even more she didn’t even know much about, Yautja gods welding a bolts of lighting, one was carved to look as if he had been pulled out of the oceans with barnacles and ocean creatures around it.
If they weren’t trying to stop a war she would love to just explore this place and learn as much as she could.
They weren’t the only ones to arrive. She could see deeper within there was a group of Yautja who were already with the council. But Wolf and Cutthroat were both waiting at the entrance. Scar hung back going to the lightning welding god and giving his respects as she walked up to them both. Wolf was the first to speak. “Surprised you are not dead yet.”
“You say that every time you see me.” She smiled at the heavily Scarred hunter.
“I mean it each time as well.” She saw his eyes flick down to the human skull which now hung at her hip. On the other side she also attached the thick skull of a Vr’okjar with part of its spine dangling under. Around her neck was the tusk she cut off the upgraded Predator hanging on a neckless, dawfiing the other tusks she had claimed from a few other bad bloods. Even her hair was pulled back with rows of serpent teeth, not just drones but from praetorians and ravagers. Scar had taken care to help her look presentable today and allow her to more obviously show off her many individual kills.
All she was missing was her queen mask which was currently held in Cutthroat’s hand. Her old hunting leader carefully passed it to her, as she took it, he placed his large hands over hers. “Your technique was sloppy, you allowed emotions to lead you and your physique will never have the strength that we possess. But somehow you managed it all the same.” Sometimes she had remind herself when he started talking that the other Yautja would comment on how fond Cutthroat must be of her because you didn’t always think so by the way he spoke.
“After this war you will need to still learn how not to make such a spectacle of yourself. You kept our technology away from and destroyed that base... that was good I admit. But you will have more places to go and aid in with which aren’t part of your own self-interest. I will force that lesson upon you if I must.” Wolf said.
It took a little moment for her to process but she realised what that meant “…Wait, are you saying that I was accepted to move up in position?”
Wolf snorted something ugly but then gave a nod.
Cutthroat continued and spoke. “You have progressed further than some born hunters have. Though I do not trust some to have not gone easy on you, or underestimate you. But you have taken the lessons of the clan to heart and I have seen you fight in pure dedication and honour.”
Lex gave a small bow to the both of them, trying to contain her excitement. “Thank you. You both helped me get where I am today. I value your input so much.” She placed her mask on and stood proudly.
‘If you have a god, choose it now.” Wolf said and for a moment she thought it was a threat before they looked to the statues around them. Lex didn’t believe in these gods the way the Yautja did but still she went to the statue of Paya, the warrior goddess of life. She felt that was appropriate enough. “Kneel” Lex faced the statue looking up as the warrior with her detailed armour. Scar hadn’t told her what this process entailed so she just trusted the two older hunters to lead her through this.
“Speak my words as best you can with your lame tongue.” Cutthroat told her and growled out the words which Lex did her best to mimic the sounds. Though she doubted it sounded like anything more than a pitiful babble of sounds.
“Thar'n-da s' yin'tekai.”
“M-di h'chak.”
“M-di h'dlak”
He said their meaning and just for herself she repeated that too.
“Strength and honour.”
“No mercy.”
“No fear.”
He instructed her to place her hand on a section at the base of the statue, which she did, not letting her hesitate as she saw it was stained green. It was a dull and pale green of having sunk into the stone over many, many years. Wolf stood very closely behind her and she just knew to brace herself. Cuttroat kneeled down and placed his hands over her own. “Make a sound and you will be made to do it again as many times as necessary until you do not.” He warned.
Lex squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath, there was a sudden jolt as what felt like many pins came up from the pores of the stone, abruptly puncturing through her palms in a quick flash before it was gone. She jolted but didn’t make a sound. Jaw aching as she clenched it closed. Opening her eyes again she watched as a stream of red ran down the stone from her hands. The red being a stark contrast to the green stain.
“Your blood will bind you to your promise. You break your oath and you will be forsaken not only in our eyes and the eyes of our gods. Come forth Elite, you may join the conversation with the council with weight behind your breath now.” Wolf said and with that the two turned and left down the centre path to where the others had joined.
Lex stood up and looked down at her hands, they had a random smattering of tiny puncture wounds over her palms and fingers. There was a slight sting but the pricks were small enough that they weren’t even going to need any special treatment to heal. However, they had been fine and deep and her hands, so unlike the Yautja would take much longer to stop bleeding. There was a ripping sound and she looked up to see Scar had pulled apart some cloth from her skirt and started wrapping her hands before rubbing the backs of them.
“Always with the blood.”
“It is what binds us.” He took her hands and brought them up to the mouth part of his new mask. The old one having now been placed in their trophy room to show off the large dent within the metal which could have been his crest if he hadn’t been wearing it. “Come. No time to celebrate yet. Later though… I have much pride in you which I wish to express.”
“Of course, that is your first thought.” She chuckled but wasn’t going to discourage him at all.
"You will not even require your hands for what I have planned for you." He spoke softly.
"Scar... we're in front of my new god." she hissed.
"Not mine, however." he countered.
They didn't want to make Wolf and cutthroat regret their decision already so they quickly rushed off side by side through the temple. There was a large circular table deep within where the council men and women sat to hear them. Past them she could see the throne which would seat the Matriarch. She was the peak of the Yautja hierarchy, She would be one of the oldest and the absolute smartest of the Yautja to be able takes this position. She rules over all that happens within Yautja prime and out in the stars. They wouldn’t get to meet her yet and Lex both did and didn’t want to. She was basically queen of all the Yautja and Lex couldn’t even imagine what she would be like.
The council however were all elders, the retired warriors of many of the larger clans. They seemed a little crotchety but to be in that position they would have needed to be smart and good warriors. They both bowed as they joined in. Currently the leader of the splicer clan was updating the council on what they had found in the information Fugitive had stolen. Fugitive in question was there, he saw her and her bloody hands and he gave her a thumbs up. She was glad Wolf had given her mask back as she nearly laughed at that.
She realised now though that the splicers weren’t the only clan being represented here. To the side of them in full bronze armour was the jungle clan, which hunted on Earth during the hotter seasons, was here. They were just a few members, but they also had a small cage with them, she couldn’t see inside it but it was quiet and none of them seemed to be paying attention to it.
The other who seemed to be close to the splicers had a more golden armour but with painted blues, teals and reds with patterned details. Some spots even having gems imbedded into the metal. They even had coloured flowing cloth under their armours. their masks to were more ornate with flared out wings at the sides and the leaders, the most gilded out of all of them was a female with a dark snouted mask, the flared wings met up to a small red circled slightly above her crest. Their look reminded her of ancient Egyptian sort of aesthetic but they were definitely more coloured than any clan she had seen before. Behind the leader was another armoured female hunter and two males, one of whom was very short in comparison. She would have thought he was an unblooded but aside from him being allowed in here at all, he had proper armour on and while he had a bronze basic biomask on, he had another detailed one being used as a pauldron on his shoulder. He looked back at her and gave a tilt to his head.
She was brought back as images started being shown. The bad bloods didn’t just upgrade themselves and a few hunter dogs, they had been splicing different prey beasts creating many very unsettling hybrid monsters. Not much was known about their exact motivation, if they really needed any but they had been letting their creatures loose in different hunting grounds to take down Yautja and anything or anyone else that gets in the way. If they failed the yautja would also be worn, tired and with depleted weapons which would make them easier targets for the bad bloods to then make a move on. But so far they have only been doing this to test the effectiveness of their spliced creatures. The real goal was to find a way to send some of these creatures into Yautja prime.
As they spoke about monitoring the different prey worlds for their movements she readied herself and as expected, she was soon addressed. Lex signed ‘The bad blood has suffered a loss on Earth and would be vindictive enough to try something there again. A group of humans had challenged the bad bloods assassin and aided in its death. If there are many worlds which need to be watched, I propose that we use this team to keep watch for more bad bloods and create a truce with these humans during the war.’
‘Why would we even need to?’ one of the Jungle hunters asked.
‘The bad bloods know you, they know your clans, they know your rules, they know your strength and weaknesses and they are making monsters to use every bit of that knowledge against you. Working alongside the humans works with changing up strategies and expectations.’ She replied. ‘As well, While on Earth I had found an organisation which was dedicated to finding your yuatja, your weapons and technology, replicating it and selling it to weapon contractors.’
‘Stargazers, correct?’ The short hunter asked and that had Lex pausing and looking at him.
‘Yes, that is the name of the organisation.’ She paused and then continued ‘Or, it was until I blew it up. But my point is this will also allowed us to multitask and ensure that we control what they know and what they are gaining from the increased visits to Earth.”
‘Shared knowledge would allow us to know where better subregions for hunts are.’ one from the jungle clan spoke up. It wasn't what she would want them to focus on but if it worked they could address that later.
There was a lot of back and forth with the council listening in and talking to each other. It was almost an hour later when they had come to an agreement. ‘We will agree to a temporary truce with the humans, using those before us as emissaries and those warriors who wish to follow you to this fight. The pack you have aligned yourself will be expected to help in the effort, the truce will last for only however long they are more useful than they are a hindrance.’
“Humans step forward.” A council member asked.
Lex had already been moving when she realised what he said, humans, plural. It quickly clicked into place when the that very short hunter was also stepping forward. They looked at each other before both reaching to pull their masks off. To Lex’s absolute surprise she actually recognised the face she was greeted with. “Dutch Schaefer?”
“Alexa Woods, I was wondering when we would meet.” If she remembered correctly, he should have been 80 by now but he looked closer to being in his 40’s or 50’s. Hair and beard greyed, and showing some signs of warn, including a web of scars round his right eye which looked to be from the Yuatja’s net guns. They looked at each other for a moment before there was a ruckus behind them and they saw the jungle clan opening up the cage and two other humans stumbled out. It was a man and a woman, dirty but wearing simple, scuffed hunter armours. The woman had a sniper slung on her back which she pulled forward and pointed at all the unflinching Yautja in the temple and the male tow pulled out a pistol and looked around wildly.
“Those two I haven’t heard of. You?” Dutch asked with a raised eyebrow.
Lex shook her head and looked on with much confusion.
All this time and Lex hadn’t been the only human out here.
Notes:
First things, while i usually stick to the known lore or a version of it, i made up that little Elite swearing in ceremony completely. I couldnt find anything on it but i wanted it to be a more ritual thing hence, blood promise.
But all those gods are real (except the ocean god) But the lighting god is known as Extraterrestrial Odin who is the god that Scar and his brothers Celtic and Chopper (rip) follow in the novel.
Kaail - okay long story but- the yuatja ancestor species was enslaves as a working/game fighting species and then bred and genetically modified to be like they are now. Kaail as the smart one who then joined the other slaves and rose up, killing the enslavers and stealing their technology. It is very fascinating, might do a proper after fic special on him but this is already going long.Okay so In all of the following Preddy movies some one tried to bring Dutch back, I thought i would do it because a lot of lore in Predator hunting grounds had to do with him. Is it too much? Idk, we'll see how my plan goes. We'll get into his story but he was canonically spared by the Ancient Egyptian looking Preds who are a real clan.
The two humans, if you guessed who they are, they had their own sequel comic series which i am going off of.
Also I have seen multiple sources which change Payas gender but I am having them be female in this story cos ...MMMmmm Lorge Preditor Goddess, please hunt me!
Chapter 26
Summary:
The Human clan get acquainted
Notes:
*✲゚*Backstories Everywhere* ✧・゚
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex looked between the regal armour of Dutch and then the two scrappy newcomers who seemed to be antagonising the jungle clan who brought them here. The two unknown humans finally noticed they weren’t only surrounded by yautja and narrowed their eyes at them both. They seemed just as taken aback at her and Dutch as she was at the sight of them. They lowered their guns and Lex could now see the woman had her sniper connected somehow to her plasma caster. Now that piqued her interest.
“Hey…these mother fuckers get you too?” The man asked, obviously American, his hair was shaggy and his stubble roughly kept short. Unlike Lex and Dutch he had a good few badly healed scars around his body. They definitely weren’t getting the same treatment, whatever their story was.
“… not exactly.” Lex said looking back to Dutch who gave a non-committal shrug. She had searched them out and gone willingly. ‘get to you’ didn’t seem like the right way to describe that. “Who are you?” She asked bluntly. No point hedging around for politeness’ sake.
The man lifted his gun solely towards her now. “You first.”
She could hear Scar growling behind her and stepping closer but she ignored both the protective hunter and the gun aimed at her. She didn’t believe he would start shooting at the only humans in the room but she wanted to keep him calm in case any other drama started.
“At ease.” Dutch said in a heavy accented voice before she could reply. “I am Major Alan Schaefer…most people used to call me Dutch. I was the leader of a private military team of mercenaries. That's how I can read your stance, you were a mercenary too, weren't you? Where did you work?”
The woman perked up at that with a sign of recognition. “Oxyn? You were the last surviving spec ops from attack in Guatemala. You're the first man to tell of them... but that was decades ago... ” Dutch nodded at her. Looks like Lex wasn’t the only one to have known of him.
The man along side the woman paused but once again lowered his gun with a huff. “Yeah… my name’s Royce, elite private mercenary. They picked me up when I was in Africa.”
The woman spoke up next. “I'm Isabelle, Sergeant-Major in the Israeli Defence Force… Sniper.” Lex wasn’t too surprised they were sticking to name and number type introductions. They still seemed on edge and while they may not attack them out right because they were human, that didn’t mean they automatically got their trust. Isabelle eyed her now with a sizing up glance. “What about you? You another American mercenary?”
“Hi, I’m Alexa Woods… I was an environmental technician and professional ice and mountain climber.” She said with a smile and watched with full expectation as all three military fighters turned to look at her with confusion. Dutch, who probably had only heard of her after she started going out hunting as a proper predator and so probably had very different expectations for her.
“You’re bullshiting me.” Royce muttered.
She slowly brought her hands to her belt, telegraphing all her movements and pulled the ice pick axe from her belt and twirled it around in her fingers. “Still take these everywhere with me.” A large part because her husband gave it to her but they didn't need to know that.
“That’s just great. If we see a big rock for you to climb we’ll let you know.” Royce said snappishly.
Now Cutthroat was growling as well, seeming to be arguing with the jungle clan. Lex honestly didn’t care about the little taunts. “Though, that was a long time ago… I’m part of the Than-guan clan now.” She said and tilted her head behind her at the three hunters, including Scar who she was sure was still holding an intimidating stance behind her.
“Part of the clan?” Isabelle scoffed and gave a rather sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, sure, I bet they are one big happy family of monsters.” Lex bit back a ‘yes we are, thank you’. She was sticking to being civil.
“You seemed to have been picked up by one as well, you have the armour, the weapons.” Lex pointed out though their look didn’t match with the bronze that jungle clan wore it had been fitted well to their smaller sizes. But despite what she said, she had no delusions that the relationship they had with the clan was lightyears away from what she had with hers. And she even had hunters dismissing her and trying to kill her when she first arrived. “How did you end up with them?”
“We were stuck on some fucking planet for I don’t even know how long, being tested by these pricks. They were training us with one creature after the other.” Royce said walking up to the Jungle hunters and got in the face of one. A very stupid thing to do but the hunter didn’t look like he was too bothered. In fact, he carried the smugness of a lion being hissed at by a kitten. Lucky for Royce, he didn’t look to be getting his spine removed for that offence… yet.
“Tested?” Dutch said, looking to Isabelle.
“Yeah, we woke up in a free fall down onto this new world. First, we were just expendable game but we took those hunters down. They weren’t like these guys” Isabelle idly pointed her gun to the clan. “In fact they had one of those types strung up. We lost the rest of the people we were with but in the end, we took on those ugly motherfuckers and won. Which didn't mean too much when we were just stuck there.”
They had been dropped onto a game reserve planet, like the one she had been sent to when she needed to face the Quatza-Rij with Slim and Blue. That would have been rough and it was a testament to their abilities that they had gotten off of the planet at all.
She looked to the other clan. ‘Who caught them?’
One of the hunters stepped forward and signed back ‘It was a pack of ve’lik’lovka.”
‘Those ugly heathens. No wonder the humans were able to kill them so easily.’ She signed with and extra slap to her movements which got a few of the other hunters from each clan signing their own insults to the divergent species of yautja. Form what she had heard, they came from group of a clans which had kept themselves isolated very early on in the Yautja’s history. Enough that they change both in terms of morphology and behaviour. Instead of holding to the creed and collectivism while the velik’lovka didn’t hunt as a ritual or for clan but instead for personal thrill and betterment, favouring individualism. She understood the feud between them but she didn’t know the other breed enough to actually feel any aggression towards them. She just knew it was one of the topics that no matter what, the hunters will all join in together to ‘bitch’ about them.
With the way Isabelle and Royce looked between her and the others, she doubted they knew much, if any of their sign language. “Just asking about that other species. Please continue.”
She looked hesitant but kept going. “We survived but we were trapped on that planet. We waited for more hunters to come, so maybe we could get another try and stealing a ship but it was just more prey that was dropped. But a few seasons later, they gave us this gear…That’s when the big guy showed up.”
Lex activated her wrist gauntlet to brought up an image of the upgraded hunter. “Look like this guy?” She asked.
Royce returned from trying to antagonise the clan who were now fully ignoring him in favour of insulting the virility of the other breed. He squinted at the hologram but quickly shook his head. “No, wider, uglier, oh and he had four arms.” He gave a very humourless chuckle.
There was a grunt and one of the hunters enlarged the projection of the data which had been flicking through by itself. The images which came up were medical like scans or images of the creatures in growth tubes or scientific slabs. The first was an actual upgraded yautja, its head wide and misshapen with two fully formed arms at each side. More images started popping up, smaller some what primate looking scaled creatures with multiples and some times uneven number of limbs with blunt ends. Many different types of canine looking creatures as well as a few warped serpents. There were a few which only showed sections of their creation, the making of teeth, claws and spines. She didn't know what the complete creature would look like but it looked like a proper monster made by monsters.
If she was being honest with herself, the sight of all these creatures chilled her a little inside. There was an instinctual fear which came from how wrong these abominations were for being alive.
Isabelle pointed at the four-armed one and continued. “We put him down, things returned to normal for a while. But then more of these fucked up aliens kept appearing. Eventually these guys came and finally helped with a fight.”
“We asked for them to take us back home but these assholes just kept dragging us along like fucking pets. Just more planets and more tests. First with this fucking temple and those horrific nightmare things and now we have been dragged here.”
Dutch had been listening quietly to their back and forth with a contemplating look, only speaking up now. “You were fighting the spliced creations of the bad bloods? Even if those were just early versions you know more about their behaviour and adaptions than anyone.” Now Lex was understanding why they had all been brought together here. “Looks like it’s your lucky day, Royce.” He said before turning towards Lex. “Because now you're useful to the environmental technician. She is the one leading this charge.” The humans were all looking at her again. “She has your ticket back to Earth.
---
There was a bit more back and forth between the clans, organising and planning, Lex was able to step back from that part as Cutthroat took the lead with Wolf by his side. The humans were still glancing at her and she couldn’t really read their expressions. Dutch had stayed close to her and eventually broke the small quiet which had fallen between them. “If Stargazers in over, I do no some contacts which might help organise your human team. The original organisation was the OWLF program.”
“That would be helpful, thanks.” She replied before she turned towards him, looking over his armour. It was hard to tell what was just ornate and what was signs of status but he must have been with them longer than her. “I’m surprised you put me in charge, I would have thought you were higher up in the food chain, so to speak.”
“It wasn’t my choice. You have surpassed me just recently it would seem. You weren’t addressed as an elite at the start of this meeting but your clan members corrected that quickly. Congratulations, you must be one tough motherfucker. I’d hate to find out what happened to you to change you from a hiker to this.”
“You never became one?” She had to ask.
“I joined them more willingly than those two-” he said gesturing to Isabelle and Royce who were whispering between each other. “- But I wouldn’t say I have adapted to the life like you have. You knew me, you know about 1987?” She had seen a little of Dutch’s story when he was at Stargazers but he filled in the blanks.
Before Stargazers there was another organisation he had worked for, its predecessor which helped him learn about the yautja and track them down. The other worldly life forms program, or OWLF. With his experience with them, he had been tasked with counter hunting and bring yautja in alive or dead so they could learn more. However, they didn't have too much luck as the force needed to kill the hunters usually left them barely salvageable. But he had managed to scavenge some good pieces of tech, which explained the other masks and weapons she had seen when in the Stargazer blacksite. But he had been becoming increasingly sick from radiation poisoning after being caught too close to a self-destruct blast. They had tried to keep him locked in to treat the radiation sickness but he didn’t know how many chances he would have to go after the hunters and so he escaped before his treatment ended. Using up every connection he had and hired freelance mercenaries to go after one more.
It was 1996 in Lao when he met the clan he was with now. They had wiped out his team with little effort but the female which he familiarly called Cleopatra had caught him in her net gun which explained the scarring around his eye. But instead of killing him, she did something rare of a hunter, she didn’t take the final blow. Instead, Dutch was given the option to join their clan instead of his skill being wasted in his death. They treated him for his poisoning but his body wasn’t reacting well to the advanced treatment hence they made a deal with the Splicers to make him more physically adaptable.
She looked passed him to Fugitive who was watching the discussion intently. It wasn’t a hard guess for who made the trade. She finally had her answer to that question.
Dutch continued. “I joined out of necessity if I am being kind to myself desperation if not. I was dying and I needed to know more about this alien enemy. I now live with them and fight with them. I am part of a hunting party but…it’s hard to let go of the past.”
“Do you still see them as enemies?” She whispered very softly.
Dutch replied back just as muted. “I still see them as dangerous to Earth.” He fully faced her now, getting closer into her space. “So, Miss Woods, I hope you know what you are doing. Because any attempt at making humans stronger or more prepared against the yautja is going to make us seem like better prey. This alliance isn’t going to last. So, I hope you’re not going into this with dreams of worlds uniting. You could do more damage than good, tread carefully.”
She had wanted for there to be another human who aligned closer to the choices she had made but at the same time. She really did understand where Dutch was coming from and she was going to take that reminder to heart. This alliance was going to be a tough balancing act either way. “I hope so too.”
“I won’t say humans aren’t flawed but we learn, we adapt, we do what we can to advance and escape the cruelty of nature. The yautja took their technology and advancements and used it to become closer to nature and primal instincts instead. Our species are heading in very different directions, that is what I have learned in all my years with them. I just happen to be a bad enough man to fit right in. So good luck, Miss Woods.” He said before giving a bow. “Elite.” before he left back to his clan.
---
The shuttle landed back at her home, the sun was low in the sky but not setting yet. The meeting had continued on for a while, that many clans all needing to converse in gestures always made things drag on. But they had come to an agreement of tasks and information sharing between them. She and Scar exited the craft with Royce and Isabelle following behind. Dutch was staying with his clan until they were ready to move out but the pair seemed eager to stick with something more familiar, even if it was just one other human.
It was their first time actually on planet. They stepped out into the dry heat and looked out at the desert and rocky expanse of the land around them. In turn she and Scar watched them. “It’s been 18 years since I have been around other people and now, they’re everywhere.” She said, Scar gaving an amused huff at that. “Okay… I’ll get them set up, you warn the women and the kids about our guests. What are the chances the kids will listen if you tell them not to try and ambush the new humans?”
Scar rested his hand on her shoulder. “They would know that request would be a lie if it came from me.”
She flicked her finger at Scar’s mask with a little tink “Stop trying to be a cool dad. I swear you alone are the reason they can get so rowdy.” Scar stood up straighter, obviously seeing that as a good thing.
“Yes. I am trying to ensure they are not quick to fear and learn to take chances, just like their human mother.” He purred playing with her braid.
“And when our four-year-old gets hurt going after the human mercenary?” She countered.
“Then that is an important lesson and they should be encouraged to plan better and think through their attacks… like their sire of course.”
Lex rested her hand on his arm, leaning into him. “You’re not as smart as you think, papa.”
Scar’s hands went to her hips and tugged her completely against him. “I respectfully disagree. All my choices in life have lead me on the correct path.” There was a low rumble in his chest. “My wife, the elite should be proof enough of that.”
"Oh and didn't you say you new of a way for us to celebrate. I hope you used that big head of yours to plan something worth my interest." She rested her hand on his chest.
“What exactly- oh.” Lex and Scar pulled back from where they had been flirting and looked to Isabelle who stared between them. Isabelle's abrupt stop causing Royce to also look around and he then shook his head as he turned away. Was their relationship never mentioned? Whoops.
“Go on. Before we scar the other humans.” She said softly, patting Scar’s chest before heading back to them. “What is what?” she prompted, flipping her mask up to properly talk with them.
The woman just stared at her for a moment before continuing. “I was just curious about what this place... actually is?”
“It’s our home. The higher up in the hierarchy you are, the more perks you get, including homes and equipment. Though most men stay on the ships being partially nomadic, if you reach the rank of Elite you get to create a permanent residence or the females can get one when they want to start having children, and again, if you have contributed more to the clan, the bigger the perks.” She explained.
The two nodded and they were left in a heavy silence.
Lex couldn't suppress her amused look. “No one is going to ask?”
“No.” Isabelle said quickly, shaking her head.
“Definitely not.” Royce agreed only a second behind Isabelle.
Lex laughed and gestured for them to follow the walkway. “Come on, I’ll show you the war room. We can talk about a much safer topic there.”
They all stepped into the planning/trophy room and Lex happily realised that she would be getting her own chair soon to have contact and access to the collective data. She sat down in Scar's chair, she had been free to use his anyway but it was the principal of the matter.
She brought up the data that the splicers had shared and they all looked at the mangled creatures that they may need to face. They all seemed a mess of mangled limbs and spikes, some she could partially recognise what they had been made from but many were too distorted to make any guesses. The one thing for sure was as wrong as they looked, they were probably all very dangerous.
“I know you’re eager to get back to Earth but I was thinking, we have an evolutionary biologist on team human and if we could also bring back a specimen of these things, we might be able to learn more about them… maybe I can find a scholar to come help her too.” She hummed.
“Knowledge is always good but you don’t gotta over think it. They go down with a well-placed bullet.” Royce said doing a little finger gun at her.
She pretended to block it with her arm. “Not always.”
Lex put up a recording of their fight with the upgraded predator. “While they have an army of just mindless, attack drones, the clan members themselves have undergone many changes. This seemed like their champion and while we did kill it… it was a very close fight and that was two hunters and me and a group of other humans as back up. They’re going to know they need to step up their game and our issue was that our traditional weapons didn’t work.”
Royce studied the recording. “Fair enough. But that sounds like more of a ‘you’ issue. I am willing to fight for my freedom but I would prefer if I did it my way. I’ve always worked better alone.” She caught Isabelle rolling her eyes at him clearly this had been an on going issue.
Lex watched him for a moment, tapping her finger nails over the arm rests. He watched her right back, not backing down. “How are you not dead?" Lex eventually asked him. "Yes, I didn’t have background being a solider or a mercenary or whatever. I got my thrills without taking lives but I have been with these hunters for a long time now. I know what is needed when going against creatures like these. You need allies, you need clan. I think you know that too.” She said and glanced to the other woman. Isabelle crossed her arms and gave a look to Royce who did duck his head a little.
“So, Royce, kindly stow your shit. We have a war to win and a planet to protect… and I need you. Because being in charge means I know how to optimise our strengths and you two will be better at strategy than I am. But I know these worlds better so… we can help each other. I can show you how to navigate the hunts and the yautja. I can even make sure that after you’re dropped back on Earth, you’re not still seen as a target. Because like it or not, you’re part of the clan now and they don’t take too kindly to deserters.”
“I’m fine as long as you keep your word.” Isabelle said with a nod. Lex hadn’t had many doubts about her.
Royce turned away from her and watched the looped recording of the fight. “Fine… Team work it is.” He agreed.
Some how she doubted it would be all smooth sailing between them all.
Notes:
Cannon stories:
Okay originally instead of the Yautja messing with his DNA it was the organisation OWLF which used the Yautja technology Dutch hunted (ha) down to try and cure him which stopped him ageing and slowed/cured the radiation sickness. Cleopatra did also leave him alive because the clan was excited to keep playing this cat and mouse game with him seeing as he had killed a few of them. This is in the lore for Predator Hunting grounds.
Royce and Isabelle do get a little sequel addition in the comic book called Predators: Preserve the game. Where Royce and Izzy split on and off as Royce wants to work alone but starts going a little off the rails. The jungle clan (presumably) saw how they killed the preds and survived, start dropping different prey to test and train the two. Before giving Royce armour (But not Izzy cos the writers were mean, don’t worry gurl, I’m retconning that.) and made them face a large four-armed mutant Predator they killed it but it wasn’t the end. They have to keep going, proving themselves until the clan decides to land for them.
The data that fugitive had are actually the original concepts for the 'The Predator' movie, instead of the preddydogs they had like a dozen fucked up monstrous hybrid creatures and you can still see the concept arts for it online.
Chapter 27
Summary:
Human clans first mission
Chapter Text
The preparations for war needed to start somewhere and that somewhere was going to test just how well this group could work. Four humans, each with vastly different training and abilities. All they really had in common was that they had been deemed worthy by the Yautja.
Now, making use of each other’s abilities, they needed to find one of those abominations and capture it, dead or alive. Lucky for them, they already had a man up in the stars with access to knowledge and tech. Specifically, that man was Dutch.
Lex sent the man a quick message to see if he could either learn where the bad bloods might be setting up weapon testing sites. Failing that he might even be able to use the ships sensors to pick up any signs of the spliced life forms where there shouldn’t be. According to the data, they knew the bad bloods were attacking clans indiscriminately. So, their most likely bet was to check hunting preserve planets, possibly serpent planets. Those locations would get many yautja from all over coming and going, usually in smaller parties.
But wars weren’t fought in a day and neither was prepping for them. Once Dutch confirmed he would start the search, the rest of them had no other pressing objective. All they could do is keep training and wait.
Lex gave the two humans a quick tour of her home before they were sat under the shade of the courtyard with some cooled tea made from native pine needle leaves and berries. There she properly told her story about how she ended up with the yautja and what brought her to where she was today. It was easier to talk about now but it still made her chest ache thinking of everyone she had lost in those few days. But privately to herself she held onto the happiness she felt with her friends and family she had gain from all that loss.
Out in the centre of the courtyard they watched as Carver and another of the women continued their lessons with the children. They were learning stances and how to use the combi-sticks but she could see how they were a little distracted at the sight of the two other humans. She pointed at a few to show she caught them staring and they would quickly straighten up and pay attention.
“It never occurred to me those hunters started out as children.” Isabelle said as she watched.
“Well, they don’t stay small for long, really as long as they live, they start going through infant milestones very fast.” Lex informed her.
“Hmm yeah this is really sweet.” Royce cut in, dropping down the barely touched cup. He had been getting progressively more antsy the longer they had stayed seated. “But don’t you think we’re wasting time just sitting here. We’re trusting you because we’ve been told you’re a fighter. We don’t need the baby sitter lessons. Why aren’t we heading back to Earth already? Can’t we just come and go as we please?”
“We’re not rushing into anything when we don’t have enough information. Look I am sorry, I do understand that you want to go home but we need to be ready and prepared so this is done swiftly and proficiently. We don’t even know if my contact, McKenna, has had enough time to secure a base for us.” Lex said calmly. “Besides, you are going to need to work well with the hunting party we build, both with the humans and the hunters. It’s the only way to get through this, so take a breath.”
“So what, should I start fucking one as well? Will that help.” He said bitterly.
Isabelle slapped his arm hard but Lex just started laughing. “Oh… no. I know you said that as an insult but I’m warning you now. Don’t court a female lightly. Not unless you really know what you are getting yourself into. You will die if you don’t know how to handle her.” The two looked a little alarmed but that just made Lex laugh more.
Lex properly looked at Royce, he was a stressed-out loner forced to rely on others while a stranger in a strange land. That was plain to see. But there was something else going on with him. “Okay, then hot shot. You don’t know me and I don’t know you. Let’s change that. Shall we?” She stood up and headed to Carver first, letting her know that she was interrupting the lesson. The woman heard her plan and was just as excited for it as the kids. They moved away to find a place to watch. Picking up two of the larger practice combi-sticks from the side of the training area, Lex headed back and tossed one to Royce.
“Alright, let’s see what you can do.” She said and pulled her mask down.
Royce pulled his own mask back down again and walked forward. Lex took a few more measured steps back and once in position she waited for Royce to make the first move. He gave a small spin of the wooden staff, feet soon getting into a proper position. As soon as she saw him shift his weight, Lex stepped down on the pressure plate which held an image of two blades crossed and activated the arena.
It wasn’t as advanced as the one in the ships but as Royce swung his stick down the bricks which came up, creating a wall between them. This was a dynamic training field, ever shifting at random. “Scared to take me straight on?” He called from behind the wall.
“No but I hope you weren’t expecting the creatures we’re going after to do so.” Lex said before moving through the little maze.
“I don’t know, sounds like you’re a little scare that I’m going to steal your crown.” He yelled again but there wasn’t spite in his voice. He was goading her but it was carefully planned, if she spoke back then she would give away her position. She didn’t fall for it and stayed silent.
A few more twists and she crouched by a wall, counting under her breath until again there was the sound of stone and gears grinding again. The walls lowered and she saw Royce on the other side looking away. She got up and stepped on the partially collapsed wall to give her and extra boost up and instead of going for the easy kill wacked his exposed skin at his upper arm. He did notice her, but a moment too late and she still got in a good hit before he brought his stick up in time to counter her second strike.
She went right on the attack and tried to push him back and over whelm him but after only taking a few steps back, he planted his feet and got both hands near the end of the combi and started absorbing the impact of her hits. He was stronger than her but she was used to stronger. She varied her strikes, both with speed and targets but he was pretty good himself.
The arena started moving again and she hopped back and retreated, hopping over a wall as it came up but he was on her heels. He jumped onto the wall and ran along it as she followed the path, only to head right for a wall, jumping to kick off of it so she gained enough height to swing at his ankles. He jumped over her slash but didn’t land well. He flailed a little before falling off the other side of the wall.
Now Lex could shoot a taunt back. “Looking graceful there, soldier.”
“You look like you’re still running, mountain climber.” He called back, but again, it was light-hearted. He was enjoying the challenge, appearing more focused and relaxed now.
They played this cat and mouse like game for a while longer, stalking each other and each having moments of ambushing the other for a flash of a scuffle before disengaging out again. Both had a few hits to each other’s armour or exposed skin but not at any death points yet. The taunts kept flying but as it continued, they were both having fun.
Lex was currently running down a path, having lost Royce again in the shifting battle field, or so she thought. As she turned a corner, he had been waiting for her there and she only just blocked the combi from making contact with her neck but not the kick which struck her right in the gut.
Lex stumbled back but tightened her grip on the combi, he pursued her back their sticks crossing a few times before he used that cross to pin her stick tip down. Royce then turned, swinging wide and she had to duck down to stop it from colliding with her head. While she was down, he double back in another swing but she blocked it before turning, twisting around to follow the path of the stick to get behind him. She used the momentum to kick down at the back of his knee and quickly hooked the stick under his neck. He had moved his own combi up with both hands. The tip hitting just between the eyes of her mask. But he had been seconds too late.
They paused there, breathing hard and sporting a few bruises. But when hehind he masks she could tell from the relaxed shoulders of the man that he had finally unwound a bit.
“Okay… good to know you can fight.” He snarked.
Lex huffed a chuckle. “Yeah, you’re not too bad yourself.”
There was the sudden sound of clicks and cries and she looked up to see the kids and other yautja of the house, Scar included, watching the fight from up on the catwalk. The kids were happily cheering her and she played one of Scar’s triumphant roars from her mask as she held up the combi in victory and they got excited and tried to copy it in various degrees of success.
“Okay, it’s almost dinner, time to get you two washed up.” She said, offering a hand to help Royce up.
He begrudgingly accepted, clapping his hand to hers.
She brought Isabelle and Royce to some spare rooms and showed them where the bathing chamber was and let them sort themselves out.
Lex spent the rest of the afternoon with the kids, now helping with their lesson. They were excited to learn different moves the two had used. Seeing more human style fighting would always help give the little ones an edge when they started challenging other kids in a few years’ time.
Eventually the lesson ended and the kids went off to go play, catching lizards and making mock battles based on ancient stories. After helping a little in the kitchen, Lex stepped out and enjoyed the sun going down across the surrounding desert. She was up on one of the exterior wall cat-walks, high above it all and a few minutes into her watch, Isabelle came and stood beside her.
The woman now looking less dirty and some of her spare clothes but with her regular jacket. Her gun was still slung over her shoulders, paranoia still in effect. They both stood in silence, leaning on the warm bricks as they gazed out into the changing hues of the sky. Lex waited, expecting the topic of this conversation.
“He enjoys it… this life.” She said eventually. “He didn’t want to leave the planet, not really. The survival, the hunting. He always said that it was just what he is good at but, on that planet, it was… pure. No orders, no clients or payments. It was real.” She sighed “And he hates himself for how much he wants to stay in this life.”
Lex had already guessed some of it and nodded. “Well, it’s a relief to know he doesn’t just hate me for being me.”
“No. What he hates is that you have the life he has been trying to deny himself. And you seem… a lot more well-adjusted about it. Which isn’t saying much but take it.” Isabelle said giving her a look.
“Okay, Thank you, then.” She said turning back to the open landscape. “When I went back to Earth… I didn’t even think of trying to stay. Scar was worried I’d see aspects of my old life and just drop all of this but…” She trailed off but Isabelle still nodded. “Anyway, Dutch spoke about how our species was incompatible because humans are trying to advance to escape our natures while Yautja are advancing to grow closer to theirs. But that nature is still there within us, it’s not all aggression for the sake of violence. I made peace with it because I use it not only to survive but to protect others, to forge connections.”
“I would hope that he was starting to learn that too.” Isabelle said with no little amount of frustration leaking through.
It took a second. “Oh! So, you and he…”
“Yeah, we had a long time on that planet together. I know under it all he has the potential to be a good man. When we first arrived, just before we killed the last of those strange hunters the one from the bronze armoured clan was there, he gave Royce the opportunity to take his ship but he stayed to come back for me.”
“And so what about you, do you like this life or do you want to leave it?” Lex asked.
The other woman shook her head. “That is the question, isn’t it?. Royce will follow me if I choose to stay on Earth but I think he will resent me for it. But the thought of staying… It is tempting, you can’t see these infinite horizons and not be tempted, but the thought of doing this for ever until we get killed…”
“Yeah, it’s a hard choice to go into with both eyes wide open.” Lex agreed.
“Ugh, sorry, I don’t mean to just burden you with all my fucking issues. I am not the type to bitch about life, I just wanted for you to understand where we’re coming from.” She groaned and seemed to withdraw a little.
“No, it’s fine. I kind of wish I had another human to talk to when I first joined. But luckily I wasn’t alone anyway.” She said with a smile.
There was a pregnant pause before Isabelle caved in. “Okay, I’m going to ask now. You and the big one…. How in the fuck did that happen?”
“He was my friend …actually, I think he is the only reason I ended up as ‘well-adjusted’ as I am. From what I have heard of you and the other boys, not having someone on the other side who you could rely on seemed to be how things were so hard for you. Scar protected me, trained me, made sure I was treated well in the clan. I can’t imagine having to go through clan life without him.” She said genuinely, and Paya above she was so in love with him. “I don’t know... you can really become used to the fangs and claws, especially after you feel how they can just pick you up and-”
Isabelle cut her off. “Okay! Thank you, the question has been answered.”
---
Although the humans were still getting used to each other, there was no real drama which unfolded while sharing space in the household.
Well, the two did end up getting ambushed by the pack of yautja children but no one got really injured from that. They trained with each other and worked on strategies they could employ in the field.
It was a balmy morning as Lex lay in bed, stretched out on the furs. Scar was straddling her thighs, gently rubbing his hands over her back. He stayed gentle working out the tension from her muscles while savouring the little sounds she made as he kneaded her flesh. She was basically a puddle under him before his hands even went to her ass, giving it a firm squeeze as his teeth teased a line down the length of her spine.
“Scar…” She murmured and he gave an answering purr.
Which was of course the moment her wrist gauntlet gave a loud beep.
Lex buried her face in the fur and let out a muffled sigh “Ugh, why does that thing have the worst timing. I’m going to go set it to blow in the middle of the radioactive wasteland.” She lamented.
“If you are going through all that effort my dear wife, you ay as well check what they wish from you.” Scar, the traitor, rolled back and relaxed, spread out on the bed. Lex pushed herself up and went to retrieve it from the armour stand.
“Okay, Dutch has gotten back to me. We have a target. You right to hold the fort down by yourself while I go off creature collecting?”
She only got a lazy grumble in response as he stayed laying there, legs sprawled.
“Knew I could count on you.” She connected to Isabelle’s gauntlet. “Izzy, how much time do you need before we roll out?” She looked back to the large Yautja as he lay there with his dreads spread everywhere and his limbs loose.
“umm…” there was some whispering coming from the other end before she got her answer. “Would 15 minutes be possible.?”
Lex hummed and looked back at her lover. He yawned and stretched, arching up his back. At first, he idly scratched at his muscled abdomen but then his hand slid down lower. He knew she was watching him, the bastard. “Let’s make that an even 20, huh?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Came Royce’s voice. Lex smirked and placed the gauntlet back before crawling over Scar’s body.
---
The three humans got into the ship and picked up Dutch from his clan’s mother ship. The older man didn’t say anything when he entered so Lex was sure all three of them looked presentable enough.
With all of them back together, things at least seemed more stable than when they had first met. With Royce now acting more agreeable with Lex, Dutch’s added cool, collectedness did well to keep the team stable.
But what an image they must make, especially to the yautja, seeing as they were all small and in their mismatching armours. But still, she knew all of them had gotten where they currently were because they were dangerous. Whether they started off that way or not.
Lex activated the planning console on the ship and Dutch more clearly went over what they had found. “We tracked the signature of a bad blood’s ship entering and leaving a wet lands hunting planet. Not long after, a small party of unblooded had entered for a training mission and all were taken out. If we can find where that battle took place we may be able to find what did them in.”
They suited up and Lex landed the ship, they all stepped out into the disgustingly humid new world.
“Okay stay together, watched your points and keep your views toggled. It will most likely be in the trees but make some noise if you see any tracks or something suspicious.” She looked back at the armoured-up humans. “Let’s move out.” Lex had gone back to hunting worlds after her first trek out with Slim and Blue, going for specific trophies and occasionally doing some recreational hunting with Scar and her friends. She wished Scar could have come with her but she was both testing out working with this team together and Scar needed to organise things with the clan.
They walked through the thick mud of the marsh with a vague idea where the hunting party was lost. They needed to be quick before other parties came down, seeing the creature as a challenge and worthy trophies to go after. Then they wouldn’t be able to learn anything.
They had been searching for a while when Dutch gave a sharp whistle. The team joined him at a crouched by a fallen log. There were plasma caster scorch marks splintering the log. Isabelle lined up the shot and pointed them where it could have come from.
Following the direction, they found the battleground. Amidst obvious signs of a fight was what was left of young yautja party. She couldn’t tell if it had been done before or after death but they have been torn apart. Looking closer to the dulling mess of green blood, she could see teeth marks on the exposed bones.
“May Paya watch over you.” She whispered.
Dutch looked over the body as well, using his fingers to gage the jaw size. “Whatever this was, it's small but it must have a hell of a smile.”
“It’s hard to tell how many of them they were, the tracks… aren’t very straight forward, there was definitely a group of them.” Royce whispered over to them. “They definitely came from the trees.”
Lex looked behind them, with the different views you could see the patterns in the mud. So far there was no sign of them in the thermals or otherwise. “Okay we’re going to have to move quickly. You have a plan for us Royce?” She asked him.
“Depends.” he said. “You feeling daring?” the merc asked with a grin.
“Daring? Yes. Stupid? No.” Dutch said.
“What’s the plan?” Isabelle asked.
“If we get you up high so you can ready the Tranqs.” He told the other woman before looking at the rest of them. “Then we make some noise, get them to come right to us. Then we just snag’em, bag’em and haul ass before we become the next chew toys?” Royce concluded.
“Yeah, I don’t know what side that plan falls into.” Dutch mused.
“The longer we stay out here the more chances they get to ambush us. We draw them to us and we now know what direction they’re coming from and we just need one before we can get the ship to come pick us up.” Royce looked at her now. “What do you think, fearless leader?”
Lex considered the plan and weighed it against the dead yautja. “Yeah, we know what’s coming for us at least.” She found a tree which didn’t have any tracks coming for going from it and pulled out her climbing axes. “Wow, lucky you guys have a climber amongst the ranks, huh?” she teased before she started to scale it. Once she found a stable and thick branch, she used her stringing up cord to create a tie and placed the little retraction device on the branch. Tossing the hoop down, Isabelle stepped onto it and was winched up. The tree wasn’t too high that with the shock absorbers of the armour could stop you getting seriously hurt if you jumped. She still climbed part way down before making the jump, splashing some mud up.
“Okay team, get ready, stay together, we grab the one that gets tranqed and then we run.” She pressed a few buttons on her wrist and ordered the ship to hover at the nearest clearing which would still be a fair distance to run
Almost simultaneously Lex used one of Scar’s roars, Dutch gave his own human cry and Royce just shot a few bullets into the air.
Suddenly the eerie stillness which had fallen over the preserve lit up in rapid high picked chattering.
Chapter 28
Summary:
Lex: Humans can be so unpredictable to work with, they will probably do something stupid and say it was justified because it worked.
Also Lex: *Does something stupid and say it was justified because it worked*
Notes:
Eeeyyee yo I'm back from my lil break.
Chapter Text
This was kind of a stupid plan.
Lex had known that from the start; but it was also a very human plan so Lex would take the risk and allow this team to be properly tested. She had gotten used to bossing around yautja who had to listen to her but humans always tended, through rebellion, curiosity or any other drive, to do things their own way. Even she had pushed the boundaries of Cutthroat’s orders some times. It was just their nature.
Fighting alongside this group of humans was going to been different in a few ways than it had been with the yautja, regardless of the training each had come from. After going back to Earth, she remembered how unpredictable humans could be. For better or worse. There was always someone who would wonder away from the group or run full tilt to the enemy, disregarding the plan.
Between them, they had a wide range of specialities which would be useful and unique to a hunt. The one thing she didn’t have in her clan was a sharp shooter. She had seen how the sniper now worked, channelling the plasma bolt into a concentrated shot which could cover longer distances and tear completely through the target.
Royce too kept human issue guns as his main weapons, though the ammunition had be modified or recreated by his clan. She wouldn’t be too surprised if other gun mimics started popping up in use by the clans. Her own had taken a few as trophies but having them in use could inspire the interest in any young bloods who happened to see it in action. Lex placed him further back, keeping Royce in line with the tree Isabelle was in.
Dutch and herself, were closer to melee fighters and hence stepped up into the small clearing, armed and ready to take the threat head on. Lex had her two spears, the metal one she had received from the clan leader held tightly in her first and her ice axes, waiting there for any close encounters.
Dutch had a unique range of weapons for himself, Cleopatra’s clan kept a good balance of the more high-tech weapons in juxtapose to their ornate and ancient Egyptian inspired armour. His large knife was made from the wrist blade of one of the Yautja hunters he had killed. He held it firmly in his hand as he joined here from where he had placed a trap on the trees just behind them. There was also a net gun and stylized smartdisc hanging from his belt.
He gave a nod to her as he took position next to her. “You ready rock climber.”
“I sure am, Merc, don’t you worry about that. You just worry about yourself.” She replied.
Lex looked back at the glint of Isabelle’s sniper. They would only have a short window of time if they were right about these abominations acting like horror movie piranhas. The chatter drew close and now Lex could see how the distant tree tops were shaking as the mass of creatures were moving through the canopy. “Incoming.” Lex warned. It was like watching a quake in slow motion as the canopy rippled towards them.
It felt like an ill omen as a flock of bird and insect like animals fled from that direction over their heads. A few other animals galloped passed to the sides of the awaiting humans. A four-legged animals trotted past, heavily bleeding from where chunks of flesh had been removed in circles from its limbs, stumbling after a herd it would probably never catch up to again.
“That thing ready for activation, Dutch?” Lex asked him just for the reassurance.
“As soon as we make it past the tree line. It won’t keep them back long.” He said. “Sounds like a lot of them were dropped here.”
Dutch chuckled as she sighed. “Nothing can ever be easy.” Lex gave her spear a spin before holding it firm again.
The chattering was loud and the row of trees directly in front of them shook and then everything stopped. The wetlands were deathly still once again. They would be somewhat trained or programmed to go after yautja so while they wore the costumes, their scent and everything else about them would be foreign and strange to the creatures. As of now Lex had the distinct feeling that she was being observed and investigated. She couldn’t see them until she flicked on her thermal vision. The whole tree in front of had its branches glowing with the heat of the group hidden among the leaves.
A single little creature dropped, skittering down the trunk of the thick trees. Going back to normal vision, she saw it was a grey-blue scaled almost monkey looking thing. Small head and a bony body, It had a long tail with little spikes along it which curled and uncurled. This specific one had seven legs, and extra being edged in on its left side, the front two and back two hands which were more luck stubs while the middle three looked like hands.
It crouched, inspecting them, Its little head cocked back and forth at them in a curious motion. Anyone ignorant of what it truly was might have thought that it was harmless.
But they knew better. None of them lowered their weapons an inch. But Lex needed it closer so they could grab it as soon as it dropped. Lex flipped up her own mask and cooed. “Hey there little guy.” The creature was the size of a medium dog, maybe a little smaller. It looked at her with big black eye, murmuring a small noise and edging closer shyly. “Yeah, that’s it, come on.”
“That thing is going to eat your face off.” Dutch pointed out.
“Do you want to get its attention without alerting the others?” She asked him.
“This is taking too long.” She heard from Royce behind her and there was a sharp bang and a gnarled wooden root splintered right next to the creature. It spooked and its mood seemed to flip completely. One second it had been keeping away from them, the next it was in a dead sprint towards her. It jumped right for Lex seeing as she still had her face exposed, it’s mandible spread and a circular mouth with rows upon rows of sharp teeth was revealed.
Lex didn’t move an inch and her trust was paid off as there was a sudden thunk and the creature was pushed backward in the air like it had just bounced off an invisible wall. It dropped into the mud under them with small squawk as it writhed. The tranq injector was sticking out of its chest emptied quickly, making its scrambling legs slow to an uncoordinated flail before it stilled, unconscious.
That was when all hell broke loose. The others waiting for the now flooded down the trusts of the trees. “Okay time to go!” She yelled, flipping her mask back down and scooping up the creature. She and Dutch ran back and she tossed the limp body of the creature to Royce who had a lead start.
She and Dutch aimed for the tree line and as he promised as soon as they crossed a purple glowing laser net spread between the trees. She briefly looked back as the first wave not having time to slow down or change direction became a spray of teal blood which coated the humans waiting behind the wall.
“Okay, go, go, go!” Lex yelled, she stayed back, pegging the few that got around the net first with her plasma caster. She made sure Isabelle jumped down from her perch before she continued running with the rest of the pack. This put her in last position but she had to look after her team. But she might had delayed too much as the, the creatures had already started making their way around the laser wall and were catching up from above her head or right below her heels.
Lex hated swarms.
A scramble of legs landed on her back and she cried out as teeth sunk into her shoulder. It made her stumble and another started crawling up her leg. She got out her axe and thrust it back to try and get it off of her.
“Lex!” She heard Isabelle call out to her.
“Fuck. Izzy, keep away!” Royce yelled and she looked to see him lob the unconsciously, multilimbed body to Isabelle before pulling out his gun. He stopped running and fired directly at her. The one on her legs was blown off but the second bullet pinged off her mask before he managed to get it.
“You almost shot me.” She said more factual then being upset about it as she elbowed the body off of her. Lex assumed he wouldn’t have gone for shooting near her head if she didn’t have the mask.
“Yeah, you’re welcome. Now keep running.” They both continued running together. The canopy above them was shaking again. The racing swarm was starting to block out the already limited, dappled light coming from the trees above as they jumped from branch to branch trying to get a head of them.
There was a groan and loud cracking sounds as a thin tree bent and snapped under the weight of all the mutants pilling on it. The tree was felled right across the path they had been back tracking on.
“Uh, Keep away? Lex.” Isabelle called out from where she skidded to a halt as the front of the pack not really getting the reference but getting the gist of it as she threw it back. It landed in the mud again but she sped forward to scoop it up. The sniper had then turned to then yell at Dutch, “Incendiary. 12 o’clock. Now.”
Dutch threw a silver and black circle in the direction of the fallen tree covered in those things. Isabelle watched it with her sniper and then shot it when it was still in the air near the tree and it exploded into flames, lighting up the ambush and breaking the tree so they could jump through the flames and keep going.
“Keep away, Dutch!” Lex tossed the creature now and started beating a few of the creatures away with her spear to give herself time to activate the ship from her wrist gauntlet. She moved it closer but waited for them to get only a few meters away before she commanded the cloak to drop and doors to open.
They bolted into the ship, the doors closed behind them but not before a hand full of the creatures followed in after them. She slammed the button to ensure the doors closed and sealed, a few creatures getting decapitated by the door while trying to squeeze through. Even more of them continued to hurl their bodies at the door, filling the ship with the sounds of their impacts. Lex was panting from the run but she shouldn’t stop yet.
Royce was getting covered by the things so she just wacked a few off with the metal end of her serpent tail spear. One then launched at her but she caught it in one hand and used her dagger to pin it into the metal wall through the chest. She then noticed the banging sound coming from other parts of the ship. “Shit. We need to go or they’re gonna break my ship!” She ran to the consoles.
Dutch had been right on her heels, tossing a mutant over his head before he beat her to the captain’s chair “I have a plan, everyone strap in!”
“In case you haven’t noticed those things will eat up unless we fight!” Isabelle called after her here as she slashed a curved short sword to keep them at bay.
“They will eat you if you don't, now sit the fuck down!” The ship rose as. “Tell me as soon as you’re locked in.”
Lex buckled up and had a good idea where this was going. “Oh, this is going to be unpleasant.” To which Dutch hummed in agreement.
He activated the guidance system for a quick speed but gradual assent. Suddenly there were shadows falling over their face and she looked up to see the creatures were crawling over the glass of the view screen, over were all over the ship, trying to get in any way she could. One griped onto the glass, its stumped legs suctioning onto the glass as it started banging its head into the thick glass. She didn’t worry at first, this glass was the strongest there was but then it tried to bite into it and she saw light scrape marks forming. “Oh what the fuck!” Now she was more worried about them finding an opening to hide in or worse getting into the ship and start braking things mid-flight. She stared the little creature down.
“Okay we’re in, do it now!” She heard Royce call out before he and Isabelle were screaming as the creatures jumped on them.
“Hold on!” He yelled as he slammed his hand down on control to open the ships doors again right before he floored the ships thrusters. Dutch got the ship started spinning creatures on the outside to be flung off and hurtled back down to the planet below.
With the doors open the ships internal gravity wasn’t working she and the others were pinned into their seats as the air rushed around them pulling everything that wasn’t stored properly out of the ship. A few creatures tried to hold on to the two in the seats behind them. Isabelle was holding their unconscious mutant, bend over it to ensure it wouldn’t be lost after everything as Royce shielded her body with his own.
Lex pulled out her dagger and using the wind, threw it to knock off one the creature which managed to stay clinging into the interior. Royce go rid of the last few by just shooting them point blank.
Dutch was straining and using all his strength to make sure that he would be able to pull them out of the spin and not let the ship get out of control. The doors finally closed but to satisfy the paranoia they kept spinning until they started leaving the atmosphere. The artificial gravity came into the full effect straight away but they all seemed to need a moment for their heads to stop spinning.
Lex leaned back into the seat and groaned. “Okay, sound off, you two alive back there?” She called out.
Eventually Royce stumbled over, removing a severed creature head from where its teeth was still imbedded into his arm. “Let’s not do that spinning thing ever again.”
“I agree. That was unpleasant but yeah, we’re alive… I think.” Isabelle said, leaning onto the console the surviving tranqed mutant in her hands.
“Well… I count this as a success.” She said happily and stumbled her way through the ship to find a med box.
---
She arrived back home after a quick patch up job. She and the humans looked over her ship, carbon stains of what had probably been blood at some point staining the doors. There were scattered scraps in the metal, almost in the shape of little beaming suns all over the ship. Royce gave a low whistle at the very sight of them all. Those things really did have a nasty bite.
“That could have been your face.” Dutch leaned in to remind her.
She heard heavy armoured step and looked back to see, not just Scar but a few other familiar hunters looking at them and the scuffed ship. She didn’t give them time to care about the teal and red blood she was covered in and ran towards them.
Lex did her best to jump up and tackle Vah’kea though he barely moved back a step at her weight and easily held her up. She knew Scar bad been collecting a few volunteers so she had been hoping her two friends would join her again. “Hey, I missed you. I was going to come back to the mothership after I dealt with things back on Earth but you won’t believe how busy things became after that. Well, you probably do now, I’m sure Scar filled you in. I’m so glad to see you.” She told him.
“It is always odd when we don’t need to worry about crushing the Ooman which follows at our heels. I had truly been curious after you left for Earth but, indeed a lot seemed to have happen.” He gave her a small squeeze before setting her back down. “It seems we have missed even more… Anything we need to know about? Are you well?” he asked looking between her, the blood he was now also painted with and then ship. She took one more glance back at the ship, there was a small l rattle and then two crispy skeletons of the spliced monkeys fell from where it had been wedge between the thrusters.
“I have no idea what you are implying. We had a successful hunt, what’s what you need to know.” She replied evenly.
“We expected nothing else from our little dagger.” Came the booming voice from Bruiser as he stepped through, gripping her by her sides and lifting her up. “Fierce little Elite, I am sure you are ready to take on the whole clan of bad bloods single handily.”
She laughed and reached out her hands so he pulled her into a hug as well which made her spine pop in a few places. “You know I could, but I would just hate to take all the honour away from the rest of the clan, of course.”
He laughed. “Yes, of course. I will be glad to help clean up those unworthy to taste your blade.” Bruiser gave her a headbutt with their masks before he dropped her back down.
Not forgetting her lover, Lex lifted her mask as she approached Scar. He leaned in and nuzzled his forehead to hers gently and with a low purr, she wasn’t truly home until she got her nuzzles. When Scar leaned back, he brought his hand to her neck and inspected the deep bite there.
“There were more than we expected but we got one for Casey to play with.”
She looked back to see the other humans standing back, waiting for her to be done showering her monsters with affection. She gestured for Dutch to come over and he held up the cylindrical glass capture chamber where the monkey like abomination held suspended in many holds keeping its limbs and head still.
The Yautja regarded the creature when it focused and saw them it went aggressive started chomping at the bit that had been attempting to keep its mandibles closed and as soon as it got some leeway started chewing along it like it was a corn cob.
Bruiser leaned in closer and snorted, a section of the glass lightly fogging up from his breath. “Doesn’t appear to be much. Is that all the bad bloods have? Pathetic.”
“A whole swarm is an entirely different case and those teeth are starting to worry me now. But the main point is that we need to know what type of others creatures these guys have been using.” She said.
“I will inform the others clans about the swarm and what we know if it’s location and behaviour as well. They’ll should be able to clear them out from that sector.” Dutch said and the others agreed.
The yautja, always about bettering their armour, their weapons, their skills. They would probably welcome the challenge now that it had been revealed. It would probably be seen as a competition or game.
Until the next experiments dropped somewhere to take them unawares again.
Scar took the creature, holding it up with one hand to his face. “You can use my control centre. Let’s just hope that McKenna made some leeway while we were gone.” She said back to humans and led him there.
---
After getting Dutch all set up, Scar came back from storing the creatures somewhere safe and away from little, prying claws and pulled his tired human back to their room. He helped her clean up in their own little private bath, and let her relax against him. She had only just healed away the pin prick marks on her hand and how she had teeth makes all over her. Scar of course gave her permission to tell people that they were from him made her laugh through the sting of the treatment he applied to each bite.
When they left their room, Lex paused and looked at the scene of the yautja from her clan intermingled with the few humans. Dutch slipping into the ranks pretty easily, smoking a cigar she had no idea how he had gotten as he explained about how he was chosen to join his clan.
Vah’kea and a few others were speaking to Isabelle who was taking apart her sniper both to clean and explain how it worked.
Bruiser was listening in but while also letting the pack of children hang off his flexed arms.
Royce was still on the outside, sipping c’ntlip and keeping to himself but so was Blue who she was very shocked to see here at all.
“You ever think in mating with me our home would have become a hub for human-yuatja relations?” she asked her husband.
“No… but even if I had an ability of foresight, I still would have chosen you despite the trouble it would bring me.” He replied as straight faced as Yautjas come.
“I would still choose you even if I knew that you actually thought yourself funny for making comments like that.” She leaned up to press a kiss to the side of his face before they joined in the feasting celebration before they would all make their way back to Earth.
Chapter 29
Summary:
gangs back together and so are Lex and Scar
Notes:
SORry this was so late, i just lost some motivation for a while but I am back!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
They ate a good and hearty meal from the women, the house feeling like it was being used to its proper capacity now. They all told stories, the ‘predator team’ getting to know the humans who had been living in the inbetween. Scar did well keeping them amused as he tried to describe what little of human culture he had seen while there last. Izzy a few glasses in, started contesting that and how American his first introduction was. But just like when she had first joined the hunting party with her two friends, she was welcomed in by the nature of having to earn your place there.
Everyone here had respect to their names and a reason to be fighting this cause. Loyalty to clan brethren, even if they were human. Or loyalty to the planet that made them even as imperfect as it was. She hoped that would also work in her favour when they were introduced to the others and with how they reacted when that itch to hunt them rouse again.
They would have the night and then leave the next day as Fugitive and one other from Dutch’s clan were yet to arrive and fill in their ranks. While the humans on Earth would have larger numbers, the small team of five Yautja would be a up to par with their forces.
She spent some time catching up with Vah’kea and Bruiser, the latter comparing their kids’ behaviours now that he had a few of his own running around now. Vah’kea went on about new recruits and whipping them into place as Cutthroat’s replacement.
Blue stayed quietly away and she had honestly almost forgotten about him. She might about his decision to volunteer when they were alone.
But soon the drinks were finished and most broke off to do their own thing.
Nights were long on Yautja prime and Lex never got over the nervous energy which would stay within her when she knew there was a mission starting the next day. Fire torches lit up the trophy room she and her husband shared in a warm light bouncing off rich stone.
Lex had started setting out their gear, making sure they would have everything they might need for their time spent on Earth. They wouldn’t know how long exactly they would be waiting for the bad bloods to make themselves known. Lex didn’t know if she preferred having a long time to prepared or needing the axe to just drop already.
She sat, legs crossed on a floor cushion, surrounded by bits and pieces of armour and weapons. She was more meticulous about packing than her husband was, her mind kept going to what ifs while Scar was confident in planning with whatever they may have on hand. Some time in, she found herself cleaning her armour because hers needed It but also Scar’s armour just out of affection. She had just cleaned up Scar’s mask and let it rest in her lap as she started reapplying some red paint to the edges of the serpent queens crest around the mantle of her mask.
Unheard, a figure approached to crouch behind her, causing her to almost spilled the paint but she calmed as she found herself being man handled into Scar’s lap. After a quick chastise, she settled back against him, feeling the deep rise and fall of his breaths against her back. Scar reached around and gently took his own mask from her, looking it over. “I know you don’t care, but I still like to see my mate looking his best.” She told him, gently blowing on the wet paint as she finished up the last little smudges of colour.
“Would you wish me to be as ornamental as those of the other clans? The lights of the Fugitive or the colours and shine of the Ooman Dutch’s clan?”
“God, no.” She laughed leaned forward to get her mask propped up to dry. “I think you’re perfect as you are.” She went to reach for another piece of armour but Scar stopped her.
“Good, now keep stroking my ego and I might just give you a present.” He said with an obvious pause to see her reaction.
And Lex perked up at that instantly. “You got me something? When?” She noticed there was something peeking out from where it was hidden behind him. Lex went to go look but he wrapped his arms around her and pressed her to his chest. She hissed from the pressure on one of the still raw bites and he quickly loosened but didn’t let go.
“Naww, you got me something. You’re always so sweet to me.” She said sweetly. “You’re the best mate a predator could ever have. So strong and handsome. You know I think your dreads are longer and shinier than everyone else’s out there. No wonder you were good enough to be mated to another Elite.” She leaned her head back and nuzzled into his neck before giving him a quick nip with her teeth. “Very smart and deadly. I love you.”
He purred deeply. “I’ll accept that.” Scar nuzzled back into her hair and pressed a few nips to the uninjured side of her neck. Finally, he then lifted up whatever he had been hiding and dumped it unceremoniously into her lap. It was, at first glance, the coiled-up length of a whip.
“You got me a new whip! Oh, Scar.” She twisted in his lap so she could hug him and press a few kisses to his face.
“I commissioned it in the days we first came back from Earth. I would advise not carelessly pressing it between us like this. You would only wish such an outcome on prey.” Her lover stressed and she quickly moved back, holding up the whip with more care.
Inspecting it now, she could see that it had some kind of central column made from or just shaped like spinal vertebra, thinning down until it separated into several cord tails, all which had hooked claw tips meant to rip and rend. But the main feature, which she guessed what Scar had been warning about, was the thin segmented metal wires which attached to the two vertebra process sections which stuck out from the spine column.
“Is this another electrical one?” She asked in genuine awe at the build of this new weapon. She had been missing her whip, it was her main weapon after all.
“No, you deserved something unique as you are. A weapon which will be spoken about as we share stories of you to the generations to come.” Scar spoke as if he truly believed the clan would have her as more than just a foot note in their history. She doubted that as a human she would get such honours but it was the thought that counts. She gave Scar a few more kisses until he carefully pushed her away, trying to keep them focused on showing off what the weapon could do.
He placed his hands on her waist and stood up, Lex was left dangling for a second before he placed her on her feet again. Once the length of the whip was no longer touching either of them, he moved her hands in his own. Scar placed them a certain way so she could feel the mechanism engraved into the handle which felt loose and was able to be moved. He stood back as she pushed the switch of the design up and within seconds the metal lines of the whip started glowing with bright heat, the intensity of it warping the air above it.
“Oh… this is very dangerous.” She said, making sure to hold it correctly and away from them both. It made her a little nervous even if it had been a while since she had caught herself with her own weapon. She really couldn’t risk that happening even once with something like this.
“The point of weapons is to be dangerous, precious Little Dagger.” He stated and dropped his heavy hands onto her shoulders. “You have mastered your weapon; you will know how to use this wisely. The heat will mean that the other hunters will not be able to easily aim at you when using thermal sights. The damage too will be greatly increased of course. Just remember, the charge is long but finite.”
She smiled up at him. “Honey, is this you being protective of me? Want to make sure I’m not hit with a plasma caster?” He huffed and looked away from her. She chuckled and excitedly ran out to the entrance walkway. This allowed her enough room to move and held a lot less priceless and meaningful things to break.
Lex gave the whip a few cracks just to get a feel of it, it handles only slightly different of her previous chitin one. She practised a few moves out into the air and accidentally putting only a few chips and scorch marks into the stone floor. The weapons glowed bright around her and it took no time at all for her to be sweating from the heat now surrounding her. When she was done with her test, she turned the mechanism back off. Lex would need to see how long the whip needed some time to cool down enough to be touched. But it was clear that she would need to plan out when it was best to used that feature. For now, though, she placed the weapon on a display hook and walked up to her husband. “Thank you, Scar, every time I use it, I’ll be thinking of you.”
He had been watching her test it out with high interest and she could feel the low and constant purr in his chest. “I will see you devastate many and know I had a part in your wrath.” He pulled her forward, holding her up against his chest. “You are such a threatening and beautiful thing.”
“Every bad blood I kill will be for you.” She told him just to stoke that flame she knew was burning within him. “Scar… I really do love the gift you gave me. Why don’t you let me properly thank you for it?” She purred and with a hand to his chest, pushed him back until the back of his legs it the chair and he dropped back into it.
He cupped his hand against the side of her face, letting his thumb press over her lips before slipping into her mouth. The pad of it pressed into her tongue with the spike of his claw stinging but not piercing. “Your Ooman way? I will not say no to the heat of your mouth ever being on me.” He pulled his had away and sat back, spreading his knees as he started working apart his clothes.
Lex snatched up that cushion again so the stone wouldn’t hurt her knees as she pushed herself between Scar’s thighs. She barely needed to tease her fingers over the slit between his legs before Scar large, slick cock pushed through. “Didn’t take much to convince this part of you either.”
“I hold affection for you, of course I am ready at just your word.” He replied.
Lex started to kiss along his thigh, yautja don’t sweat so there was no taste to his skin but she like feeling the unique texture with her teeth and tongue. She gently stroked the base as she teased over the head.
Scar’s fingers tangled up in her braids, not using any force against her but just needing to touch her. She looked up at him as she dragged her tongue up his length. She could feel him shudder under her and didn’t look away as she started sucking on the head. The slickness already coating over her lips and down her chin.
She could head the rough, reverberating breathing coming from Scar, he took didn’t look away from her. He muscles teased as she fought against his own arousal to not buck up and disturb her. She pulled off for just a moment, giving long firm strokes with her hand. “Feel good?” she said like she even need to ask with the way his cock twitched at her lips.
“Do not toy with me.” He growled in reply.
Lex took him into her mouth, bobbing her head to try and take as much as she could, closing her eyes as she focused on him and making him feel good. The slick ran down her chin now as his cock throbbing in her mouth. This was messy but it was worth it for all the heavy sounds it would pull from her lover. But Scar could never stay still for too long when she did this and started rolling his hips up. She needed to brace her hands on his thighs to make sure she didn’t choke on his sizable girth.
There was a low growl from above her “Lex… I need you.”
She pulled back with a pop but kept stroking up his cock. “You have me.” She teased, knowing full well what he meant.
Those strong hands came down and picked her up, holding her against him before he stood. “I need my seed inside you.” He nuzzled their foreheads together before moved so he could spread her out over the control panel of his work station.
“Not even patient enough to take me to bed?” She chuckled but still started touching over his defined chest. “I’m kind of nervous one of us will accidentally press a button and start living streaming a sex tape out into the stars.”
Scar didn’t slow his touches; he actually grew more impatient and shoved her clothes out of the way rather than fully undress her. “Don’t tempt me to make that ‘accident’. I would let them all know how disappointing they must be when compared to our mating.” He growled. Scar tangled his fingers into the braids at the base of her head and held her firmly as his hand disappeared under her skirt. He kept his eyes on her face as he started toying with her clit and pressing his fingers inside her. “How curious they’d be to see an elite female pleasuring me with their mouth. That news would be share across many clans for sure.”
Lex moaned out his name, hoping everyone else in the compound was asleep or away considering the open windows and lack of a proper door in the area. This was such a risky spot when the houses full. “How wet it made you just to taste me, not even seeing how gorgeous and hedonistic. But as much as your mouth feels like a god given gift for a life spend well in the hunt, I need to give you all of me. Filling you where I know you need it.”
The low growls in her ear had her shuddering and rocking up against his hand. No matter how many times they were together, this never lost its excitement. His fingers left her and he took hold of her thighs, positioning her how he wanted. His wet cock pushed against her folds as he rocked against her, both enjoying the hot grind while so close to the edge. “Do you want it as well, for me to spill while held tightly within your sweet cunt?”
“Yes… Scar fuck me.” She moaned heatedly.
She would have told him off for the sharp roar which escaped him as she pushed into her but at that point she could only moan and pull him in closer. There was no pause or ease to his thrusts, he was desperate and set on bringing her down with him. Her legs squeezed around his body and she kept her hands above her, pressing into the stone and metal just to keep them still.
Scar lost to the pleasure first, gripping hard onto the station as he pressed himself in deep, grinding into her unstopping even as cum dribbled between her thighs. She followed soon after, clutching at Scar’s dreads as if for life.
Scar lay over her, still buried within, showing her with affectionate nips and licks. He glanced off to the side at the panel and still completely before tilting his head.
That pulled her out of her daze. “What… Scar what is it?”
“We seemed to have answered a call from your friend Wolf during our time together.”
“What!?” She had been sure that they hadn’t touches anything. She pushed him so she could sit up. Lex looked through the call log of the work station but there hadn’t been any calls after Fugitive’s last message hours ago. She was confused until she heard the clicking of Scar’s laugh.
“You are such a dick!” She told him off before hooking him by a tusk to drag him down for a kiss. “You’re lucky I love you or I would fight you… and not even in a way you would enjoy.”
“Please try and do just that.” He replied and nibbled at the mark on her cheek.
Scar carried her to their room and they had a quick bath just to cleaned up and changed the bandages on the already rapidly healed bites she had from the hunt. Finally, they collapsed onto the bed exhausted together with little time until morning. Kicking some furs over them and cuddling up together, hoping two missing Yautja would take their time arriving.
Lex was almost asleep when Scar groaned into the back of her neck. “The sun started to rise and your children decided it was the right time to ambush us.”
“Oh, so they’re just my children now? Must be why they look so much like me.” Lex muttered into the bundled-up fur.
He snorted sluggishly pulled away from her to go leaned his back against the wall next to the door.
Lex grabbed some clothes off the floor, slipping it on before she lay with her back to the door. An irresistible target. Then there was just a mental count down until they came in and as expected there was a loud threatening roar from Scar. Soon followed by sounds of a scrambling and surprised clicks from the kids as they got counter ambushed.
After the laughing she convinced Scar to let them stay now their cuddle pile was much bigger as the kids spent the little time they had left on planet with them. She held Butcher close in her arms, while Bastion draped over her mid-section in a way which didn’t look comfortable but he had fallen as asleep again quickly. Scar once again was pressed along her back but with Razor at his head while Night-terror tried to balance along his side. The youngest, Tha-Hitith was growing quickly, now bigger than her brother Bastion who was the second youngest before her. She tried to still slip into the dip between them. Her fingers holding onto both their dreads and braids.
“Goodnight, Star light.” She said glancing back at Scar. “Good night pups.” She said softer.
“Rest well, little dagger.” He replied and nuzzled against her forehead and then clicked and purred to the kids.
As a family they slept in, Carver waking them up to ensure the kids stayed on their schedule of the day though by the look of the sun she had been a little more lenient. They still stayed comfortably in bed together, dozing until they heard a ship landing aside the compound.
“Ugh… okay, let’s go fight a war, I guess.”
She saw Fugitive in the courtyard, talking with one of the women. She ran over and caught him up in a hug which he returned. “Hey, good to see you again.”
“You saw me at the council meeting? Not that I wasn’t also curious for how you were surviving your task.” He said and hugged her back.
“I’m still getting used to how time feels now that I have more of it.” She gently took his hands in her own, both of them, seeing the intricate workings of the metal prosthetic limb he now had to replace what the upgraded predator had taken from him. It seemed the had had been too damaged to be reattached. “May I?” She asked and he nodded and she inspected the technology.
The large part of his forearm which was severed was now replaced by the sleek dark grey metal that the rest of his armour was made from. The wrist gauntlet device was now inbuilt into it and she gave it a tap with her finger nail. “At least you won’t lose it next time.” She gave a small chuckle at his offended huff.
“Hopefully that means you won’t be as ready to self-destruct another’s device.”
There was a small wrist gap between the gauntlet and mechanical hand where she could see some wires and articulation parts. The hand was made of a bronze metal, much darker than his scale colour but there was an attempt to make it fit in. The metal claws at the end of his fingers were sharply hooked and somehow even more intimidating than the normal claws already were. He pulled his hand away and showed off the two blades which would release from his knuckles now. “Very impressive.” She said and held her fist out.
He retracted the blades and let the metal knuckle collide with hers in a fist bump, it hurt her but he seemed very pleased sharing in these little customs. “Thank you, Elite Alexa. I am here to give you my all in this war.”
“I know you will.” She said and let him see that she meant it. They only had a short conversation before the last shuttle arrived by her home.
The last member was one from Dutch’s clan, the man ran out to greet her and then introduced the hunter to both her and Scar. “I call her Nefertiti. She is close to Cleopatra and will probably be keeping tabs on us. That doesn’t mean she won’t throw herself fully into this fight. I think she will enjoy it quite thoroughly, in fact.”
She stood taller among all the hunters and hence, absolutely dwarfed her by comparison but still bowed to her and Scar as they approached. “Well met, Elites.” She said, gold and turquoise imbedded armour, beautiful but without compromising its integrity. She took her mask off and she saw she had charcoal scales with patches of green/grey. “I saw fit to follow my human clan-brother into this fight.”
“We would be honoured to have you in battle with us.” Scar said and held his hand out and they clutched forearms. Lex did the same, feeling the strength behind her hold.
“The more the merrier.” She said and watched as the hunter gave that head tilt many Yautja gave when they hear a human phrase and while not understanding it, know it’s just a human thing.
All the players were here, it was time to start the game. She squeezed Scar’s hand before they took to the front of the party.
It was time to go bring a clan of hunters intentionally back to Earth.
Notes:
Lex: haha you got hard so easy~
Scar: Damn bitch, I love you, what you expect???
Chapter 30
Notes:
This chapt is a bit longer, enjoy
Also end notes have a character sum up which was requested if you want a recap on who everyone is : )
HEck there are so many characters.Fanart....done by me, i can be a fan of my own work, based on some comments left on this chapter, see below.
https://captainrayessketches.tumblr.com/post/677149072218603520/so-based-on-some-comments-made-on-my-fic-under
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It was a bright, cool day when Lex walked down the street of a little suburban town. She had done away with the armour and the skulls and instead wore an outfit which was close enough to a wrap dress to let her seem normal. If maybe only from a far. She was still receiving a few looks by others walking or driving down the street but was unsure if she genuinely looked out of place with a few scars peaking out and the metal hair decorations, or if people were just nosey fuckers.
She just gave a polite wave to the elderly couple who stood across the road. Lex knew she wouldn’t be here long either way, so she continued along as if this was any other day. Just a normal lady finding the right house for normal reasons.
She found the lovely, well-kept house, front yard green and well-manicured with little plants in their neat landscapes of bricks and flat stones. Making sure the house number matched up to the one Fugitive gave her, she was confident that this was the right spot. Lex knocked on the wooden door and waited, glancing around her before a blond woman answered looking a bit taken-back at the site of her. “Hello… can I help you?” she asked hesitantly.
Lex smiled softly at her. “Hi, I’m looking for Quinn McKenna. He promised he would have a place for me and my friends when we… returned to the area.” She said, not knowing if the lady, who she guessed was McKenna’s wife, knew about her husband’s plans.
The woman looked at her suspiciously and for a moment seemed unsure what to make of her until a little face came to peek at her from further in the house. “Hi again Miss Woods… are the aliens back?” the little boy asked calmly.
“Hi again Rory, yeah, we’re back.” She happily informed him.
“Oh, god.” The wife said, looks like she did know about them. “Yeah, give me a sec.” She pulled out her phone and made a call. There were a few rings before it was picked up and she quickly interrupted the voice on the other end. “Hey sweetie. You have some uh… friends looking for directions.”
---
The two shuttles they brought glided swiftly and silently over dessert sand. Of all the places to put the base this would allow the hunters to get used to living here. For however long this war lasts. They would have hated it more if the location had been cold but Lex had kind of been hoping for a change in weather. But it looks like she wouldn’t be able to escape the heat but at least it was less intense then on Yautja prime. Through the ships view screen she could see as the grey dot in the middle of the desert grew quickly larger, revealing the new home base. The ships circled around and found the large doors of a hanger bay left open for the two ships to enter.
Waiting within for them was a small group of people. it was always fascinating to see them mostly unreactive as the ship hovered inside, the slight breeze generated by the ship maybe inspiring a searching glance but the ship so silent and shielded that it hid them completely. Once the ships both parked, they uncloaked seconds apart which made the humans jump as if they teleported. Lex and Scar both chuckled at the same time before sharing a cheeky look. “Oh no, you’re starting to rub off on me.” She complained.
“You would be so fortunate.” He said back and nipped her cheek before they went to heard the others out.
The ship doors opened but before Royce could leave with the captured abomination, she stopped him and took it from his hands, instead giving it to Fugitive. “…But we captured it.” Royce said in confusion.
“And we all know that but… trust me.” She said before turning to Fugitive who was inspecting the creature he was now holding in slight confusion. Lex rolled her eyes at him. “Well…. Aren’t you going to give that to the doctor?” she said and he jerked his head up instantly to look out the ship door. Lex had spotted the woman fussing with her hair when they had landed.
“I will give this to the doctor.” He said firmly and headed out.
Royce was still confused but Izzy just sighed. “Is this where humanity is going in the face of extra-terrestrial life?”
“Embrace it.” Lex said with a chuckle and followed the others down and out of the ship. She was down just in time to hear the clacking of Brackett’s heels as she rushed away from the group of humans to Fugitive. “Hi, hello… remember me, Casey… I was hoping you’d come back… not for any particular one reason just… well, yeah, it’s good to see you.”
“I had promised to aid your species in this war. To aid you, Doctor Casey, in your work to discover the weaknesses and increase our efforts in war with your great intelligence and skill in science.” Fugitive said and Casey instantly looked like she was going to jump him after the compliments but then he held up the glass capture capsule.
“Is this one of them?” She looked up at him in awe as he nodded. “Oh, It’s beautiful… I can’t wait to take apart it’s genetics.” She placed he hands on the capsule, finger tips brushing against fugitives. They both started staring at each other again. “Thank you, I’m really happy you’re here.” She smiled “I like your new hand.” She said shyly. “
“I am honoured to be here too. I like your aggressive interest in genetics.” He replied and Lex didn’t need to hear it to know he was probably purring like a house cat.
“Oh… oh my fucking god, you have got to be fucking kidding me.” She heard Royce whispering under his breath at the site of them.
Well Lex thought they were cute at least.
Shaking her head fondly she turned back to the welcome party, she recognised a few of them as those who had seen hunters before and a few new soldier-looking types standing behind them as well. They were all looking pretty spooked and wide eyed while in the presence of them. Everyone had alighted the ships and there was a moment where everyone seemed to be sizing each other up.
Blue was the first to move, unfortunately. Mask off, he broke away to go closer to the humans, stalking in front of them and eyeing them up. Before any could speak, his tusks flared and he roared loudly making a few flinch back or go for their weapons. He chuckled and then turned back to the other hunters. “They do not seem like much, are you sure we need align ourselves to more soft meat?”
“Why did he even come here?” Lex hissed to Vah’kea who just shrugged.
“I would have deterred him but he could not be found when I had planned to challenge him for it.” Vah’kea said and then gave her a little nudge with his arm. “Worry not, I’ll help keep an eye on him, sister.”
“Thanks, friend.” She told him before she called out to Blue. “Hey, back off! We’re allies now.”
With Scar behind her, she took point and approaches the group. McKenna and, surprisingly, the excitable scientist from the Stargazer lab came up to meet them halfway. Nebraska and the few soldiers stayed back, hands close to guns, watching the aliens.
“Quinn, I like what you’ve done with the place.” Lex said.
“Miss Woods. Good to see you again, and I see both our plans didn’t crash and burn… that’s a good sign.” He looked around at the mostly empty hanger. “Not the most well-stocked place yet but I think it’s pretty good for the short notice we had.” McKenna said and shook her hand before hesitantly offering his hand to Scar who instead clasped his hand at his forearm but Quinn quickly returned the gesture. McKenna even managed to keep his wince at the hold very subtle.
“So… you again.” Lex hummed and looked at the scientist she remembered from the lab.
“Ah, yes, hello again Miss Woods. Rest assured I was debriefed and will wholly support human and predator solidarity. Go team!” He said with an animated little fist shake. “Stargazer is gone and I swear I am happy about that. I was working with the OWLF before so it’s nice to be back as a regional director. Now, I bet you’re wondering just what OWLF stands for well-”
“Other Worldly Life Forms Program. The top-secret intelligence organisation that investigated the aliens before it was shut down to focus on selling weapons to private contractors. Yeah, I received the cliff notes.” Lex said and taking the cue Dutch stepped forward and removed his mask.
“Alan?” The scientist stuttered, completely caught off guard.
“Is that you Sean? You were a young man when I saw you last. How have you been?” Dutch said more warmly than she had heard from him before.
“You… you’re alive. God, Alan, I knew it. I knew you were out there somewhere. Didn’t think was with the aliens but-” he gestured his hand over him before tentatively poking at the bio-mask he was using as a shoulder pauldron. “I see you have gone native too.”
Dutch stepped forward and draped his muscular arm around Sean’s shoulders and led him off, she could hear him talking about the past and where Dutch had gone.
“Another human? But I thought-” McKenna started saying but Lex quickly started explaining.
“Yeah, I thought so too but it turns out I wasn’t the only one… I wasn’t even the first. Seems like the Yautja have a thing for strays.” She said and turned, pointing out Royce and Isabelle who were standing back, seeming to be a little overwhelmed. Either from the crowd or from just being back on Earth. “We’re everywhere it seems.”
“They each had proven themselves as hunters in their own right, able to fight Yautja and Serpent alike. We honour those who show they deserve it. You may yet prove yourself as the war starts.” Scar said and placed his hand on McKenna's shoulder making the man jolt under its strength.
“…Good to know. Thanks, big guy.” He said unsurely and patted Scar’s arm.
There was a quick introduction of all the Predators and the main humans who they would be working with. This was done as they walked through the base, being shown the rooms and maze of hallways they will need to be used to now.
McKenna had been given a squad of mercs who could be trusted to keep their mouths shut and whose deaths wouldn’t be investigated. Even with the base being a smaller one the number of people in it seemed pretty sparse but she guessed it was for the best.
Being back on a base kind of reminded her of being on the mothership but instead she was the one signing to the others about how stuff worked. One of the final places within the base they were shown was a large gym/training room. Nothing like what they had on the ship but enough that for better or for worse, more humans will learn to hold their own against the alien invaders.
---
Lex watched as McKenna, Nebraska and their team joined their team in being taught how to fight with Yautja. The hunters did this using the same methods Scar and the women had used on her when she had first joined them. By throwing the humans to the floor and roaring at them constantly. It had been a couple of weeks of this now. Their alien teachers were tough, with only Scar really knowing how to handle humans through his years of practice. Blue was quickly delegated to more of a demonstrator for the other yautja after he broke the leg in one of his first sparing matches. He claimed it wasn’t intentional but that was bullshit and they all knew it.
In contrast, Nefertiti was one of the best instructors even as her size and harsh words intimidated the humans. She had explained her experience in training the unblooded before and compared the middle-aged soldiers to the pups.
Lex had been doing spars with the other hunters and while she won a few times against all the others she hadn’t yet tried against the female yautja.
“You pups are too slow.” She yelled “Your small adorable round faces will not save you in the field. You need to shift your weight as soon as you feel the attack coming, feel, not see, you must have instincts in your feeble bodies. Pair up and try again!” She growled out.
Lex watched, unaffected, but McKenna jogged over, red-faced and a little sweaty. “She’s been running us ragged, Lex we’re using guns. We don’t need this close-quarters shit.”
“There was just one spliced Yuatja when we were together, we barely won. It’s not enough to just fight alongside each other now. We need to fight together. A proper team… a proper clan.”
He groaned “I just want to shoot guns at things.” Dropping down with his hands on his knees. “Quick, break my hand too so I can have a nap in medbay.”
“No more bone breaking.” Lex laughed and pat his shoulder. “You don’t need to try and beat her. You just need to learn to drag out the battle long enough for your teammates to get to you. We’re not in this alone, you just gotta remember that.” She eyed the Yautja, there was only one method she knew that worked for these things. “Okay, how about I start the whole 'being a good teammate'.”
Lex took a second to shake out the ware from her own workouts she had been doing with Royce and Isabelle. Dutch stayed away from the training, instead catching up with Keyes and some mercs who he had known back in the day. The man was still against humans interacting with the yautja, sure that this would only spread the word of how dangerous humans can be and even if they became equals that would just mean they would be the most attractive targets to fight.
That worry did stay in the back of her mind back there was already so much they needed to do that any regret would have to wait their turn to be important. For now, the yautia were more focused on the glory they would receive in killing the bad bloods and their creations.
She jogged up to Nefertiti. “Hey how are they going?” She asked.
“My own pup of only five summer cycles could take them all on.” Nefertiti spat before she turned to lex and her demeanour changed completely. She started signing enthusiastically. ‘They remind me of a few of my students. They have good strength for a Human, I trained Dutch so I know that many are strong for their species. They will go far.’
“Oh.” Lex said in surprise as the bright spark in her green eyes as she looked over the mercenary squad of violent men and women. “That is good hear.”
‘I have been trying to keep them motivated, I think it is working. When I fought that one.’ She said and pointed to Nebraska where he was laying on the floor, dripping some water from his bottle onto his face to help cool down. ‘He rose to the challenge and when I had him pinned by the neck, he told me to squeeze harder.’
“…O-Oh.” Lex said again, not knowing how to respond to that and overall deciding not to explain anything about it. “Well, you seem to be doing a great job but… some are finding it hard to visualise beating or even lasting long with a stronger hunter such as yourself.”
“Alone, I would render their bone from their bodies with very little effort, that is true. You have a suggestion?” She scoffed with high self-confidence.
“Yeah, I believe I do which is why-” She hopped up and gave a front kick right to Nefertiti gut. Sending her back two steps from being taken off guard.
The training room was caught in two reactions, the uninitiated humans who were all shocked and somewhat sacred for her. You wouldn’t have been able to hear a pin drop on that side of the room. If not for the yautja side, which was all roars and cheers. Even Isabelle gave a cheer for her.
She saw Nefertiti, curl and uncurl her fists, mandible twitching over her sharp teeth. The roar that ripped out of her made Lex shudder but she stood her ground. “Insolent welp.” She hissed before she charged at her.
What would help the Mercs the most was to see how you would need to evade 90% of the time. Lex stayed still and then fained a duck left before sprinting right, staying low and exacting the claws which swooped over her head. Using your size, she ducked behind a rack of weight lifts, she eyed one and if this wasn’t a mock fight, she would have picked up one to try to hit Nefertiti with it but held back. Instead, the Yuatja dragged the who rack back to try and get to her. She blocked a few strikes to the side of her but still got backhanded and sent a few feet back into a roll.
Lex stopped herself and wiped at her split lip. Staying down, she lured Nefertiti closer as she pretended to struggle to get up. “I will send you crawling back to your mate in pieces.” She growled but Lex then jumped up and ran right for her, telephoning a high strike before she instead dropped down and slid under her legs, kicking her at the back of the knee with both legs which made it buckle but she stayed up, catching her weight on the other leg. It did give Lex enough time to land a punch which would be akin to a kidney shot before she was running again.
She dodged and countered a few more, every now and again giving a string of light hits in while Nefertiti got fewer hits they were much, much harder ones. Lex started to tire but Nefertiti too was breathing hard but eventually, she was kicked into a wall and just couldn’t push off in time. Nefertiti caught her and pressed into Lex’s space, looming over her. There was a growl thundering from behind her tusks as she got right in close.
But again, she switched and whispered to her in her low, rough voice “You did very well, I see how you could gain the status of Elite. But I too was offered and turned it down so do not fret about how I beat you in this spar. I did not hold back and the Oomans are likely to see that.”
“Thank you.” Lex said meaningfully before she got in one last strike and elbowed the Yautja across the jaw, sending her head to the side.
“You really are without fear. I’m very honoured to have fought you like this.” She said before she grabbed Lex with her whole hand around her face, lifting her up to slam her into the wall but her fingers at least protected her skull from the collision. “You puny soft meat, I could add your skull to my collection.”
Lex struggled and then tapped at Nefertiti’s wrist before she was let go, being dropped to the floor unceremoniously.
“She took more effort to take down than any of you pups. Anyone else here wish to try and challenge me?” The yautja mocked the other who had been watching. Learning from her direct approach some humans started to rush her to try and get that surprise strike in. Nefertiti looked back and gave Lex a nod before she started flinging insults to ‘encourage’ the mercs and fighting the whole mob of them.
Lex grunted and pushed herself up and walked by McKenna. “Okay, there you go.” She said and gave him one more pat on the back before she went to find water and a bench to collapse into.
Scar was there with open arms. “I always enjoy seeing you make the first move in a spar.” She cuddled up with him, letting his cooler scales absorb the high heat of her body.
“That hurt, I need a nap.” She whined just to him.
“Drink well and we can retire to our room.” He chuckled at her, stroking a hand over her hair.
---
Lex was laying twisted on the old couch of the common area, her head on Scar’s thigh, turned to the side so she could watch the large, thin TV screen while her legs were over Bruiser’s lap, feet poking at Vah’kea’s thigh. She had been showing them movies that she had loved when she was younger. After a long conversation about how these movies were fake and not some detailed recording like what they usually watched from shared biomask readings.
‘She doesn’t want to be fed. She wants to hunt.’ Came the voice of Dr Grant as they stared out at the later-to-be-eaten goat.
The hunters all growled in solidarity at that line as they early awaited the dinosaurs. Nefertiti even stood up to growl and click what she can only assume were insults for them caging up the T-Rex. Most had been very upset when she had explained with certainty that all the dinosaurs were dead by thousands of years and hence could not be hunted.
Fugitive had been very upset and she didn’t trust how animatedly he and Brackett were talking where they were cuddled up on their own couch. “Casey!” Lex called to her. “Don’t let his big murder puppy eyes convince you to try and clone dinosaurs.”
“If we focus on the herbivores though-” She started.
“There have been three movies telling you why you shouldn’t do that… We’re even fighting rogue splicers now.” Lex pointed out.
“Five movies.” Casey corrected her as if that was the point. But it did work as a distraction.
“Five? Oh, we’re having a long movie night.” She said excitedly.
“Actually, the last two have a completely different feel and have been done in that shiny modern, overly clean look. And they have just way too much comedy and this shoved in romance. So just don’t get too excited.” The doctor explained.
“Damn it.” She hissed in disappointment and Scar rubbed his hand over her back. Going back to the movie the Yautja’s greatly enjoyed the T-Rex, supporting her as she ate the lawyer man but then each of them turned once she tried to eat the children. Lex started to pay more attention to their planning on how to fight dinosaurs. She closed her eyes for just a moment and just enjoyed their passion.
Scar made plans to have her distracted before attacking her underbelly seeing as the T-Rex’s arms were so short. Vah’kea went on and said how easy she could be led into a pitfall trap. Nefertiti snorted and said “Just give me a knife and I would have her see me as we battle for glory.
Her friend had another idea entirely. “Do you recall when we last saw the hard-mouth clan in the ice desert?” Bruiser said looking around at those from his clan. “I want to ride that into battle like they did with their creatures.” Lex started laughing. “You disagree with how effective that would be, sister?” He asked, tugging her leg.
“We can not hear the movie.” Isabelle said where she and Royce were on the floor, sharing popcorn and doing their best to ignore all the hunters around them.
They continued to watch, Bruiser and Scar getting into a small bickering match over who’s children would do better against velociraptors when a beeping came from pager on Brackett’s belt. “Ugh, it’s Keyes, one of our experiments done… could it wait…. No, I probs shouldn’t let it wait.”
“You probs could.” Fugitive said back. “Unless he knows which creatures we could collect to start the splicing and cloning process.”
She chuckled. “You’re so cute but you heard Lady elite, she said no.” Brackett cupped his face in her hands and pressed a loud smooch to the centre of it. “Enjoy the movie, don’t wait up.”
It was at the end of the movie, Lex was jostled out of her comfy spot as the Yuatja, her husband included, Leaned in to the edge of their seats and then cheered when the T-Rex nabbed the raptor, fully on her side again.
“They show that the T-Rex has honour, it now chose to ignored the unarmed Oomens and destroy the greater threat of the raptors. She is magnificent.” Vah’kea said, sitting on the edge of his seat, fists tightened as he watched intently.
“Those jaws must be so strong…” Bruiser purred. “I may say again, we need one of those in our war.”
The revelry was interrupted by the intercom system going off. “Hey, Elites… not to abuse an overused trope but, you better come and look at this.”
Hearing the excitement in the doctor’s voice, Lex went to rush off but looked back at Scar still looking at the screen. “Honey… darling… the war?” She reminded.
“The T-Rex.” He countered. It was close enough to the end that she didn’t even fight this. But as soon as the ending credits started to roll, she grabbed his arm and pulled him up. Fugitive tagging along as well which wasn’t questioned at this point.
During the short walk the hunters were in deep analysis of the movie.
“The recording clearly showed surviving that hunting ground was how the scholar earned the right to breed. The rituals of our species are mirrored in so many ways.” Scar insisted.
“But it wasn’t that he couldn’t before, he had just chosen not to.” She replied. “We’re having very different cultural influenced views on the fake movie but it was made for humans.”
“I’ve studied a lot of creatures and our species' mutual higher intelligence don’t mean we don’t act on the same drives.” Fugitive added.
“…Yeah, me and Dutch were talking about something similar about our species before.” Lex said.
Fugitive continued. “Want or allowance, He needed to prove himself to both the woman and himself before he realised, he had the right and ability to breed.”
They reached the lab now, still talking as they entered. “Okay, I’m not convinced yet but just don’t have too high hope about Grant and Sattler getting together and having an army of kids. Not to ruin it but the sequel kinda failed on that regard and I don’t want that disappointment to colour the rest of the movie.”
“Ah you’re here!” Keyes said excitedly, Dutch was with him too looking very contemplative. The monkey was darting about in a smaller containment cage, swinging off the little ropes and things Brackett had provided for it.
“What did you find?” Lex asked, staring at the creature which lept at her, sticking to the glass and trying to bite at it before a sensor went off and blasted it with a fire extinguisher to make it jump back.
“Oh, this is gonna blow your nets right off.” Brackett said excitedly and went to the central computer, activating the screen which showed a group of cells some that teal of their blood which had covered her ship and other cells of a dulled grey.
“So, we had identified all those little genetic features.” They found last week that the abomination had yautja blood which kept it resilient. Its unique electro sensors from other prey hinted at their designs heading in a direction that would make their invisibility useless. The teeth were similar to that of the Serpents or ‘Xenomorphs’ as the scientists had started titling them, but even more dense and durable. “But it was a rough mix of so many things and Spooky Bear you had said-” She prompted.
“They wouldn’t have the proper technology and facilities to properly make these creations. The equipment I identified in my mission was out of date. likely machines set for decommissioning which had been salvaged.” Fugitive said as he walked to the screen, running his hands across the image of the darkened cells. Ignoring Keyes's complaints about smudging the screen. He was clearly catching on quicker to what was happening than she and Scar.
“And you were right!” She said excitedly. This was the cells of the creature when they first arrived.” Another picture appeared on the screen with the teal cells and bluer cells in place instead of grey. “The cells are unstable. The rate of dematerialisation is so rapid meaning they have half or maybe even a quarter of their possible life expectancy.”
“I hope you’re not suggesting that we just… wait for them to die out. Yautja and serpents can live for hundreds of years.” Dutch said where he leaned against the lab table.
Keye’s stepped forward now. “It’s the way they are degrading which is the interesting part, the other cells are cannibalising each other, releasing enzymes which are breaking down the cells as if they were foreign within the body, not the body itself. They may have fixed the bug if they advanced on the designs but if they haven’t, we can exploit it. Make them destroy themselves from the inside out.”
She felt Scar’s hand press warmly to her lower back, just in an unconscious move as he asked with great interest. “Can you recreate that enzyme? Weaponize their shortcomings against them.”
“And can you recreate it before they come attacking?” Lex added.
“Now that-” Brackett said. “-Is the million-dollar question.”
Notes:
Alan 'Dutch' Schaefer: Protage of Pred 1 now spliced with Yautja DNA and part of the ancient Egyptian influenced clan with Cleopatra (Pred: hunting grounds) and Nefertiti.
Blue: Bastard Yautja, Tried to kill Lex, doesn't like humans but later calmed down to begrudgingly work in the same hunting party as Lex. Constantly trying to boast about himself and appear better than he is. Has flame thrower as main weapon. (chap 5 This hunter had more greenish skin tones and his dreads a pale dusty blue)
Bruiser: Friend from Lex's hunting party, yautja version of a himbo, he is big and thicc and went into the direction of bing a Berserker so close combat fighter. (chap 14 ruddy in coloured with maroon splotches on his shoulders and covering the back of him. He had a more unique mask which had bull like horns at the top of them and he did look very much like a tank.)
Dr Casey Brackett: Evolutionary biologist, top scientist and overall chaotic woman. She studied Fugitive and didn't get murdered by him when he found her naked. Now involved with Fugitive after he helped save her. (pred 4)
Fugitive: From the splicing clan, human splaiced himself which made him understand/adapt to human behaviours the best. Stole information the bad guys. Involved with Dr Casey brackett. (pred 4)
Isabelle: (Pred 3) sniper from the Israel Defense Forces, tries very hard to keep the team together. Was trapped and tested on a hunting plant before being brought into the jungle clan. Is in a relationship with Royce.
Nebraska William: former Marine officer who joins in a special Predator-hunting operation headed up by Quinn and becomes his closest ally (pred 4)
Nefertiti: part of the ancient Egyptian influenced clan with Dutch, Big Strong Alien Woman, hear her Roar, secret heart of gold. (chap 28 She stood taller among all the hunters and hence, absolutely dwarfed her by comparison...gold and turquoise imbedded armour, beautiful but without compromising its integrity. She took her mask off and she saw she had charcoal scales with patches of green/grey.)
Royce: (pred 3) former U.S. Special Operations Forces veteran turned mercenary, was trapped and tested on a hunting plant before being brought into the jungle clan. In relation ship with Isabelle.
Sean Keyes: (pred 4) ex head Stargazer scientist, the son of Peter Keyes. (pred 2) now taking over OWLF, friend of Alan 'Dutch' Schaefer
Quinn McKenna: (pred 4) Army Ranger Captain who had discovered Fugitive when he crashed to Earth and got involved in starting up the OWLF again.
Vah’kea: Close friend from Lex's hunting party, took over teaching her in time skip to be a scout directions hunter, shorter, swimmers body, does the thinking while Bruiser does not. (chap 14 smaller than most and had similar colouring to Scar just with larger scale patterns, their mask had angular shapes over the mouth piece and their eye visor stretched as one piece.)
Chapter 31
Summary:
Talks and smooches
Notes:
I Swear i will get back onto a consistent writing schedule again one day.
Chapter Text
The following weeks were split between the continuation of training soldiers and monitoring the biological weapon development in the lab. Brackett and Keyes were in a fever, trying to find out this enzyme code which would, in theory, weaken the spliced creatures, possible even deactivate their abilities and maybe even kill the abominations outright.
Any spare time in between she would enjoy the simple pleasure of watching the yautja’s reaction to humans and their world. They were getting exposed to a lot of their culture, the stories, food and science. This was usually initiated by herself and Brackett although Isabelle surprisingly started joining in with the culture swap. Complaining that Yautja were getting a heavily Americanised introduction to the human world and wanting to expanding their horizons with music and food from her culture.
The aliens were a curious, if judgmental species. They took in everything with scepticism but enjoyed part-taking in it even while they complained about the frivolous or convoluted nature of majority of it.
They had started very guarded with the knowledge of their own species. They all knew the consequence of humans gaining any weapons or technology, even Lex know what would happen if they let anything slip. But still after a few nights she convinced Scar to share stories of a few hunts they had been on.
She sat on his lap and in between him eating Dolmas stuffed vine leaves like popcorn he started sharing stories. They both spoke about how they met at the pyramid and then re-met each other at Gunnerson. They long since realised they had vastly different perspectives of both. Scar would speak of her bravery and all the ways she proved herself as a fiery warrior of her species. While Lex spoke about how she was a terrified mess and just trying to survive along-side the big monstrous alien she had just discovered existed. And the other yautja, always being down for bragging to ensure their place in the hierarchy slowly joined in, showing trophies and injuries alike to prove themselves.
For Lex, going from thinking humanity was all they had to only have yautja in her life has seemed more plausible than seeing them meshed together. So, even though she knew she shouldn’t fantasize about it, she did imagine what it would be like if this truce continued even after the war.
Fugitive and Brackett barely separated from each other now. Casey would cheer him on during sparring and half the time Lex entered the lab the woman would be intensely talking to herself while Fugitive leaned against the table watching her affectionately. While they hadn’t labelled what they were to each other it was obviously something that wasn’t unfeeling. She couldn’t see them easily separating when this was over.
Lex had entered the medical bay one day when she had been accidentally clawed by Nefertiti. She was pretty sure the scratches in the medical table were from Yautja claws too. But those ones were not from a fight. She didn’t say anything, she knew what it was like to want to take advantage of their stamina. But as she had her wound cleaned and bandaged, she couldn’t help but try and picture Brackett on Yautja prime or Fugitive trying to come back to Earth.
Bruiser, the large tank of a hunter that he was, had also found a friendship. He was by far one of the most imposing of the hunters, under Nefertiti, but he loved kids. He had basically become the yautja equivalent of the ‘fun uncle’ to her and Scar’s kids so she was only half surprised as held Rory up on his shoulder as he and McKenna introduced the hunters to PlayStation fighting games. He learned to ensure he wouldn’t overwhelm the boy and honestly preferred Rory’s literalism so became a bit of a guardian to him.
It was really proof that humans would pack bond with anything given enough time. All the soldiers and fighters no longer flinched around the yautja. Nefertiti was very protective of her troop. And the mercs were returning it, seeing through the cracks in her intimidation and understanding what she had been teaching was valuable.
The one issue that stayed a thorn in her side was Blue. He still kept to himself, away from both the humans and the yautja now too. It was worrying because she thought he had overcome his issues with working with a team years ago. He needed to if he was to join the hunting party, she had made sure of that.
---
Pulling herself away from Scar’s side and the documentary the group had been watching, Lex knocked on Blue’s door
Then she waited.
She knocked and then waited again.
She pounded her fist against the door. “Hey, we need to talk.”
There were a few growls and clicks in reply. Looks like he wasn’t in the mood to speak English. “Look, I’m not trying to drag you to the team bonding, I mean it, I just want us to talk.”
Another moment of waiting.
Then Paya above he finally answered the door, leaning on the door frame he looked down at her. ‘If you need a new mate, I have many more women who can actually use my blood line. Try a human, maybe you can find one who isn’t revolting.’ He signed at her
Lex rolled her eyes. “Ha, good one.” She snipped and pushed past him, walking into his room. They all had standard rooms, very spartan in nature. Blue’s was the same but she spotted a few rodent and reptiles skulls. He must have been keeping himself busy.
“Seeing as you obviously haven’t gained any love for me and my species, I just had to ask… why are you here?” She said, standing in the middle of the room.
The yautja paused before joining her within, moving to stand only inches away from her so she had to look up at him. She tensed, ready to try and get out of his grasp he if went for her. ‘Are you claiming that you don’t want my aid? Are you planning to send me back? I have done nothing against you and the pathetic whelps you’ve exposed our ways to?’ he signed rapidly.
“Jesus, calm down, no. I have no plans to insult you in such a way, I just … I mean come on! This is not coming out of nowhere. We had reached a truce before, we were good, but now you’re here being angry and isolated. If you hate the idea of being surrounded by humans… Why. Did. You. Join?”
‘To gain trophies, just like all the others.’ He replied but he must know the others came partly because they trusted her and wanted to support her cause.
Lex sighed and went around to pick up a lizard skull from the bedside table. There were also a few skulls that she knew were from other planets, he wore many on his armour. He bragged more than he actually hunted. “I sure hope you’re talking about the bad bloods.” She murmured before placing it back down. Lex was about to turn but she caught a glimpse into the en-suite attached to the room.
She walked to stand in the doorway and looked at the skull shoved sideways into the medicine cabinet which had been left open. It was a human skull. He had worn his human skull around her a few times. But she swore, that one had been missing teeth, hadn’t it? Or maybe she was just worrying herself.
She felt hot breath atop her head as Blue crowded behind her. Again, lex tensed up, ready for everything but all that came was a chuckle. “Of course, I already caught the other necessary prey from this planet. But bad blood, that will be at my level. You truly want to know why I followed you into this… mistress Elite?” This was the first time he had used her title. She turned to face him and he stood as casual as a hunter could be. “Because you are a magnet of trouble. Your presence will ensure the arrival of the bad bloods here and I will follow you and take many trophies from our wake in battle. That is all.”
He suddenly seemed like how he used to after the truce they had made, non-threatening whatsoever but she still felt slightly on edge. “That is a very respectable motivation. Thank you for telling me.”
“of course, Elite.” he replied with a small nod of the head.
In the end, it would be the battlefield that would expose true motivations.
Lex was completely certain that this was all a pride thing. He wanted to have another big kill on his name and saw a high chance of being in a smaller party with humans who he didn’t see as a threat to take his kills.
But as long as he did his job and didn’t get any more humans killed, she didn’t want to intervene much. It had taken too much time for them to be ‘okay’ with each other, and any continued rivalry wasn’t worth her energy.
She still slipped by the security room and made sure all the workers at the base were accounted for. Just in case.
---
They were in the middle of lunch when the shrill alarm sounded, causing Lex to flinch as the lights turned red around them.
“Ah, hey gang.” The PA system sounded with Keyes voice. “Not to interrupt a good meal but our satellites picked up a blip, can’t be certain it’s our target but it’s the same sign that we get from the other ships so it might be worth checking out. Scout team, you can roll out.”
There was a pause before Lex and only a hand full of others scrambled up. They had long since organised different plans and while Scar would lead the heavy team, Lex had the scout team.
Fugitive, Vah’kea, Royce and Isabelle were hot on her heels as they headed to the prep room to get suited up.
Keyes had provided some additions to everyone’s war suits and now the humans wore tactical suits under the metal of the yautja armour. It was light enough that the yautja allowed it but would still reduce damage from anything which wasn’t a direct hit. Lex had her two spears at her back, two axes on her hips and the new whip wrapped around her waist.
The yauitja had a few camo pouches and belts for little human weapons they had wanted. Lex’s eyes narrowed at the automatic rifle hanging off Fugitive’s weapons belt.
Scar and Brackett came into the room when they had been finishing up.
“Okay so we haven’t had nearly as much time to work on these.” She handed out vials of pale, milky blue liquid which lightly glowed in their dart container. “The live feeds to your masks should be patched in soon so we can see if it works. If not, expect a panicky upgrade as soon as we can make one.”
“Hang on, you don’t know for sure?” Royce said with annoyance as he held his dart.
“No, we don’t. We have one subject, so we have to work on small cellular-level tests. So, yes it works but we don’t know the dosage for large-scale creatures… or if all the others carry the same genetic flaws… or if you’re even going to find more hybrids.” She went to continue on with the what-ifs before Fugitive placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Okay, I get your point. Okay listen up, we have an approximate area to find their ship. This is recon first. Use the enzyme if you have to but not before we have officially engaged with the enemy. They’re coming here with a plan. We need to focus on learning numbers and abilities-”
Lex knew the plan and inspected her own dart before she placed it carefully into a pouch. Suddenly a body pressed against her back and a large hand started gathering her hair, pulling her braids away from her face carefully. Scar tied her hair back, using the cord decorated with teeth and bone that he had given her. He must have gone back to their room for it.
She ignored everyone else in the room and just focused on Scar gently getting her ready for the fight. “You only need to give the word little dagger and I will be there by your side. It seems like it has been much too long since we have fought side by side.”
“Yeah first we were at a different hierarchy, now we’re the same and both times has stopped us from meeting on the battlefield.”
“The price of greatness.” He said completely sincere.
His hands dropped and she turned to face him in a small twirl. “What do you think? A bit of my culture with yours.”
“You’d look perfect fighting in nothing but the viscera of your enemies but I am glad you enjoy the additions to your armour.”
Lex chuckled “All these years together and you are still sweet talking me, aren’t you?” looking around she stood up on the nearby bench to gain on Scar’s height. All with the sole intention of being the one pulling him in this time. They shared a few nuzzled and kisses before just holding each other. Scar’s arms wrapped around her and he held her tightly, nuzzling into her chest.
“I love you, starlight.” She whispered.
“You are my everything.” He replied as softly as his ability to mimic human words allowed him to. She squeezed him tighter and closed her eyes to just savour this as much as she could, while she could.
But then someone cleared their voice pretty loudly. “Uh… commander. We’re all ready to head off… when you and your friend are finished.” Isabella said awkwardly. Lex looked up, not pulling away, she could see that Vah’kea was laughing at them, Royce seemed a little frustrated but he seemed to at least be getting used to this. She felt a little bad for ignoring his big speech to cuddle with her husband. That was until she saw the other couple.
A first she thought Isabelle had been calling Scar her ‘friend’ in a coy manner until she saw Fugitive pinning Brackett against the lockers, the doctor’s feet held up off the floor. He was Tongue fucking her like his life depended on it. Brackett had her hands buried deep in his tendrils, trying to pull him impossibly closer as she kissed back so she wasn’t complaining.
“Should we delay departure for an hour or two for you pairs to fuck your farewells? Here I was thinking being elites would cause you to stop acting like a new blooded approaching their first season. The spliced human pup must have gained a humans drives too, it seems.” Vah’kea said, but it was a tease as he was very much used to this kind of behaviour from her and Scar’s early years together.
Fugitive didn’t care and let go with one hand to flip the older hunter off. Vah’kea didn’t understand its meaning but Lex also flipped off her friend.
“Temping, and I’m sure the bastards could use the head start before battling with a team like ours but-” She slipped off her whip, letting Scar go to walk along the bench. “It’s better to have motivation for us to come home early.” He cracked the whip in the direction of the two others, taking a few chips off the floor tiles. The sound had Fugitive jolting back, dropping Brackett who stumbled but grabbed onto the Yautja’s arm to stop herself from falling.
“Oh… okay well I hope that explained the enzyme...ahem, I’m going to go back to the lab... Okay. I’ll be watching.” Brackett looked back and gave a bashful “Kick some ass out there.” To Fugitive before running away from the rest of the team.
“Okay, let’s get onto the ship.” Lex said and headed out to lead them down to the hangar.
On her way past, Vah’kea playfully rested his hand atop her head, pushing her slightly. “As long as you are ready Elite.”
“Bite me.” She snipped back.
He looked scandalised. “Truly? Elite, you flatter me so.”
She hip-checked him before they both slipped their masks back on. She gave one look back to Scar and held up her fist in the sign ‘for glory’.
He returned it to her.
The scout team all piled into one of the shuttles, Lex taking control. Dutch was with Brackett and sent the data through his gauntlet to hers, the ping appearing in their world map now.
It was the middle of the Russian Arctic, she pointed it out to Vah’kea who snorted and gave a nod. He and the other hunters from their tribe were used to the challenges of fighting in such cold places but Fugitive and Nefertiti were going to hate this. It was an odd choice but she guessed they were trying to be unexpected as a tactical move.
They started the quick flight over.
“So, they just let you have a gun?” She asked Fugitive as he sat on the other side of her.
There was a small pause before he looked over at her. “You mean we were not free to take them from the lockers near the training room?”
“I thought those were for the human mercs. Besides, weren’t those also… locked?” She asked in confusion.
He just purred. “Not with a strong metal.”
She laughed. Having her team around her kept her optimistic. They would handle this.
Chapter 32
Summary:
first wave
Notes:
IDK why but this chap was so hard to write for some reason, ugh.
Chapter Text
They all kept in high spirits as the shuttle silently moved through the sky, countries and oceans passed swiftly under them. The gravity of the situation hadn’t really hit yet, the humans not taking anything seriously until they had to and the yautja always acting as if they were ready for everything.
No one, not even Lex was really expecting the radar to get a ping. But never the less, a small beep alerted them to their shuttle locking on to the signature of a foreign ship. The conversation stopped the team instantly went quiet.
Time to start hunting. The Yautja took to the control panels and started discussing what type of ship it was and what they might expect. Lex could hear as one of the soldiers in the back went on the coms, announcing their find to home base. Lex scrambled their own ship's signature and changed course to find where the bad bloods had landed.
That location being right in the middle of Siberia.
The cities gave way to snow and beside her Fugitive shuddered at the sight of it. “I would not think that this area would be worth the effort. The disadvantage it may cause would go both ways.”
“Not for all of us.” He sang and gave him a smile. “You didn’t get any of the heat from your humanness?”
“No, I had to leave the doctor behind.” He sighed, making Lex and a few others snort and laugh. Well, maybe they haven’t given up all the humour just yet.
Despite her words, this would be one of the few times the humans would need to turn up the heated netting they wore but they would still be doing better than the yautja who weren’t used to fighting in the cold. They cruised over the snowscape, following the target, looking for any sight of what they might be doing here.
They came upon a small smattering of trees amongst the planes of snow. That was where they found the bad blood’s ship. Lex hovered the shuttle while the outline of the ship appeared on the control panel. Lex opened the back ramp of the ship and walked over with the others. It was an empty patch of snow until she put her thermal sights on.
Vah’kea came up to loom behind her and pointed out blocky sections which seemed to be missing from the ship. “Modified Prey mover, like the types we use for big game on hunting planets. But they have added a few weapons. Cargo has been removed.” There were about eight cages missing but who knows how many they’d fit into a single one.
“Looks like we can expect a welcome party.” Lex said.
“But not here.” Isabelle looked up from her sniper sights. “They left. I can see some tracks leading away.”
“Middle of a wasteland… where would they go.” Royce murmured to himself before returning to the ship’s computer.
Lex allowed him to leave as Vah’kea gave her a lift down, Fugitive landing beside them as two mercs used grapples and followed them as well. The ship was completely empty now, in her sights she could see it was cold to the engine. She inspected what she could of the ship but they were warned not to touch anything as it would likely trigger an alarm ruined their chance for a surprise attack.
Lex made note of the melted metal near a few of the cages, the two cages which seemed to be a great deal heavier where it sunk into the snow before it was likely hovered for movement.
“They likely to return?” the Merc asked as he approached her.
“Don’t know, they’re setting up around her for sure. Why have something in mind?” She asked eyeing the bag they were carrying.
They smirked and opened it up. “Proximity detonators. They come here to pick a fight, they ain’t gonna be able to run from what they started.” They drawled.
“Good thinking, just make sure not to touch the ship. But put them close to the door and the engines.” Lex gestured to the best places.
The Merc went off to plant them with a quick salute. “Sir, yes, sir.”
“Four tracks!” Fugitive called from where he crouched, looking into the snow. He spanned the tracks with his hand. “Big… Like the bad blood who followed me to Earth… maybe bigger.” He said, his prosthetic hand curling and uncurling in agitation.
They were planning on just trying to follow the snow tracks, hoping they wouldn’t get covered by more snow or simply be hidden or covered up when Royce called for their attention. “Hey, I think we found something.”
They made the effort to get back on board to where Royce was sitting in the co-piolet chair, foot tapping with restless energy as he stared down the screen. “Closest thing to this area is a gas pumping station.” He said, expanding the holographic aerial view. “That would be a source of heat, heavily fortified, views from all 'round. The perfect little base of operations.” He murmured, already planning the approach.
'“That appears to be worth the look.” Lex said and they eyed the area. “Okay, we’ll do a sweep and see what we can see.”
They went the distance and found the oil pumping station. They gave it a quick circle in the ship, getting an aerial view of the large piece of land it sat on. No sign of the bad bloods but there was also no sign of the workers who should be running the place.
Now it was time for the drop-off. Any last-minute prep was completed and Lex landed the shuttle a short distance away. She stood at the exit ramp, the team of human and alien all behind her. First proper joint mission. How this would end would set the course for both groups.
“Okay listen up. Stay with your team, no one goes anywhere alone. You see anything, radio it in right away. For now, do not engage. We don’t know what they have brought with them or what they are capable of. We’ll scope the place out, find any entrances and exits. Any information we can find about our enemy and work out a plan. We hope they don’t know we’re coming for them yet but do not allow yourself to assume we have any advantages from that. It’s my job to get you in and out, so listen to what I tell you and we should get out of this alive for the betterment of both worlds. We ready?”
There was a chorus of “yes ma’am” and aggressive growls.
They all stayed hidden, darting through the trees, cloaked or camouflaged, within the thin winter trees as they watched the station. It was early morning, the soft light of the low sun providing long shadows for them to move within. The machinery worked with a constant drum, it was eerie here, everyone staying on edge.
“Vah’kea, you stay with me and three mercs, Thwaun-” She looked to Fugitive. “-Take Royce and Isabelle and the other three mercs. Scout the other side, be cautious. Report back anything.”
They all nodded and the three who could, cloaked up, the gunmen just staying low and back as they moved through the trees.
Her group started moving further along. The whole area was unnervingly quiet besides the creak of the machines.
“2’oclock, right below the oil container.” Isabelle commed her.
It was small but all they needed to see. A yellow hard hat covered in blood and sitting in a frozen slush of crimson. The closer they looked the more they saw sprays of blood and damaged equipment.
“Okay, I think we’re ready to call in heavy team.” It took barely a second after she pushed the coms button for Scar to answer her.
“Have you found them?” “Yes, sending our coordinates. We have not engaged yet but they seem to have taken over an oil pumping station… which means we need to be careful with our weapons at this place. We could blow it sky high, us along with it.”
“Understood, coming to find you little dagger.” He said and Lex looked back over the station. The stillness of it.
“Hurry… I don’t know what it is but something feels off here.” She told him.
“Your instinct is rarely wrong. Just ensure nothing reckless happens until we arrive.”
“That is asking a lot.” She chuckled.
He hummed “…I will ensure we move swiftly.”
Both groups kept open radio channels and relayed more signs of blood and violence but even as they got close the thick metal and excessive production of steam and heat prevented them from seeing inside the main building. They had eyes on the ways in and out and soon hunkered down as Royce planned their way in. What really worried her and kept her flicking between visions was the absolute mess of pipelines, metal and catwalks that covered the grounds around it. If there was ever a battleground set up, this was it.
They all jolted down as a small creak of a metal hinge echoed through the land as intense as a gunshot. Something was moving. “I can’t get a visual.” She whispered.
“It’s a Oomen. An injured one.” She heard Fugitive through the channel.
“It’s a worker.” Isabelle said “His leg is injured, he’s limping but making a run for it… if we can get his attention we could save him.”
“No.” Vah’kea spoke up. “This is likely a trap. A test to see if we’re watching.”
“’We’ They wouldn’t know you have humans with you and your kind would not care, this would be an ineffective trap. And how would they know we’ve arrived? Humans have outsmarted your before, he might have just escaped and we can get information from him.” She snapped back.
“They know about me.” Lex pointed out and now she could see the gasping man, half stumbling as he ran through the snow. She checked her gauntlet seeing the second ship was too far away.
“They know you’re in space.” Isabelle countered.
The poor worker was hobbling, crying out desperately. She did want to save him but everything about this screamed trap.
“No.” Lex said firmly and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping for anger but not defiance.
There was a pause before she heard a soft. “I’ll stay hidden.” From the other woman.
“Izzy, don’t! You know what happened last time- Izzy.” She heard Royce hiss.
With her thermals she watched as Isabelle drew in closer, staying low and towards the man who seemed to be gunning for a car. He tripped and fell into the snow. She crept over him, turning him around and covering his mouth when he tried to scream.
Lex cursed as Isabelle uncloaked. “It’s okay, it’s okay, I am human.” She even lifted her mask. She searched the area but still no movement, no heat signatures, no change. She looked behind her and Vah’kea let his own spear kaleidoscope out, ready to join her in swooping in when this went wrong.
The man started speaking frantically in Russian, grabbing at her arms as he looked around, gesturing to the main building he had just run from. The mask kicked in with translating. “The monsters, they’re everywhere, they killed them all, please they are everywhere… they… they were eating them… or worse.” He sobbed.
“It's okay, we’re going to get you out of here.” Isabelle comforted him and started to pull him back to the woods where she had just run from.
At first, Lex thought it was an explosion, all there was, was a burst of snow flying into the air about a foot behind Isabelle. Multiple voices yelled at Isabelle through the radio and she turned, jolting back, falling into the snow. She had moved just in time. The man wasn’t so lucky.
Lex could barely see the creature but whatever it was had leapt out from where it had been buried under the soft snow. It landed on top of the man, ripping his throat out with its teeth. The creature looked to be a scaled-up version of the creature they had captured but it was less animal-looking and instead, appeared more like a xenomorph though no tail. But its colours were a noticeable change, instead of ink black it was a shocking pure white with only some hues of teal under it. Blending in with the snow almost completely.
Lex flipped through her mask sights as Isabelle set up her gun. “They’re not appearing in any of the sights except for soundtracking. They could be anywhere under our feet, repeat, they can be anywhere.” She hissed into the coms.
Scrambling back as it focused on tearing apart and swallowing chunks of the man, Isabelle, slowly, trying not to be noticed rose up to kneel, aiming her plasma sniper. It soon turned to look at her, blood making it more visible now. It snarled and adjusted its many legs before making for another jump but in mid-air, Isabelle shot it through the head and it exploded. Teal gored sprayed down up on her, a pained cry filled the radio.
“Izzy, Izzy talk to me!” She heard Royce yelling desperately, it was the first time Lex had ever heard him lose his rough impartiality. For a moment the images of all the people she had seen melted flashed through her and Lex’s breath caught in her throat.
“I’m okay, it fucking burns cold but… I’ll be okay.” She said and she felt the collective exhale to hear her voice. That was until a few more pops of snow burst up through the station yard and through the forest around them. “We’re going to have a talk about this later Isabelle but for now you need to fall back. We can regroup-”
There was a rush of snow behind her team as the creature lunged for her, only to be shot down by a plasma caster before a few mercs emptied a few rounds into it. She scanned around and saw flashes of movement all around them.
“Regroup, head to the machinery. We’re too exposed here.” She messaged everyone before she radioed Scar again. “We’re surrounded, engaging with the enemy. See you soon, darling.”
There was a low grumble. “Of course, you are, Wife, I expected nothing less… we are gaining on your position.
“Leave some of the fights for us, Sister.” Bruiser yelled in the background.
They made a break for the station, unseen threats potentially coming from all sides. A snow serpent came to her from the side, she swung her serpent spear to slam it across its face, sending it down before she used her caster on it. A splash of its blood splashed up against her shin. Isabelle was right, it still burned, but yautja blood neutralises the acid so their tinkering with genes was off-balanced there. But their ability to be undetected made up for that flaw.
They moved as a group, the gunmen working well in providing cover for the hunters as they both sniped the far-away creatures with the plasma casters and engaged in melee if they broke through their cover fire. No time to think, it was time to act. You could only really learn where they were from movement and sound. There was one just laying in wait which she only noticed by chance from the smudge of blood that looked to be held above the snow. Lex kicked the back of a gunmen’s knee to make him drop down as she thrust her spear above him, catching the snow serpent right through the neck.
“Took too long to say duck.” She apologised and yanked them up by the arm.
“Can’t see shit here.” The merc complained, returning to just free firing around them. But he was right. She looked over at the other team who managed to meet Isabelle halfway. So she was safe at least.
She spied about the machinery the dark metal structures and catwalks which were lines with bright yellow and blue railings and signs which connected the oil storage tanks. “Try and get onto the structures! We'll have a better chance of seeing them there” she ordered both teams.
They moved slowly, guarding against all angles before they started to climb the mess of machinery. The yautja jumped up it easily to bark warnings and pick off some of the creatures coming for them. It was like an endless wave. Lex was almost at the top when the head of a creature jutted out from in the centre of the pipes and beams. It shocked her enough that one of her hands lost grip. The creature pressed a clawed hand on top of her own, crushing it to the metal. Lex grabbed her axe and slashed the creature's hand off at the wrist. The one thing you need to learn when being a climber is that you will fall.
It wasn’t a long drop but she fell on her back onto the cold hard snow with a groan. She didn’t even get a chance to breathe before there was a thud right at her feet, now bleeding from its wrist stump, the hybrid serpent stalked up to her.
She looked around desperately, her spear was currently pinned under her, she had to struggle to move and get it in her hands. The snow serpent lunged at her but she brought her spear up only just in time so it clamped onto that instead of her head. Thick drool dripped over her as she kept it back. She looked to her shoulder where her caster was sparking, having been damaged in the fall. She would have to take a big risk to be able to kill this thing.
But multiple of its limbs reared up, like a demonic spider with two claws at the end of each leg. Her spear held tight within its jaws. Lex prepared for a lot of pain when a rush of fire went over her. The heat was intense with her just laying below the stream. The creature squealed and thrashed as it burned before a halberd sliced its head in half.
The loud chittering laugh sounded above her. “I did it, look who had to be saved this time. Poor little Oomen.” She heard a snort and looked up to see Blue standing above her. Twirling his weapon around so the blood splattered off.
Lex sighed and briefly relaxed into the snow to take that breath she hadn’t been able to take. “Yeah, no, I will take the loss. You saved me.” She relented. She couldn’t fucking believe this guy but in the end, she didn’t care much for it being discouraged to save your teammates.
Scar rushed over and took her hand pulling her up and around her she watched as the human army come in in droves, shooting down the creatures around them. “You have impeccable timing, my love.” Lex said and they pressed their masks together.
“And you are a magnate of trouble, little dagger.” He replied before his caster went off over her head. “Shall we have this fight?”
“Oh, good sir, how forward of you. Yes, we may.” She replied in the over-exaggerated voice of a debutant being asked to dance as she daintily placed her hand in his.
“No flirting over the coms please.” Came a breathless Royce.
“This is really nothing compared to how they can get.” Bruiser’s voice joined in before she heard his roar and saw a creature get punted into the base of a pumping rig.
The couple laughed and Scar roped her in by the waist and jumped up to the catwalk she had been trying to get to. A few of the serpents followed them up. They briefly pressed back-to-back before Lex pushed off of him, swinging her spear to slice the creature’s chest before doing a backswing and slitting its throat.
She looked back to see Scar holding a creature up under the jaw, its claws scratching on his armour as he gripped its collar and pulled its head from its body. Behind him was one getting ready to strike so she unwound her whip, sliding under him before roping it around the head, the hooks tearing parts of the shell off before she dragged it down, using the axe in her other hand to stab through its skull. She pulled it out and gave a few more stabs until it slumped over, blood crystallising against the metal.
Behind her Scar had used the body of the one he killed to throw at one behind them, pinning it down as a bolt of plasma then took its head. He shot down a few others trying to climb up before he went back to Lex, releasing his wrist blade to skewer one crawling over to her through the chest.
“God, you’re hot when you do that.” Lex said looking up at him as she yanked out the axe from the dead creature.
Scar rumbled a purr as he looked down at her. "You're using your gift."
“Yes, familiar imagery, I am sure.” Blue huffed, breaking the heavy eye contact the couple had been having as he broke the jaw of the creatures head he was holding so he could thrust his hand into his mouth and release a stream of fire into it.
“Oh, you’re still here?” she questioned thinking he would have scampered off by now.
“Aah young love. I was the same with one of my mates.” She heard from Nefertiti and looked over to see her on the other side with Fugitive’s team. She was dragging her large hammer and absolutely splattered a snow serpent into the ground before knocking another into the hydraulics of a pump. “Before I accidentally killed him in a challenge. Such a shame.” She purred slyly.
The waves rapidly started to slow down. Lex and Scar ran along the catwalk, picking more off as they went. She was yanked back by him just as a creature leapt over, catching a gunman in its teeth and dragging him off before they both shot it. They ran all the way along the perimeter and met up with the other team.
“Hey Bruiser, get me up.” She yelled and ran for him. He gave an excited rumble and crouched, allowing her to jump off of him and spear the one which had been dangling on a crane line. She landed with a roll and bumped into Nefertiti’s dropped hammer which the yautja had left to stop her rolling off the edge. They shared a nod before they both ran back into the battle. Nefertiti threw the gold-lined hammer in a low spin which crushed or knocked down many of the snow serpents.
Fugitive joined her in finishing off the ones who still were twitching in its wake. He gave her a small push which had her back against Scar’s side as he threw a shuriken which bisected a few more heads. Fugitive had caught another and slammed it to the ground, stepping on it as he ripped it in half by the time Scar’s weapon came back to him.
Lex again started lashing at creatures with her whip, the hooked tails cracking them open like eggshells and leaving them open for many more attacks and have the gunmen a better place to aim.
It didn’t take much longer before they were standing on the catwalk which was now covered in teal ice crystals. Breathing hard and jumped to look around but no more attacks came. She leaned into Scar’s side and shared a fist bump with Fugitive.
She used this pause to take a quick inventory. They had lost some of the gunmen, a purposefully blank-faced Isabelle had cold burns over her arms and face, and a few of the yautja had deep bites and scratches but they were already healing.
Not too bad so far.
“Hey Royce.” The man looked up from where he was helping wash off the corrosive blood from Isabelle’s face.
“Yeah?” He gave the woman a quick kiss on the forehead before he joined Lex.
She pointed her spear at the large main building that the man had escaped from. “Got any ideas yet?”
Chapter 33
Summary:
Out of the snow and into the nest
Notes:
Hey I'm back!!! i had a bit of hiatus during the new years holiday, I hope everyone is doing well and had a good break if they could. <3
Chapter Text
The large hunting party had a brief pause to administer healing to those who needed it before Royce laid out the plan. They knew now from this first wave that while the mutated drones created were tough, they were still only drones. They can be wiped as long as they all worked together.
Speaking of which, Isabelle pushed herself away from the treatment she had been receiving. There were darkened burns dotting over her face but they were ignored as she came up to Lex. “I was wrong.” She stated. “I shouldn’t have defied your orders and gone after the civi. I’m sorry, I give my word that I won’t disobey again.” She said this looking forward, stone-faced as if waiting for a harsh reprimand.
Taking off her mask and dropping it away, Lex slid both hands to the back of the woman’s neck and pulled her in so their foreheads were touching and nuzzled slightly against her. It was a very yautja gesture she knew that but she had been with the aliens for so long that it was second nature to her now. This is how you ease those in your hunting party and while she had tensed up at first, Isabelle relax into it, even leaning in. “You tried to help him, that’s not wrong. I wish things could have been different and you could have helped him I really do. But this situation is more complicated than a standard hunt. I don’t ever want to push aside the notion of saving people, so… I’m sorry too, that it didn’t work. But now you know to listen to me next time, right?” She said with a little smirk, trying to cheer her up.
The woman nodded and gave a soft. “Sir, yes, sir.” and exhaled out.
“Good, you’re my team, and as much as I usually avoid the notion of self-importance, it is better that we survive… that you survive. We’re what’s standing between our world getting caught up with these sons of bitches.”
With a chuckle, Isabelle brought her hands up and clasped them behind her neck as well and they stayed like that for a moment. Eventually, Lex pulled away and pushed the woman back to finish her treatment before the burns became a permanent mark upon her face. Scar too took the time to drag Lex away and make sure her hand was fine after it had gotten a little squashed but as she assured him, it was bruised not broken.
When everyone finished their patch-up, some of the gunners having been sent away they finally started going over the plan. Most of the yautja were thankful for this to continue so they could finally go indoors. It was subtle how they stood just a little closer to each other, trying to keep away the cold.
“Alright, so this isn’t specifically the one you are at because that will take a lot longer to hack into and we don’t want to start an international incident but, here, have a map.” Casey’s voice came in through their coms and the red projected lines of a map were displayed in the middle of the hunters. It displayed the bowels of the pumping station and the machinery within it. “Good luck. Me and the techies will be on standby to play eyes on the ground.”
Royce stalked around the hologram, pointing along the pathways. “We have enough numbers to be able to separate into a few groups and come at them from all angles. If we can pinpoint where they are.”
“They’ll be here.” Scar says and pointed a claw to the generator room. “It’s where the most heat will be produced.” He gave a subtle look around at the other hunters who were trying to look like they weren’t freezing their asses off.
“These won’t be the only creatures we will have to face.” Fugitive said, stepping on one of the creature corpses at their feet. “While we faced this wave of snow serpents, it was a large cargo ship they arrived in. We can expect more creatures in the tunnels.”“It’s basically a serpent hive.” Lex pointed out. “Same rules, main fighters at the front, someone to guard the back as we get to the centre.”
“But instead of a queen waiting for us, it’s a bunch of assholes.” Royce muttered.
Isabelle nodded. “Plan still stands. We go in, divide and conquer.”
“Flank and spank is usually the best option,” Dutch smirked as he leaned back against the rail, cleaning his knife.
“We can’t risk them attempting to leave, however. They have no honour, they may try and run from this.” Nefertiti pointed out. “Focus most forces and multiple points around for the ‘flank and spank’.”- she seemed to like that turn of phrase. “But send in smaller groups to get to the centre directly. Keep eyes on them. Prevent them from escaping.”
“Scouts.” Lex held her fist out.
Without even looking at her Fugitive bumped their fists together. “Scouts.”
“Scouts.” Vah’kea agreed and brought his fist up, and she fist-bumped him too. A few of the gunners still chuckling at the sight of the yautja doing such human gestures even after all this time.
Blue snarled a little which had Scar huff out in reply to whatever he said. “Yes, we are done planning. Group up. We begin the infiltration now.”
It was time to storm the castle. There were five doors that gave entrance into the facility and they split up with one pair of hunters into a group of six to eight gunners. They would then split into smaller groups as the paths wound and branched off, Casey providing commentary with the maps to ensure they all headed in the right direction. Lex, Vah’kea and Fugitive would stay in their larger group until they reached a point where they would break off and head directly to the centre. There they would recon the bad bloods while the forces were busy and distracted with the larger groups.
Lex of course paired up with Scar, both leading their little charge of a handful of gunners. As they stalked through the halls, she noticed him looking down at her and she looked up at him. They both could tell the other was smiling. “This reminds me of how we first met.” She had been thinking the exact same thing.
“Makes for a great early anniversary, hey?” she teased and gave him a little bump with her hip. “All that is missing is the hordes of drooling monsters and your kin trying to kill me.” A few feet in and they heard a low threatening rumble from the winding depths ahead of them.
“Looks like my wife will not be disappointed. Here comes the hoard to fight.” He purred excitedly as he extended the points of his shuriken. They set the gunners up and then with one more look at each other, ran forward. They check and unlike outside, these creatures were showing up on their visor sights.
She had heard that some of the humans had been calling the serpents bugs and the creatures they found in the tunnel would very much fit that description. They came up to her waist but were very long, its head a sizable snout which curved more into beak-like points with a toothy mouth between them. It walked on four insect-like segmented legs with crab-claw-like grabbers at its chest. They started scampering towards them, the sharpened legs actually digging onto the concrete walls so they were running on their side, long thick tails thrashing behind them.
“Team Scar’lex engaged.” She heard Brackett say into the coms.
She and Scar started using their casters to peg them off while a few gunners kneeled between them and cleaned up with the guns. They would step back when they needed to reload as to not leave any pauses in the wall a fire, allowing another gunner to just take their spot.
“Team Brus’kea engaged.” They hear Brackett again and after another short pause. “Team Oxyn-gold engaged.”
They held them back like that for a while but there were so many that one eventually got through and leapt. It pounced on a gunner and soon another pounced and was wrestled back by Scar but that broke their formation and now it was a free for all.
Another call out “Both Royce-abelle and Fuggie-blue also engaged. All teams have made contact.” Echoing down the halls they could even hear the fighting going between all the teams throughout the large industrial complex.
The narrow tunnels were both helpful and hindering, unlike within a real serpent nest they could only be attacked from the front or back. They didn’t have any enemies falling from the ceiling or sides. But dealing with bullets flying around them meant they needed to be much more careful of friendly fire. She used her whip for the reach, aiming for the segments to rip off their limbs and patches of chitin. She didn’t know how long they slugged through fighting through the halls but eventually, no more creatures came for them.
Their path eventually led them to an open space filled with boilers and back pressure vessels that were refining the fuel. The open space was now making her nervous. She stayed low and crept through. “Lex your exit is just past this room. Take the first left and you’ll be on your way to the centre.”
They headed to the door but with a roar, Scar yanked her back by her belt. From behind the machinery, something came from the shadows, at first, it looked like two creatures coming out but it was oddly shaped legs which each branched out into four feet like appendages. The centre of its body had four spikey tusks which guarded a gaping maw, its tusks flared out as it roared out.
Bullets and plasma blasts stormed down upon it but its mouth closed and thick plates seemed to raise up on its body. Barely doing any damage to the damned thing.
When the fire died down it charged for them on its four weird-shaped legs, most people dived out of the way, those who didn’t were trampled underfoot and left gnarled and mangled. The massive, heavy behemoth couldn’t stop its and crashed into one of the machines, fuel now streaming out. “Watch yourself, and if that gets lit up this whole place is gonna blow!” she yelled before turning to Scar who was watching intently. “This thing is too powerful, we’re gonna have to try something new.”
The behemoth turned back to them and they were already for another charge that no one was prepared for when its tongue lashed out and curled around one of the gunners. He screamed as he was dragged back and before anyone could do anything he was pulled into its large mouth. The tusks pierced him as they were used to stuff him into the mouth and then locked up, keeping him in.
There was a horrified pause and then the shooting and yelling picked up, the behemoth charged again. It banged around a few times before its tongue lashed out to another gunner, dragging her towards it.
Lex was close enough that she slid up beside her, doing her best to fight back against the pull. The woman cried out in fear, as Lex’s metal boots scraped at the floor as she started getting dragged along too. Alone she wasn’t strong enough to pull her back but she would do what she could to keep her team safe. “Don’t let go, don’t let me go.” The merc begged of her. Finally, a few other mercs came and grabbed them too, helping her resist the pull of the creature.
Scar took this opportunity to sneak in, Lex not even realising until the creature cried out and suddenly there was a teal liquid-filled injector stuck into the softer flesh within the abomination’s mandibles. She heard the sound of a wrist blade being unleashed and suddenly the behemoth’s tongue was cleaved apart. The tension went slack and they all fell back, the woman exclaiming in relief as a few other gunners grabbed the woman to pull her away.
The creature screamed out, it’s now severed tongue bleeding steadily. The behemoth swung its tree-like forelimbs before Scar could get away and crushed him up against the wall. She could hear the creak of his amour and the struggle of his breath as it crushed him to the concrete.
Lex yelled as she charged forward and lit up her whip, she lashed it so it wrapped around the joined of the arm and she pulled. The creature thrashed and screeched something horrible, what was left of its bloody tongue lashing out to find her but no longer had the reach. She kept pulling to try and get Scar free, he managed to get a grip of the appendage himself and started pushing it away before it suddenly dropped. Not just away from Scar but onto the floor as it had become completely detached from the body where her whip had just gone through it. Scar shook himself out and picked up his fallen weapon as he came around to her.
“You’re getting stronger.” He praised, low appreciative purr rumbling from his chest.
“What no… that wasn’t… that couldn’t have been me.” she quickly turned off the heat from the whip before she was the one who blew them up. They both watched as the creature continued to wail and thrash before its other thick leg crumbled, the bones within suddenly breaking. It fell and they could see now the site of the injection was quickly turning pale grey and spreading over its body. “Brackett, you getting this?” Lex asked after pressing the coms mic.
“Hell yeah, Let’s go! It worked. Science!” Lex heard her yell from the other end of the coms. The creature was still alive, but it didn’t seem to be in a state where it could do much so she continued to watch it as they got the gunners moving to pass around it. “I can try and make it work quicker now that we know it does what it’s meant to. Keep up the data flow. You got this!” There was some more confidence in their ability to do this and getting this enzyme developed would change the tide of this war very quickly. Lex turned to Scar and gave his hand a squeeze in an exciting moment of hope.
But no time for that. There was a loud sound behind them as more creatures were coming. Scar left her to inspect the leaking fuel tank and found a small metal drum container which he only partly filled up.
Lex’s whip still shone bright with heat, and he tilted his head towards it. “I hope you know what you’re doing, darling.”
He rolled it down the hallway, a leading trail of the black oil dribbling behind it. The oil drum was caught in the legs of one of the approaching bug creatures. She cracked her heated whip and sparks rose up, igniting the trail. “Fire in the hole!” She yelled and they all ran, ducking with Scar joining her as the loud bang went passed them. The fire however went down the hall and not into this room.
“Oh, look you didn’t kill us.” She chucked to Scar.
He took her hand and squeezed. “Unity, we both would have killed everyone.” She laughed at him.
They made their way down the hall and listened as a few more teams went in and out of engagement. Lex soon reach the section where she would split off and find the bad bloods. She pushed up her mask as she went up on her toes, pulling Scar in by his dreads to press a kiss to the mouth of his mask.
“Scouts honour that I’ll save some glory for you and not just win this little war with my squad. As tempting and easy as it would be to.” She purred playfully.
Scar roped her in tightly, pulling out the filter tubes with one hand so he could pull his mask away. “We’ll finish this together; I know that is your favourite way to finish.” He teased before he leaned down to nuzzle at her forehead. “Lex. I’m so proud of the warrior you have become.” She took his face in her hands and lowered from the nuzzling so she could slip her tongue into his mouth, Scar quickly licking back.
There were a few wolf whistles and a few horrified exclaims from the mercs around them. Right, they had an audience. With one more quick peck to the centre of his face, Lex dropped back down and quickly wiped her mouth. “Okay…” she cleared her throat. “You all make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid and heroic. See you at the boss battle.” She returned her mask to its proper place and ran.
Behind her, she heard the powerful yautja howl as Scar ensured all attention would be going in his direction as she doubled back and was led through some less direct paths. She cloaked and now prioritised stealth. She only saw only a few packs of creatures and kept out of their way as they were headed for Scar or any of the other times. She had to let them go, she reminded herself, his was part of the plan.
She neared the centre where the heat sinks were, all she needed to do now was fine a vantage point. She found a few offices, some filled with slaughtered and half eaten workers. She could heard all the distance howls, screeches and gun shots muffled but this steel and concrete. It was a very liminal experience here on the fringes of battle.
“Lex.” She jumped. That sounded like Scar’s voice, echoing from down one of the hallways. But he wasn’t meant to be here so she didn’t even entertain the idea that it actually had been him. “Lex.” The voice repeated an exact mimic.
Lex slowly crept with her weapons held up aloft as she tried to find the direction of the noise. She only just heard something behind her before she was turning to swing her knife as she was pushed into a wall not by Scar but by Blue. “Shhhh.” He hissed. “I found them.”
They both looked down to where the tip of her knife was pressed into the skin just under his chest armour. She had been so close to slipping in between his ribs and if not killing him, greatly injuring him.
But just that fact that she had almost killed him had him rumbling aggressively from the indignation. For a moment he seemed livid that she was able to do that before he simmered down. “You shouldn’t have snuck up on me.” She countered and pulled the knife away. The tip glowing green with his blood. “What happened to you? Casey said your camera went down.”
He wasn’t wearing his mask anymore but he didn’t seem to be injured anywhere. “Got broke as I killed one of the larger abominations.”
“And then you got lost, huh?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.
He gave a low growl and pulled away from her. “Doesn’t matter, I am the one who found the bad bloods, even before your scouts.” He said, as pissy as ever. “You remember that. Now come, but stay quiet, I don’t want to hear a whimper from your loud Ooman mouth.” He growled but she calmly nodded and followed.
Blue took here through the winding pathways. He brought her to a slatted viewing window which gave them a vantage point into the generator room. At first, she only saw steam and masses of pumping machinery and tanks full of the fuel. Even with her thermal sights things were a little hazy with the amount of heat being pumped into the room.
But moving through the clouds of water vapor she saw some movement. There were four hulking yuatja down there. Just as big if not bigger than the upgraded predator they had fought before. And if they were anything like the upgraded predator, this was going to be a rough fight even with four against their own massive hunting party. But Lex still liked their odds.
In her ear she heard Casey informing the group that Lex had visual on the bad bloods, causally dropping that she was with Blue.
There was a soft “What?” coming in a burst with fighting noise around before the push to talk was off again. The tone had her nervous but Brackett gave a quick and sweet recount oh what she had said. “Elite, don’t react.” She could hear now that it was Fugitive, still currently in battle with his larger team. She could barely hear him above the battle but his voice was clipped and greatly stressed. At first, she thought he was worried about the bad bloods but what he said after chilled her blood. “That Hunter had been with me on the other side of the facility. There would have been no way for him to have found his way to you by accident. He would have had to double back outside the facility and follow your path to have done so.”
There was an uneasy pause and the coms were silent.
Lex took a small step back, looking at the other. Keeping her voice even as she spoke. “Great job, hunter. Why don’t we regroup and prepare our attack? You’ll have the first strike to gain the glory and honour since you found them.” She said and steadily moved away.
But Blue reached out and pressed his hand to the wall, blocking her in. “You too afraid to strike first, ooman? Only cowards, unsure of their ability, plan as much as you do on the field of battle.” He chuckled but it was devoid of humour.
“This is a war. Unity and honour, that’s was the first lesson Clan leader wanted me taught. There are four bad bloods, more than enough to go around, let’s go ensure the scouts get through at least. We’re a team, we’re doing this together.”
“Real hunters, real yautja leaders, go forth and show their power. They defeat the enemies with their own hands.” He took a step forward, Lex took another step back. But there was only concrete behind her. “You think you still deserve to have hunters grovelling at your feet and pretending you deserve to be in the position that you are? You are just a Ooman whore hoping others are too afraid of the one who mounts you to ever break the illusion of the joke.”
“Alexa, the Scouts are heading towards you, they’re only minutes away, you just need to last until then.” Brackett told her but she could see it in Blue’s eyes. She wasn’t going to last that long before Blue did something stupid.
So, she did something stupid first. She stepped right up to him in challenge. “This human whore still saved your life before I even finished my training, and right before now I almost killed you by accident. Why don’t you think about this, because we’re going to win this fight and as long as you don’t break the clan rules you can make it out of this place alive.”
But he didn’t take the advice. Blue lunged at her and she had already taken hold of her dagger again, she tried to get his neck he moved too fast. She grabbed the other's arm as her blade sunk into his collarbone. He hissed but didn’t pull away, instead keeping her closer. Blue kicked out the window grating. “I won’t tell them just how worthless your blood really is. Not when they offered so much in return for it.”
her stomach flipped as the ground rushed away and she was thrown through the window, falling the room below.
Chapter 34
Summary:
shan't suffer fools to live
Notes:
Meeting the bad bloods
Chapter Text
It was maybe a three or four story drop, but it felt longer with how fast Lex needed to think out a plan. A fall from this height wouldn’t kill her if she managed to land correctly but it won’t be pleasant and she could still break bone. This would also land her right into the heart of the captured nest. She couldn’t afford a decrease to her ability to fight and defend herself.
There was a glimpse of something to her side and not even caring what it was, she reached for it. Her fingers wrapped around a thick metal pipe, the dry friction of it burned her hands but she just gritted her teeth. Lex managed to hold it for a second before her weight caught up to her with a rough jolt. She hadn’t managed to grip it well enough and the force had her slip off and resume falling.
The pause had been enough to at least slow her fall and she managed to land with a roll. It still cause a flash of pain through her joints, and she got a little scraped up but her tactical suit saved her from the worst of it. She ended up flat on her back, her heart slamming against her ribs. She gave a quick self-check. Everything was still in one piece. She let out a shaky exhale.
But there was no time to rest.
The clatter of metal against the floor signalled Blue jumping down after her. Lex sat up and watched him step out of the clouds of steam which hung around the machines that were producing it. He pursued her with slow deliberate steps which had Lex shuffle back on her hands. Her eyes were on him, being the immediate threat to her life, but Lex was quickly reminded what had been waiting for her in this room. The rumble of someone much bigger suddenly came from and uncomfortably close position behind her. She had just allowed herself to get herded to them.
Freezing where she was, Lex tilted her head up and at first there was just a hazy sheen of the cloaking device before it dropped away. Red eyes looked back down at her. He was a copper scaled yautja, with the same red lines going through him as the upgraded predator had. He wasn’t wearing a mask, and she could tell why, bone like spikes broke out from the flesh of his crest and twisting like a crown of spikes branches sprouting from his skull. Not only on his head, these spikes seemed to be jutting out in random places over his whole body including some which curved along his arms. They were shorter but looked to be replacing his need for wrist blades.
The bad blood towered over her, watching her curiously before he reached down for her. Lex skittered back the other way and got to her feet. She was hopelessly out numbered with only two, the only viable plan was a hasty retreat. She turned to the nearest gap in machinery but her escape routes were soon cut off. More cloaks dropping until she saw all four of the mutated Bad Bloods surrounding her.
They were all wrong in some way or another. With Fugitive and the others of his clan who she had met, had some physical changes too but they had been pretty minimal. Their morphology staying mostly the same, the act of splicing was for buffing what they had. But they wished to remain as yautja, not changing themselves into something completely different.
To her left, there was one yautia that made her sick to even look at. His mandibles were drooped on his face as if he was slack jawed, with a steady stream of putrid drool running from his mouth. She could see where some had touched his armour that while it wasn’t burning his skin, it was acidic and chewing through metal. There were also purple circular markings, almost like large leopard spots covering his dark grey scales which the colour alone warned away the thought of making any contact with.
Another opposite her was large and bulky, four arms of equal strength were at his sides, His main body was the same creamy colour as most yautja but his arm to his wrist was brown with black stripes patterns. The two lower arms where a ruddy brown colour with a few discoloured fingers. Two of his mandibles were off-colour in black and pale yellow. A chunk of his leg was greener. He had random tendrils that turned suddenly grey, brown or blue. Like he was built up from different yautja in some alien Frankenstein experiment.
The last one was the oddest of the four, purely because while he was bigger of course, he didn’t seem to be outwardly changed in any other way. Which just meant she wouldn’t be able to predict what he would be able to do in advance. But She knew there was something as she could see that all four of them had those red markings which spiderwebbed through their body. Possible scars from the cobbled-together mechanisms they used to splice themselves.
She studied them. They studied her. Crackles and cricks sounded between as they spoke to each other, obviously sizing her up. She kept her head held high and her expression set without fear or concern.
Blue spoke suddenly, breaking the tension and all eyes went to him as he gestured to her aggressively and then spread out his hands like an offer. Suddenly she felt like an item being bartered upon. She stared them down and pulled out her spear. That made them all chuckle.
“You have much spirit for such a small thing.” The one with the crown spoke from her side. He was only the second largest but the way he carried himself with how the others seemed to defer to him in their movement led her to assume he was the leader. With his crown of thorns King was a fitting name to call him since she doubted, she would get an actual name.
“So, you can speak and understand me?” She asked and Blue stomped towards her but King held up his hand.
“I may have been watching this little backwater planet. All the different biomes make it attractive for a gaming planet, wouldn’t you agree?” His tusks clicked in a chuckle. ”So, is this the part where you cower before me? Do you wish to beg for your life, little Ooman?” she could hear the patronising tilt to it even when his voice sounded like a thunderstorm.
“No. I’m not a child.” She sneered and pointed her spear to Blue. “I wish to demand for his life.”
Kings eyes narrowed at her and he spoke to the others, translating what she had said going by the deep laugh that went through all the bad blood. She could see that she surprised them with her request, her ex-team mate clanged the butt of his weapon loudly against the concrete floor. “What are you playing at you little c-” But Blue was cut off again.
“My, my, brash as well. Little Oooman, we made a deal, in return for bringing us your DNA. You, the Ooman who our brother planned to take back for us before you aided in his death. Do you expect us to break our words…” He paused and hummed in thought. “What do you have to offer?” his following purr was like an old worn-out motor.
Blue snarled and seemed to try and protest but the bad blood leader ignored him and continued to look down at Lex. The betrayer surprised at a betrayal. It would have been funny If she wasn’t livid at the moment.
“I gave my word to him for something long ago as well. Allow me to fight him. if I lose, I will lay down my weapons and come willingly with you. if I win-” Blue scoffed but Lex ignored him and continued talking. “Then he wasn’t worth keeping around anyway so I suppose that benefit is what I give to you.” She pointed out before taking a few steps closer to King, meeting his eyes and hoping this was aggressively enough to appeal to his yautja nature. “Besides, you can’t tell me that it would insult the honour of your clan when you don’t have any to begin with.” The leader’s mandibles twitched in contemplation, that broken low purr in his chest was a good sign.
“Don’t try and use your wiles here, whore.” Blue said coming up beside her. He spat at her feet before turning back to the leader. “She is just attempting to stall for time. There is a clan of hunters and oomans converging to this point right now. She is hoping to be rescued like a coward.”
“I am hoping-” She turned to look at Blue. “- to rip his throat out.”
While she glared at her former clan member, King was able to grab her this time, his hand coming under her jaw. Not hurting her, yet, just moving her head to properly look over her. Eyes lingering on the mark she carried on her cheek. She steeled herself not to show any fear, just the anger she felt. It was risky but she even lifted her spear to hold directed to the bad blood's neck. He glanced at it and the spikes on his arm grew, she could see the tips of the bone way too close to her eye. But they didn’t pierce her, instead, she was let go again. “I think will want to see this. It might prove to be entertaining enough. She looks so tiny but still believes in every word she speaks. It will be good to see if she was truly worth adding to our clan’s ability. Fight her for us.” He said to Blue.
Blue hesitated for just a second but it was one she noticed and enjoyed. He then shook himself a little and gave a nod. “She might have made it this far but she is only Ooman. I still want my place in a high position in the clan even if I break her.” And of course, he was mad that his position wasn’t rising as fast as the others.
If she was honest, this was bidding for more time to allow the party to get to her position but for a large part, she really wanted to humiliate Blue in front of a crowd. Bad bloods or the clan. If this works, hopefully, both. She looked around the room, eyeing the other shutters. She was sure at least one of the scouts was already watching.
“Wrist blades and… one other weapon.” King announced, leaning against one of the machines, truly seeming to enjoy what was about to happen. “I do not wish this to end too soon.” Lex dropped everything to the side with the exception of her whip and wrist blades. She looked back and saw Blue with his halberd in his hands. The yautja lazily spun the weapon in his fingers, putting on an air of boredom. Blue still didn’t want to admit how much of a threat this little human was to him. No matter how many times she had proven it. Now he’s run out of chances.
They stood in the centre of the surrounding bad bloods. Literally pausing the war just to get entertainment from their prey. The lawless bastards that they were.
Blue got into a fighting stance and roared in a powerful burst which echoed through the cavernous room. He looked at her smugly, knowing she didn’t have her mask to echo Scar’s roar for her. So, she didn’t try. Might as well go for a more human taunt.
She stayed stony and walked a few steps closer, not being cowed by his anger. “Do you remember what I told you after our first fight? After I knocked you down. I warned you, if you ever challenge me again, I will kill you. Now I am going to keep my word.” She said clear and cold. “You started this, predator. Now, for your arrogance, for the disrespect that you bring to our clan and …for Taka’inde my friend, that you allowed to die. I will rip you apart. Your death will go to Taka but that doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy myself during this fight.”
Now 'thems fighting word.
Blue glanced back at the bad bloods watching them, again more scared for his image than actually learning anything. “That was a long time ago. And quite brave for you to bring up when you still almost died in that fight.”
“I had only one official hunt under my belt, three if you count the ones I stumbled upon. I still won. What chance do you think you even have now?” She laughed in his face.
And there was that tell-tale rumble. You would think he would realise that her plan never changed from the first fight. Far too easily, she made him angry and now it would only take a moment for him to get stupid.
They watched each other for a breath.
Blue made the first move and ran towards her. Halberd left on his back and instead his fists were raised. So, she didn’t pull out her weapons yet either. For now, Lex danced around him, evading and redirecting his strikes. Refamiliarizing herself with his moves. As much as she teased him at the start, she wouldn’t make the mistake of thinking he wasn’t a threat, or not treating this as a proper battle. They fought for years on the same hunting team, she knew he did have strength and prowess.
He managed to clip her a few times but she was fast and didn’t allow him to get a direct hit in. She let him get close and kicked into his gut. He didn’t stumble but it still counted as a proper body shot. She smirked and started evading again but now looked for opportunities to lodge her boot into his flesh when she could.
"It was the clan which brought about disrespect. A soft meat, being given the right of an Elite. All those years I had to pretend that you earned your place in clan, in the hunting party. I put up with it for the leader but a fucking Elite? And then other clans, bring on human pets, like you are able to be more than a source of bones to pick our teeth with. Your existence here is a disgrace to our ways. More so than these bad blooded pricks." Blue’s next swing came with his wrist blades extending, Lex only just got her gauntlets up in time to shield from the blades but the weight used in the blade knocked her over. Lex just rolled with the momentum before she pulled out her whip. Blue brought up his halberd. "I'm going to present your severed head to your 'mate' before I watch them rip him apart."
"Them? At least you know that you wouldn't stand a chance against Scar." She simply smirked back.
They circled each other again, he growled and snapped at her. She spared a second to look around them, each of the bad bloods were watching with some fascination. They might have defected long before Dutch was around so this was the first time they have seen prey suitably fight back. But how much of a target she was making herself. The facility was still thrumming with sounds of battle. Her clan was getting closer. Her friends would be around watching her for any trouble. All she needed to do was focus on kicking Blue’s ass.
Lex cracked her whip and saw as Blue jumped to black with his weapon. He swung the long weapon but she managed to duck in time. She properly lashed out with her whip but he brought his halberd in a full circle and intercepted the lashes. Twisting the cord around his own weapon. There was a moment when they both pulled against each other.
It would be stupid to waste her strength trying to match his so she waited for him to tug hard before using the extra pull to rush at him, kicking off his knee to do a high kick, getting his mandibles. This brought her way too close and he managed to elbow her across the face before she could regain distance. Her whip did untangle and she moved back, blood must be dripping from her nose and her eyes watered a little but she didn’t acknowledge it yet. She didn’t have time to bleed.
She flicked the switch on her whip and the already heated room made it stifling. Sweat was made worst by the machine's humid puffs of steam which clung to her. Lex twirled the whip around her, cracking burn marks into the floor as she moved towards him, she could see the light of her whip now reflected in his beady eyes as he watched her move, calculating to see if he needed to catch it again.
He knocked the lash away and turned, cracking the end of his weapon into her ribs and that hurt. She did the same move, again and again, he knocked it back and sent the blade of his halberd which just skimmed her stomach, slicing through part of her tactical suit and leaving a red line on her belly. But she yanked the whip away quickly, acting like she was doing the same move a third time but just cracked the cord in the air before aiming a real attack on his leg. The burning metal pressed to his scales and he cried out loudly in pain before Lex tugged the whip back. His calf had blackened lines of being branded and jagged rips in his skin from where the hooks had latched into flesh. He had a limp now which tipped the fight into her favour again.
Now they had more of a back and forth again, striking, blocking, redirecting. At one point Blue almost pulled her whip away from her but he jolted from a miss-step on his injured leg and she managed to get it back. They were both getting tired So Lex just winked at him. “No wonder you had to leave the clan. This is just pathetic. You’d never get a higher position than a little human like me even if you started grabbing your ankle for someone.”
He snarled and rushed for a finishing move and Lex met it with her own.
There was a spike if pain as his weapon's axe tip managed to slice at her side, but it was a much smaller wound than what she had dealt. Her whip had wrapped around his neck and she pulled, the scent of burning flesh filled the air. His halberd dropped with a clatter his hands scrambled, also burning as he tried to unwrap the burning cord from around him. Their mouth open as he gasped to get any air but no longer made proper sounds. She held him like that for a moment before pulling her whip away. He dropped to his knees, body shaking from the pain.
“Overconfidence has always been your weakness and you never worked to improve upon it.” She said, pressing one hand to her side as she slowly walked towards him. She wouldn’t leave him to suffer long, she wasn’t that cruel. “Go face whichever of the gods you believe in and let them know that the human you betrayed sent you.” She held her fist under his chin and then released the blades, letting them travel deep into his skull. He grew slack and suddenly she was the only thing keeping his body up. She collapsed the wrist blades before her victory was cut short with her falling from his weight.
She didn’t feel like roaring in victory as she had in many fights. She just dropped to her knee to snatch his halberd. It was a little too big for her to comfortably use but it would make a good addition to her side of the trophy room. She gave one more look to Blue and the puddle of green forming under him before she turned away.
Lex started dragging the trophies to her pile of things, she didn’t feel right without her other weapons and she needed access to her medkit. Lex had half expected this but she was still disappointed when the miss-match hulk of a yautja move to block her path to her things. His foot came down hard on the pile. She frown as she heard the crunch of metal and saw the spear her clan leader had given to her that night in the Arctic bend from its weight.
“That was my first proper spear. I killed a Queen for that” She looked up at the bad blood with contempt. The yautja just snorted at her.
“And apparently it will have been your last. Come now, you stated that if you won you wouldn’t be coming willingly. Seeing how you can fight. It would make little sense to allow you to be armed again.” King spoke up from where he was still comfortably leaning on the heated machinery. The bad bloods started closing in on her now, she didn’t have a chance against them before, and she certainly didn’t now, but she still clutched the halberd and her burning whip tighter. “Your blood will be a welcome addition to us. You can even consider it to be an honour. Since you value that idea so profoundly.”
There was a grind of metal as a few of the shuddered window bars were ripped out from the outside of the room and a few objects were thrown through the gaps, landing in scattered places. It was only when she saw them skittered along the floor near them did she notice what it was.
Flash bangs.
She ducked to the floor, covering her ear and squeezing her eyes shut. The pulse of the bombs going off when through the room in a moment of disorientated chaos.
Heavy things slammed onto the floor and the roar of the other scouts rang through the room.
Backup finally decided to step in.
Chapter 35
Summary:
first blood
Notes:
Heeeyyyy so i know i said the chaps would be more infrequent but i didnt mean this long but unfortunately i was away, and then busy and than tried and then really sick, even know I'm editing this between preparing for a big thing but i needed to get this out. hopefully it wont be this long again haha
Chapter Text
Lex was disorientated from the force of the multiple flashbangs going off. She could feel the surrounding yautja roars through her skull more than actually hearing them with the high pitch ringing in her ears. She stayed low and picked a direction to scamper to. Hopefully staying away from what was happening behind her. Lex ended up hidden in a narrow space in one of the machines, hoping the heat from both it and her still cooling whip would keep her out of their sights.
She tried to orientate herself as the dizziness wore off, visibility was even harder in the room now and she would still need to backtrack to find her other weapons. But she would need the bad bloods to move away from it first. She had lost enough equipment already.
This hadn’t gone the way she had planned it to, but she had released many years ago that no matter how carefully curated and prepared for, plans can and will go wrong. All you can do is take a deep breath, feel the disappointment, and then make it up as you go.
Lex wiped the blood off of her face where it still trickled down from her nose as she waited, listening out for the fighting currently going on around her. There were shadows moving everywhere in the smoke. Others had joined the fight but while she had a good idea of who it was, she wasn’t about to rush out blindly to go find them yet.
New plan: Locate her allies, fetch her dropped equipment, and go after that bastard who broke her spear.
Possibly in that exact order. Maybe. If that bad blood was lucky. It was a small thing but it made the fight with that hunter personal to her. That spear was one of her oldest belongings after she had to give everything up to join with Scar in the stars.
The new plan quickly started to complete itself as a warped shape moved out from the smoke. Lex looked up cautiously, still on high alert and expecting an attack. As heavy and unwieldy as the weapon was, she lifted the halberd at the figure prepared to fight her way out of the corner. However, the cloaking dropped revealing Vah’kea who ignored her weapon and offered his clawed hand to her instead. “That’s some hell of a sense of timing you boys have.” Lex said, the relief bare in her voice. She wrapped her hand around his wrist so she could be yanked up to stand on her feet again.
“We wouldn’t dare interrupt your moment, sister.” He said and once on her feet. He gave a quick look over her to ensure she wasn’t injured in any serious way before he let her go. Her friend unhooked something off of his belt to hand to her. It was her mask. “I believe this has not run out of use for you yet.”
She smiled up at him as she quickly took it, looking over the dark metal and red paint. “Oh, thank Paya, I was worried that I had lost her too.” Lex said and held the mask tightly in her fingers. She wasn’t ready to commission a new one just yet. “Thanks, brother, I owe you one. You’re the best.” She said and gave him a hug. He just fondly shook his head at her even as his hand pressed against her back.
“Just try not to lose it again. You are in charge of this hunt, and for the most part, I do not want to deal with how irate your husband would get if he couldn’t communicate with you.” He said it lightly but still squeezed her a little closer.
She stepped back and gave him a nod. “Thanks for coming with me, friend.”
“You’re my clan. You can be assured that that means something to me.” He leaned down to touch his forehead to her own. “Besides, you’re pretty entertaining to have around, friend.”
“Well, don’t start getting mushy on me hunter.” She chuckled before Vah’kea pulled back and started searching around them. Lex fitted the mask back over her face, gulping breaths of the clearer air from the filters instead of the bitter smoke. “Alexa, back on the coms, did I miss anything?” There was an explosion of sound in her ears as others from the party started a series of rapid-fire questions, voices and growls overlapping each other in a messy cacophony which almost had her pull off the mask again.
“I’m okay! Stop yelling.” She called into the coms, trying to sound firm but after that betrayal, the sounds of her family and friends caring for her was like a salve over the emotional sting. While she was dealing with the coms, Vah’kea took her wrist and motioned for her to get lower as he led her through the room. They circled around the sounds of fighting which still had not stopped within the depths of the room. She trusted him completely as her eyes and let Vah’kea pull her through the maze of machines and fuel tanks as she focused on the coms. “Blue struck a deal with the bad bloods to sell me out to them. Seeing as their brother died during his attempt to get me, it had been tempting enough. He used that to intrigue them and buy his way into getting a better position in their clan.” She paused for the expected collection of growls and swears that rose through the coms.
“Did he have time to regret his decision before you slew him?” Scar’s voice came, cutting through the background noise, heavy with aggression. She knew it would have been hard on him to stay back and do his job clearing the hoards while everything went down. God, she missed him. If this hadn’t been her mission, she would have preferred to stay by his side for this fight but she had a position to live up to.
For now, she could only savour the low rumble of his voice and endeavour to not disappoint him. “He maybe had a few minutes to choke on his decisions.” that gave her another positive rumble from her husband. Vah’kea led them to another hiding spot where they hunkered down again, he seemed to be looking for something… or someone.
“You did your duty well, young Elite.” She heard from Nefertiti. “We never allow one of our own to suffer the shame of becoming an honourless deserter bad blood. Dying by your hand was too good for him.”
“You all making up ground in the tunnels?” she asked, looking around them, she could barely see anything in the room even in her different visions but by the sounds of it the fight was definitely getting closer.
Dutch spoke up now. “The waves are lessoning but we’ve lost a few mercenaries too. We’re pressing in to get to you but if we truly want to clear this building, we will need to get creative.” Creative probably meant explosive. With no surviving humans and a lot of fuel, this place will probably go up magnificently.
“Do what you need to do.” She told him. “We’ll get more data but we won’t be able to keep them distracted forever. They’re confident that we can’t hurt them so I don’t think they will run just yet but we can’t really predict their moves.”
“Are you joined with the scouts again?” Scar asked, still looking out for her.
“I’m with Vah’key.” She said and felt her friend briefly squeeze his hand around her wrist. “But I can’t see where-” Before she could even finish Fugitive sailed right past them and crashed into one of the oil tanks, leaving a large dent in the metal before he dropped to the floor with a whine. “Oh… yep, I’m with both the boys now.”
“They do not know what we are capable of so if needed we will be able to take out at least one before you get here.” Vah’kea said with the full confidence of a good hunter. But he was right, they did hold one hell of an advantage. An unknown advantage at that.
“Do what you need to do.” Dutch replied back and she and Vah’kea nodded in agreement.
“You’ll find their weakness, we all believe in you and the scouts’ abilities, wife.” Scar spoke up again.
“And I trust in your strength, husband. See you soon. Over and out.” Lex muted herself from the comms again and looked over that the hunter still laying on the floor. Her mask let her see his heart was still beating and nothing seemed to be broken or cut off. “You okay there, buddy?” she called out and Fugitive gave a thumbs up with his sparking, metal hand while still face down on the floor.
“He was keeping them distracted while I got to you before they could.” Vah’kea told her.
And speaking of, them. There was a low growl which was getting closer to their position. They needed to get back into this game.
Lex and Vah’kea rushed to Fugitive, helping him up as Fourarms approached, his muscled and towering form looming over them. With her mask back, Lex showed her displeasure to the bad blood with a recording of a rumbled growl before speaking to her friends. “This one is mine.”
“Rather selfish of you, my Elite. What about the rest of us” Fugitive chuckled, shaking himself off and pushing them away to stand on his own again.
“Why? I killed an ex-clan member, you’re the one with the actual upgraded bad-blood body count here.” She countered back.
Sharp words were barked out from the bad blood as he got into a wide stance and growled. His thick arms flex to show his strength as four wrist blades sliced through the air around him. He was posturing, willing them into a fight. It was intimidating for sure but he was also threatening a group that had no respect for him.
“He asked if ‘us pups’ were finished squealing yet.” Fugitive told her before facing him again. “If you are offering to surrender then I guess we can cut our conversation short. I do have a Ooman who promised to show me the intimacies which can be shared through these communication devices. That offer would be well worth more of my time than brawling with these honourless bad bloods.” The hunter seemed very pleased with himself and Vah’kea just sighed in disappointment.
“I thought being away from Bruiser would gain me more serious partners.” He muttered, which made fugitive chuckle. “And now I am also once again, against my will, learning way too much about ooman mating rituals than I ever wished to.” And he really didn’t need to bring her and Scar into it with that comment.
“Oh, but now I’m thinking about my mate too. I’ve definitely shown him how that game works before.” Lex said, teasing him right back and Vah’kea looked up to the heavens, most likely beseeching his gods. Before that god became their god of Death Lex dropped the playfulness and stepped forward eyeing up Fourarms. She clanged the end of the halberd on the ground and she raised her chin to address the bad blood.
She spoke loud and clear. “While I want to personally kill you, I unlike your ego-driven and foolish clan, stay bound by our codes of honour. If you agree to lay down your weapons, in accordance with the Matriarch of Yautja prime we will strip you of your armour and drop you on a hunting planet for you to either earn redemption in a few decades or so… or just die an honourable death in a proper hunt.” She said with an air of formality to match her status and pointed the weapon at him. “Do you yield?”
There was a pause and Fugitive leaned in closer. “You’re really giving him such an option? He's a coward for sure but only the young take that path when offered. Besides, he doesn’t deserve an honourable death, there is no coming back from the abomination that he has become.” Fugitive asked with a tilt of his head.
She looked back at him and shrugged. “It’s the right thing to do. I am an Elite now.”
“As am I.” Vah’kea reminded her. “I would still just kill him in a way that he will carry the humiliation with him to the afterlife.”
“Look we could stand around all day debating the merits of offering banishment over honourable death but-” The large bad blood who was looking down at them and gave a booming battle cry which had spittle flying from off his tusks. Lex looked at her two companions. “…But I assume we are about to be very busy. I take it that he agreed to surrender to us?”
“His dialect his somewhat primitive to me but I can assume that he has surrendered to us, offered us all his knowledge of the locations of the other planned skirmishes, and offered to give us few bottles of c’ntlip too.” Fugitive said to her but he was looking up at Vah’kea with what she guessed was a cheeky grin under his mask.
Vah’kea Her friend gave a small growl. “Not to ever agree with a bad blood, but If you two pups are finished playing, he said he would hang us by our entrails. May we kill him now?” Vah’kea asked. She and Fugitive did realise that they had run out of time to stall and nodded, mouths staying shut. “Good. Thauwn, you and I can restrict his arms and allow Lex to get in killing blows… if you truly wish for revenge, sister.”
“I truly do.” She smirked under her mask. Ready to put her all into this fight.
“On your lead brother.” Fugitive agreed. They all got their weapons ready and faced Fourarms who was getting ready to deal out the first hit, stalking towards them and spitting out insults.
Before any of his blades could come down, there was a large crack and then a spray of green showered down over the three of them. Fourarm’s stumbled and turned his head to look at one of the slatted windows a few floors higher. She could see the neat entry and messy exit wound on either side of his head.
“The human scouts are with you as well. In case you forgot about us.” Isabelle said over the coms from her perch somewhere above them. With her thermal sights, Lex only just managed to see a glimpse of the sniper before a small but concentrated bolt of plasma pierced through the eye of the large yautja. And then another went through his chest, and his gut, continuing down his body until the bad blood fell down with a loud thud.
“Oh…Okay.” Lex said and looked down at the body she had planned to be responsible for. He had gone down much quicker than she had expected from him. “Yeah, alright, that’s fine. As long as he is dead.”
“I expected more joy about an enemy dying.” Isabelle replied with a chuckle.
Lex was an Elite. She didn’t need to get hung up on revenge over sentimental reasons and she knew that. “No, I mean it, it was a good shot. And hey, point one for team human. Not that it is a competition.”
Fugitive pat her shoulder a few times. “I’m sure your husband can ensure your clan leader can gift you another spear.”
“But that was given to me the day we met. I could probably fix it but… you know. It was the principal of the matter… damn it, we never picked up my things, did we? I want to at least keep my serpent tail spear.”
“Hey Lex, I have eyes on your weapons, if you hug the side wall and cut sharply right you can reach it without running into any of the others that I can see. I can help keep them distracted too.” She heard from Royce who could have been anywhere around them.
They skirted around the fallen body of the Bad blood and kept close to the space between the walls, and the machinery which was generating enough heat to help hide them.
Isabelle’s plasma sniper was going off through the room as well as the loud bangs of Royce’s guns. The two were attacking all other bad bloods which were still around them, keeping them distracted. At one point a metal poll was thrown through one of the windows and the coms flickered with a low hiss from Royce before he was assured that he was okay.
They were almost to her dropped belongings when there was a sudden cry from Isabelle. “Wait… guys get down!” Her voice was panicked. Lex was suddenly pushed out of the way as sparks started the fall around her like a waterfall. The three hunters looked back to see the cloaked form of Fourarms, who had attempted to slash at them. It was only by the warning they ducked in time and the multiple blades meant for them carved through the concrete wall instead.
His cloak dropped and he continued to hiss at them with whatever arrogant words but Lex just inspected him. The eye which had been shot out was green now, and the patches of skin that had been carved but entry or exit wounds were now healed over with a myriad of off-coloured scales.
“We have a bad blood with hyper regenerative abilities.” Brackett pointed out in her ear.
“Yes, I figured that part out myself, thank you very much.” Lex said back to her before needing to dive out of the way as multiple arms swung out wildly again.
A plasma blast rained down upon him from Isabelle but the Bad blood now placed his bio-mask on and ducked out of eyesight to between the larger machinery. As soon as she saw his mask Lex clicked on her whip again and she was right to as his shoulder caster gun twitched to life.
“Boys stay close to me or the machines, it will block your heat signature.” Everyone, including the bad blood, activated their cloaking mechanism again. The snipers went off over their heads, keeping the others busy as the three ground scouts circled and ducked around Fourarms.
The bad blood was firing at them but so far kept missing and instead blowing holes into the surrounding machinery. No regard for the risk of sparks and leaking fuel. Lex’s whip kept her from being targeted and the boys were light on their feet and occasionally ducking behind her. But that just brought them to common ground. They could get him with their plasma blasters but he was healing at such as advanced rate that it only slowed him marginally.
The boys tried to get close but with his four arms and the length of his wrist blades, they were left with multiple slices on themselves. Lex stayed back but her slicing with the halberd did nothing nor did burns from her whip. They didn’t have anything to damage this guy.
Vah’kea broke away and ducked behind Lex as she frowned at the patches of burned scales that fell away to fresh and new, coloured scales. “He is just toying with us.” He hissed, still firing plasma bolts at him. “I understand we did not wish to show our hand quite yet but it may be necessary.”
They couldn’t run, the only way to go was forward. She went on the coms again. “We’re engaged and left with no choice but to use the enzyme, Royce, Isabelle, keep an eye on the other, tell us if any even look like a flight risk.” She looked over her shoulder at her friend and they both pulled out their injectors.
Being less cautious of incoming blows, they rushed in now. After a few misses, Lex wrapped her whip around his two left hands and then hooked the halberd on a pipe to help her pull. Fugitive too, quickly rushed to her side and covered her hand with his own. both pulled to keep his arm taut as the bad blood, growling from the burn tried to yank away.
Vah’kea swooped in from behind, injector in hand, he aimed for the bad bloods back but the bad blood sensed him or knew this for the trap it was rushed towards her and Fugitive, the whip loosening around as he ducked out of the way. Vah’kea threw the injector and it still managed to piece into his arm.
The bad blood paused and looked down at the dark grey of his veins around the injection site but simply huffed and with his own bade and an echoing roar. Amputated his own arm off. Fuck.
Fugitive swore and Lex gritted her teeth, she was getting tired. This fight was dragging on for way too long. At this rate Fourarms would start picking them off before they could inject him. Fourarms knew it, he was laughing at them again and spitting harsh barks.
“Keep him busy, Lex. We can do this.” Fugitive squeezed her shoulders before rushing off and away from the fight. Lex growled and just tried to just hurt him over causing lasting damage. She gave him lashes all over his torso, aiming from all soft sports. He ran and charged at her, meaning she had to roll out of the way but Lex ended up burning her own shoulder with her whip in her haste.
Fourarms had crashed into some machinery, and if it had still been working before it sure as hell wasn’t now. He turned and all the burns and cuts started to heal, even the stump of his missing arm was starting to knit into new flesh. With all the colours, he looked like he had lost a paintball fight and it would have been humorous if she and Vah’kea weren’t panting and suffering injuries which weren’t healing as rapidly.
Fourarms stepped forward, speaking to them, with only Vah’kea understanding and snarling back. Vah’kea just snarled in return.
But then Fugitive appeared from the air behind him, standing on top of the broken machinery, stolen gun in hand. He aimed the barrel right at the back of the bad blood’s head and pulled the trigger over and over again to empty the clip into the back of his skull.
He tried to turn but wasn’t fast enough. Once again, Forearms dropped.
Fugitive held up the gun and inspected it. “I am going to keep this.”
The holes in his skull were already forcing the bullets out as they healed so with no time to waste, Lex ran over to the fallen body, She stabbed the enzyme injector into Fourarms’ chest, right at his heart. She had seen the injector work and while the grey spread through his veins, it was slow and some even retreated.
The alien body started to shake, arms coming up and knocking down, drawing a large gash on his arm and side. She leaned back, using the halberd to pierce him through the chest and pin him to the floor. “Fugitive! You’re not done.
The hunter holstered the gun again before he reached into his own camo belt and pulled out his own vial. He jumped down, landing right above the head of the massive yautja and stabbed his one into the throat of the bad blood. Right under the gory but rapidly repairing mess which was now the bad blood’s face.
His body continue to shake but the half-healed wounds started to ooze blood and the bones of his limbs began to break where he was a twitching mess on the floor. But those twitches soon slows as the dark veins started taking over.
All three of the scout cried out in victory and it rang through the large room, leading to the silence of the other bad bloods, who surely never expected them to be able to beat a spliced yautja like that.
Lex spoke into the coms channel, her boot pressing into the mush that was Fourarm’s head to stop the twitches completely.
“One down.”
Chapter 36
Summary:
More bad blood drama
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
They had just shown their hand but Paya above, had it felt good.
A human army aiding the yautja hunters in fighting their abominations was one thing, but now with an active threat to their own lives, the bad bloods were going to get twitchy. The party had just cemented the fact that they were a threat.
Lex was already asking Isabelle and Royce to get eyes on the three left but the snipers had lost sight of them as soon as the bad blood's body had dropped. Her two hunter’s flanked her tightly, watching for any movement or sign of attack.
For a moment she was worried that they had already left but the quiet of the room was broken by an intrigued trill from above them “Now… just how did you manage that?”. Looking up, Lex could see the crowned Bad blood uncloaking on a perch on a catwalk, hand gliding along the rails as he walked. “Kivd’ens truly thought he would outlive us all when the extent of his enhancements became apparent. I believed he was suffering delusions of grandeur and it does seem like I was right at least. We knew you were an interesting little pack but to do this... Maybe we ought to take you all apart. Look deep inside you to see what makes you all so special. I might even show some mercy if you tell me how you killed him.” He spoke confidently but she saw how his eyes stayed on the body of his clan member, the body still coming apart at the seams. They said nothing. “No? Well, I guess I’ll have to make time to… convince you once you’ve been properly restrained for our process.”
“I don’t know if you noticed but your attempt at capturing us failed.” Lex said and gave the body another little kick which had skin ripping away as it continued to come apart.
“Such an ugly and painful way to go.” Vah’kea commented as he stared at the bad blood. “I hope you are prepared to face the same end. Why don’t you come down here and fight, or are you so scared?” her friend tempted. Probably trying to keep him engaged but it didn’t work.
The crowned bad blood just chuckled. “No, I don’t believe I will. You set us back but I can always learn from this.” He flipped the cover on his wrist gauntlet and after pressing a few buttons a sudden screech boomed from it. The pitch and volume caused lex and the others to wince at its volume. An answering screech echoed from a distance within the station and soon a thumping joined, steadily get closer. The other two bad bloods appeared below the catwalk and started snarling but were ignored.
“Isabelle? Royce?” She asked.
“I can’t get a shot at him!” Came the sniper’s reply.
“I’m trying to find a better position.” Royce said as well. Confirming they’ll not get to him. They didn’t even have any enzyme injectors left. Something big was coming and by the sounds of it, it was going to facilitate the bad blood's escape.
The doors burst open and through it crawls another massive spliced creature. This one was more pristine and well-made compared to the messes they had been fighting so far. The creature had white scales, patterned with grooves and bumps of an exoskeletal armour. it had a long neck that seemed not to lead to a head but just a circular mouth that had tusks branching out around the rows and rows of prickle teeth inside. It crawled forth on six clawed legs and a long-barrelled body, ending in a long tail that went from smooth to spiked. It knocked over everything in its path going for the king. Even the other bad bloods had to get out of the way as the creature didn’t even pause for them.
The large creatures crawled up the machine the lead bad blood was on and curled around him and he pet along its neck, cooing gently like it was his favourite pet. “I will be seeing you again. How can I deny a fight when you have suddenly become much more interesting?” He purred. “But not just yet, not when you’re using such unsporting methods.”
He climbed onto the creature's back and Lex couldn’t believe this, he was going to get away. The three of them couldn’t stop a creature like that. She could hear Vah’kea talking into the coms, telling the others that the leader was making a run for on a war mount. Lex ran and threw the halberd with Fugitive following with a shuriken of his own. They would have landed but the creature suddenly reared up, hidden frilled wings of dull green broke free of its sides. Their weapons uselessly skittered over its scales.
“Is that a fucking dragon!?” she heard Brackett, practically screaming over the coms. Showing so much more excitement than what was strictly appropriate for the moment.
“Not now, Casey!” Lex called back as she tried to figure out what she could even do.
The creature leapt over them and skittered up the side of the building. The bad blood threw something which exploded against the ceiling and just like that, he escaped before they could so much as land a scratch. He didn’t even bother taking his clanmates, no loyalty with deserters.
There was a tense moment where three scouts looked at the two bad bloods. Hands started tightening on weapons.
Well, except for Lex, who was down to one weapon. After quickly signing her intentions, she ran to get all her weapons back, including the halberd while the other two bolted after the remaining bad bloods who quickly turned tail.
Lex swiftly rearmed herself, correcting that naked feeling she had been subjected to since their loss. She carefully gathered up the pieces of the broken spear too, the decorative skulls and beads were beyond saving but she keeps all the pieces of metal she could.
Fugitive and Vah’kea had engaged in fighting the bad bloods alone, she rushed to get back into a battle but there was a sudden roar of pain which caused a surge of panic within her. “Vah’key!”
Lex saw her friend, arms gripped by the sickly bad blood, being forced onto one knee. The acidic saliva which ran from the other’s mouth now dripping and dissolving Vah’kea’s chest armour and burning at his stomach. “No!” she bolted right for him with her serpent tail spear, and he let her friend go to avoid being spiked.
The acid wounds didn’t look fatal but upon being released, Vah’kea dropped onto his hands and knees and made a horrible keening noise. Lex stood between her friend and the bad blood who puked up some saliva which hissed against the concrete.
“Little Ooman.” He gurgled. “I surrender… only if…. you take my hand.” He offered his hand palm up, those unnatural purple marks standing out on his scales.
“Lex… don’t touch him.” Vah’kea warned her as if she hadn’t seen the danger in his gesture herself. Lex didn’t take it. she used her spear and sliced his palm. They both looked at the thick, dark green, ink-like blood which viscously spilled out from him and sizzled on the ground. No illumination to it at all.
“You are a mistake.” Lex said, the absolute wrongness of this yuatja truly unnerved her.
“Imagine… what you look like… to me.” His limp tusks twitched as if he was trying to click them in a laugh.
He took a step forward. Lex took one back. A broken purr sounded from his chest.
He lunged at her and she dodged, she had just come out of two other fights, she was confident in her ability but not stupid enough to think she could engage with the yautja and not get touched. She was staying strictly on the defensive, just trying to survive.
She heard Brackett informing the others about the acid and probably poison secreting bad blood. The doctor was soon interrupted by Royce. “Lead him back and to your left.” He instructed calmly.
She looked at her friend who was still on all fours, he was now pale and there was a tremble going through his body. The places that the bad blood had touched him on his arms had raised and swelled in a bruised green. She could tell he was panting under his mask. “But Vah’key-”
“Lex… I already made this mistake. I should have listened to you. Now, this hunter is focused on you, he’ll at least be safe from further attacks… I’m sorry.” Isabelle said and the woman was right. She couldn’t go back on her own lesson so quickly. So, she gave a few more swipes with her spear before darting back, not completely retreating, play fighting him. He couldn’t know she was leading him to a trap but she had to do it as she watched Vah’kea’s body slowly crumple to the floor.
Finally, as she continued to evade, the venomous bad blood was in the right position and the rain of plasma and bullets came down upon him. He took a hard blast to his chest which knocked him back before he put his gauntlet up to repel other shots.
She kept looking back at Vah’kea but he didn’t move. The venomous bad blood moved back before going invisible. She switched to thermals even though they were pretty useless now. “Any eyes on him, is he fleeing or going back to Vah’kea?” Every part of her wanted to rush back to her friend but this could very easily be a trap.
“Lex!” she flinch and swiftly looked at the prone, unmoving body of her friend. That was his voice but she knew this game intimately by now. “Lex, don’t Leave me.” That was his voice but it wasn’t him.
“Really? I’ve hunted with the yautja for years and you think I would fall for the first trap every young blood is taught? This is just pathetic.” She yelled out to the space around her.
“No… this… keeps you fearful.” The large yautja suddenly appeared over Vah’kea’s body and pulled a knife from his belt.
Lex didn’t even finish her swear when the sound of heavy footsteps thumping rang around the room and she watched as the bad blood’s headshot to the left just before a blur of red came and collided with him.
Bruiser had just rushed in and using a door as a riot shield, he bull charged the venomous bad blood. Her clan mate might have been a bit smaller than the bad blood but the brave idiot was strong and angry, and knocked him away with the subtly of a wrecking ball.
Lex now ran to Vah’kea, sliding on the floor to drop by his side, his scales felt unnaturally hot to the touch and his heart rate was rapid but at least it was beating at all. She hooked her arms under his own and started dragging him, she needed to get him somewhere safe and work out how to make him better. He shuddered and moved his mask away just quick enough before he started retching, pulling Lex down to her knees. “Damn it, come on!”
Fugitive appeared beside her, making Lex jump and almost drop her friend. “Lost the other in the maze, I am sorry sister. He just… disappeared.” He took Vah’kea from her and slung his limp form over his shoulder.
“Get him back to the ship. I need too-” She was cut off by the snipers going off again and Bruiser’s aggressive roar. The Venomous bad blood ran past and headed to one of the hallways, disappearing into its shadows. Lex went to run after him but was caught around the waist by Scar, who had just ran onto the scene.
“No, he’s getting away! Let me go!” She slapped his arm but he held her tighter until she calm down a little.
Scar was breathing hard and covered in teal gore from his own battles. “Nefertiti and Dutch are down that path. They will do their duties. You cannot fight this whole war on your own, my fierce little wife. You got a kill, now take a breath, allow your wounds to be tended to before your challenge and win yet more battles.” She struggled a little more but she couldn’t escape his hold and soon melted against him. His hand rubbed against her back. “You did well, I am proud of you.”
Lex flipped her mask up so she could bury her face into Scar’s chest, not even caring that creature blood was getting on her face. “He hurt, Vah’key… I acted like I was angry about that fucking spear but now our friend is really hurt.”
Her husband bent down so he could wrap his hands to the back of her thighs and hiked her up against his chest. “Come now, where is all that righteous anger and pride you displayed from killing the repairing one. Don’t lose your fire. Vah’kea is strong, he will get through this or reap the honours of battles fought. We’ve defeated their army, now only the three generals remain. We now know our enemies. We will find them and be prepare to kill them.”
Lex inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly. “I know.” She rested her forehead to his mask and softly dragged her fingertips down his dreads. He continued to hold her, the rumble in his chest relaxing her as she felt him check over the burn on her shoulder and all the other injuries he could reach.
Scar placed her on some container drums and nibbled at her jaw and neck as he tenderly spread salve, and occasionally used staples to tend to her wounds. He finished and Lex clung to him like a koala, nipping back and feeling the string thud of his heart beat against her own chest.
“We interrupting?” Lex jumped again and turned to see Dutch, cigar in his mouth, as he leaned his face to a sparking, beat up machine to help light it. Nefretiti as by his side, clutching at her left ribs, the start of a forming bruise peeking out from under her gold tipped claws.
Lex chuckled and then hid her face deeper against Scar’s body but soon processed what their presence here meant. “Shit… did he get you?”
“Regretfully my Elite, we lost sight of the bad bloods.” The yautja woman said bringing her other arm up to lean on a concrete column. “The red one is still chasing blindly for the sake of his friend. I would have joined him but…”
Lex gave a look to Scar but they both knew even if she had run after him, he would have been lost. She sighed deeply and Scar soothed his hand over her braids. She was placed down again and Lex approached the large hunter, placing her hand atop hers to coax it away. Like with Vah’kea, the bruised had quickly gotten darker and her scales were beginning to heat up like a fever. “Nefertiti… you’re going to have to join Vah’kea back on the ship, our scientists-”
“I can still fight. I am stronger than a simple toxin.” She snorted and pulled away from Lex.
“We don’t know where they have gone now, Hunter. I will need you at peak performance for this fight. Let the scientists take care of you and then come back and help me bury these mother fuckers, understood?” Lex used her no-nonsense voice.
Nefertiti dropped a little and then gave a nod. “I understand, little Elite.” She turned and headed after Fugitive.
Dutch had been digging through his backpack during this conversation. “Well, that was a minor miracle.”
“Yeah I doubted the injectors would have even worked on him-”
“No, I mean the fact that you go her to go… she’ll be okay.” as much as he usually seemed indifferent to the hunters still he seemed to genuinely be friends with this one.
“I’m getting the best of our team on it.” Lex could promise that at least. “Brackett.” She called into the coms. “We’re sending Vah’kea and Nefertiti back on the ship. We’re going to need you and the team to help them. A few more injectors wouldn’t go amiss, if possible.”
“Oooh alien venom, this will be interesting, I’ll get an emergency request for a horse or something to help make an anti-venom. But yeah, This will be a snap… I mean all you need to fix this is time, skill and abundant resources to make the right anti-bodies… which, yeah, we don’t exactly have any of but… I am damn good… So is Keyes.” They could hear the man startle at being dragged into this.
“Okay we’re going to be off the coms for a little while to prep the medical rooms, you all watch over each other while I’m gone. And babe?”
Fugitive’s coms turned on and she heard him purr “Doctor.”
“Get your fine, scaley ass back here with the patients and tell me how you plan to capture that dragon for me cos… mama wants.”
“If I said no dinosaurs what makes you think I would let you have a dragon?” Lex said, somewhat appreciating the lightness that was being kept up as two of their own were in a precarious state.
Being the last ones left on the room, Dutch started handing them plastic explosives. That was one way to do it which wouldn’t irradiate the land and ensure it looked more like a human error disaster. Dutch would place them all around this room, while she and Scar would head back up as well and placed them around the areas which had many of the snow-serpent corpses. This placed was going to be blown to kingdom come.
She and Scar walked through the bloodied halls back to the surface. He took an armful of her own explosives just to be able to hold her hand as he told her about the many kills he had. She explained about the one she helped in. It let her breath and just have a moment not to think about how to track down the others or if her friends would make it.
They eventually exited the concrete tunnel and back out into the snow. The coolness of the outside of a god sent after what felt like a life time underground. Scar squeezed her hand tightly before letting go and giving her back her explosives. “Meet you in the middle, little dagger.”
Lex zone out for the most part, placing the C4 in a mechanical fashion as she listened to the coms, Fugitive getting the two hunters to the closest ship. Bruiser talking desperately to Vah’kea, treating the poisoning more like a hangover even as his low voice was riddle with anxiety over his closest bond. Brackett and Keyes talking through their prep of the medical bay.
They had killed a whole army yet she still felt uncertain about her ability to lead this mission as three of four bad bloods got away. They would be harder to track now. Mercs had died, two hunters came out incapacitated.
She had been so lost in thought that she jumped as Scar came up behind her, pressing himself along her back, He started nuzzling into her hair in a way which made her giggle. “Hey, you done already?”
“I think I saw where one went.” He murmured against her. “Come, follow me.”
Her grin dropped immediately to look at him. “Shouldn’t we get the others?”
“We can call them if needed but I'm at the top of this hierarchy, so I wish to hunt with you and you alone… just for a moment.”
She paused. It was a little selfish of him but these were high profile kills and it would bring hum up even higher to get one for himself. Besides, It was just checking tracks after all.
She turned around and went on her toes, he didn’t bend down for her as she tried to press a kiss to his face so she only managed to get his lower mandible. “Okay, but I’m calling back up before the fight starts.”
“Of course, sweet heart.” He replied.
As they walked into the snow she reached up and teased her fingers down the length of his dreads, noticing how he tensed for just a moment. “Sorry, it’s just that… the little token from Earth I gave you is gone.” The red elastic which as survived hunt after hunt for such a small thing must have given way somewhere in the tunnels as they headed up.
Scar paused and took her hand from his tendrils and nuzzled against it. “It’s okay, after all, my favourite token from Earth is you.”
She giggled. “Now that was sappy, even for you.” Scar didn’t let go of her hand and they walked, keeping a tight hold onto it.
He pulled her along and soon they were approaching the carrier ship they had found when they originally arrived. “I think he went inside. These ships take a while to warm up, we can sneak on.”
“You think he managed to get in? Which bad blood?” She analysed the area with her mask, she could still see all the undisturbed mounds which hid the proximity detonators the humans had put around the ship. Lex couldn’t even see any tracks. “I still haven’t been able to see any sign anyone has come back this way.”
He chuckled and a large hand pressed at her lower back, just feeling her skin, sneaking fingers under the netting. His claws pressed against her a little harder than he usually would allow himself to but she didn’t comment. It had been a hard day. “Well, my adorable mate, I have been doing this a lot longer than you. Trust me, he is here.”
He had never said anything that condescending to her before and it struck her with a wave of uncertainty. “…Scar.”
“You’re so… adorable. Little Ooman hunter, you.” He against pressed himself against her, nuzzling into her braids.
“…Scar.” He gripped her tight enough that it ached with how much she had been thrown around today. “Hey... Scar you’re hurting me.”
“You’re just so soft and smooth... and small.” He said in slight awe and a tongue was suddenly dragging over her shoulder. Something was wrong. A roar ripped through the air some distance behind them and Scar’s hands gripped her even tighter. "That serpent bait, I hoped he would stay down longer." the yautja holding her said.
Notes:
If you know what country I am from then you probably know that the Venomous Pred is influenced by Blue-ringed octopus and wet puppets.
ALSo fuck it, Alien Dragon!!!
Chapter 37
Summary:
♥ 𝑀𝓎 𝒷𝑜𝓎𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓁𝑒~ ♥
Notes:
just for documentation sake I'm making the note that i heck'ing got covid at the time was writing this chapter Lmao
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The roar travelled over the snowy planes and scattered a large flock of birds from the surrounding trees. It wasn’t just a challenge, it was a yautja who was pissed to the highest level. Lex struggled in Scar’s hold to turn enough to see over his shoulder, pushing his head away from her only to be greeted with a sight she hadn’t expected.
The thing that had been snarling at them… looked like Scar. But, more concerningly and what made everything click into place was the fact that Bruiser and Dutch were also coming up behind that Scar. The one digging its claws into her waist wasn’t her real husband.
Lex looked back at the one who was holding her, his playfulness hadn’t dropped but took on a more sinister tone as he still refused to let her go. He had the same mark on his forehead, she knew the length of his dreads and metal circlets placement intimately. With some further inspection his armour was the only thing that had any difference and that being it seemed more segmented than Scar’s own and he didn’t have the little camo print additions from OWLF. She had already seen that the red elastic had been gone. “Let me guess. You're that smaller bad blood we saw? I was wondering what your abilities were. I didn’t think it was to be a creep.” She went to grab her ice axe but he moved quicker and wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his chest as he stood up.
Seeing her under threat Scar snarled again and his wrist blade extended as he took a menacing step forward. “Get your hands off of my wife!”
“And let her do to me what she did to my brother?” God, she was sick of being the one who was picked on. Lex struggled against him but he just held her tighter trying to get away from but she assumed was an act of revenge. “You don’t want to fight your mate now do you?”
“You know if you kill me, they’re just going to make your death that much more slow and painful?” She hissed up at him but she was already thinking about the tragedy of the last face she saw being Scar’s without it actually being his.
“Please Ooman, did you not just hear what I said? I translated it to your language and everything.” And then the imposter did the unexpected, with Lex still in his arms fiddled around and pulled off his wrist gauntlet, letting it drop into the snow without letting her go. “The offer you gave my ill-fated brother, is that still in the tactics?” Both Scars were looking intently at her, one more confused than the other.
She was still expecting this to be a type of play so he hesitated a moment. Even without his weapons, he could still break her in seconds so she couldn’t let her guard down. “Depends, why were you separating me from the pack if you were interested in that?”
“To talk without the threat of losing my head… Currently, your mate’s head too. Hoped that might delay it for a moment. Unless... do your species' females also get as rough as ours? I would think so from seeing you fight. Maybe this wouldn’t have done a thing.” He laughed and it even sounded like Scar’s, it was unnerving.
“I don’t know what is worse, that you chose to be a bad blood or that you think that you’re funny.”
“The humour, for certain. I think it’s new, things get a little mixed around every time I change.” He said before his hand came up to rest at the base of her throat. “I can be less funny if you would prefer?” He said in a low growl.
“You would lose more than your head as you dare to place your hands on my wife like that, honourless deserter.” Scar snarled he was getting closer with measured steps, the two others of her party staying back. Everyone was just waiting for a chance to attack but by disarming himself, the bad blood knew he had stayed their hand for now.
“Oh, I believe you.” He said but managed to keep sounding confident even as he removed his hand. “But the good thing about being an honourless deserter is that I have no qualms in backstabbing my brethren. You want to know where our fearless leader has gone, yes?” He purred.
“Where is he?” Lex demanded
“You can’t trust his word.” Bruiser growled, eyeing the pretender, both his wrist blades unleashed and ready. “Pick up your weapons, coward! Let’s settle this, one on one.” He seemed keyed up and ready for a fight since the other bad blood had escaped him.
He carefully let Lex go and with his arms exposed, he took a step back and spoke to her. “Just come with me into the ship and I'll lead the way.” He said brightly.
Lex looked back at her husband and subtly signed for him to go along with it. “Sure, we’ll all go into your ship.” She smiled bitterly at him.
He clicked his tusks and shook his head. “No. Just you. Flying around with an unrestrained human is bad enough. That mess of a clan is something else entirely. It will just be an excursion between us mates.” He purred but there was still so much coldness behind his eyes. “I lead, your clan can follow.”
“No, she will not be without her clan-” Bruiser started but Lex quickly interrupted him.
“No. I’ll go.” She stepped up to the bad blood. “If you give your word that you are telling the truth about your information.”
“Alexa… I don’t think this is a good idea. A bad blood’s word means nothing and you know you can never trust backstabbers.” Dutch said very wearily.
“We don’t have time!” Lex said with a forceful recklessness. “Do you know where both will be, your leader and the venomous one?”
“Possibly. And I do, I give you, my word I will not give you any fault information… intentionally.” He said with some flourish that Scar never showed.
“Then let’s go.” She nodded towards the ship.
The imposter smugly looked back at Scar, who was be grumbling this entire time but Scar was looking at her and gave a nod. “I’ve learned the war that is changing my wife’s mind is a hard one fought. She can take care of herself. She already proved how easy it was to kill these deserters. You better watch yourself, Bad blood”
“Yes, about that, any chance you would tell me exactly how you melted my brother like that? No? So be it.” The changling spoke as they started walking towards the ship. He was going on about how he didn’t even know what places here were called, relying on the mapping systems of the ship. It was an uncanny experience seeing the form of someone you love and wanting to slit their throat.
“Can you stop looking like my mate?” She snapped eventually as he continued leading her to his ship.
“Changing takes a lot of energy.” He said “I would need food first before I can attempt it again. You have any on you, you don’t need all that flesh do you.” He growled almost playfully and licked over his tusks.
“Forget it, just keep walking.” She said grabbing his arm and pushing him forward. He laughed and continued talking, not even noticing when she stopped in her tracks and started taking soft steps backwards.
He was very close to the ship when he turned back and looked at her curiously. “You don’t trust this face?” He managed to ask before the proximity detectors went off and blew up the ship.
Lex crouched and suddenly Scar’s arms -the real Scar- were around, shielding her from the blast.
“You okay?” She asked taking his face in her hands, yes this was him, she traced his fingers down his dreads, finding that red little tie still decorating him.
“You ask me that. No. My wife. No. I trust in you completely but so help me, my god within the storms, I will chain you to me if you get separated from us one more time.” He ended up pushing her down into the snow to get closer, nuzzling against her face.
She laughed but nodded. “Got it, no more separating. But to be fair I was trying to stick close to you when this happened.” She took his face in her hands, dusting off some snow that had sprinkled over his mandibles. How could she have ever mistaken anyone else for him? Lex pressed her lips over his face as her fingers buried into his dreads. She could have stayed rolling in the snow with him for much longer but unfortunately, they had a bad blood to deal with.
They found the imposter lying face down in the snow, probably lucky for him seeing as he now had a few burns over his face and chest. But he still looked like Scar. It was still a little difficult to look at him being hurt as he was.
“Good play, little dagger, you fooled even me. Though I do know how reckless you can routinely be.” Bruiser said and squeezed her shoulder tightly.
“He’s still alive, won’t be long until he wakes up.” Dutch said after checking him over.
Scar kicked his double over onto his back, inspecting him with some confusion before crouching down above him. His wrist blade pressed to the bad blood’s throat. “Did you make an offer?”
She explained what she had said to the now-dead bad blood and they stood there next to the burning remnants of the ship to discuss what they should do with him. It didn’t take a long time for them to come to a conclusion.
They agreed they couldn’t trust him but it would be worthwhile bringing him along anyway. Dutch spoke of threatening him to get the information but the yautja agreed that since he was unarmed it wouldn’t be that effective since he is well aware of their honour code. In the end, they brought him back to the hunter’s ship that was still with them and restrained him in creature capture bindings. He seemed to think himself smart and knew siding with them would be better than not.
The human mercs had ensured a proper clean-up of the exploded ship and of any recoverable tech they could find. Bruiser showed them where he had chased the Venomous Bad blood too. There were snow patterns around which suggested there had been another shuttle that the bad blood had used to escape. They called the OWLF to keep scanning for the tech signature but it was much harder to find ships once they broke atmo, let alone a ship that small.
They sent the mercs to the lower deck of the larger shuttle and she brought them to a hovered a distance from the site. Keeping the view screen open, Dutch pulled out the detonator and actually cracked a proper smile for the first time. “Best part of the job.” He said and pressed the button.
The explosions were impressive. It wasn’t the bright, cold light of the yautja self-destruct but a molten red and orange glow that reflected over the faces of her and her friends as they watched. Dark smoke billowed up like a signal, one that would quickly attract attention.
Lex stayed in the captain’s chair and called back to base. The call took some time before it was answered. “Hey, any news?” She asked. Bruiser came to her side to listen in and Lex reached out to hold his hand as they did.
“They were delivered safe and sound… That’s it for the good news so far, sorry.” Brackett said before Keye’s butted in.
“Hello Lex, it’s Dr Keyes, how are you- ow why did you nudge me? Oh right, okay so, we have limited knowledge but from the average data collected from the other predators, both patients are showing signs of low blood pressure, a faster but weakened heart rate, nausea, vomiting -we thought they were vomiting blood at first but it was just what they had eaten- dizziness, and breathing is starting to become strained in the male, won’t be long for the female reaches that stage. We are preparing ventilators.”
Lex closed her eyes and rubbed her hands over her face. “Treatment?”
Brackett spoke up again. “Good news and bad news. The good news is that yes, we can make an antitoxin by fucking around with some human and pred-tech, the bad news is… we need samples of the toxins used… a lot of it.”
So, they really would need to find that bad blood and fast.
“Don’t fret, tiny and feisty, they have a day or two before they actually die. The excruciating pain and mind burning fever on the other hand will come to a lot quicker. I would not wish to be that unfortunate, broken skull.” Lex was so used to that voice that it had taken her a moment to notice it shouldn’t have been with them. But Bruiser noticed right away. The growl that suddenly ripped out of him startled her but she understood as she turned to look at them.
The bad blood was no longer wearing Scar’s form as she had wished but his new form wasn’t much better. He had now stolen Vah’kea’s face.
“…What was that?” Brackett called out.
“Are you under attack what is happening?” Keye’s too started panicking.
“I’ll explain soon but I’m going to have to call you back.” She said and ended the call.
Bruiser had wrapped his fingers around the bad blood’s neck and lifted him up high. “Oh, did I miss interoperate how close you two were? Too small to matter much I guess.” But small enough compared to Scar to be able to slip the bindings, Lex deduced. Bruiser snarled aggressively and started to squeeze hard enough to make the bad blood choke and struggle.
Scar carefully approached Bruiser and placed his hand on their friend’s shoulder. He didn’t say anything but Bruiser gave one last low roar before dropping the bad blood to the floor.
“That wasn’t very honourable of you.” The bad blood called out, rubbing his throat. But Bruiser just huffed and walked away.
“I thought you couldn’t change again?” She said looking down at him, he looked like the splitting image of Vah’kea but in different armour which seemed adjustable which explained its segmented look. But unlike when he first appeared as Scar, his mimicry was tarnished by the burns he had received. They were a good deal more healed but still covered a wide enough area that they could tell it was him now.
“And I thought you were getting onto the ship with me? Cunning little thing.” He purred.
“It seemed to have some engine trouble, unfortunately, my ship is just fine.” She said, crossing her arms.
"Its a good model, I guess we can take it." The bad blood got up and stretched, there were some loud cracks as his joints seemed to pop out and back in. “Wasn’t lying about the energy it takes, however, I will require food lest I fall to a hunger frenzy, then we both won’t get what we want.” Lex rolled her eyes and walked over to where they stored food rations. She held the box in her hand but held it behind her when he went to reach for it.
“First, things first.” she said before he leaned back and threw a hard punch on the side of his face, making his head knock to the side. He growled and looked back at her. “Don’t ever touch me again! Understand?”
He stayed staring down at her for a moment longer but it was a reminder that she held the only reason they could get away with killing her. He had disrespected her.
“I understand.” She tossed him the box.
~~~
The bad blood aggressively downed the rations, a ripple going through his skin as he ate. ‘mass distribution’ he described it as he licked his claws clean. When he was done he looked around at the pissed off hunters who were waiting for him. “Much better, now, I thought you were after the leader? He had all the twisted little plans for your backwater planet.”
“We have loyalty in our clan, so I’m saving my friends first, but don’t worry, we will get to him soon. For now, we want information and the Venomous one.” Lex replied and leaned back against Scar’s chest, his fingers gently rubbing her hip. The way he knew how to touch her set him apart from the fake even more.
He paused in thought, she was sure he knew more than what he was going to tell them. “Our mission was damage control.” He eventually said. “We knew this planet was held in a clan’s hunting territory, and that the guardians had led to our Assassin’s death. So, we knew we could draw you out into the kill box we had made. Quick and easy, if the creatures didn’t kill you, we would easily after you tried yourselves out getting to us.” He chuckled to himself. “That didn’t quite go to plan, as you know. We knew there was one Oomen in your clan. We did not plan for an army… let alone whatever those things are.” He gestured to Isabelle and Royce who paused where they were fieldstripping and cleaned their guns. “Do your laws even allow this?” He questioned.
“You guaranteed us the location of your brothers?” Lex prompted him to continue.
“Mhh now our fearless leader left us. He was always bad at actually leading. This place was the trap for you all. The real plan was to release some more stable creatures into a well-suited environment and watch to see if they thrive… and how the Oomans responded to them. Building blocks to turn this wet rock into a fine hunting planet. Maybe even dethrone the Oomans as one of the most revered prey species.” He then looked to Lex. “Not me, however, I know your kind would stick around in this game of hunt for centuries to come. i believe in your ability”
“Thanks.” She said dryly.
“I can take you to this environment. The brother of mine you seek may be there if only to start a tussle with our leader that he can’t win and then stay because the shuttle he used for was short-range trips only. Just to get those creatures to their new grounds.”
“Wait.” Royce slotted the final piece of his reassembled gun as he watched the bad blood. “Are you saying the creatures are already there?”
~~~
Lex was taking stock of the men and their weapons, updating Fugitive and the base of everything that had transpired, As well as what he will need to bring with him when he returns to the fight. More injectors being the idea but it would take away some focus on the two sick yautja they had in the med bay. She was trying to juggle everything in her mind, where everyone was, what estimated time limits they had, equipment, injuries, losses. The ship was feeling too crowded but most stayed out of her way, but not all.
As she was heading back to the captain’s chair Bruiser yanked her by the whip tied around her waist. “Ow. You know you could just ask?”
“This worked pretty well for me.” He replied and dragged her along to the med bay and pressed the suture stapler into her hand. “Since you’re looking for something to do.” He lifted his arm and showed the long gash which went around his side to his back.
Lex softened. “Yeah, sure.” She gently pat his side as she inspected the wound, he had done most of it himself but couldn’t reach behind for the rest. “This will probably scar up nicely. Get any more and I might mistake you for my husband.”
“Please, I am already injured, don’t threaten me anymore. Besides didn’t that already happen to you today, the poor fellow.” He snorted loud laughter at his own joke.
Lex was a little tired of ‘funny’ yautja at the moment. she chose that moment to press in the first staple which shut him up. He gave a constant low growl but he stayed relatively quiet through the whole ordeal. When she was done, she grabbed a cloth and started whipping away some of the blood. When she was done, her hands paused on his back and she dropped her forehead against him. “I’m sorry about Vah’kea… If I had been faster, if I had remembered my weapons beforehand or… I don’t know. But maybe I could have prevented this. We weren’t meant to be fighting one on one with them.”
He pulled away and looked down at her, his pointed brows drawing together before he slapped his hand against the burn. “Your turn.”
“Son of a bitch!” She shouted from the sting before the numbing effect of whatever tonic he had lathered on his hand started working to cool down the wound.
“Oh yes, she really is, the biggest bitch of the household. She is magnificent, you should join our gatherings sometime and properly meet her.” He said, still smearing the cool gel over her shoulder.
“Scar already did that one.” She muttered and he pulled his hand off the burn.
“Just looking after out Ooman.” He got her to sit upon the bio-bed and started on his scrapped knees from her fall. “The big claws you had to walk into our hunting party as a Serpent queen and now that you are the leader of this mission you think yourself a god? For only gods can dictate how the battle goes. Stop taking on blame for things you could not have changed. If anyone, I’m laying fault on our ex-brother traitor who forced our hands. Dickhead.” he flicked the halberd where it was sticking out past the bed.
“Yeah, He was an asshole but i never expected something on this scale... But still, I’m going to make sure we get that drippy bastard and save our friends.” She pushed his hands away so she could catch him in a hug. He almost crushed her hugging her back but she took it. She may have squeezed on his freshly stitched cuts too.
“Lex, we’re all set and ready to roll.” Dutch said over the speaker, getting their attention.
It was time to get back into the fight and do as she had just promised.
The changling was waiting by Dutch at the controls, the man gave the bad blood and stern look before he alighted from the chair so Lex could take over. “May I, mistress elite?” He asked, gesturing to the navigation system.
“All right, show us where we’re going. And if you’re wrong I will break all your joints before I melt you.” She threatened.
“Relax, I’m not your mate anymore.” Her purred as the map of the globe was brought up, they watched as he starts inputting coordinates. The globe spun a moment as it triangulated and soon zoomed into a spot.
“Huh… you know, this time of the year makes it technically not our territory but you boys might actually enjoy this place.”
Notes:
Changling, pointing and the humans: 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝? 𝐈𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝!?
Lex, already done with him: Stop.Also this is very random to say now but how after so many chapters but how do you imagine the yautja's voices? I know we have heard snippets in the movies but i hear Scar's voice similar to Venom with all that snarl and reverb but at an even lower pitch and trailing off into clicks. Idk, i was just thinking about it.
Chapter 38
Summary:
I'm sure this will go fine
Notes:
Scar is carrying around his certified monster fucker permit (matching the one Lex carries)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It was a shame to leave the snowy plains behind, Lex always enjoyed the colder locations from both her old job and now as her clan was known for stalking. The Yautja, however, were more than glad when the humans described the next change in location.
She gave the controls over to Scar with a kiss on his cheek and then went through the process of informing the OWLF base and the mercs below of everything changed, spending under an hour to get everything sorted between the different groups. And since they couldn’t go faster than light while in the Earth's atmosphere, she spent the rest of the few hours before they reached their destinations getting some rest. The other humans too joined her in nabbing some furs and getting whatever shuteye they could get in the in-between.
Dutch passed out quickly and easily on a medical bed with the speed of someone who could pass out on command when needed. Royce and Isabelle found their own corner to curl up together, taking longer as they just talked to each other. Foreheads pressed together. Guns remaining on their laps. Since Scar was piloting, she made sure he knew he wouldn’t be allowed up for a while before she curled up on his lap. She was easily lulled to sleep by the rumble in his chest, feeling safe even with the bad blood's eyes lingering on her.
Her sleep wasn’t the most restful but she felt better when she was slowly roused again by Scar’s hands. They crossed a few time zones and now were greeted by a country under the fading glow of late sunset. Beaches, brushland and desserts were rapidly crossed as Lex got the other humans up and when they were all fed, watered and armoured they stared down at the new hunting grounds they would be searching for the bad blood’s and their creatures.
“Welcome to the land down under.” Lex said as they looked out at the city lights.
“I’ve never been to Sydney… or anywhere in Australia before, seemed too far away… you know before we had ships that can do faster than light travel.” Isabelle said looking out the window as they hovered over the harbour.
“All cities are basically the same.” Royce said, as enthusiastic as ever.
“I don’t know about the cities, but I’ve hiked through some of the bush before for work. The number of endemic species and their comparative physiology is really fascinating… many people are afraid of the snakes, sharks and spiders but they aren’t as big of a hazard as people make them out to be. That being said, I wouldn’t recommend hunting them if possible… endangered species lists and all that.” Lex said back to the hunters behind them who looked pretty curious.
Isabelle held up her finger as if she had an important point to make. “Predators vs Cassowaries.” That got a few chuckles from the humans.
Royce pointed back to her. “Kangaroos, I heard they sometimes drown other animals. Might make an interesting challenge.” Royce added.
“Wait, no, I have a better one. Great whites. My money will be on the big fish.” The couple shared a huff of amusement with each other.
“God, I could go for a beer right now.” Was Dutch’s only contribution to their conversation.
The predators themselves were just watching the humans with a very particular looked they reserved for when they had no idea what was being said but were glad the humans were having fun. The bad blood was the only exception, looking on with a look of complete confusion.
They gave a brief scan of the city, trying to find and sign of the bad bloods the shuttle of the literal dragon they now had. Lex had been running around on Earth with the hunters for a while but for some reason, this new hunting ground gave her a nagging itch at the back of her brain. Sure, the stakes were higher but she couldn’t place it. The other humans seemed fine, explaining to the predators the type of fauna found here. “Okay, enough tempting the wildlife with destruction. Let's find a place to park the ship so we can start listening out for screams of terror.” Lex ordered. She stayed leaning against the console, looking through the viewscreen.
Scar pressed against her back, talking about bringing back a snake for the pups but Lex stopped listening. It clicked. She thought back to the burning wreck of the fuel pumping station. Things had gone so wrong and that was just one facility. What if things went wrong here? She knew that answer with devastating intimacy. She thought it had been put behind her but the spectre of Gunnerson once again haunted her thoughts.
Memories of the night were blurred from time, so long ago though probably pretty recent in her new experience with age and time. But that was what had started this all. Why she was here in this position to keep protecting her planet. A whole city, invaded by aliens and later wiped off the map when it couldn’t be contained. It was happening all over again.
“Lex?” Scar nuzzled against her but it made her jump a little and she felt Scar tense in return. He was always very perceptive of her moods, a little too perceptive at times. She was figuring out a way to explain herself when she was interrupted.
“Lex, we found a cosy spot to set her down,” Dutch called from the chair captain’s chair he had taken over while the hunter’s gathered their own thing in preparation.
“Great, try not to scratch the paint as you park her.” She called back and just to ease her mate, she leaned up and pressed a kiss to Scar’s face. With a soft smile, she let her hand linger down his arm before heading off to inform the mercenaries.
They found an empty building that looked to have been under heavy construction. they parked, scouted the immediate area and let the mercs loose on the city. Looking to find any signs of the bad blood’s or the creatures they may have already set free. The ship was updating their masks to the maps of roads and underground systems they might need while here. Royce too was already busy working out where they should go first.
Lex found herself packing away her broken spear in the ship storage before contemplating the halberd. Maybe she could shorten it so it would at least be useable.
“Little dagger?” Scar asked when he found her staring at the weapon. Damn, she had hoped he would have moved on from her weird little reaction.
“Hey, love. You think a power disc can cut through this?” she asked and he took the halberd from her hands, giving it his own inspection. “Or maybe I should get keep it mint for a trophy… I don’t actually need two spears, I was just used to being evenly weighted, you know?”
“You should keep it. He would have hated that.” Scar said and at her nod added it to the ship's weapon rack for safekeeping. “You’ve been quiet. I’m not mad that you were tricked if that is what you thought.” Scar said quietly as he took her hand in his large ones and held them up to his mouth, pressing the smooth side of his tusks against them like a kiss.
“No… I mean I would understand if you were but, I hadn’t thought that. I was just… well, you remember what happened last time serpents were loose in an Earth city.” She remembered the sting that went through her body as she hit the window, the scream that had ripped from her throat, curing up at Scar’s side not knowing if he would have survived either. “But that was a long time ago. This city is even more populated… we can’t let that happen again. Not here.”
He gave her hands a small squeeze. “You are right, we won’t.” he assured her. “You’ve come a long way since that disaster. We both have.”
“Yeah… I don’t think I could have ever predicted this is where I would have ended up when I made that decision to stay with you. For better or for worse. Don’t know if all my training can help me stop an incoming nuke still.”
“We can end this before the Oomans or Yautja try and activate a last resort. You forget we’ve fought in Ooman crowded territory more recently than that time.” He pointed out.
Lex sighed. “From one bad blood… who didn’t have an army of monsters. Just a few spliced hunting dogs.”
“I don’t know if you have forgotten but your species are monsters to us, so we technically have an answering army.” He said with some amusement.
“You still think we’re monsters?” She asked with a cocked eyebrow. Lex took a short few deliberate steps forward until she was standing chest to chest with him. “Are you scared of what your wife could do since she is a scary human monster?”
Scar purred loudly, releasing their hands which he had still been holding, pressed between them and now held onto her waist. Ensuring that she stayed held tight against his body even though she showed no signs of wanting to separate from him. “Always, my perfect wife. Always.” His hands got a little more grabby. “I would be a fool not to. Believe my words when I say I have been thinking about how you had the first kill-”
“Blue wasn’t our intended enemy and with the bad blood, technically it was a group effort. Fugitive actually did the most of it.” She interrupted but Scar ignored her.
“- of this hunt as a good leader should. It is the greatest disappointment that I wasn’t there to see your blade fall but when we get back home... me, you, a very big bottle of c’ntlip and the records of both our bad blood kills. Then you can turn your teeth and claws to me… celebrate our successful mission before we make history with that weapon which destabilises the bad blood’s and become war heroes.”
“Scar…” She shook her. “You never quit to do you?” but she knew her tone revealed that she wasn’t exactly complaining about that.
“No.” he said firmly. “And while I am not a jealous mate by nature, I feel like you need a good reminding about what it is like to be with me.” A growl rumbled in his throat and still sent a thrill of excitement up her spine even so many years later.
Lex slid her hands up over his chest to rest on his shoulders, tickling her fingers over the spikes on his skin. “Well, the prospect of seeing you kill up close and personal is pretty exciting. I will be sticking very close to you for this part of the mission. No separating. I plan to see everything.” She teased him, rising on her toes and Scar automatically lowered even more for her. “And maybe, seeing again just how skilled you are, I might not be able to wait until we get back home for that lesson.” She licked her tongue against his cheek.
She felt the rough shudder through his body. “Sounds like a perfect course of action.” He leaned even lower and nibbled at her lip before his tongue chased the light sting. While they had this short moment alone, they shared a few kisses… for good luck.
“Am I allowed a last request before you ship me off?” A voice interrupted and the two since they apparently only had a very short moment. With mutual disappointed sighs, the two broke apart to glare over at the changeling. He was leaning on the door frame and who knows how long he had been there. “Because I don’t care who’s the face you want me to wear, I want to see how this crime against nature works. Obviously well enough that you didn’t get labelled bad blood for crossing species boundaries.”
“Oh, right… you’re still here.” Lex muttered, she and Scar shared one last heated look before fully separating now that they had an audience. “So, what should we do with that thing?” Lex said looking back to Scar.
“If that is meant to offend me, I think it’s having the opposite effect…” He paused and looked her up and down, not in a leering way but a more clinical inspection. “Oh, turning into your mate might have crossed a few wires…” He stared at the floor, mandibles tucked in tightly in a look she knew Vah’kea had when troubled. Lex was realising that this bad blood was a mess in a way that was actually kind of sad. He is certainly paying a price for the abilities he was given. “But truthfully, what is it even like? A feel like it would just give one a rash to even try. But then again, with their size-” She would feel bad for him if he wasn’t so annoying about it.
Out in the hallway, the other had been preparing to move out but Isabelle dropped something she was carting and got right into the changing’s face. “One more word of filth from your mouth about my friend and I will have no qualms doing the work to cut off your penis as many times as you can find ways to grow them. Understand?” He stared down at her and then nodded, shuffling back a little. Isabelle then looked back at her and Scar. “The men are just heading out, we’ve also been scanning local radio signals, no signs of them so far but we’ll know as soon as something happens.”
“Thanks, Izzy.” Lex said emphatically before the woman gave one another hard stare at the bad blood and then continued on their way.
The bad blood cautiously watched her leave. “If I believed in the gods anymore, I would thank them that I didn’t find her attractive. Ooman’s are still disturbing little things, not all his lost.” Changing said and shuddered before walking away.
~~~
They talked over the problem that was the changeling when Royce got their attention, an urgent broadcast warning that a popular shopping mall was being evacuated. Some civilians who had run out of the store seemed to have collapsed foaming at the mouth with strange marks. That sounded like their guy. Some of the Merc were making their way across the harbour to where some other disturbances were being reported. But they had their primary target chosen and collecting him came first.
After checking in with Bruiser and making sure he was okay with it, Lex approached the changeling. “Deserter, you’re coming with us.”
“…I am unarmed.” He reminded her, that his wrist blades were currently hidden in the stores of the ship. Not that he would know they still had them. For all he knew they had been abandoned in the snow.
“I know… but think of this as a trial for your exile. Might even help get your sentence reduced if you manage to be of some use.” She said, not knowing if she could promise that. He stared back at her in doubt.
Bruiser shoved passed the bad blood snarling “This isn’t a choice. But if you try and run, Alexa’s mercy will not save you, I will rip you apart.”
Changeling looked after the big hunter curiously cocking his head to the side. “Do you think he’s mad at me? He starts talking and I’m just looking at his tusks… I need to be more selective with who I change into.”
Lex sighed. “We’re leaving.”
The mercs that stayed with them and other human hunters hit the streets while the yautja made use of the olden style buildings which allowed them to travel undetected. Lex clung onto Scar’s back, watching the throngs of people, some in suits, others in clubbing gear. The hunters spoke softly as they travelled in shadows and coloured neon lights about the clans who specialised in hunting in human cities. Emphasizing to the bad blood trailing after them, how the Ooman’s had won against the last solo hunter.
The chatter stopped as they grew close to the location known as the Queen Victoria Building. The flashing lights of the police cars, the sound of the nervous crowds being kept away.
Scar held her thighs, letting her piggyback as he jumped from one building to hang on the second floor of one away from the chaos happening at the entrances and exits. Bruiser used a device to cut a section of the glass, kicking it in as she swung inside. She and the three hunters crept threw the stores which seemed to have been left in a rush. She leaned over the railing and only because of her mask’s boosted audio did she duck back in time as a rush of humans in uniform charged higher floors.
They crept through the upper levels of the mall, passing small, high fashion stores and nice-looking restaurants now emptied. The police must have found the bad blood first and there was nothing they could do as sounds of violence echoed through the store. Scar and Bruiser took point and she tried not to think of lives she couldn’t have hoped to have saved.
She turned to look at the bad blood beside her. “Could you turn into him and recreate his venom?” she whispered.
He hummed, brows drawing in thought for a moment. “To shift I would need a sample of his blood, so no. Considering the state of his blood, that could kill me. Besides, I have never tried changing into someone who is spliced, trying for a form with different species DNA which hasn’t been properly spliced within me can create some rather fatal complications. There is a reason I haven’t tried to look Ooman or like the serpents. Apologies human, no alternate plan here, even if you had something meaningful to offer me in return.”
“It was worth an ask.” She sighed, not having expected much anyway. Things were never that simple. Lex glanced back to Changeling, all the little marks and features of her friend replicated practically perfectly. He looked back. “So… what did you originally look like?” She asked and noticed how he froze.
He didn’t answer for a beat before admitting. “I don’t remember anymore. My memories got pretty muddled after a few changes. I need an Image to focus on when I change, it’s a force of will just added by the instructions in their cells. But now I can’t change back to how I was.” He shrugged. “But our leader said I am better as I was before anyway, a sum of all the parts of the warriors I have faced. I am capable of more than you might think.” He purred, clicking his tusks.
“But you gave up almost straight away… and then betrayed your allies?” Lex pointed out dryly.
He clicked out a genuine laugh before both Scar and Bruiser turned back to snarl at him to be quiet. She quieted down but sent a look to Lex, which really didn’t look like Vah’kea. “I merely forgot my motivation in this fight.” He still had a quiet snicker. “But I still managed to have a will to live … I wonder if that is mine or something I picked up.”
They grew closer to the centre of the shopping mall and the flashes of gunfire happening on the higher levels started to die down forebodingly. There was a scream and a flailing body fell in a rush through the floor openings to the ground below with a wet smack onto the tiles.
They all jolted, conversation dropping away to dead air and weapons were rapidly drawn.
The body of the policeman was still twitching as he foamed at the mouth. Multiple of those bruises seemed to cover his face and hands from where the yautja had touched him. There was a sudden movement of the shadow of something leaping across the gap of the walkways and the screechy whine of metal.
They all cloaked and peaked upward, looking passed the other floors to where they saw the bad blood. They had made the right call, it was the venomous one, sitting on the edge of a giant clock hung in the middle of the store. Another policeman was held with both the yautja’s hands on his head, the man’s legs were kicking in desperation, his screams filled the air. It was too late to save him so she just grabbed Scar’s hand as they looked on. The venomous yautja leaned over him the viscous drool dripped down into his mouth and face, sizzling his flesh until his kicking stopped and his body was released as well. Falling to the ground, he lands unmoving.
They pulled back, leaning against the store windows behind them. ‘Do Not let him touch you.’ Scar signed to her with quick, hard movements.
‘Obviously. Why do you boys even feel the need to remind me?’ she signed right back.
Scar shrugged but the bad blood leaned in. ‘You’re small and squishy.’
She flipped him off but as good as his grasp on spoke language seemed to be, he didn’t appear to understand that gesture yet.
‘We have two injectors only.’ Bruiser signed getting them back on track.
‘Negative. We need him untainted to make the cure.’ Lex pointed out and the two hunters nodded.
‘You’re going to die to him if he saw our leader first, he won’t be here alone. Just leave the dead weight to die.’ Changing pushed.
Lex looked back at Scar and Bruiser and they both gave a nod.
Bruiser stepped out towards the opening railing and with his caster, aimed at the chain holding the clock the bad blood was seated in.
Notes:
Welcome to my neck of the woods~
ALSo look i know i have too many characters and really didn't need to add changeling to the main cast but... I did and not even I can stop myself.
Chapter 39
Summary:
Capture the Venom
Notes:
Bruiser fighting for his life: Rawr
Changeling, watching with opera binocs and snacks: The muscles~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
From what they had read on the flight over, that clock was a heritage piece, a lot of work and money was put into keeping it running. Lex might have felt bad about it being destroyed if it weren’t for the lives that they were planning on saving. In the end, what’s a fancy clock in the face of an alien invasion?
The chains holding the large clock were burned away almost instantly by the plasma blast sending the big clock down the three stories and bringing the venomous bad blood with it. It crashed into the tiles, sending cracks splintering out like spider web as the clock itself warped and bent from the impact. The bad blood had been knocked down from his perch and rolled over the broken glass and ceramics before he caught himself. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, shaking some of the debris off his body in a cloud of dust and glass shards. "I see that... you gave found us again." He started looking around the room, eyes passing where they were hidden. “So eager… to lose more… of your kin. I overestimated… your intelligence… seeing as you have returned… to this fight” His ruined voice came with an uncaring attitude.
Bruiser dropped his cloak and stalked directly in front of the bad blood. The bad blood barely had the time to look up at Bruiser before he kicked him under the jaw, sending the bad blood back against the clock with a heavy thud. That brought a grunt out from him, but it slowly became a chuckled, rough and broken, as saliva continued to ooze from his lame maw. His dull eyes met Bruiser’s. “Is this pride?... or do you just wish… for punishment? Atoning for your… feebleness. For allowing the death… of the weak… within your clan” He slowly stood, cracking his neck left to right. “What trouble your … little rules… land you in. You would do better to run.”
“Looks like you’re the one in trouble from where I am standing.” Lex hissed as she dropped her own cloak as she and Scar flanked to the side. Weapons were drawn, Lex with her whip, Scar with his shuriken. Bruiser was the only one with only melee now that they couldn’t risk his death with the plasma casters.
The anger and power she felt as she stared the monster down was disrupted by Changeling whooping in the background. “I always love the dramatics. Ooman’s do love using their verbal sparring. Who are they impressing? No one knows.” He said, leaning back against the glass of a store, looking way too comfortable for her liking. The venomous hunter turned to eye him for a lingering moment, head slightly cocking. Vah’kea had worn his mask on when he was poisoned in the fight, so the bad blood might not recognise the face as one that shouldn’t be here but his words and even his basic yautja armour might have given away his identity.
Ignoring him in a way that Lex wished she could, Scar activated the extended star blades on his weapons, bringing the focus to him. “You are coming with us, alive and humiliated. The Ooman scientists will pick you apart and then, you will be given a death at our hands… one far better than you deserve, you pitiful disgrace.” He spat.
“We… Will see.” His calm, unconcerned cadence never wavered as he pushed himself back up to his feet. He Lazily looked around at all of them before he curled his fist closed.
A growl rose like a motor echoing through the empty building around them as Bruiser stepped right up to the bad blood again. The chipped tiles crumbled to powder under his armoured boots. The two stared at each other before the large hunter widened his stance, arms raised as he gave a shattering roar in the bad blood’s face. The talking was done and Bruiser cemented his lead in this fight. Best put his anger to good use. The bad blood spat at his feet which sizzled the tiles before he lashed out, trying to grab Bruiser.
The venomous bad blood was bigger than Bruiser like all the hybrids seemed to be. He pushed forward like an unstoppable force, fighting with his hands as his body was the only weapon he really needed. This fight was a delicately balanced one. They could have all overpowered him if this were any other hunter, but the threat of his skin made them hesitate and keep back.
For Lex and Scar that was easier, they both stayed at his flank, keeping out of range and getting a few cuts in where they could. Scar was brilliant with his Shurikens, the bad blood's reflexes not fast enough to avoid deep slices of his flesh. Lex's whip seemed more of an annoyance but it keep his focus divided. Which her friend really needed. Bruiser was a brawler, strictly melee. He still fought like hell, the only thing that separated his blows from hurting him back was his double wrist blades and his gauntlets as he deflexed attacks.
But he had something to prove in this fight. Being in such close quarters made Lex and Scar’s job harder but they didn’t call him back. They had just to ensure no friendly fire happened and trusted in their friend's abilities. The bad blood was less fighting and more trying to grapple, he had gotten close a few times, just needing one touch. Bruiser gave a solid kick to the bad blood's gut while Scar pulled metal scrap from the clock and beamed the bad blood in the back. The focus shifted to him.
"I wouldn't have done that when I was you." Changeling crowd from the sidelines.
The two hunter's fought him from either side, Scar now on the defensive, ducking and deflecting away from the venomous touch. The clanging of metal on metal rose as Bruiser gave his heavy hits but his blades skittered across the bad blood’s armour, scraping deep lines in the metal which could have cleaved bone if it had properly landed. But the Bad blood hand turned and started crowding in on Bruiser again, forcing him back. Bruiser was used to fighting as the strongest in the room and he kept pushing the other back but the bad blood barely gave an inch.
“Look at him go. You know he is stronger than you, splicing affects muscle density so he doesn’t need to be bulging to push you back like a mere pup.” Changeling informed them. Lex glanced back when there was a shattering noise and saw that he had broken the glass case of a little dessert stand within the mall “Not as desirable though, if you were at all worried.” He told bruiser as he pulled out a candy-coloured box, clawing open the ribbon it was tied with.
The Venomous bad blood was slow but deliberate. Willing to take a few lashes as he would charge to strike Bruiser. Knocking him back and not even properly fighting, just trying to grab him, to get his fingers under his armour and Bruiser wasn’t even wearing much of it. Then in a flash, Bruiser's luck ran out and he was dragged forward with a hand on the strap of his furred pauldron. The two growled at each other, faces inches away before the bad blood softly, almost tenderly, palmed his hand over Bruiser's exposed chest. That was all he had needed to do. With toxin already in his system, Bruiser didn't hold back and elbowed him across the jaw and they separated once again.
“Fuck!” Lex hissed, angry and worried for his friend, it hadn't taken long before the others had succumbed to the toxin. "Bruiser, fall back, we can take over." She commed him but he just snorted.
"No, worrying about toxins only slowed us. I do not have those worries anymore." He said and punched his fist into his hand as prepared to keep fighting. "Queen, do you remember our first capture together?"
It took her a second to think back "We don't have the net guns." She replied.
"Understood." Scar said before looking at Lex. "You're Ooman, you can work it out." He said it like a challenge. She couldn't let her own husband try and call her out like that.
Bruiser and the venomous bad blood started trading blows again, Lex looked around desperately before her eyes landed on the length of the power cord from the broken clock. Wrapping her whip away she used her wrist blade to snatch it away from the clock. She tied a good lasso and cloaking once again, edged around the fight. Just waiting for a chance. When he went to throw a punch Lex caught him around his wrist and yanked back hard. She tried to pull just enough to keep him from advancing again but he easily pulled her forward and she fell to the broken floor, being dragged over the debris.
“See, soft and squishy.” The Changeling call out at her from where ever he was.
“You can help, or you can shut your mouth!” She shot back as she turned and braced her foot on the large metal clock and prayed the cord wouldn’t give way. Grabbing the chain from the clock Scar knotted it into a loop and tossed it around the bad blood’s neck. They both pulled and together managed to at least keep him still for a second as he struggled. Changeling struts himself very causally around towards her before he crouched to look at her at eye level as she strained to keep the cord pulled tautly. He pushed a few bright coloured macaroons into his mouth as he watched. "So are you going to help?"
“I really could, I’m probably stronger than him. Which is to say I am even that much stronger than you.” He then proceeded to just keep watching her as she struggled. He bounced a little before, he rushed out. “Okay, this is just sad. You can better leverage the weight it you hook it directly on something. Something that had proven to hold his weight before?... Your friend that I am wearing is a know-it-all isn’t he?”
“I know that! What do you think I’ve been trying to do?” Lex pushed herself up, ignoring the sting of the small cuts she had received jerking the bad blood’s arm back and hooking the cord that was wrapped around her hand now around the wreckage. “If you’re going to keep ‘wearing' my friend at least do him justice.”
“Touchy.” He said before stuffing his face even more.
lassos started to dig into already injured skin, the wounds he had opened on his own scales oozed black over the cord and chain. Lex could hear the sizzle and see the steam rising as it started to corrode the material. “It’s not going to hold!” she called out. “Better have something planned big guy!”
Bruiser clicked and stalked over to the struggling yautja, taking off his horned mask as a simmering growl stayed in his throat. She didn’t know what insults the large hunter spat out but it soured the face of the struggling bad blood. His mouth opened in a snarl, flooding his chest with the corrosive saliva which burned the materials faster and pooled at Bruiser’s boots.
In a moment of disbelief, the wrist blades retracted into his gauntlets, she and Scar jolted but there was no way to stop what they knew he was going to do. Bruiser placed his hands on either side of the bad blood's head, palms over his mandibles. But for the first time, she saw fear in their enemy’s eyes.
“Brother!" The bad blood sounded desperate as he looked towards Changeling. "That is you, isn’t it? Whatever game… you are playing with them… end it. You must aid me!” He snarled blood adding to the river of viscous saliva pouring from his mouth. “I order you! Kill this one.”
Changeling just swept his eyes appreciatively over Bruiser, his mandibles clicking together. “Can you deduce where our weakest joints are likely located? I can now. It’s been a good run brother, or whomever you were to me.”
The venomous bad blood screeched and fought harder against its binds, with a sharp tug Lex fell back on her ass as the cord snapped from the acid blood. Scar held the chain lightly still as the bad blood claws at Bruiser's arms. But he wasn’t going anywhere now. Her friend continued squeezing, eyes never leaving the frightened ones. The screech was horrific and Lex quickly scrambled up and to his side, gently lay her hand on his arm. “Hey, big guy. Come on, we need him alive remember.” She whispered.
Bruiser’s arm muscles bulged from force and then there was a sickening crack as his mandibles and whole lower jaw cracked. He let go and the bad blood's body crumpled under him with a pained keen. “He is still alive… for a while depending on how far just breaks in his skull went.” Bruiser looked down at their hands, palms now swollen and darkened from the venom, the flesh of his arms still burning from the contact with the hybrid’s blood.
Changeling was cheering in the background but Lex just looked at all the rising marks on Bruiser's body. “Shit... Okay, you did it, big guy. You did it.” She said and rubbed his back. She and Scar shared a look and knowing what she was thinking her mate began carefully binding the bad blood’s twitching limbs with more cord. “Come with me.” She gently tugged at Bruiser’s belt and pulled him along.
She went down the now silent halls and kicked a restaurant’s glass door, shattering it so she could pull Bruiser through though he had to duck under the doorway. She led him to the kitchen and used the dish hose to wash away the corrosive blood from his red scales. He didn’t try and stop her from grabbing his medkit from his belt to treat it which is how she knew his hand were even worse than they probably looked.
“I need you do know something before this goes any further.” He gently told Lex, she looked up at him with concerned eyes. She was kind of scared he was going to give a ‘just in case I don’t make it’ talk. “I’m not your husband… in case you thought we all looked alike. You know with that changeling I am worried you just couldn’t tell.”
“Fucking hell, Bruiser!” She cursed and he laughed at her until she punch his shoulder which he had the audacity to laugh even harder at “You know we never tried cutting off the limbs to stop the poison.” She told him.
“I’ll be impressed if you had the stomach to try that, little dagger.” He looked at his slightly trembling hands.
“You’re an idiot.” She said and starts pouring the healing salve over his abused flesh.
“Remarkably, you are not the first to say so, but I am strong and desirable so I need to leave something for the others in the clan.”
Lex groaned and leaned forward, resting her masked face on his arm. “You do realise you’re going to get sick now.”
“The Ooman doctor can just treat me after she fixes our friend and the female.” He nudged her back with his elbow so he could bang his face against her own. It hurt but she took it. “Don’t fret for me, you have a dragon to hunt down. I’ll try and be back in time for that fight. That is glory I will need to share with you.” He said with awe at the thought of the next fight.
Whatever gets him better faster. “If you’re not, I will kick your injured ass. Right after I hunt the dragon.” She said and gave him a harder punch to his arm just for good measure.
He suddenly looked around like he was looking for something. “Was there a tiny bug just then? I swear I just felt something.”
“Asshole.” She muttered before looking around the place. Well, she had ruined this restaurant anyway, might as well rob it. She opened the little fridge and stole an iced coffee and water bottle. She sat on the counter and alternated between drinking one and pouring the other into Brusier’s mouth.
By the time they finished it there was a sudden crash of glass the two looked back and then at each other. “Stay here.” She said but he just gave an ugly snort and brought out his wrist blades again. They both came out ready to keep fighting but Scar held his hand up, stopping them.
At the centre, a figure decloaked and Fugitive tilted his head down at the crushed bad blood. “Looks like I missed the party.”
“Hope you weren’t distracting the doctor too much. We have some work for her.” Bruiser huffed.
“I didn’t wear her out, rest assured.” Fugitive teased but his hands remained curled and tense at his sides. They couldn't see his eyes but she guessed he was looking at the marks covering Bruiser. After a beat, he tapped a few buttons on his gauntlet and from a perfectly circular hole in the glass roof (which explained the crash) a loader attached to a retractable winch came down. Ready for their prisoner to be loaded up. “Looks like you will be needing her touch too. Don’t go enjoying it.”
She watched as the two continued to bicker and tease but she knew it was a distraction and Bruiser started slumping his posture, his breath staying shallow. He wouldn’t have too long before the toxin really took effect.
“So… is the big guy doing well?” Changeling asked coming back up beside her. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought him along. He wasn’t as much help as she had hoped.
“What do you think? Of course not.” She was too tired to properly snap at him.
“Okay, good. Just checking.” He said and watched Bruiser as he and Fugitive, the latter using his metal hand, pulled the larger bad blood onto the loader. “So, when the fugitive said he wore out the doctor… Ooman?” Lex gave him a disbelieving stare. “One Ooman is a fluke, two is forming a pattern. Is it the size difference? Do you taste like c’ntlip? This is the greatest mystery of the cosmos. I can’t stop thinking about it… I mean I really can’t stop thinking about it.” he purred.
Okay, she wasn't tired anymore. Lex stepped closer to the former bad blood and gave him a shove to his chest which he had the gall to look offended at. “You just watched your bother die. Do you really not care about anything anymore?”
“You want me to care?” he growled and leaned in closer to her, instantly switching from flirty to intimidating. “Wouldn’t it be bad for you if I did find offence that your party popped my ‘brother’s’ skull like a star bug?”
Lex just stared back at him unflinching. “Your side is trying to wipe mine out. The least you can do is not be so casual about it.”
“I’m here to help, aren’t I?” he said gesturing to himself and then the partly ruined mall around them.
“You’re really not.” She said and left him sputtering when she saw Bruiser getting onto the loader as well. Scar was giving him a firm squeeze on his shoulder and Lex placed her hand on his arm. “Tell Vah’kea and Nefertiti I said hi, after you save them.” She smiled at him.
Bruiser nodded. “I will, Sister, they will know. Or you can tell them yourself for we arrive back… do not forget, I want a piece of the dragon. I will have no larger regret If I am not part of the story of its hunt.”
“I can’t promise I will go easy on it to give you more time.” Scar said with a slight purr.
“Better heal fast.” She added.
“You say that but I know you two, trouble follows you like a vapour trail.” He reequipped his bio-mask after they both let him go. “May the gods see you as the hunt goes on.” The loader lefts him and his charge up into the invisible shuttle.
Scar started properly catching Fugitive up on the hunt and Lex got an extra moment to just breathe. It’s good that OWLF could come in and do the clean-up for now that the fight was over.
Lex leaned back against the clock when Changeling approached her, lifting up an offering with the packet of the sweets he had been eating from. She rolled her eyes but… they did look good. In spite of herself and her dislike of the bad blood, she took one and nibbled on it. “See I am helping.”
“Right.”
“I’m looking after the last human in our care.”
“There is a whole team of us.” Lex said bluntly and took another brightly coloured macaroon. They were kind of good and she could really use the sugar.
“Really? And just where are they?” He asked looking pleasantly down at her, mandibles twitching in mirth.
Lex paused mid-bite and placed the half-eaten sweet back in the box as she accessed the coms. “Hey, team human, we’ve captured the target and Bruiser is swopping with Fugitive to get him back to base. What is your location?”
She waited but there were just a few bursts of static. She watched the hatched of the ship close in the broken glass ceiling as the ship flew off. Still nothing. “Dutch can you read me?” She tried again. “Izzy? Royce?” Scar and the Fugitive started to notice her alarm and came to stand with her. “Merc’s anyone have a location on the human hunters?” She asked and there was a string of negatives from them. Scar and Fugitive started to notice her worry and came over.
I did warn you.” Changeling said and licked the other half of her sweet before eating it too.
Scar growled and grabbed him by the front of his armour and pulled him close, knocking the box from his hand. Her mate snarling some threat at him before asking. “Where are they?”
“I was hungry.” He whined as he looked down at the box. Scar shook him and gave another snarl. “How would I know? I've been here the whole time.” He gestured to himself and then around them like his audience was enough to disprove any suspicion. “But I did say he wouldn’t have been here alone if he made up with our leader. He might have been here for the fun but we did have a plan in motion.”
“Setting up the prey.” She murmured trying to think of what might have happened.
There was another burst of static and then a low whispered voice came through. “Lex… can’t risk speaking long.” It was Royce. “We were attacked at the station. Had to follow the tracks… Lex we’re in trouble.”
“Royce, talk to me.” She urged him.
“We found a nest.”
They all paused and looked around at each other. Lex asked the million dollar question.
"A nest of what?"
Notes:
Diversity wins, the bad blood predator who betrayed everyone and is now objectifying your hunting party is genderfluid and bi
Love wins.Happy pride.
Also for those who haven't seen, at the time of writing this the news teaser for the next predator movie has been out for a little while. I am chronicling my hope and excitement for this movie. I think it looks great.
Chapter 40
Summary:
Off to save the humans
Notes:
Ahhh sorry this is late. I went away for a while and thought since I had most of this written, I would quickly finish it off. But no, I just stared at it until yesterday.
Chapter Text
The team made their way through the mall towards the entrance to the train station below. She and Scar had already quickly dosed as much of the spattered blood they could find just to ensure it wasn’t likely to be found or collected. Her mind was screaming for her to go found her friends but none of the yautja fully trusted the humans to fully hide their presence here. The OWLF agents eventually started making their way in just as they were leaving. Taking over the space and continuing the clean-up. Aligning the scene to whatever plausible story they could make of this disaster. She was glad that wasn’t her job.
They all stay quiet as they enter the station, it was lit up brightly with humming fluorescent light. Everything was completely still and empty. It had been a while since Lex has ever been in a train station but the complete desolation of it still has her that eerie liminal feeling. Even though it must have been over an hour since the area had been evacuated, the intense heat of the running trains still lingers in the air with a dirty, metallic smell. They don’t say a word and on instinct moved into formation. Watch the corners. Stay away from the vents. Urban hunting grounds had their own set of disciplines that were taught to everyone regardless of their main hunting territories.
She hadn’t ever been on a proper hunt with Fugitive but he still moved flawlessly with her and Scar as they scanned the environment. The eyes of his mask flashed blue every other moment as his sights changed. Just like old times really.
Lex kept her focus but it stayed there at the back of her mind, the concern for her human teammates. There was a reason she wasn’t fond of plans which had them separate.
‘We found a nest.’ That had been the last message she had received from him. The only response that came after her question had been a cry of surprise, a rain of bullets and then an empty burst of static snow. They would go after them because of course they would, but they would be going in blind.
They went up and down frozen escalators, not separating, she stood firm in that. Too much of a risk when they had already lost part of the team. Changeling still trailed behind them, still not helping but a least not hindering either. Aside from the snippy comment. “Do you really need the Oomans? Isn’t one enough.” He stayed quiet. The burned face of her friend would peer curiously at dropped newspapers and vending machines, she had to smother the urge to explain Earth culture as she would have If Vah’kea was really here. She wished he was here. And Bruiser.
Her thoughts felt like they were being pulled in so many directions but she just gripped her weapon tighter and brought herself back. No time for that. She was on the hunt.
There came a low thrumming crackle from Scar which got all their attention and they all jumped down from the platform and carefully walked over the tracks to the side of the wall. There they inspected two starbursts of carbon residue on the side of the tunnel.
‘Plasma.’ Scar signed as Lex gently placed her hand over it. Still warm. They looked down the dark tunnel it let to. Visions rapidly switch to see within.
‘Eyes peeled.’ She signed and the four of them followed the tracks.
‘What about the rest of the body?’ She caught Changeling signing.
Along the way, they continued to find more little signs of a fight. Sometimes off in the distance, the sound of gunshots echoing down quickened their steps the tunnels were branching off like tree roots and it would easy to miss the trail. ‘There were multiple coming after them.’ Fugitive signed as he inspected the disturbed stone pile that was the bed for the train tracks. ‘Impossible to say how many.’
Lex played the nose of Scar’s crackle when she found a long score into the concrete walls and a splash of luminescent red blood. ‘They’re strong, this isn’t from one of our weapons, they have something sharp in their defences.’ She said as she ran her fingers over the deep gouges. Thin, like a spike or horn. She followed them to the blood puddled and dipped the tip of her knife into the shiny red blood. No steam or signs of damage so it’s thankfully not caustic. ‘They can be hurt. This definitely isn't Ooman.’
She heard Scar click for attention and looked in its direction only to see Changeling had made the noise instead while Scar stared at him. She couldn’t tell if he was mocking her, Scar or maybe both of them. Either way, he must have been feeling generous as she started signing. ‘Technically, it is from an Ooman. In a manner of speaking.’ He freely dipped his finger into it and dragged the blood over his long tongue. ‘Ooman and a few other things of course.’
‘Like what?’ She asked hoping his cooperation would continue.
But he didn’t as she simply signed. ‘It’s a surprise. If you would even know the species in the first place.’
‘We know one thing at least.’ Lex signed to the other hunters. ‘If it can bleed, we can kill it.’ And her two boys closed their fists in the sign ‘for glory’.
They continued down, and more signs of plasma scorching and bullets were spread over the tunnels. More iridescent red dripping along, and more concerning, some non-iridescent red blood was found soon enough too.
Something caught Lex’s attention as they continued deeper. It was one of the camo pouches they had been wearing on their mixed hunting kit. She crept towards it.
A soft gasp was pulled from her chest as large hands went to her hips and pulled her roughly back. It momentarily made her lose her footing but was pinned again the cold metal armour and warm scales of Scar’s body. He held her against his chest as she got her legs under her again and leaned against his huge body expecting an explanation. “See something, my husband? Or were you just feeling a little lonely?” she whispers sweetly even with her heart racing in her chest from the adrenalin. She knows she must have missed something and feels a little foolish about that.
Scar squeezed her tighter against him as she felt the slight purr in his chest. “To save your reputation I can say I was lonely… if you truly didn’t see the trap.” He whispered.
“Trap?” She paused and looked back. She had missed it but now she had been warned, Lex could see the cords and wooden pegs hidden among the rubble. She followed it with her eyes and found a little wooden peg that the bait was leaning on. There were some ripped-out wires that she followed to where it led to a plank of wood with thick, rusty nails pulled from the train tracks. She could have been skewed if she had reached for it.
‘They can make traps.’ She signed their discovery to Fugitive who similarly had frozen in place after she was grabbed to see what happened. He seemed just as contemplative at that.
They were being hunted right back. She felt the little shiver of excitement in Scar and Fugitive similarly had intensity in his movements as he crouched by the trapped pouch. Now Lex could see
“Never had prey that set traps before.” She said before rubbing her hand over Scar’s knuckles. “Well, aside from... you know. When hunting either of our species.” She said gesturing between her and Scar.
“You fought against your own kind?” Changeling asked in bright interest, still following close to her.
Lex paused before she looked him dead in the eyes as she reached up, pushing her hand into Scar’s dreads. “Yes. When they dared to mess with me and mine.” Her words dripped in threat as Scar’s hand gripped her more possessively. Scar then pulled her along as they looked closer at the trap.
Between the three of them, they managed to stop the rather primitive mechanism and Lex peaked in to see an intact and untampered explosive. So, they were smart but not familiar with their technology yet.
“It is a complete perversion of our ways. These abominations and the bad blood who created them will be completely wiped out.” Fugitive said as he tossed the little trigger mechanism away. Changeling put his hands up again to show how he was still unarmed. Lex was believing that gesture less and less as they continued.
They went passed a forked in the tracks, easily following the tracks but keeping an eye out for more of the traps. They found another which would have used the weight of who had stepped on end to lift the other spiked end behind them to impale whoever was walking behind.
They were basic in design but the fact that they were being used at all was impressing her.
Their luck run out when they reached a stationary train that filled up the narrow tunnel. Silver and yellow, the lights on and doors open. It looked like an inviting invitation.
Before continuing the boys checked either side of the train as well as the gap under it. Lex turned on her coms again and called after all the human hunters but there was still silence on their end. She didn’t know if they were just in a bad spot or if they were all dead. “We’re almost there. Hang on.”
They all gave the all-clear for any outward signs of tampering before Lex side-walked between it and the wall. The yautja barely fit in behind her. When she reached the door, it was a ways up to get in. She placed her hands on the floor at the open door to push herself up, laying half her body down just so she could peek in. It left her with her legs dangling down a short distance above the ground. Scar and Fugitive both simply leaned their heads in, both glancing at her with a teasing purr. “Shut up.” She hissed not even looking back at them. Scar rubbed his hand at her lower back to soothe her pride.
This car looked empty as far as she could see. Even in her thermals, she couldn’t be up anything moving further in the spaces she couldn’t see in the car. Empty enough that she pushed herself up again to get her knee on the edge and crawl inside. She stood up and then looked back to the yautja who were gauging the maybe 6-foot and a half ceiling of the car and chuckled. ‘Why don’t you come in here too?’
The hunters looked at each other and shared a few clicks before looking back at her. “Look after yourself, I’ll be close if anything comes. You can take the inside.” Scar snorted and instead leapt up and she heard the clatter of his boots on the roof of the train. Fugitive, while shorter than Scar at just 8ft also followed her husband up after giving her a two-fingered salute. Lex was ready to walk alone when she heard someone else climb into the car and found Changeling was still sticking close. Even though still needed to hunch over a good deal, Vah’kea was on the smaller side for the yautja his age.
She pulled her ice axes out and pointed one at him. “No funny business.”
“I don’t even know the meaning of that phrase.” He replied before sweeping his arm out in a gesture for her to lead on.
They walked down the stairs and made their way through the bottom level of the car. Lex checked between all the rows of seats as she slowly walked forward but nothing popped up on any of her swiftly changing sights. They made it through the car without seeing anything out of the ordinary but still felt on edge as she pressed the button to open the doors between the cars. “First car cleared. See anything up there?”
“Nothing of note.” Scar said back.
The next car was cleared, and so was the one after. She was at the end of the fourth car when she paused at the door looking in. Her bio-mask zoomed in at just a little pop of red at the core of the window. It didn’t look like much but she was too on edge to ignore it. Lex was about to ask one of the boys to peek in through the window when Changeling who had been dawdling didn’t pause and pushed the button to open the door.
“Hey!” She hissed and grabbed his wrist but she had moved too late. The doors whooshed open and she saw the red had been one cord which was one in a bundle attached to the furthest door. When it opened it pulled the bundle of cords with it, tugging it from where it had come from the opened panel of an emergency call button.
“Fuck.” She looked up at the hunter who tilted his head in confusion.
There was a single but devastatingly loud chime of an announcement over the PA system that then echoed down the silent tunnel.
“Lex!” Scar growled over the coms.
“It wasn’t me! The bad blood sprung a trap.” She snapped back and rushed through the doors before they closed again. “I think we’ve just lost our element of surprise.”
“Did he do so intentionally?” Fugitive asked and she heard the loud thumps as the hunters no longer waited and began running along the train.
“I don’t know If it was intentional.” She said glaring at him. “I wouldn’t put it passed him though.”
The bad blood looked offended and grabbed her wrist. “I have no reason to try and get you killed. You took my mask, I couldn’t see it.”
She yanked her arm back and wielded her twin axes tighter. “We need to hurry now.”
“I didn’t-” His words were distorted by a growl but he stopped himself and centred. “I didn’t do that intentionally. Remember I do want to get out of this alive. That is my one goal.”
“Uh-hu.”
They tore off running down the train. No longer looking for traps, she just wanted to escape the bottleneck that would happen if they stayed inside.
“They're coming.” Scar warned over the coms.
She could see the burst of light as Scar and Fugitive’s casters went off. It was a rapid flashing of white light at a speed that didn’t bode well for the number they would be facing out there. She felt a jolt that went through the train and skidded to a stop.
“Some got past.” Fugitive said what she already suspected.
The lights of the train started to flicker. Lex took slow and measured steps forward, approaching the door to the last car. She flicked through the sights of her mask and with the thermals she could see something was approaching but also slow and cautiously. She spun her axes in her hands, ensuring her grip on them was firm and ready.
But the figure seemed to have stopped. Curious. She switched her sights back and from here she could practically see the maroon body of this next monstrosity. “Why isn’t it moving?” She muttered. More to herself than her present company.
However, she still got a reply. “They’re smart, ambush and trap hunters. Like humans.” Changeling said, still seeming a little frustrated.
Traps.
Lex spun around just as two of the creatures came in through the open doors behind her. They looked vaguely humanoid in shape but their skin was a rough, textured, red clay colour with dents and contusions in their arms and shoulders. It seemed like two fingers on each hand had fused together to make a large curled hook. But their most intimidating feature was the bald, skull-like heads, she could only just see the gleam of a set of small dark, sunk-in eyes.
“Gods this just keeps getting weirder.” She growled as she jumped back avoiding being grabbed by one of the assailants. Dashing for the row of seats, Lex jumped up, grabbed onto the top of the hand pole and used both legs to kick the hybrid out of the train car.
She let go and landed with a quick turn, right on time to counter the swipe of a hook. The creature screeched an awful cackling sound. They both looked at each other, stopping the fight and circling. It was smart. “Can you understand me?” She tried. “We don’t have to fight. We could find you a new home. One less crowded and dangerous.” It whined and lowered its head slightly, taking a step closer, appearing docile.
That was until she saw it tensing its arms and legs a second before it came up to strike. Its hook slashed her arm fight before he could turn away but he axe it true in the not-as-rough patch of skin she could see at its neck. It sunk in and the creature gurgled the glowing red blood seeming more horrific to her as it spilled from the creature's mouth. Her axe got stuck between the shells and she yanked as hard as she could but it remained wedged in. As the body fell, she crouched with it to try and get her weapon unstuck.
It was only from years of training that even in the quiet, the hair on the back of her neck rose up as she felt the threat of something behind her. She had forgotten about the third creature The one that had been distracting her from the other car. Showing its disturbingly blunt teeth, almost like a smile, the creature that was now at the dividing door lunged for her. She brought her arms up, hoping to reflex some of the attacks with her gauntlets but the attack never landed. The beast, only inches away from her was suddenly yanked back but what looked like a long blue tongue wrapped around its waist.
It was dragged back to the bad blood wearing her friend’s face, except it wasn’t fully Vah’kea anymore. It shifted. His body and face were covered in extra quills, Changeling’s claws seemed to have grown a good number of extra inches as she stabbed them into the walker's body. His mouth opened, mandibles seeming to unhinge like a boa constrictor snake as he bit into the creature's flesh, shovelling chunks into his mouth as he ate it alive. The creature soon stopped moving as arteries were severed and it bled out in a large puddle that spilled around her boots. Vah’kea’s contorted, bloody face looked back up to her licking the blood off his tusks before his face settle back into the right position. “Aren’t you glad to be friends with a bad blood now?” He purred. “The others would have left you to fight alone.”
Lex stared managed to get the axe out and looked at the glowing red drenching the yautja. He looked like he was from some stylized horror movie. He crawled to her, and she held the axe between them but didn’t swing even when he got too close for comfort. “I didn’t set off the trap on purpose. I would never be so sloppy with my betrayals. I don’t hide my nature no matter how much it changes. Do you understand, pretty Ooman?”
“…Y-yes.”
Blood dripped down from his tusks and pooled on her stomach. “Know that I can hear your heartbeat. Are you going to rescind our deal?” He asked pleasantly, each word pronounced carefully under the species' natural reverb.
“No.”
“Good. Very good. You see, I am good at what I do. Your clan is smart, I could see the tide is turning. I know I can continue to hunt on your side and then after. Time isn’t an issue for me anymore. I know the power I hold. Still, make sure to let me know if any of that changes, spitfire.” He looked down at her with Vah’kea’s face contorted in a terrifying way she had never seen before.
Then the door opened and the third creature which had been the bait barrelled through, spearing Changeling in the shoulder. She got her spear and looked between the two of them, waited, aimed and thrust the spear all the way through barely missing changing’s body. But she made sure to miss him.
“I gave my word as an elite.” She said with more breath behind her words. “That means something to me. So, you stay helpful, you don’t attack my family. Our deal will stand.” She offered him a hand. “I believe you.” She was also terrified of him.
Chapter 41
Summary:
Monster mash
Notes:
PS not fully edited, will do that in the morning but i needed to post.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lex continued running through the last of the train cars, the windows were still flashing with lights from the hunter’s guns above the train. It was reminiscent of a lightning storm with the crashing sounds of combat thundering around them.
She tried to push thoughts of what she had just seen out of her mind. Changeling’s flesh had trembled over his frame and suddenly the spikes and claws retracted back into his body. He retreated from where he had her pinned, looking like her friend Vah’kea again.
He followed closely at her heels like he had pushed that moment away as well. She was going to keep a closer eye on him, and while his demeanour went right back to overly friendly and caring, she could tell he was keeping his eyes on her too.
The intention behind that focus was still unknown to her.
One of the creatures jumped through the front door in the last door of the car, she threw her spear at it but it only just managed to break the tip past the hard shell. However, it did push it off balance and it fell between the wall and the train. She kept running, not losing any speed and before it could scramble up, she wrapped her hands around the spear and used her momentum to push it in further.
It crumbled under itself as she pulled the spear out and she used its body as a stepping stone to quickly get out of the narrow space between the wall and the train. She hit the ground with a roll and landed in a crouch, holding her spear up towards the rest who stopped trying to get past the line of defence the hunters has established around the train. They paused, twitching and watching her, no, assessing her.
She rose up and with her spear pointed forward, she gave the greatest battle cry that she could when using her own voice. It gave her some satisfaction as some of the creatures took nervous steps back.
She managed not to jump as something landed just to her left as it was just Fugitive who gave her a nod before pulling out a newly loaded machine gun. She would have laughed at that if she wasn’t still a little off kilter from that moment with Changeling.
There was another loud thud again to her right as Scar jumped off the train car to join them as well. She could feel his looming presence beside her and it was more comforting than any sane person would have thought.
The two hunters which flanked at her sides both roared in unison. She liked to think hers was just as intimidating as the threat of yautja tiger roars but unlike her attempt, half of the creatures chattered and bolted away in fright. Back through the tunnels and into the darkness out of sight, leaving the other, angrier half to take them alone.
“We don’t have time to waste.” She reminded them. “No showing off, either of you.”
The two just huffed at her and they all charged for the remaining trapper hybrids.
They just started tearing them down, doing their best to keep away from the hooks. Her whip wasn't as useful as the blades so she focused on prying into weak points. Scar grabbed one in a headlock, it thrashed as he choked it, but the thick shell of it’d body resisted. Lex threw her spear at one that was approaching Fugitive before pulling her dual axes out and with a nod from Scar, pushed it into the black eyes of the Trapper. Once she pulled the blades out, he tossed the body into another trapper as it charged at them.
“Getting tired yet, love?” She teased her husband.
“Just having you near me ensure my stamina stays up. Why? Have plans for me?” He flirted back before the trappers encircled them. They both turned going back-to-back, her hand going to rest on his back but getting his ass instead and what, she wasn’t going to squeeze it? “Looking for my knife? Wrong side, little dagger.”
“My mistake.” She chuckled and then lunged out to kick one trapper across the head, the metal claws of the boots scoring against its shell. While it stumbled, she lashed at it with her axes but the blades didn’t land in the right spot so she retreated against Scar's back, feeling his muscles work as he had an easier time impaling the creatures on his wrist blades. When it ran at her again, she watched its mouth open and stuck her blades inside of its maw and ripped its face open from the inside out.
Another creature ran at her before she could duck back but her braids flicked up as her own spear flew right past her and embedded into the chest and downed the hybrid. “I believe that was yours.” She heard Fugitive call before he held one up and pressed the gun to its head and did a quick burst of bullets before using the limp body as a shield to block the swinging hooks of another attacker.
Lex quickly got her axes back on her belt and pulled the spear out of the body. Scar punched one of the trappers that got too close to her, sending a few of its teeth flying from its power. Another hybrid appeared in her path and so moving quickly she got a foot up on Scar’s thigh and jumped off of it, using the lift to swing her spear down with more power and landed with it embedding properly into the trapper.
“Get down!” Fugitive growled and she and Scar dropped to their knee in a crouch. The few creatures that were left got sprayed with bullets as Fugitive flicked his arm out to sweep across the tunnel.
When they lifted their heads, the trappers stumbled to continue their pursuit, still standing but barely. It didn’t take much effort to pick them off with a well-placed strike.
Lex reached down and used her axe to carve off two of the hooked claws from the creature. Shaking off the glittering blood and going to Scar. He met her halfway and she gave a small. “Hi, handsome.” Before she lifted her hands to give him the offering.
“Hello, agile.” He purred and also brought up his own fist and offered a handful of teeth. They had the same idea and it made Lex laugh.
They traded the gifts and Lex pocketed the teeth, planning to add them to the elaborate bone and teeth cord she had back home that had grown more decorative since the first time Scar gave her serpent teeth.
“Oh please, you two, I am a claimed male, stop with all the thoughts of sharing your gifts with me.” Fugitive huffed as he joined them, leaning against Scar’s arm as he looked down at Lex. “I forgot to ask, do humans like teeth or claws better? Or Shall I give my doctor a whole skull?”
A suddenly slow clap interrupted Lex’s answer, she had almost forgotten their latest addition. “Well, that was quite a show. Your little clan is superbly entertaining… and attractive.” Changeling was behind them, a scrap of blue fabric in his hands that he had ripped out from the seats which were stained by the glow of the creature's blood he had cleaned off of himself. The three of them all minutely tilted their masks up as they tracked a remaining creature as it crawled from over the train. She glanced at Scar from the corner of her eye and saw him tensing his fist, ready to fight it but she placed her hand on his. He looked at her in question, she just shook her head and he untensed, allowing the blades to slide back into the gauntlet. “What, shy about praise? Someone’s mother was too strict on them.” He teased before the creature leapt at him.
This was why she stopped Scar, she wouldn’t tell the two about the threat he had made, which would likely end in a fight. But she still wanted them to know he wasn’t as helpless as he seemed. Changeling didn’t even look away from them as his arm jolted up and he caught the trapper by the throat. Its hooks slashed and tried to render his skin but it just couldn’t break through his scales. Changeling tilted his head and looked at the hybrid like he was surprised to see it held in his hand, instinct faster than his conscious mind.
“Missed one.” He called back. “Maybe not so impressive after all.” He squeezed his fist and the creature chattered and thrashed trying to escape. None of them had been able to crack their shells without the use of something sharp. But with just a bit of effort, Changeling cracked the exoskeleton and neck of the trapper. Dropping it to the floor when he was done and tossing the bloody rag over its face as well. “So where to next, oh spicy Ooman leader?”
Lex and her two hunters shared a look, understanding that the bad blood wasn’t lying when he said he was capable and made a choice to not fight them. But as she had promised the deal still stood and they knew that too. There was nothing to be done but to stay vigilant.
“We keep following the tracks.” She said pointlessly, it was the only way to go unless they wanted to turn back.
“Look at her go, she is so smart.” He cooed and joined them as they continued on their way.
They appeared at what looked to have once been a dead end but for the large fissure in the wall. There were enough claw scrapes around it to identify it as an entrance. Lex looked through, switching between her sites, there were tracks everywhere but she could hear the hybrids but the path right ahead was clear.
They made a point to look for traps, and as expected there was one right on the other side of the fissure but they all managed to move around it. The new tunnel appeared to lead to an abandoned and sealed-up station which she could spot in the distance.
They slowly and carefully made their way towards it but something caught Lex’s eye and caused her to pause.
On the side of the tunnel, there was a simple down which had a maintenance sign and a warning to stay out. But it was the door handle that caught her attention. It looked like there had been a quick attempt to wipe it off but there was a smear of blood on the handle, not the luminescent blood of the trappers but human blood. She pressed her ear to the door and she heard a low murmur. Whispering. That was enough for Lex to play a purr to get the other’s attention giving the door a knock. “Dutch?”
“Lex?” She hears the man’s voice question back. She leaned her arm against the door frame and gave a deep exhale of relief. The humans were all right.
After there was a scraping sound of a barricade being moved, Royce opened the door with a grim face and she found her relief might have been a little premature. Dutch was sitting on the ground, smoking his cigar as Isabelle tied a tourniquet around his thigh. Blood was staining the concrete around him. He had maybe three gashes that she could see but they were deep, the one Isabelle was treating went right through the tendon on the back of his knee. She knew that would mean he wouldn’t be able to move quickly.
“Took you long enough.” He said with a cloud of smoke escaping his lips.
The room is long but narrow, they all fit inside but it seems to be a little cramped for Scar, especially who finds a cabinet to it which caved a little under his weight. She waits for Royce to barricade the door behind them again before she asks. “What happened?”
“We found the hybrids.” Isabelle says with a sigh and sits back on her heels, whipping hair from her face with bloody hands. “You know these ones make traps.” She pointed out dully.
“Yeah… I noticed that.” Eventually. At least.
“I just fucked up, one caught me, slowed me down, for a few others to get in some lucky shots. Creepy bastards.” He huffs.
“We ran through the break in the wall thinking we could get a place to hide but… we found something else.” The woman said entirely and Royce went to her, giving her a bottle of what he had pulled from his belt. She gave him a soft look as she accepted it and gulped a lot down.
Lex pulled her mask off and settled down braid back in position. “Why does it feel like I am not going to like what you have found?”
“You do have the best instincts, my wife.” Scar told her. “And our fortunes tend to be that unpleasant.”
“Alright, come and see before you two start.” Royce said and gestured for her and the hunters to follow them.
Royce led them through the inner workings of the electrical plant room and climbed up on top of a power box to peak through a little air grate. “Try not to be seen.” He whispered before nodding his head in its direction to urge her to look through.
He peaked and then closed her eyes for just a second, not one who see that weakness behind her mask. But she needed to make herself look.
When Royce had said nest she assumed eggs, maybe a queen. She was always poised to fight a queen. But that hadn’t been the reality. The tunnel was a mess of blood, shimmery and otherwise.
Like ants they seemed to have collected their dead, piling them up, some hanging from cords and being bled into chemical barrels. Sever limbs and intestines were also grabbed by the handfuls and added to the bloody soup within.
The trappers weren’t the only being there either. There were humans. Very out of luck and out of hope, humans. Most showed signs of having been caught in traps, bleeding out and bones broken. They seemed barely alive until they cried out against being forced into the barrels that overflowed in the creature's gore. A lid was placed on top, sealing them in as the large stones were placed on top which kept them in.
“What are they doing?” She asked voice steady.
It was Isabelle who spoke up. “We don’t know exactly what but, we’ve seen a few humans being placed inside. The other time something came out it…” Her voice fell away.
Lex looked back to the other woman and jumped down from her perch to look her in the eyes. The hunters take turns to get a look as well. “Isabelle, what did you see?”
“It was a creature… like them. They’re transforming people.”
If this wasn’t in a crowded city, she’d have just set off the last resort exposure and wiped them all out. But they would need to do this the hard way. “We’ll need to burn every last fucking one of them.” He growled. No one deserved a fate worst than death like those people were experiencing.
Lex then walked up to Changeling who seemed pleased at her attention. “So quick question if you feel like answering. What the actual fuck?”
He shrugged. “They needed a dynamic breeding method. It would have been bad planning if their populations couldn’t be replenished considering Ooman’s tendency to resist death. At least, our leader… my former leader, thought of that. I will admit, these were his best works… besides the sky beast.” He actually sounded impressed. He took Lex’s hand and she flinched, her other going to her axe but he turned her palm to show the smear of blood there. “It takes time and quantity, for the cells to invade inside and take over but I would recommend keeping clean.” His tongue slipped out to lick the blood but she was pulled away roughly to the vibrating chest of her husband.
“I warned you about touching my wife, do it once more and you will lose a hand.” He growled and pulled Lex away.
She leaned into Scar, deep in thought. This brought up a poignant issue, any of these creatures getting out could create a risk of it spreading but they needed to go after the king. “Okay, we can’t fuck around with these things. We need to get them all here and end them fast. Royce, tell me you weren’t just sitting around waiting for us.”
He grumbled and cocked his head to a panel of switches and dials. “Controls the security alarm, could them all to come back and defend the nest. He grabbed Dutch’s backpack and pulled out blocks of C4. “We set this around the station towards that tunnel seal. Bring down some of the chunks of concrete, the ones that survive still get trapped down here. Just need to set these at the right points without getting caught.”
“Easy.” She nodded.
“Is it?” Dutch asked, looking very pale from his wounds.
“Maybe, we don’t really have a choice if it isn’t.” She rubbed her eyes. “Okay, I’ll go-”
“-and sit down.” Isabell told her. “While Royce and I go place them where they needed to be. We’ve been sitting here long enough, it’s your turn.”
Lex looked at the two and then gave a nod. “Keep each other in sight. If anything dubious happens then you come right back, no unnecessary risks. We don’t want to be forced into a bottleneck.”
“Yes ma’am.” Royce said with a two-finger salute. They ensured everything was set up Fugitive easily moved the metal cabinet for the humans to peak out and ensure the coast was clear before leaving. They cloaked but she watched them with her thermal sights before they for just a few seconds before she allowed the door to be closed again.
As Fugitive went to check on Dutch, Lex went back to Scar, nuzzling under his chin as he gently took her hands and rubbed at the glittery stain that marked the lines of her hands. “You’re a good leader.” He murmured, the coolness of his mask felt nice as he pressed the mouth part to her cheek. “I just wish you didn’t feel the weight of the lives within your care as heavily as you do. But I know that is why you are one of the best for the role.”
“You want to take the next war?” She chuckled and hopped up to sit on his thigh, resting her head on his shoulder. She ignored the eyes of the Changeling who stayed staring at her, or more specifically on the patch of skin at her waist that Scar was running his finger’s over. Instead, he turned to look at Dutch, white knuckles gripping at metal pipes as his wounds were inspected. Fugitive offered him a stronger pain relief shot but he still refused.
Lex started thinking about how long he had been fighting, first in Earth wars, then with the hunters. He had been fighting for so long and yet, here he was, bleeding out in an abandoned subway station. The yautja have a saying about Cetanu, the death god they revered, the ceaseless hunter always stalking you, fast or slowly, someday he is going to catch up with you and take your life. From the prey and unblooded to the elders and even the matriarch herself. No one escapes but it’s how you go and how you will be remembered.
She had lost everything when she followed Scar, escaping the horrors and becoming one herself. She had fought many serpents, captured a few queens, and took down beasts, hunters, and humans. She earned the right to lead them. She had friends, new family, and love. She could still be scared but she no longer had that fear she had felt on the ice, that she would end up losing her life in a random act of cosmic violence. She was so deeply part of it now. She finally started to think about what other places she might take her life now.
There was always something about being stuck waiting between fights that made her introspective.
Lex stayed lost in thought, feeling the purr rattled breath of her husband against her side until there was a soft tap on the door and the two other humans slipped inside.
“We have placed the charges on all the load-bearing pillars.” Royce spoke softly. “Should crush them.”
Lex slipped off of Scar’s lap and gave a few pats on his thigh to get him up as well. “You’ll need to carry Dutch out to make sure you don’t get spotted. You three-” She pointed to Fugitive, Isabelle and Royce. “You guys get out first, call for the ship so we can spend him back to OWLF.” She said and held her hand out. Royce pressed the trigger mechanism into her hand and nodded.
With only a pause the three donned their cloaks again and stealthily slipped out to make their way back passed the fissure.
“No, I’m not being carried.” Dutch huffed and shook off Scar’s hand
“No time to be precious about your manly image.” Lex huffed as she went to the security board and eyed the red button with the bell on it. That would be the button to press.
“Alexa… You know you can’t be the one to stay behind to press the button.” Dutch said and limped unbalanced to her. “Someone needs to set the trap and you won't want to leave your husband behind.”
She looked up in surprise at his blanched face in surprise. “Wait, no Dutch-” She instantly knew what he meant. “We can get you out. I told you the rules, we stay together, no one is left behind, nobody be a hero.”
“But it is their way.” He said gesturing to Scar who just watched them with a tilted head, waiting to see how this would unfold. “I’ll just slow you down. Besides I’ve lived a long life, maybe too long. But I know now, that someone is watching out for Earth if I’m gone. Let me do this” He placed his hand over hers to grab the trigger and tugged it out of her hand. “Now go, go get them all out. End this, Alexa Woods. I’m counting on you.”
“Dutch-”
“I’m sure I don't need to tell you to get her out quickly.” He spoke over Lex to Scar who now nodded and offered his hand, Dutch took it and they clasped hands. “I guess you were alright… besides being an overgrown and ugly lizard. I know you’re on our side at least, or else you get kicked out of bed.” He laughed to himself and shook his head in amusement. “See you in hell.”
“See you in hell.” Scar echoed back.
Scar looked down at her and she knew she couldn’t deny a warrior’s death. She clasped her arm with Dutch as well and squeezed at his wrist. “Thank you… I’m sorry.”
“Things are going to get crazy pretty quickly after I press this button. I’ll give you a minute to get to a safe distance. No stop for anything.” He placed his cigar back between his lip and leaned back against the table. “Well, go!”
They went to the doorway, Lex looked back, of course, she looked back, lingering. Dutch was looking down at a faded polaroid picture she had seen him with back at the base. His old team of commandos that he lost all those years ago. Death always finds you. “I’ll remember what you did for us.” She told him
“I did it for Earth, keep it safe from all those cold-blooded assholes.” He still gave her a grateful look as he spoke.
Lex and Scar slipped through the door. The trappers were walking around, closer than before. She didn’t know if it was just their luck or if they could sense that something was going on.
Lex and Scar slipped through the door. The monsters were walking around, closer than before. She didn’t know if it was just their luck or if they could sense that something was going on. They had to run before the explosion went off, slipping through the crack in the seal, they bolted down the tunnel. The alarm went off and they both scrambled to the side as they saw movement up ahead.
Screeching pierced the air around them and from all the tunnels and ducts, the hybrids returned to the nest. They waded out the flood of creatures, very aware of how little time they had.
It grew quiet and they rushed to leave, but they hadn’t seen the duct above them had held an injured Trapper. He fell ungracefully from it and knocked into Scar, shorting out his invisibility. It was injured but it thrashed like the spooked animal that it was, getting some deep cuts into Scar’s arm. “Go!” he hissed as he pushed away from him and before it started screaming stomped his armoured boot into its face a few times before it was a quiet mess.
Lex hadn’t left and just offered her hand. Scar took it and they sprinted again, Scar soon overtalking her anyway and dragging her along.
The explosion was ear-splitting, fire and smoke streaming out from the crack in a burst before it was snuffed out as rubble fell and blocked it off. The ground shook under their feet. She could at least see the other humans and hunters still sprinting in front of them. The heat singed at her back but she thought they would make it.
Then the ground started to shift. The problem with setting off big explosions in random tunnels was that you couldn’t always predict how far getting rid of support pillars would affect the path. The concrete before them dropped under their feet. One moment she was stomping through the stones, and then nothing was beneath her feet. Scar squeezed her hand and she painfully jolted to a stop midfall. Looking up, she could see Scar gripping onto the edge with his claws in one hand as he held her by the other.
“Scar!” She cried out to him in alarm, the tunnel was still shaking and she could see he was slipping. “Scar hold on.” Around them in this space below the tunnel was pitch black, she didn’t know how long the drop would be.
Scar roared and tried to pull them up but the section he was holding onto broke off and suddenly, fell into the dark.
Notes:
So in the original Alien movie, there was an infamous deleted scene known as the "Eggmorphing scene." (or the cocoon scene) which showed Dallas and Brett being cocooned by the alien and partially engulfed by an egg. Implying that separated from a queen an individual drone can still use a form or horrific reproduction to gain numbers.
So even though i said that the Trapper's weren't created with Xeno DNA I still used inspiration from them in how the Trapper's would have worked.
Also RIP Dutch, it had to be done.
Chapter 42
Summary:
Crash bang
Notes:
HI SORRY ITS BEEN A WHILE!!!
I have just started a new job which starts really damn early so I've been so tired and I haven't been able to stay awake long enough to write.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It wasn’t a long drop. The fall wasn’t what was dangerous about the situation. It was everything else that was falling around her. Lex wrapped her arms around her head as she hit the mess of broken concrete slabs as more blocks crashed around her. She was on all fours before something hit her back and she had to curl up in a little gap as the stone above her lodged in place but at least protected her from most of the other falling chunks of rubble.
There was nothing she could do to protect herself further. She just needed to hope that the gods, human or yautja would be looking after her. Something crashed into her leg, the metal of her boot buckling and clamping hard into her flesh but she knew it would have been worse if she wasn’t wearing the armour.
It took maybe a few minutes for the sound of the entombed trappers screeching and the falling rubble to turn to a trickle. Stray rocks rolled over the piles around her. Up above there was still the creak and whines of metal as the explosion warped the surrounding area. Flashes from the fire above light up the wreckage orange before it too died down leaving a choking haze of smoke and dust.
It was then that Lex uncurls herself, realising a little too late that her biomask had been knocked off in the fall. All that awaited her was a pitch-black nothing. “Scar!” She shouted only to take in a lung full of dust. She ended up in a coughing fit which was when she really took note of the tightness clamping against her body.
A large concrete slab was laid over her, she could feel the coldness press against her ribs with each deep breath. She might have been able to slide out of it however when she tried to move, a hot throb of pain went up her leg. It ripped a noise of pain from her mouth that echoed in the darkness.
A low roar replied. It was close but she still couldn’t see him. “Scar please, where are you? Make some noise for me baby, anything.” There was a painted grunt. “Oh, thank the gods.” She went limp where she was for just a moment, basking in the relief.
Everything around them settled but the clanging of concrete and metal still resounded back from the train tunnel they had fallen from. She was sure the path back was destroyed, no chance of help getting to them. Great. “I’m stuck.” She called out to her husband.
“As am I.” Scar replied.
“Fuck.” She said and he echoed it in his own language.
She could hear him shuffling in the darkness, he gave a grunt of effort and suddenly more large bits of rubble were falling down around them. “Scar! Careful. You know I love your muscles but I don’t think that is what we need right now.”
“Agreed.” As she heard the sound of a large stone being tossed aside. “I can find the right order to remove stones, less likely to crush us. Can your smaller form escape from under the support beam?” She took that to mean that he could at least see her. Now she knows what hit her.
“My legs pinned. I can’t get it free.” She replied out into the darkness.
Lex considered everything she had on her at the moment that could aid them in any way. She fumbled with her whip that was tied around her waist. She managed to unwrap it and pulled it away from her body. The claw-hooked tails caught on her tactical under armour but she managed to get it free with only a few nicks. She cast the length out and flicked on the switch. The burning glow didn’t provide much light but she could see the glint of Scar’s mask slowly come into view. He stopped his struggle and looked back at her.
Her own bio mask was only a short distance away from her, a corner of the queen’s crest has been chipped off by the fall. Looks like she might have to retire it after all. First the spear and now this.
As the light grew, Lex could begin to see where Scar was trapped under a long slab of concrete and metal. He was covered in a layer of concrete dust from all the debris but he didn’t look to be injured. He probably handled the fall much better than she had.
“Scar.” She called to him again and reached out her hand. He was almost close enough to touch. He stretched his own hand towards her, claws just that inch too far to brush her fingertips. She tried to move closer again but the concrete slab on top of her shifted and he gasped in pain as it pressed on her leg. “I saved you from a damn elevator shaft and you couldn’t pull me up from a hole?” She chuckled or else she might have a much worse reaction to this.
He exhaled slowly. “You are right. I didn’t catch us in time… Alexa, I wasn’t enough.”He said regretfully, claws scraping against the floor under them.
“Hey no.” She wouldn’t have him thinking that. “You caught me, you just didn’t catch yourself. We’ll get out of this. But we need to go carefully, shift too much and everything might come crashing down.”
He clicked in thought before his shoulder gun activated and one by one picked them off. The blocks shattered, throwing pieces everywhere but it was working. Slowly. She missed her own very dearly right now.
Lex lay back and looked at the burning break in the tunnel above. As far as she knew, she was the oldest human among the clans now. That she knew of anyway. Dutch was dead. She only just learned there were more of them out in the stars and now the number was shrinking.
It hurt. She was mourning him. But she thought of everyone she had lost along the way. Death was a familiar ache by now. She curled her fist up to her chest in the yautja’s sign for glory. Lex was starting to realise what it meant for the hunters to have a choice in when they go. Better to face it than accidentally getting crushed by a support beam.
The tunnel became quiet as the destruction stilled and all that was left was Scar steadily breaking down the concrete.
She may not have the same type of drive as the hunters but this fight meant a lot to her. The redemption for not being able to keep her team safe, from not being able to keep Gunnerson safe. For losing Scar, or that moment when she thought she did back on the ice.
Maybe there will come a day when she would choose to stop hunting. Hopefully, before her luck starts to run out and Scar isn’t there to pull her from the wreckage, or vice-versa. But today, Lex had promised the Dutch, and herself, that she would protect the Earth.
“I’ll be so mad if we miss this fight.” She said and extended her wrist blade to try and reach some of the crumbles on top of her, wedging the blades under the stones to push them off. “I don’t want glory, I just need to finish what I started and lead my team.” She said before quickly adding. “Also, we can’t let Fugitive get the last Bad blood. That belongs to us.”
“My wife.” He said it with such affection. “You never disappoint me.” He purred. “You would say, you never fought for the glory but you did receive it. You became a predator as we are but you used it to protect. Even those who did not wish for it. We will be there to end it.”
It took time. More time than either would have wished while out of the battle but slab by slab, he chipped at the pile until, with a mighty roar, he pushed the rest off of his body. Scar shook himself out, sending the dust flying in a cloud around him. He took a moment to breathe unrestricted and moved his undoubtedly numb body. His next task was now to free her. He scrambled to her side and carefully, stone by stone, aided in removing the debris covering her.
Lex didn’t know how long the whole process to get both of them free took, but it felt like a long while. The light slowly faded around them again. The whip only had a finite charge and they seemed to have used it up.
Finally, the weight lifted off her chest and leg and Lex was able to move again. Scar pulled her up and held her against his side. She wrapped her arms around him and just felt his scales and how his chest moved as he breathed. Gods, she still loved him completely. She pushed up his mask so she could kiss him. “Thanks… for always being an amazing mate and getting me out of tough spots.”
“It was hardly even a choice but you are welcome.” He nuzzled her cheek. “It is an honour for me.”
She picked up her mask, it thankfully still worked and she shielded her face once again. Her vision turned on and she could properly see the destruction of the collapsed tunnel around them. “Now we just need to find a way out.” She took the handle of the whip and pull the heated length behind her. The couple tried to navigate around the wreck. Scar blasted a few more holes until they were looking down the length of the undamaged tunnel.
They could see now that they had stumbled along a type of drain water tunnel, currently dry and stale from long disuse, there were probably miles and miles of twisting tunnels ahead. They were basically in a maze with no sense of direction or size.
“You wouldn’t happen to have memorized the directions of all the water tunnels, did you?” She asked Scar sweetly as he leaned against his side.
Her leg was bruised up but thankfully not broken but Scar wrapped his arm around her to help her walk. “Very humorous, wife.” He said pulling her along. They lboth ooked at the dark and winding tunnel. "Keep it together." said Scar.
Lex looked back up at him and stroked her fingers down his mask. "Make it to the surface."
So they just started walking, hoping to find a way out.
They had been walking for a while yet there was no sign of an exit, they had no choice but to keep walking, constantly scanning for manhole covers, gutters, doors, anything that they could use to leave. But there was nothing but more old concrete and stale puddles of water. Enough time passed that she could wrap the now cooled whip around her waist again.
She was feeling a little lost when there was a sudden burst of static from their masks. Lex wince and. Waited, there were a few more spikes, she was sure it was the team trying to contact them but the concrete was too thick to get through. They walked past a tunnel and the static burst grew louder and then quiet again.
They both stopped and simultaneously walked back.
“The signal.” He commented.
“Looks like we have a compass to lead the way.” She said before they took that turn.
They followed the sound. Lex could almost make out words now. Some sounds broke through as names, theirs and others of the team. Even later they could confirm that it was Brackett’s voice.
“Got’em.” They heard.
And right after was a loud thud right ahead of them in the tunnel. Both froze, hands going ready weapons. There was another thud, then another. It continued rapidly as cracks started running through the ceiling of the tunnel.
“Gods, what now?” She huffed.
“Whatever it is, we can kill it and go back the way it came.” Scar said with the optimism Lex wasn’t feeling at the moment.
They pulled out their weapons, ready to face whatever new threat this was, together. Chunks of concrete and slabs of tar dropped down before them and they looked up. It was hands. multiples Large clawed hands broke through, breaking the thick material of the tunnels. Whoever those belonged to had managed to punch their way through the barrier between them. She swore they looked to be yautja.
A sizeable hole was made and the two shared a look before they moved forward cautiously. At first, they only saw stars in a slowly lightning, night sky.
Then there was a face. A familiar one.
Vah’kea’s face. “No one was surprised to hear that you two snuck off for a few hours alone.” He purred.
“I hope your wrist blade activates while you touch yourself at night.” Lex called back to who she thought was the Changeling.
The yautja’s head tilted in confusion, mandibles twitching in a half flare of offence as he stared down at them. But then another face appeared. It was Bruiser who slung an arm around that Vah’kea’s shoulder, pulling the smaller hunter closer to him. “Shouldn’t have interrupted them yet.” He told the other. “Do not worry. Scar is young, he’ll only need a few minutes to finish.”
“Bruiser?... Wait.” She almost couldn’t believe it. “Vah’kea? Is that really you, please, I don’t think I can handle more jokes right now.”
“I told you I would be back, sister. You know we couldn’t miss this fight. Are you well?” She could hear the familiar cadence of her friend's voice which matched his face this time. They weren’t too late. She had saved her friends in the few areas she was allowed to and they had done the same right back.
Lex laughed and looked over at her husband smiling at him. The cavalry came through. “I’m great… could use a lift though.” Scar let go to grab her with both hands at her waist, easily lifting her high above him. She reached up and suddenly even bigger hands reached down to take her own.
She was all but yanked up and out of the hole and into the fresh air and ample chest of the female hunter. Nefertiti had returned with them it seems. That explained one pair of the hands she had seen breaking through the tunnel. Lex threw her arms around the hunter and hugged her. “Thanks for the lift. Gods, I am glad to see you all.”
“You are always a welcome sight to me.” She replied and hugged her back. Her hands squeezed a little too hard at Lex’s thighs. Nefertiti had never been that affectionate before but she was suddenly nuzzling against Lex.
“Lex. My Elite. It is good to be back…. Regardless of the unwanted company making this reunion… quite disturbing.” She heard the same voice of Nefertiti coming from behind her. Lex pulled away from the female hunter and looked back, seeing Nefertiti in ornate armour compared to the now-known adjustable silver one this version of her was wearing.
“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.” She had to really look but there was a now mostly healed burn on this Nefertiti’s face. The new change has made it fade evermore. But She could tell now that this was once again Changeling.
“In my defence, you touched me. Not the other way around.” Changeling purred before leaning in close to her face. “See, I am simply helping. Just as you asked, fiery Ooman.”
“Okay… Thanks for the help. Now put me down.” She ordered.
“Yes, little elite.” Changeling carefully placed her down and gave her a little pat atop her head. “You’re even smaller and cuter now. I could just eat you right up. Bet you would taste good.” A plasma blast went past his head as Scar managed to climb to the opening without any help. “That’s no way to treat a lady.” She scoffed.
Lex didn’t even want to deal with that right now instead she turned and tackled Vah’kea, it was a pretty strong indication that he was still healing that he stumbled back a few steps when she collided with him. They shared a hug, which Bruised joined in and she wrapped an arm around him too. “I was so scared I would have to fight the dragon by myself and gain all that glory alone. The clan would have not left me alone if showed off how accomplished I was.”
“How benevolent of you to have thought of us.” Vah’kea pulled away to place his hand at the back of her neck and pulled her in so their foreheads touched. “We will end this as a clan, sister.”
Scar came up behind them and shared forehead touches with both hunters as well. A few clicked words were shared between them. Bruiser roughly slapped his back in the guise of brushing off the dust that still covered them both. She could help but smile at the sight of her boys together again.
Including Fugitive who walked over from where he had been standing with Royce and Isabelle. They all were also covered in dust but all seemed to have escaped the blast without any injury.
Fugitive pulled her in by the shoulder and pressed their foreheads together. “Must be so difficult with those little legs. I believed you were right behind me, suddenly you weren’t. I would rather you keep up next time.”
“You and me both. How about you can go last next explosion?” His tusks clicked in laughter. Gently Lex placed her hand on his shoulder and gave a light squeeze. “Thanks for making sure they all got out. I’m very proud of you, son.”
He placed his large hand on her mask and shoved her away. “Fuck off.”
“Sorry I thought we were having a moment!” Lex laughed as Fugitive ignored her and went to greet Scar.
The humans were next and Isabelle hugged her while Royce just squeezed her shoulder. “I am starting to believe what everyone says about you attracting chaos were ever you go.” The woman flipped her mask up, cold burn scars still speckling her face. “Glad you could make it to the end of your own mission.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. We’re going to end this. Together.” She promised. She wished she could say that they would all make it to the end of the battle as well but Bruiser had been right. That was up to the gods.
Everyone was in high spirits now with them back but Lex glanced over to the real Nefertiti who was glancing down the hole as if a third member was still waiting on being pulled up. But he wouldn’t be there.
She proper hugged the real Nefertiti now, pressing her head to the woman’s torso. The hunter wrapped one around her with a tight squeeze which popped her spine in some places. “Did they tell you what happened… with Dutch?” The female hunter nodded. Making sure to not be too human with her sympathises she said. “He gave his life to take out a great threat that would have hurt many civilians. He died with honour and glory. As a representative of your clan and my world… he was a true warrior.”
Nefertiti nodded. “He was a brute. No matter how tiny. Our clan leader will learn of his actions… he… was an interesting member of my hunting party. I will celebrate the triumph he gained in life and mourn the battles he will no longer share with me.” The hunter gave her a rough pat on her back before pushing her away and regaining her fierce composure.
Lex limped back to Scar’s side where he was talking to the boys. Looking around now they seemed to be in some type of park by the water. She was sat on a bench as her metal boot was pried open and she had an injection to stave off the pain for a few hours. She could tell now that as soon as they were done, all of them were going to have many aches catching up with them.
“So how did you find us anyway?” she asked as Scar rubbed at her leg while Bruiser bent the metal of her boot back into place.
“An angel showed us the way.” Fugitive purred before there was a snort over her mask's coms.
“You’re welcome, Lex.” Brackett said, the signal now clear again. “I was able to triangulate the signal based on quick bursts and pinging it off other- never mind, just know that we have geniuses here and I made sure they could pick you both up on the way?”
“On the way? On the way to what.” Lex prompted. The other hunters around her started growling, the ones not wearing masks had their tusks twitching in excitement.
“We found the bad blood leader and the dragon.” She looked up at the others who then stepped aside and she could see a little distance away, the bright lights of the city including the colourful glow of a Ferris wheel. Lex got her boot back on and pulling out her spear she walked a few steps forward and looked ahead. She flipped her chipped mask back down over her face and zoomed in on the large creature skulking through the shadows of the warf.
“Ready to storm the castle, slay a dragon and dethrone a king?”
A thunder of hair-raising growls rose up behind her as her clan joined at her side.
Notes:
Okay so i have a whole plan for this chapter and then reread the last few and realised that my plan no longer fit so this was hard to write got'damn
ALSO i watched Prey again and realised that Naru and Feral go off to fight Trappers and thats what I had Lex and Scar do! Total coincidence that our lil abominations were named trappers!
Or is it? Maybe it's a sign that they should hire me to write for the next pred project.
Chapter 43
Summary:
PHASE ONE BOSS BATTLE
START!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
This was it for them. Everything that this alliance had been for. It was time for this battle to end.
No more being fucked around with. No more nightmare-like Frankenstein creatures. No more of these bad bloods disrespecting both the planets she called home.
This would end before the sun rose on this day.
Lex had given Changeling one more chance to be helpful before they set off for the last fight. She strode alongside her, bright and excited every as the others of the hunting party ignored her. “He is tricky and full of himself. As much of a disaster as this turned out to be for them, don’t underestimate his ability to scheme. You have fewer surprises but I’m sure he will have one for you.” Along with the obvious. “Watch the spikes.”
They made their way to the large shadow lurking between the steel bars and colourful lights of the Ferris wheel. All of them were injured or worn in some way. the team were a man down entirely, but they still held enough fire to finish this. After all her years of hunting, she felt a calm resolve as they walked into this battle. It would be difficult but they would see it through.
There wasn’t a word spoken as they broke through the fence, walking through the flashing lights of whatever carnival was on the wharf. They took their positions with her and Scar taking point and the others falling into hierarchical places behind them.
Bruiser, Vah’kea and Fugitive were behind the pair. Nefrititi was behind them with the two humans Royce and Isabelle a step behind her. Changeling was pushed back to trailing some distance behind them, still following like she didn’t have a care in the world. She might have had a chance to run. She would have been hunted down of course, but it would have delayed her punishment until after this fight.
Lex had a feeling the bad blood wanted to see this fight as much as they did. There was the bitterness that the Changeling carried that was hard to deny. She had a great dislike for her former leader even if she couldn’t remember why. It may have been human of her, but Lex wanted to keep her word to this damaged yautja. So he didn’t look back and marched on.
You could almost taste it, the excitement in the air, it hung like the scent of fresh blood. An impatience in their movements. Their pace quickened.
She knew the importance of these hunts to the yautja. It's how they defined themselves, their place in society, and their place under the eyes of their many gods. But it was at times like this that you could really see it.
They enjoyed it.
The king of this band of bad bloods would be a prize as much as an adversary. Being the one to slay him would mean everything to the hunter's reputation, the elevation of status would be a greater temptation than purely doing the right thing.
Even Royce and Isabelle moved in a hyper-focused stalk, predators just as much as the yautja. Fighting was what they were made for. This target was also all that stood in the way of regaining their freedom from their place in the jungle clan. If that was what they still wanted. Either way, it made this fight personal.
Lex too had a strong incentive in this battle, the need to save her home, the need to prove that now she could. That she can save at least some of the people she held responsibility for and honour the deaths of those she couldn’t. But thinking back to what Scar said in the tunnel and that night after she hunted down Traeger. Maybe this moment would hold more satisfaction for her. She was an elite now. Being a leader was something she honed from her life on Earth before and now, hunting was just a bloodier version of an expedition. She wants to lead this team, and she wants to rip into the bad-blood king. Maybe she might just allow herself that desire.
They were quiet as shadows, winding through the empty stalls covered in bright colours of the evacuated amusement park on the wharf. Luna Park was advertised over the carnival which amused her.
The term ‘Hunter’s moon’ rang in her head. Close enough.
The pale dragon was winding around the bars of the wheel. It was just as big as she remembered it, bigger than a queen serpent, but not by too much. Its rider perched on its back, looking out across the still waters of the harbour. Unbothered and almost tranquil, with no concern of being sighted… or ambushed.
Scar and Lex dropped their cloaks first. With a quick look at her Husband, Lex used the blunt end of her spear to clank on the floor below. It rang loud and sharp enough to get his attention. The bad bloods’ king turned to look at them and tapping his wrist gauntlet the beast he was turned to them, circular mouth filled with teeth made for shredding started to rattle at the sight of them.
The dragon turned and dropped down, landing heavily, cracking the pavement as the circular mouth growled viciously. But the couple didn’t move under his gaze. Changeling was right about one thing. He was full of himself. She expected a monologue before any attacks began.
He didn’t seem surprised at their presence, leaning back in his mount as he assessed them where they stood under him. His thorned, unmasked face looked down at them impartiality.
There was a beat before Lex started to speak. “Your little battle is over, bad blood. This war will end the same way. There is no running this time. You will pay dearly for having the audacity or pure fucking stupidity of coming here to my planet. One protected by the Than-Gaun clan.” Behind her, hidden in the way there was a collection of proud roars and growls from her clan members.
He glanced at her before looking at Scar, speaking to him instead. Lex huffed but Scar didn't reply to him, just stood straight, looking forward. Deferring to her lead completely. Gods, she loved him. Luckily no one could see the adoring look she gave him before she looked back at the bad blood. “Are you done?” She spoke to him like a pup.
He soured a little “…oh, really now? I accepted you as the vicious soft meat kept on a leash like our creations but status? Things must be getting desperate in the clans.” He chuckled.
“No, just smarter.” She replied curtly before taking a step closer. “But if we’re talking about desperation. Your creations are destroyed. You have no more lieutenants. It’s you and us. Right here, right now. This is all but over, no more running from the consequences you brought upon yourself. You are going to die before the sun rises.”
“Big words from such a small creature, hmmmm she sounds so cool and smart.” Lex could hear changeling purr from where she was only half hidden behind a prize stall behind them. Lex was ignoring her.
The rest of the hunting party now join behind her, becoming visible where there had created a semicircle around the bad blood king. The only two missing were Royce and Isabelle who were finding their vantage points. Unseen and ready to cause chaos.
“I see…” the leader said, looking out over their still mostly whole group. Some of them still had obvious signs of having felt the venomous predator’s touch and their armours were dirty and damaged. But they were here and baying for blood. You couldn’t have hoped for a more eclectic and aggressive group. “If they had been stronger those two would have made quick work of you. They have disgraced themselves. The shame they must have for failing me.” He walked along the neck of the dragon as it lowered its head for him. “You had one that wished to join me. He knew what I had to offer. I acknowledge your strength and offer you all a chance to take the places of those who proved to be lesser. I can provide you with true power, and freedom. Renounce your clan and join me.”
“Do not waste our time.” Fugitive snapped. “No hunter here is stupid or desperate enough to join you. Your technology is flawed and you use our methods like a spoilt child, uneducated in our ways. You are everything the clans who disagree with splices would imagine us as.”
“You have seen what we are capable of and remain unimpressed. Unlike your clan don’t need your tricks to be strong. We are true hunters.” Scar replied and hit his fist to his armoured chest, more growls rose up from their numbers.
The bad blood king sneered. “No, you are not! Warriors beheld to restrictive laws and to gods long gone will never reach their full potencial. That is no way to garner strength. Do you not see? You may have found pets among their species-” he looked down at Lex, his tusks curling tightly for a moment. “But you know, we are the dominant species. We evolved from under the rule of others, why not become rulers ourselves? Why let them rise and think they are worthy with us? Why hold ourselves back and ensure our prey gets stronger? Are you so clouded by the words of false profits and old leaders that you do not see all we could do? All we could take!”He looked back at the city and its shining lights, hands reaching out like he could touch it before he squeezed his fist closed. “I offer just this once more. You may even keep most of your Oomans… join me. We can take this world as ours.”
All the hunters around Lex widened their stance and drew their weapons. It was a shining beacon of pride in Alexa’s chest. “We don’t need it. We are predators and you’re the last prey on our list.” Lex held up the spear in a threatening display and played a loud roar from her mask. The others joined in and the air trembled around them as their voices joined. It was threatening enough that the dragon was snarling back, becoming agitating as its toothy maw swung back and forth at all the yautja surrounding it.
But the King didn't react other than tilting his thorned head and slowly rising to stand. “Short-sighted of you, Ooman. For you see, I knew the company I kept. They had their purpose but beyond that their fate was their own. I doubt you have the same assurance with all in your little group. After all, I do in fact have one more of my clan left with us. I didn't lose all my pawns, it seems.” He looked at something behind Lex and something went cold in her chest. She glanced back and Changeling who was closer but staring at Nefertiti while everyone else looked at the currently female bad blood.
Seeing that the attention didn’t shift the changeling sighed and looked back and her old leader. “You can’t seriously mean me? I wasn’t the one blind enough to keep following you after you left us. You should have put more effort into my brothers than assume I would return with you like a fool.” She crossed her arms. “So, choke on serpent blood. I am not one of yours.”
The king tisked and step off the neck of his dragon. He took unhurried steps towards them, gliding his hand along the dragon’s neck, stroking his pet. He completely ignored the weapons raised to him, eyes staying on the changeling. “Did you have fun, pup?” He purred condescendingly. “Did you enjoy your little game? Did you learn everything you needed to, how they fight, their motivations, their weaknesses?”
Lex stared at the changeling hard but she rose her hands in a placating to Lex but their tusks were drawn tight in discomfort. “No. I can’t say I was paying much attention.” The Changeling said firmly. “Sorry, I believe you have me confused with someone else. I’m under the charge of the little feisty Ooman.” She swept her hand towards Lex with a little bow. She didn't turn her spear to the changeling. She gave her word and they hadn’t killed her when they had many chances to.
But as the bad blood king laughed, rapid clicks that would be akin to a full belly laugh on a human. The sinking feeling in her chest continued to grow. Clicking laughter through his delighted purr, his gravelly voice all out cooed. “Oh my poor, pathetic pup. I must confess this is always my favourite part. Maybe this is why they enjoy having Oomans around, the ignorance is so entertaining.” The humour slipped from his face and he stared the changeling down. He pressed a button on his gauntlet and there was a scent in the air, green and smouldering like dried herbs being burned. Lex could smell whiffs of it even under her mask it curled through her sinus. “I command of you, tear them apart, use what you have learned… make it hurt.”
Changeling didn’t even have the filter of the mask to help and soon she seemed to be choking on it. Lex glanced over at her and then back to the Bad blood who similarly just watched. His mandibles lose and move in a pleased manner. No one knew what was happening and didn’t move until they knew what they were dealing with.
“I never learned anything!” Changeling rumbled through hoarse breathing as her large form was crumbling to her knees. “I was someone new…I made a deal, I’m leaving your war!” She roared. “I didn’t want to be a part of it… I could do anything else in the galaxy…” the changeling hunched over and suddenly the red lines that mark the bodies of the hybrid reappeared on their body like when they had first seen them in the oil pumping station.
A snarl ripped from her throat as her body started to ripple and shift. Once again, the claws on her hands started to grow rapidly from the nail bed. The tendrils on her head and the spikes on her shoulders and back started curving sharply out. Changeling had been deadly before when they happened in Vah’kea’s visage. Now in Nefrititi’s form, she was something else entirely.
Lex kept her spear close but walked softly to the bad blood, ignoring the hisses from the warriors around her. “Changeling… Hey, come on stay with me now. You wanted to survive, that is on our team! I can’t help you if you attack us. If you need to be put down it will happen.” Lex tried to get through to her.
For a moment she stayed growling like that, her form still shifting as a line of drool ran from her tusks. Lex couldn’t believe the bad blood’s still tried to offer them a place when they would do something like this to one of their members. She knew they were but some freedom they were offering. Belief and creed for pure subjugation. What a joke.
The snarling from Changeling stopped as Lex approached and she looked up, chest heaving but their little eyes looking pleadingly up to Lex. “I think I… I have it under control… but he did something to me… Ooman, please help me. I’ve been helping you. I don’t know what is happening! Will you help me?” She held her hand palm up to Lex, claws curling viciously at the end of each fingertip.
She looked her in the eyes but then narrowed at the bad blood. She was tensed and poised. Small eyes going red at the edges. Lex believed Changeling when She said that she would be upfront about betrayals. That she had wanted to help them and trade some time for freedom once more. But she no longer had the naivety to ignore that this wasn’t changeling anymore. Lex took a step back and raised her spear.
Changeling's face warped, features taking on an almost exaggerated expression of anger and disgust before she lunged to swipe at her, barely just missing her mid-drift.
The roar she let loose was frightening as their mouth split open into a wide maw. It was worse knowing what she could do with it.
“Fuck.” Lex held her spear more in a defensive way than attack. She learned from them, but they learned a little about the changeling right back.
With a similar but more controlled roar Nefrititi didn't have the same hesitation and she came charging in with her gilded hammer. The bad blood would still have an advantage but Lex would need her size. But they couldn’t let this be a distraction.
Her husband came to her side, Bruiser too and she knew what they were going to say but she cut them off. “I know.” Lex clamped her hand around Scar’s wrist and squeezed. “Take the others and go after the king, he's our main target. Grounding the dragon would be a good start.” Scar leaned down and knocked his forehead against hers and she could feel Bruiser’s hand on the centre of her back. “I’ll deal with this. She is here because of me. I’ll deal with this in time to see you land the killing blow.” Scar purred back.
“You mean my killing blow.” Bruiser boasted and quickly have her shoulder a squeeze.
“Don’t hesitate, sister. Neither should you hunters, I’m getting first blood from the dragon.” Vah’kea’s voice came through the coms as he was already making his way to the dragon, net gun in his hands.
Bruiser called the scout something unsavoury before running after him with rushed, heavy stomps. The others knew the plan and she could see Fugitive going for the dragon as well. The bad blood king stood there. Eyes on them as his dragon curled around him, shielding him before the attack as tooth, claw, wing and tail created a defensive circle around their target.
“This kill will be for you, see it.” Scar murmured, clamping his own hand over the top of her own before pulling away.
“I’ll be there, I promise.” She forced herself to step back as well.
With a lingering look, Lex turned back to the two (currently) large female yautja battling it out. For a moment she had a flashback to watching the T-Rex battle with them. Changeling was still unarmed but their body broke and shifted to become a weapon.
Nefertiti knocked them back with her hammer, snarling with a higher level of aggression than she would see from the boys.
Lex unhooked her whip and gave a warning. “Snap out of it, or I swear to the gods I will kill you if I have to.” She had given her word to this creature and if she had to kill them so be it, but she was going to at least try and think of a plan.
Nefertiti’s body was knocked back and she tumbled across the floor at Lex’s side. The woman grunted and shook herself off after getting back to her feet. “Save your breath, it would be more of a mercy to crush its skull.” She growled before and ran back to the fight.
Lex had limited options right now. She looked back to where the other hunters were already engaging with the dragon. She needed to get back to them. What else could she do right now?
Having trained with Nefertiti before, Lex knew what to do with a yautja this size. She wasn’t here to do most of the damage but to use her whip to slash and hold the changeling just enough to reduce their advantage over Nefertiti. She swore and hit the hilt of his whip a few times for the red glow of heated metal to come back enough to leave some burn marks on the bad blood’s skin but this fight was a struggle. She had not wanted to end up fighting Changeling.
Nefertiti was powerful, her muscles bulged as she swiftly swung her hammer, trying to keep the changeling back, they were a close-range threat and so the little distance that they managed to between them was all that was keeping the tide from turning. Changeling drooled as they attempted to take a bite out of the other yautja.
“I’ll help you!” A voice called out from the side and both Lex and Nefertiti looked to the side to try and find it. It was a stupid move. Dutch was dead, that couldn’t have been his voice but they still looked to where the changeling must have been able to throw her voice. Teeth and tusks clamped down into the exposed scales of Nefertiti’s arm and while Nefertiti managed to smash her fist down several times into the crest of the changeling, it didn’t cause as much damage as the chunk of leash that was removed when the bad blood was eventually knocked away. The green glow of her blood flooded down her arm but she just grunted and clanged the handle of her have harshly down against the floor a few times before she changed again.
“Help me. I’m right here! How could you leave your clan to die? Do you really care so little for us humans?” Dutch’s voice continued to echo and it was creepy. Changeling didn’t need any recorded words and just generate them at will. Making it seem like the source of the sounds was coming from all around them.
There was a distant cry of pain which sounded like Vah’kea, she ignored it. It was a trick. It had to be. She was going to ignore it. When Bruiser’s cry of pain shuddered through the air she still didn’t look. It was just a trick.
Lex did continue to ignore it until she was caught by a kick as she attempted to land a hit behind Changeling’s knee to get her off balance. She looked back and saw in the distance Vah’kea was bleeding from his thigh. But Bruiser was fine. She wouldn’t know which cry was her people and which was a deception.
But the dragon wasn’t her fight. The changeling was. She continued her task of providing Nefertiti windows of attack. Clenching her teeth against the voice full of pain and panic which would rise up around her. Begging for her. Voices she was sure she would hear in her dreams when this fight was over.
Nefertiti was starting to tired, still recovering from her poisoning. Nefertiti's changeling got her close to the other yautja’s body but it provided Lex with her own opening. With no apology, she rushed in and with all her strength ran her spear through Changeling’s lower back and out of their stomach in a spray of dark green blood.
Changeling dropped to her knees, looking down at the torrent of blood flowing out of the wound. A low whine in her throat.
Lex was panting and hoped for this to be the end but the changeling wrapped her hands around the tip of the blade and with a snarl pulled the pole through and out, tossing it away. She fell forward onto her hands and Lex almost thought it would stop her before the mass of her body started to shift and the colours started to spot in some places.
They met changeling in one form, they turned to Scar and Then Vah’kea before they had said the hunger was too much. Since eating the Trappers, she had turned to Nefrititi only so there were too more changes they were likely to able to go through.
“This isn't over yet!” She yelled to Nefertiti. “Two more shifts.”
When the bad blood shifted, she became a form that Lex didn’t recognise. Smaller than her previous form, her scales were yellowish with dark green splotches. It was a clan she didn't really know. There was a mark on their belly, light green like a freshly healed wound but no longer one which was bleeding out or internally.
Whatever tricks this form took they would need to be ready. She was Nefertiti took position around the bad blood again. Two more killing blows were needed if they could both last that long, and make it to the fight with the king and his dragon.
“Come on, you son of a bitch.” Lex growled.
Notes:
So The who thing with Changeling is based on the pheromone control of the xenos that the bad blood clan from the comic AVP: Three world war exhibited. This comic being the one where you continue the story of Lex's inspiration Machiko Noguchi as she returned to working with the preds and humans as well. (recommend the comics very strongly.)
Also i just wanna share that I bought the Scar and Jungle pred NECA figure because i love them and wanna help with my gradual development of drawing yautja. Im so excited to get my boys!.
Chapter 44
Summary:
Mini boss fight end
Notes:
Hi, so, i'm not dead!
sorry i was going to have a hiatus for like 2 months... I had been longer than that. But I am back, please enjoy the new chapter!
Love ya~
Chapter Text
Changeling stared them down with small, narrowed eyes. They were still faintly hazed over from whatever form of control that the bad-blood king had over him but it didn’t hide the determination to bring them harm.
Lex couldn’t tell much from the overall build of the yautja. It was an average build. She didn’t even know if it was a grown male or younger female judging by their height. What her eyes locked on was the red marks between their scales. The corruption was caused by whatever experiments were done on him during the splicing.
There was a brief standstill between the three, Nefertiti tightened her grip on her gilded hammer, the gems and gold plating were cracked and tarnished by blood and scrapes. It was her way, the weapons would be restored and made to gleam, just so the damage of their use in battle could clearly show the effort made in battle. She would tell the troops she had trained about the warriors returning home with their weapons blunted to nubs, bent and warped in such a way that they were displayed in prime position of their trophy rooms.
Lex wasn’t as into that practice. She carefully maintained her weapons, and repaired them when they broke. Her eyes darted to her spear, it was covered in a dark, faded glow of blood from being pulled through the bad blood.
Changeling didn’t follow her gaze, they just darted suddenly to her spear. Lex cried out in aggression but it would take too long for her to wind her spear from her belt. There was a heavy thud as Nefertiti’s hammer cracked into the ground in front of her serpent spear, stopping Changeling in his tracks. Lex scrapped up her spear and used the momentum to clock the bad blood at the side of his head.
Nefertiti circled behind him and landed hits with her fists along his body. They made loud impacts which they looked like they hurt, but for their size, weren’t doing nearly enough damage as they should.
Changeling blocked one of her hits, snarling wildly before he jumped high enough to land a kick across the face of the female yautja before twisting and coming down to lash his claws at Lex. She brought her arms up and while her gauntlets took the damage from the claws the force of it still slammed her down onto the floor, winding her.
Changeling darted back, a rolling purr between his fangs before he sprinted deeper into the wharf carnival, Nefertiti shook herself out and followed with long, heavy strides right behind the bad blood. Lex started to follow as well, but she kept her distance for a moment. Activating her coms, she said. “Royce, Izzy. Are you set up?” She gave a quick glance around, knowing they would be somewhere high up.
Izzy’s voice crackled back to her. “We’ve got our crow’s nest.”
“We’re eyes in the sky. If you can get the big lady to move back, we could get a clear shot at the turncoat.” Royce informed her.
With her thermal vision, she could see the faint warm glow in one of the Ferris wheel cars. That would be the place to be, she supposed. Looking back, Lex watched as Changing ducked and weaved from Nefertiti’s Hammer. They were faster now. She would need to step in soon and try to slow them enough for the large golden hammer to hit its mark. But not the snipers. “Actually. I have another task for you. The bad blood’s gauntlet. Reckon you could hit that for me?”
“Lex.” Izzy warned. Which was fair enough, she knew what they were thinking and it wasn’t exactly wrong.
She wouldn’t pity them, that would be dishonourable and she and she owned the changeling that much. The green and raw gash on their side that was still swollen and irritated was a testament to that.
But that didn’t mean she was being practical about this. Human hunters had to fight smarter, but if she could create a miracle, she’ll try it. “I’ll take care of them.” She assured them. “But that gauntlet is likely how he is controlling the dragon as well. Either way, it couldn’t hurt to start disabling any other advantages he could pull up. Don't want any more surprises. We need it destroyed. I’ll deal with the Changeling.”
“Copy that.” Both mercenaries replied almost simultaneously.
“Oh-” She quickly added “-and don’t either of you dare shoot my husband.” She warned playfully as she started running after the fight.
The two chuckled “Yes, ma’am.” Royce replied.
“The others are free game them?” Izzy asked.
“You are welcome to start a challenge after we finish this honourless bad blood off.” Fugitive pipped up, sounding a little breathless as tried to battle the dragon to get to the king. “Now you hurry, Elite, everyone is competing to make a trophy of the leader.”
Lex gave the other a glance before turning away. The crowned bad blood was being encircled by the dragon-type creature, guarded fiercely and seeming to just watch the others. But her clan were spread in a circle around it. Some with weapons up, others with ropes. The dragon’s tale was already being netted up while the nets focus on binding the wings which caused a thunder as they beat down, warding the hunters away. No deaths yet. She only just saw the first of the plasma sniper shots being taken from up high before she focused on her current battle.
She’ll get back soon enough.
Changeling was leading her and Nefertiti further from the dragon fight, backing up to the many colourful stalls that lined this carnival. They passed all the wrapped-up toys, prizes and bags of candy left on display. The place seemed liminal, and empty when it usually hosted so many people. The sound of the others fighting seemed echoey as they were separated from the hunting party.
There was no genetic marker that Changeling's new form held that gave her a clue of what clan they were from. Looking at them now, she just had to wonder how many hunters Changeling, willingly or not, had taken down and consumed part of. What options did they have to bring to this fight? It was clear this form was more athletic, they stayed light on their feet and moved almost like each step was choreographed and practised. Nefertiti was precise as she swung her Hammer but this form was even better at dodging.
Changeling led them closer to one of the game stalls, spinning to kick one of the poles supporting the stall’s shelter above. It broke the metal pole near the base and grasping it with both hands they pulled and twisted at the metal until it snapped off. They spun the metal pole in a few swift and elegant arcs before falling into a fighting pose. Each end of the pole, showing off the sharp and twisted metal from the break.
Nefertiti just groaned in irritation. “Great… It’s a spear master now.” She slammed her hammer down hard on the ground, cracking the concrete below it. “But I am still stronger than that welp. I can crush his bones to paste.”
Lex wasn’t going to underestimate their ability, who knows how many other tricks they had. She didn’t know any fancy shows of form with her own spear and just unwound her whip in the other hand.
Lex tried to use her whip to show them down and get them off-balanced like before. The hooked blades scape uselessly against his scales and he didn’t allow the cord to wrap around their limbs. Unlike before, Changeling focused more on Lex than the yautja. It would have been lucky if their previous tactics had been enough but the same tricks wouldn’t work twice. Not with this version of the bad blood.
They closed in on her and forced her to switch to her relying on her spear. Their weapons clashed and even though Changing was smaller now, they were still so much stronger. She was getting nicked here and there by the sharp ends but she at least held her own in redirecting the attacks so there wasn’t a serious risk of injury.
Changeling suddenly let up and switched back to focusing on Nefertiti with single-minded determination. Not happy to have their back turned to her, Lex didn’t hesitate and again tried to use her whip against them.
But it was a mistake. Changeling, likely knowing her fighting patterns, intercepted the lash, circling the broken pole to wrap the whip around it, ensuring Lex couldn’t yank it back. They held up one finger and gave it a little wag, saying ‘no’ before he yanked the whip out of her grip and flung it away, landing draped over the tracks of a rollercoaster ride.
“Asshole!” She cursed at them.
Nefertiti’s hammer crashed into the ticket box that Changeling was standing behind, showering them in glass, making them wince and duck back before knocking out their leg, causing them to fall back. Both she and Nefertiti went to pin them but Changeling rolled out of the way, picking up a larger share of glass from the ground and skilfully throwing it at Lex. She had tried to box it with her gauntlet again but it embedded into her arm instead.
A pained cry was pulled from her lips as she looked at the shark sticking out from her skin. Nefertiti fought as she guarded her as Lex pulled the shard out, it was bleeding a lot but it was better than it shattering under her skin. She tore at the ripped edge of her tactical suit and smeared it with med gel, hoping it would stop the excessive bleeding soon enough.
Royce’s voice came through the coms. “We destroyed the gauntlet… he’s pissed now. By the way.”
“Good, thanks.” She replied weakly, needing the good news to offset the frustration she was feeling towards her enemy. She crushed the bloody glass under her armoured boots. “Go piss him off even more for me, soldier boy.”
Nefertiti had kept keeping Changeling from getting at her while she did her quick first aid and swing out her hammer wildly, forcing the other to retreat back. Changeling vaulted over the guard railings of a ride, easily finding a place to leap up and onto the twisting tracks of a rollercoaster.
Lex just caught up at them before she was yanked up by the straps of her chest plate and given a boost up and onto the tracks as well. She grabbed onto the metal and hauled herself up. Changeling stalked towards her but Nefertiti started taking out the support beams under him, forcing them to stop and stabilize or else fall off.
“I hate this!” She called to Nefertiti as she got on her feet and charged at the bad blood.
There was no sassy one-liner or suggestive comment. After spending the day with the being never shutting up, Changeling’s silence had become eerie and threatening now.
This reminded her of the challenges she had fought back on the mothership. You need to get that lucky hit or get knocked off. The serpent tail point clashed against the metal of the pole they were using. He might be stronger but his weapon wasn’t as hardy as hers. His strikes were putting dents and bending the metal more and more. She focused on that now, disarm them, and she might have a better shot.
Nefertiti was under them, taking out tracks and supports from under Changeling’s feet, keeping him, he almost fell back a few times and she was sure she spotted some genuine frustration in the bad blood’s brow.
With a well-aimed it, the pole they had been using warped in the middle. Changeling stared at it before tossing it off the edge. Watching Lex, he widened his stance, balancing against the shaking track.
Lex took a deep breath, held it, and then lunged.
The tip of her spear managed to slice the thick hide of his scales, but only he had let her in order to get her close enough to clasp his hand around her writs. He pulled her in close and squeezed the other hand at her neck. Changeling pulled her in close, trying uselessly to lean away from them and the elongated tusks.
Her mind went back to how easily they had broken the trapper with their bare hands in the train tunnel. This hadn’t been how she had planned to go out, she had wanted to see Scar again. But the yautja instilled with all hunters, the dark hunter comes for them all, you don’t get to choose when. Lex pulled at his fingers, not closing her eyes, just staring them down. Her last thought was how at least… it would be quick.
But then she saw it.
The Changeling hesitated. They held her close, their mandible quivered, really to bite, full of aggression. But they held back.
There was conflict in their eyes.
“Changeling-” but the breath in her lungs escaped her as she was thrown back, her toes pressing briefly at the edge of the tracks before the momentum carried her off. It was disorientated, she heard a loud clang of something heavy being dropped before she hit the solid form of Nefertiti's torso as she caught the human.
“Oh fuck… if your species could stop tossing me off things for five fucking seconds!” Lex groaned but pet her hand against the muscled arm around her.
“No promises. You Ooman’s very toss-able” Nefertiti purred before holding her up with her hands hooked under Lex’s arms like a child. “You need more meat on you. You’re too light.” Nefertiti complained to her before carelessly dropping her back to the floor. She managed to land on her two feet though she felt the jolt in her knees. Whatever response Lex was going to give was lost as Changeling leapt off the tracks, standing between the hunters and something golden. Nefertiti had dropped her hammer to reach Lex in time.
That thought buzzed in her mind. Changeling knew the hunter cared for Dutch, for the OWLF troops she had trained. Changeling had been in her head and knew she had a fondness for the humans in the clans. It prickled at Lex’s thoughts.
Nefertiti widened her stance and let out an almighty roar before charging at the other, no weapons, it was hand to hand now. Lex holstered her spear and instead released her wrist blades, not giving the changeling an opportunity to steal another weapon from her.
It was almost a blur, more instinct than thought, blocking, jumping back, stabbing in, pursuing closer, slashing. She and Nefertiti had different fighting styles but they worked well in closing in around the changeling. More hits were landing, her blades were barely cutting through his scales but they still wasted effort in blocking and countering her efforts which allowed Nefertiti to get more hits in.
But in the end, luck, good or bad, becomes the deciding factor in fights like these. One slip was all you needed. One reaction was a second too slow. One attack that was just too fast.
Changeling had swiped his claws at Nefertiti's throat, and they tore. Elongated claws dug in and then pulled back, taking a portion of Nef’s throat with them. The shining arc of blood sprayed out and pained the side of the ride.
Nefertiti stumbled back, gasping as blood flowed in a torrent down her chest and from her mouth. Her legs seemed to waver and she fell back onto the floor.
Lex gave her own growl and she went to defend Nefertiti, the hunter gasped trying to speak, but there was only a wet gargle. Nefertiti removed one bloodied hand and flipped the bad blood off before she gave a heavy kick to another support beam and more metal warped and broke. Changeling just