Hello there! Again, so sorry for taking so long to update. I've just felt burned out recently and have fallen into the dilemma known as writer's block. I also just haven't felt that much motivation in writing this. Therefore, after the Peary Station arc is finished (one more chapter after this), I will be putting this on hiatus while I work on other projects. One of them is described on my profile, the Fog of War series, and the other will be my version of how I believe the Sequel trilogy could be better. Plan to see one of those, probably the latter, up on May 4th, hopefully.

BONUS: To (partially) make up for taking so long, this chapter is a bit longer than usual AND I have included a famous prequel meme somewhere in this chapter. Let me know if you can find it!

I am not abandoning this, just postponing this for a little while after the next chapter. As always, feel free to leave a comment or review. And if you're really enjoying this, please either favorite or follow, and spread the word to your friends! Thank you!

killernooch - All I can promise that there will be a Predator vs. the Thing fight. I hope you enjoy it!

teresa. spanics - The Americans sure do have a lot to handle. Who will survive and who will fall? They won't encounter the Soviets for a couple chapters though. I do hope you enjoy this chapter! It's the second-to-last one before I go on hiatus for a bit.

Radar Station 14, Soviet Union, February 9, 1970, 1635 Hours Local Time…

Karilyev looked warily at the rest of his military crew over the bodies they recovered. "This is all we found at the camp. Mutilated bodies, they deserved better. What's worse, we found the remains of standard-issue American military boots headed into and leaving the site. Classified intelligence was also missing."

"They attacked us!" Tamson shouted. "This is an act of war!"

Murmurs rippled through the gathered Russians. "Don't be hasty." Karilyev said, picking up a chess piece from a board in the rec room. "Americans may attack us, but they don't mutilate corpses or string them up. Besides, no American weaponry could inflict the carnage we saw. Their weapons don't chop off arms and cauterize them."

"They could be experimenting! Our comrades were a test for them!"

Alexei shrugged, looking up from a picture. "But what about this block you found?"

Karilyev shook his head, "Without the intel that the Americans took, I don't know. General Grievous' message said they were investigating a crash site."

Kolpakov spoke up, "Say, while we were approaching, I thought I saw something odd, an anomaly, in the distance. Not to mention something was messing up my instruments."

Karilyev nodded, "It just doesn't add up. Something killed Isachenkov and his men. Then, I believe the Americans stumbled upon the site. They must have been en route to the same crash site Isachenkov was, and decided to take whatever they could use."

Boris spoke, "How do you figure that?"

"Several things. One, the wounds and severity of the wounds. No one was killed by gunfire, but through some kind of energy or a blade. Two, Isachenkov and the last of his men were killed firing in all directions, as if they didn't know where their attackers were coming from. Three, the Americans approached from one direction, then fanned out, but not enough to explain the formation that our comrades were found in. Four, the block of ice held something that burst out. What it was, I don't know. But that is what I believe killed them."

Karilyev glanced over to Mikhail, "Mikhail, I want you to prep the radio to send a message to the General. Tell him that we found Isachenkov and his group dead and classified intel missing, but I don't think the Americans killed them. Let him know that I will return to the spot and what they were searching for in the morning and will alert him to what I find."

"Yes sir."

They were about to disperse when Surkov, one of the civilians, ran in. "Colonel, sir! We've detected an explosion a couple hundred miles east of here. At a radar station in US territory."

Kolpakov turned to Karilyev, "It seems our American friends have suffered the same fate as Isachenkov."

"At the moment, I don't know what to think. Regardless, it's in US territory. We can't intervene."

-0-

Earlier, Peary Station…

The fire continued to burn, illuminating the sky as the sun began to inch ever closer to the horizon. Soon, the darkness would come, and the Thing would strike. The flames leaped from the common room to the kitchen, hungrily consuming what they could. Something exploded, shaking the building's foundation.

The survivors rushed down nervously the hallway, watching every corner and every movement as they neared a safe haven, the hangar. Reaching it, they slammed the door shut. Hevy guided both Kaedan and Ahsoka to a bench, sitting both shaken girls down. They had all watched Vartan die at the brutal hands of the Thing.

Ahsoka shivered, it had had her, but Vartan had saved her. He was a father to her. All the nice things that he had done for her years ago: comforting her when she had nightmares of her actual parents' deaths, entertaining her, Kaedan, and Miara when they were bored or helping them with schoolwork, and everything else, gone in the blink of an eye.

"We need a plan." Rex said. "We know we're all human. We need to do something."

"With what?" Cody responded, "The flamethrower's gone! Useless!"

Fox spoke up, "We destroy this base, get the explosives Fives put in the supply room and re-lay them in the generator room. We put gasoline and kerosene throughout the base and that'll light it up for good."

"No. It won't." Barriss said from the shelf she was leaning against. "As we fled, I saw one of them fleeing into the snow. To the northwest."

The Rangers and SEALs looked at each other. They knew where it was headed. Rex said, "Then we split up. One group stays here and makes sure that the one here dies, and the other chases after the other Thing."

"With what? The snowmobiles? We'll be buried alive in this storm!"

"Well what other options do you have?"

The soldiers began yelling back and forth at each other, hysteria setting in.

"We can fly."

"What?" Hevy turned to look at Ahsoka, who had spoken softly, still staring blankly at the ground in front of her. "What did you say?"

"We can fly after it." She said, louder this time. "The weather's not great, but good enough to get in the air, the helo's fueled."

"I'm sorry." Fox squinted at her, "But didn't you disable the other one as well. They're going nowhere without that distributor cap you destroyed."

"I only destroyed one." Ahsoka looked up. Everyone could see the fire in her eyes. "The other's still intact. I can repair it in a few minutes. We can't let that Thing escape."

Rex looked over at Cody, "The snowmobiles might be useless, but the tractor isn't." He was referring to the tractor that Boil and Waxer used to move the Hueys in and out of the hangar. It was designed to traverse snow drifts and was sheltered. Offering protection from the storm. "That'll take a few people."

"What do you mean, Rex?" Cody was puzzled.

"We evac those we can. We need to get Barriss and Kaedan out of here and we don't have enough time to fly back to base, then catch the other Thing. They can take the tractor back to civilization."

"What about Ahsoka?" Kaedan said, eyes wide in shock and fear. The thought of Ahsoka dying here like Vartan made her feel like throwing up.

It was Ahsoka who responded, "I need to stay. I'm the only one who can fly a chopper in this weather."

"I'm not abandoning you here!" Kaedan said. She looked over at Barriss who nodded in agreement.

"You're not. If we fail, we need someone to know about what happened here. We don't have enough weapons anymore to protect all of us."

Slowly, Fox nodded, as did Cody and Heavy. Kaedan looked Ahsoka in the eyes, and started crying. This might be the last time she saw Ahsoka, ever, and that thought was unbearable. Ahsoka pulled her into a hug, and Kaedan buried her face in Ahsoka's shoulder. There was so much she wanted to say, but all she could was: "Be safe."

Rex looked over to Cody and pulled him aside, "You take them back. The closest base to here is Canadian at Tuktoyaktuk. Protect them."

Cody nodded, and Rex could see the tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry."

"I am too. Now get going."

-0-

Rex watched the tractor disappear into the wind and fog. He had given Cody a flare gun and some grenades, but hopefully, they wouldn't need them. They had pulled out Ahsoka's Huey before they left and the pilot was working on reinstalling the engine parts she had taken out. It was a matter of minutes before she lit a flare and began to heat up the battery and engine block.

Fox and Hevy spent this time gathering Fives' explosives and pouring gasoline in the other buildings. There was no sign of the Thing, nor any sign of Vindi. They stayed away from the burning areas, they wouldn't need any help to destroy that. All the while, they were on the lookout for Vindi, the Thing, or whatever might else be trying to kill them. It was eerily quiet, except for the crackling of the flames.

They returned from their duty to find Rex setting the explosives all around the generator. This room was filled with gas tanks, machinery, and other assorted items that would go boom. A couple of the few weapons they still had were with Ahsoka.

Rex looked up as they entered. "That's the last of them."

"So what now?" Fox asked. He had completely given up command to Rex. Rex was the one who had suspected this would be a problem from the beginning, and now, Fox was totally fine with letting him finish it out.

Rex looked uneasy, "At least one of us has to be here to set it off. The others go with Ahsoka in the chopper." Rex hated the fact that they were basically leaving one of their own to die here, alone. Rex had never left a man behind before. Not even when he had been ambushed leading a South Vietnamese raid in Cambodia, he was one of the two survivors. He had dragged and carried a wounded soldier several miles to safety while fighting off the Viet Cong he had encountered on the way. That wounded soldier had been Cody.

Hevy immediately said, "I'll stay." His squad was his life, his family. He needed to get revenge for them. Chances were that none of them would escape this ordeal alive, so might as well go out fighting.

"I'll stay here then too." Rex said. Staring at Hevy, he said, "One of us can still set it off if the other is taken out. Besides, my Rangers will either win here, or die trying."

"No way, Rex." Fox said. "I'll stay. You and Airman Tano go fry the other bastard."

"This isn't your style, Fox."

"Guess I've picked up some bad habits from you, Rex. Don't argue with me, this is my base. I have to see this through. Get to that chopper and come back for us. We'll be waiting."

Rex was silent for a moment. "You know you can't win this one."

Fox just stared back. He thought of all his people that he had lost: Vartan, Selda, Boil, and Waxer. He thought of Kaedan and Barriss, freezing on the way back to civilization. He thought of Vindi and his blood boiled. He had let that damn fool seperate himself from his people and condemn them to death. But it was Fox who had done that, not Vindi. As easy as it would be to blame Vindi for all the shit that had happened here, it was Fox that allowed it to occur. In that moment, Fox hated himself and hated his actions. He shouldn't be allowed to go home, but there was another option. "Maybe I can get even."

Rex nodded and went to leave. "Rex!" He turned to Hevy, who tossed the M79 to him. Rex caught it in one hand and shared a look with both of them. Hevy and Fox. They all knew it was farewell. "We'll be back."

But despite all the confidence and bravado they all exuded, those words still felt hollow.

-0-

Elsewhere in Peary Station, Vindi walked through the hallways. He needed to find his creature, find it so he could save it from the hideous fate the others were planning for it. He had heard the tractor leave and the helicopter shortly after that. They had abandoned this place, but they were going to destroy it. He could smell the gasoline he was stepping in. They didn't understand. They never would. Too caught up in the old ways of warfare and espionage. They were obsolete. He was not.

A strange clicking sound brought Vindi out of his thoughts. It was odd, almost like a rattlesnake, but it was too cold for snakes up here. There was a splash, a series of splashes, from behind him. Vindi turned, seeing ripples in the puddles of gasoline, and a hulking brute of a creature materialized behind him in a shower of electric-like lines. The humanoid was heavily muscled, at least 7 feet tall, and clad in armor of some type. It stared at him through a skull-like face mask, and it had knives on one wrist. The other alien creature had shown itself at last.

Vindi was not scared of it, he was amazed. This creature was heavily armed, and highly lethal, yet Vindi stared at it in awe. It looked like a hunter, and Vindi began to think as it regarded him. If he could bring this creature back, the US would have an unstoppable super soldier. He suspected it could thrive in a jungle, and it appeared to have incredible camouflage. They could finally win in Vietnam and show the Soviets that America was not to be trifled.

He reached out to speak to the being, when a squishing, slurping sound came from behind him. The hunter tensed and Vindi turned to see the Thing facing them from the other side of the hallway. It screeched at the sight of the hunter, and the hunter returned it with a bellow. Something slid up from the hunter's back, locking in place on the hunter's shoulder. From it lanced a bright light, and a stream of plasma launched itself towards the Thing.

Vindi watched in horror as the Thing was hit by the weapon, part of it being blown off. The plasma also touched off some of the gasoline at the end of the tunnel. The Thing wailed as it escaped the flames. Vindi turned back to the hunter, in shock, screaming, "You want to kill it too!"

The hunter disregarded him, throwing him to the side as it readied itself for battle and began to stalk after the Thing. Vindi screamed in rage and jumped at the hunter, pulling out the kitchen knife he used to cut himself free. He managed to get to the hunter and stabbed at its back. The blade pierced the hunter's skin in a spot not covered by its armor and the being screamed in rage and pain. Lime green blood coated the metal of the blade, and Vindi smiled to himself in satisfaction. He could kill this hunter, then he would take its technology back. The US would still be unbeatable.

The hunter reacted by pulling out an intricately carved tube, and with a flick of its wrist, the ends of the spear shot out, one of them going straight into Vindi's chest. He gasped in pain and surprise, gripping the blade that had pierced his stomach. The hunter twirled the spear, bringing Vindi above him in an arc until he hit the ground, landing face first in the gasoline on the ground.

His back erupted in pain as the hunter dug its claws into him, and he could feel the hunter's fist close around Vindi's spine. All Vindi could do was scream as it was ripped from his body.

-0-

Straight Spear looked down at the now headless ooman corpse before him. The fool had attacked him from behind, a show of disrespect and dishonorable fighting, so Straight Spear had killed him. And he now had a new trophy that would make a fine addition to his collection. But the weapon was around here somewhere, he had fired at it, and now it was time to finish this.

Putting the ooman's skull in his pack, Straight Spear walked straight through the fire. The heat blinded his heat vision, so Straight Spear ran through the far as quick as possible. Fighting blind was not smart, and there was no honor in a foolish death. The weapon was around here somewhere, and Straight Spear was ready for it.

His mask's enhanced hearing alerted him to the threat and he quickly evaded as the weapon dropped from the ceiling. His wristblades severed the tentacle that had attacked him and he quickly backpedaled to put some distance in between them. Going hand to hand against the weapon was foolish. If he suffered even a single scratch, it could be the end of him. Straight Spear held his spear high above him and bellowed loudly, a challenge to the weapon. This battle would end with one or both of their deaths. Straight Spear would give no quarter, and neither would it.

The weapon screeched back and attacked, throwing multiple tentacles at him in an attempt to overwhelm him. Straight Spear parried each blow with his blades, slicing through some and giving ground when necessary. The severed ends grew insectoid like legs themselves and continued to attack, trying to swarm him. The triangle dots of Straight Spear's plasmacaster tracked each and every one of them, blasting them away.

The plasma ignited the gasoline lying in puddles on the ground and the rest of the centipede-like creatures shrieked as they crisped and burned in the fire. The weapon evaded the flames, jumping up to the ceiling and morphing as it did. It screeched at him with hatred as it crawled across the ceiling towards him.

Nightblood was right. This creature was changed. It was now more than a species, it was a bioweapon capable of annihilating everything, everywhere. A perfect organism that was capable of surviving and adapting in any area, no matter the climate or terrain. The Berserker was a fool, and his spawn had to be stopped at any cost. At that moment, Straight Spear felt like he was missing someone, someone who had always been at his side. The Berserker had killed his brother, his kin, and now Straight Spear had the chance to kill the spawn of the Berserker. Revenge coursed through him and his bloodlust grew to levels it never had before. Nightblood may have warned him against this, but right now, all Straight Spear cared about was revenge, no matter who stood in the way.

Straight Spear blasted away with his plasmacaster, the weapon shifting and changing every time so his shots missed, only blowing holes in the roof. The fire was spreading, hungrily licking at the walls and racing towards him. Straight Spear turned and blasted another hole in the roof, jumping through it and stopping on the roof. He turned as the weapon skittered towards him from the hole, and Straight Spear fired again.

His shot hit the weapon dead center on what might have been a face. It shrieked in rage, shedding its singed face like a snake sheds its skin. Straight Spear reached to his hip and grabbed the smart disc, activating it and hurling it at the weapon. If he could immobilize it, he could use the acid against it and wipe it out for good.

The disc sliced through the weapon, cutting it into two. Now was his chance!

As the disc flew back to him, Straight Spear whipped out the dissolving liquid and threw it at the weapon. The vial burst and the acid splashed onto it. It howled and shrieked in pain as the acid ate its way through the weapon's flesh. Both pieces dragged themselves towards him, trying in vain to kill the Predator. He whipped out another vial and threw it onto the closer half, the smaller half. Completely coated, the weapon bubbled away into nothing more than a pile of goop.

His mask alerted him to the next attack, and he spun and narrowly avoided the desperate flurry of tentacles that the weapon sent his way. It was losing and Straight Spear knew it. His blades sliced through the weapon, hacking it to pieces, and his plasmacaster blasted away again and again until there was nothing left of the weapon but burning pieces of biomatter.

Straight Spear chuckled, the battle was his. He took out one of the last vials he had and let it fall onto the remains of the weapon. As his bloodlust abated, he began to laugh.

The roof under him erupted in a mass of writhing tentacles, grabbing hold of the surprised Predator. There was no hope of survival, once it had you, you were done for. Straight Spear reached for his wrist computer, to start the self-destruct sequence, but the tentacles wrapped around his arm, completely covering it. It knew about that and had intentionally prevented him from starting it.

As he was dragged down into the maw, Straight Spear realized his error. In his bloodlust, he had failed to realize that not all the weapon had come through the roof, and that he had only killed part of it. He was the stronger fighter, the better equipped fighter, but it had been smarter. It had waited until his defenses were down before striking. Claws at the end of the tentacle-like arms grabbed and tore at his bio-mask, and Straight Spear howled in pain, anger, and rage as the Berserker and his weapon claimed yet another Predator.

-0-

Hevy and Fox had heard the battle, but didn't know what to do. They both knew they would die here. They had no weapons, no escape, and no hope of killing the Thing and surviving. Both of them accepted that. They had to stop it from escaping and the best way to do that was by destroying the base.

Hevy looked at Fox, "I'll check."

"Right."

Even with the lights on, the atmosphere in Peary Station was spooky. These halls had once been alive, filled with the smell of living people and food. Now they were abandoned and smelled of gasoline.

Fox looked at him from the doorway, "See anything?"

"No."

Thumping sounds were heard, as if something was running across the roof. The two soldiers nodded at each other and Hevy primed the detonator. They needed the Thing to be in sight, to know for certain that it would die. If possible, it would need to be in the generator room. But that was only a best case scenario.

Hevy stood at the detonator, Fox at the doorway, as the thumping came nearer. It stopped, and they glanced at each other. It was here, but they needed it to be here among them to know that it was truly dead.

There was a blinding flash of light and a humongous boom as the roof was caved in from above. The Thing dropped down among them, but it was different. Larger. It had taken on a new shape, a humanoid one, that towered above them at seven or eight feet tall. It was now heavily muscled and wore some kind of… armor? A glinting blade slashed out, catching Hevy across the chest. He fell backwards, the detonator flying from his grip.

"Hevy!" Fox yelled. Fox opened fire with an M16, knowing full well that it would do nothing against the Thing. He would only slow it down. Lime green blood erupted from the bullet wounds.

Hevy stared at it in shock. The same blood they had found in the snow at the crash site! Was this creature the Thing? Or something else?

All doubts were put to rest when the same blood curdling screech came from its mouth. Hevy crawled over to the detonator, grabbing it. He turned to see the Thing advancing on Fox, who to his credit, did not stop fighting. Fox's magazine in the rifle ran dry and he dropped it, pulling out his handgun and resuming fire. Hevy yelled, "Fox! RUN!"

Fox turned to him, as did the Thing, and Hevy nodded. "GO! Get out of here!" Sadly, with tears welling in his eyes, Fox nodded in acceptance and turned to run, sprinting through the burning base.

The Thing approached Hevy, noticing the danger he posed with the detonator in his grip. Fox had nowhere to go. Nowhere to run to. Hevy was about to blow the base and the Thing could easily track him down once it had dispatched the Ranger. Hevy stared back at it stoicly. He had only ever been captured once, it Vietnam, and he had been able to endure that. He wondered if this thing, or the ones who would use it, like those that built the ship that crashed or those like Vindi, he wondered if they would ever take prisoners.

Hevy knew the answer to that question. He wouldn't either.

Hevy pressed the button, and the room erupted in a blaze of fire and light.

Next Chapter: Ahsoka, Rex, Nightblood, and the Thing's paths all cross out on the Arctic snow.

I hope to have the next chapter up on May 4th as well, but I can't promise anything (you all saw how late this chapter was). All we can do is wait and see. Until then!