Chapter 3: Veil.

Elvira Redhand, of the Redhand family, named so not by the last name like most, but from their heritage as pirates, was waiting quite impatiently. In story her family was not important, in fact her family had been in the best places, at the best times and, most often than not, this meant politics or owners of many of the best business. Changing names, background and so on… It was not hard to imagine why Weyland-Yutani had been interested in one of them, with the one condition she asked of hiding her daughter to the world, so as to keep on with tradition.

The 'little' girl was twenty one, she was nearly the age at which they took off to have their own lives, or they killed their parents. Traditions can be such bitches when you are only forty six and enjoying life…

However, to keep on living this little talk would have to be fast, accurate and to the point. She knew that the one that would be attending with her was not someone that cared for the survival of anyone, in fact his objective was all but survival, including his own. As a Slayer (definition given by humans), his only motive was warfare, no sense or motivation needed, yet he was still sane enough to know good opportunities to grant bigger battles and even less chances at survival of all parties involved.

The Company was always good at delivering such promises to those that wanted them, Elvira knew it very well.

Still, idling in the steel chair, in front of the table of the same alloy and also the last bit of furnishing of this black and nearly unlit room, which was another chair, made her uneasy (Mostly because she had asked only for her chair, anything else could be used as a weapon). She had already a hard conversation that had followed 'Falcon' and his defiance, since her boss was not pleased, but still happy that the puppet had the balls to go along with everything and even threaten them. It meant that the young man would do exactly as had been told; they only needed to spend some money on keeping him in line. All in all, it was a small price to pay, but she had been told to be more efficient.

With her supple build at one meter seventy seven, her ample chest, beautiful face, long white hair that resembles silver and those green eyes, she would be able to win over anyone in normal circumstances, which would mean usually less work and more money, even if sometimes she would have to spend hours 'after work'. Still, in her red dress with the same color for her heels, Elvira, also known as 'Vulture' by her coworkers, had no luck with those that really knew what was going on around here. She had to work like everyone else, even being near the top as she was, both because how good she was as a spy, as an assassin and, in fact, how good she was as a people's person and a manager.

Having diverse education pays off, not only in skills but also in how to talk nearly any language known to man at this age.

"Cold, dark, simple… it feels good"

And it would come in handy now that her guest was here. He could not be seen, but the sound of the chair moving as only Elvira was under the light was enough to tell her that things had started. She had limited time to not get killed now.

"My superiors weren't sure you would come" The woman, with her usual silky voice, did her best to emulate the guttural and unappealing sounds that his species did to talk "I am surprised myself, you took long enough to get away from the edge of the room…"

"Perceptive, aren't we?" A monstrous chuckling, not able to be described in any other way, came from the other side of the table "I was promised carnage, by you no less. You should be less wary of me coming here, indeed, you should be wary of me leaving without blowing this up"

"I do believe you would probably not care if you had to blow this up with your life on the line for it" Elvira nodded as he eyed at the darkness with obvious discomfort. She could probably take on the thing, but for a few minutes, wining was nearly out of the question "But I am more confident on remaining alive, since you'd want to see what we have to offer first, an offer that would only be fulfilled if no one is 'MIA' after your visit"

The woman took a hand to her ample cleavage, knowing that this one was a beast in so many senses that some kind of show on her part would probably guarantee her survival, even if she would feel shore for a long while in the extreme case that he would be interested in such bargain. Unlike most people of Weyland-Yutani, she had no qualms on doing that if she had to survive, however her actions had a meaning as she took a very small datapad from between her breasts, one that was hidden both because it was very advanced (as she showed once she activated it and a big holographic screen took place a few centimeters away from the small machine) and because it had very sensible information.

Such information meant Xenomorphs, many variations that most people didn't know about, such as the Slasher, the Carrier, the Crusher, Smasher, Razor Claws, Arachnoid, Chrysalis… They had used those strands of the Xenomorphs as weapons before, it had been costly in every sense, but they were effective. Giving someone like this thing such a weapon only meant he would be much busier and happy, but he would not die because of them.

As he extended a clawed hand with extreme pale skin on the underside of the arm, and sickly grey, ash like coloration, on the upper, one would understand that no, a Predator would not be killed by the prey he knew how to hunt.

"I do expect maximum performance from something you made" The monster on the other side growled as he took the datapad and let it far away enough so she wouldn't see him "Such a special company should always deliver what has been promised"

"You expect us to lie when we would want this to indeed kill you?" Elvira chuckled wholeheartedly, she would hardly mind if this thing died right now, but she would much prefer him getting the job done first "Sincerity with you is the only thing we need, that, and that you die after you get our pet project back"

A loud rumble like a huge cat, much like a lion would do, echoed within the room. For some reason the idea of getting killed off doing the dirty job of Weyland-Yutani had attracted this Yautja, more so when they had offered danger after danger. They hadn't had any other choice though, or at least Elvira hadn't.

She had been trying to find a fast way to the colony once Falcon decided to be more assertive over the deal. The trip had been interrupted by the Yautja, whom proceeded to kill her tribulation one by one after boarding her vessel. It was easy for him, given that he didn't have any of the honor of the Yautjas and was much more murderous than your common Bad Blood, that, and he had Ion Cannons to make sure all the humans had to defend themselves were the most outdated weapons on hand and a very dark and cold ship to run along.

Once they all were killed and only she remained, the monster decided to show himself in the flesh. It seemed that since Yautja are preferably carnivorous, and most humans do prefer meat, he found it easy to ransack human vessels, or so he admitted. Humans also have a lot of smarts on them from time to time, so one of his best chances at finding someone to kill him was within a human's own luck and skills. As far as he said, anything would be better than to die once the others from his species catch him, and if his objective could not defend itself... well, that wouldn't be a problem after a short fight.

Elvira had been lucky that the same disease that made Yautjas act as erratically as the so called 'Slayers' also gave them extreme quirks, like the boastful attitude of this one, as he called himself 'Prince'.

An excessive time without letting go of the testosterone and adrenaline accumulated on their bodies could turn their brains into mush, turning them into something much more dangerous than a Bad Blood that did things in a certain pattern or simply went out of control because he/she had no other choice or, in some cases, for medical reasons when a mental instability came to be apparent. In Prince's case, it seemed that he had twelve times the output of other Yautjas, so he would enter a frenzy state from time to time and kill anything in his path when his muscles and reflexes became highlighted, literally, as the blood pumping through the excessively amplified limbs inflates the veins. His body suffered greatly from the outbursts and he would probably not live for more than a few years, but it didn't seem to bother him.

All of this had been theorized in part thanks to part of his blood from the ship Elvira used, so it could be a pile of bull, but Weyland-Yutani had much more experience with Yautja than most other companies, much like with Xenomorphs, that, and that Prince had been quite the talker once he had been promised danger. That, and Elvira had seen him during his rage, though it had been only once, so she knew quite a bit even for a one time meeting.

Still…

"I don't like the idea of letting anyone survive" He growled, the sound of his wristband letting the blade free was as obvious as the nearly half a meter long blade cutting the table and pointing at Elvira "Give me a good reason, or I carve a hole out of this station either getting out or dying here, and make it fast before I decide I don't care"

"Tell me then…"

Elvira decided that her best bet: It was time to call for his pride, and his fear.

Yautja do not fear, they may have aversions to some things, but the only thing that could determine as 'fearing' something would be to lose one's honor and standing. While it is not something extremely bad, as even as a slave they are the best species (though lowly treated), losing one's honor means, in some case, death… or worse. Yet, those that were not part of the clans, those that had turned renegades, did have fear.

Fear of being caught again, fear of being 'cured', judged or simply shunned in public.

"How will you evade your own kind's authorities? We know you haven't been able to come here without your ship, which is the reason as to why we arranged this meeting in this place. By now you will have a little bug on your vessel, one that we have geared to give the same readings as human vessels in need of help" Elvira gave a big smirk as the growling of Prince grew in power "Of course, we will only use that if you decide not to comply with what we ask since we are giving you many things that could come back to hurt us" Still, she changed her face to a more 'understanding' one "But I could always give you a little datapad that you could use to search for said bug so you could deactivate it. It will cost you though; you would need to admit that you fear sparing anyone you meet"

"I spared you, didn't I?" The blade from the predator rested on Elvira's neck "Why would I fear to do it again?"

"Because you would have to carry that man here, because it would mean you would release someone very dangerous from your grasp, because it is someone that can kill you as easily as you could kill him and your very instinct is asking for a fight against him" Elvira pushed the blade away with a finger "How could someone like you let a potential executor go by without trying to tear it apart? It would go against what you think, and it would force you to watch your back for once"

The growl only grew in tone more and more.

"You fear to die" Elvira chuckled.

That did it.

A tremendous roar overcame anything else that could've been hear: Elvira's scream as a blast of plasma went up, the shot of the personal caster on the Yautja's shoulder, the shattering explosion as the plasma bolt broke the only light on the room and, more important, the hiss as the Yautja took his mask away only to catch Elvira's throat and bite down with his mandibles in a way that he would slightly pierce the sides of her mouth, prompting another yell that was muffled by the monster's strength.

"I-Do-Not-FEAR!"

With impressive strength, the Yautja took Elvira and threw her against the nearest wall. She was lucky to hit with the side instead of her back, the snapping of bones would mean the whole arm was in need of healing, the crunch on her hips that she would remain in bed for a time, but even with her scream it would only mean she could someday get up again, instead of have her back broken or her neck snapped like a twig.

Luck on its most raw nature, and the least merciful of them all, as while in this state she could hear nothing or feel nothing but the pain. She didn't even notice when the Yautja took the blade and marked with a light cut, one under each one of her eyes. Elvira would be watched, and when he felt like it, he would come to get her.

At least she was still alive, to her it would be all that mattered. Well, that was not true, once the recue team came back, no one able to tell how the Yautja had escaped, she would come to enjoy the feeling of everyone caring for her as if she was a queen, and she CARED for that. How could she not? After all, the Yautja had taken the pad and had also 'stolen' all he needed to have his weapons on the ready.

Mercenaries always work for the money, even if there are some… collaterals.

John would wake up with the biggest headache in his entire life. He had stolen liquor more than once, in fact, by his nineteen birthday he stole some once a week whenever he could. It was a way to evade real world you say? Nah, the alcohol's stench made most big creatures stay away, since it sometimes was worse than the odor in the underground, that, and it worked great to help his wounds when they did the normal thing and healed slowly.

Something MUCH better than the pounding in his head and the burning on his throat!

With a heavy sigh, and the rubbing of his head, John got up, feeling his clothes slightly shredded and heavier with wetness even after losing part of their integrity. After checking on his body, and seeing nothing, but a slight deformity, a burn, on his throat, he pressed onto much more important matters, namely: Food.

He wasn't sure how, but he downed half the food he had been saving, and by how long he had been out (probably a whole day, as it was morning again), he was lucky that the slightly bent cans and bottles had still food that was edible. Putrefaction in this world was much worse thanks to how powerful some of the bacteria are, so even someone in the sewers would be hard pressed to eat something that had expired, and only bacteria became scavengers with how viral things got.

Still he had been able to catch all the food still edible and he had made sure the supplies were all used. By the time they had been chewed you would've been feeling full, but John only felt slightly pleased, as he soon found that even the wound on his neck had been reduced greatly, but it would not recover one hundred percent of what had it been. On the inside he still felt fire, even if water and food had calmed it, but it was obvious something had changed and he was ultimately sure that it would be for the worst, whenever it came to stop.

Finally he felt happy, or as happy as it could be, so he took everything out:

The gun was slightly damaged, but he was sure it would be easily repaired in the bunker whenever he arrived. He did reload it fully, extra round accounted for. Now he had thirteen less on his possession, and he had only killed three of those things with it, one of them by pure luck. The one he clobbered with the weapon did not count.

It was a shame, but the shotgun had been beaten much harder than he thought. The thing wouldn't be able to use the secondary hatch it had to load the secondary weapon (Solid slugs, very common variation for security forces that expect reinforced problems). If he found the ammo it would be worth scrap to him. This would need someone savvy with weaponry to repair, and it was not him, probably not Jacob or the others at the bunker, and certainly not the girl.

Luckily, or unluckily, as you see fit, the motion detector was in perfect condition. The screen was partially smashed, but the glass was not all that important, at least the upper part (The lower, though, was a bitch if it was broken). There should be spares in the supermarket as this equipment was widely used for many things, not only the military. That also meant he would be able to find charges for the thing; otherwise it would die down with extensive use in a few days in normal environment, in one such as the one in Troptomos? Thirty four hours, forty with some luck, much less now that it was slightly damaged.

He did the sensible thing next: He took the gun and went to the second room he had explored yesterday. The corpse of the man had been cleaned off, as he had guessed. Probably some of the giant bugs had made it up here and had decided to go for the carcass and not the living ones. Luckily for them, human composition allowed a lower putrefaction rate, but it had been obvious by the smell alone that it had been cleaned moments after he had left it there. It only smelled of bones.

John had a hard time feeling sorry for him, or for the girl. He was a survivor, so if you didn't survive, it was your own fault. Whatever had happened he would not talk, which was his trademark, nor would he give comfort. No one gave it to him, but he would put her on her place if it came to depression or violence. The least she could do was to do what the man couldn't: Survive.

And he was no one's babysitter, not for long at least, or so he hoped.

That reminded him… The pistol probably was not the best way to get inside the room with the girl. He was nearly waiting for a Xenomorph to jump at him once he entered the one with the remains of the corpse, but it hadn't been the case. John threw the weapon with the pile of food and equipment and decided to 'say' hi to the girl.

It was going to be a bitch, this situation.

"Hisssss…"

'Oh, fuck'

Wait, it already was.

A drone, one heavier in build that the ones that would be described as 'normal', jumped at him just as the door decided it was time to die and fall on the floor. He had been surprised as it was, so the jump had been expected, but not reacted to. The weight was unlike that expected from these creatures (That used speed to supply power instead of mass), and the speed of the drones was obviously not impaired by this obvious muscle that the creature had on itself.

Weight aside, the fucker felt smooth and not too hard, in the literal sense of the word. It probably had molten not too long ago, so the chitin would still be susceptible to brute force from a human, much more than normal anyway (Xenomorphs are NOT hardy beings, their form is made to deflect attacks, not withstand them), so he only needed to press…

*CRACK!*

A loud shriek nearly made his ears explode. He had bent the hand of the Xeno as they fell down. His quick thinking was getting better and the adrenaline was coming much faster. This was something that would worry him, in fact it was worrying him right now, but it didn't matter when you had a creature that was about to murder you with the other claw as it retracted from John's body, giving a swipe at his face with the other arm.

Movies are one thing, but this was completely different, reality tends to fuck you up, and in this case, John was quick enough to evade, well… most of him was. The claw from the thumb managed to get his ear and it tore away, shredding the whole thing from his left side as John cried out in mad rage, kicking the thing away from his chest.

"You asshole!"

John had reacted by getting up and reaching over towards his pistol. He had it on his hands and was aiming at the Xeno when he heard a young woman's voice coming from the thing.

And on a more detailed look, he saw differences, and tears.

The domed head was shorter and different of a drone; it was rigged on the sides of it with the underside being soft and the upper section having very small rigged spaces in a webbed fashion. The sides of the large cranium had two small marks in the forms of a stretched z that had the size just about what an eye would be. They didn't seem to be able to blink, but from the edges of such marks drops of water, tears, fell down, they also seemed to turn black from time to time, as if to simulate blinking.

That mouth had lips, they weren't human like, but also not Xenomorph like, it was a mixture of the two, with also a normal tongue, even if it looked like the same biomechanical muscle that the body had, though the coloration was a pale green. There was no secondary mouth, yet the teeth were sharp and, in-between some of the moans and cries, the lips retracted and the face turned more Xenomorph like, including the holes at the side of the mouth.

Arms and legs not deformed like those of a Xenomorph, as they would only work correctly while walking in a bipedal manner and could, probably, function only slightly better than a human if the thing had to go on all fours. The arms also had claws, but between the cries they retracted, showing smooth human like hands and also the fact that the bone structure of the body was not apparent, not even in the chest, where two protrusions were standing as obvious as day. The only thing fully Xenomorphic was that large tail with an elongated and sharp edge at the end.

This thing was, most probably, one of those that had been fussed together. The one that was within that monster was, obviously, the girl.

However, how had it happened? That question went into his head as he also tried to decipher why she had attacked and why she was crying. At least it took his mind away from the excruciating pain that the head was feeling from the migraine and the burning sensation given as the ear was being restored from scratch.

"Why do you ask? Do you care? I know you took him from me!"

The Xenomorph looked like she was about to lunge at him, but instead she caressed her hurt hand. Somehow she had read his thoughts, so he tried thinking simply of why and what did she mean.

"My father… you took him away from me! He found me when I was going for supplies to the group I was with not far from here… He promised me we would be safe and with food and water in the Weyland-Yutani HQ…" The Xenomorph went to her knees and squirmed against the wall "We got here and something knocked us out… It was you! I know it was you! Who else would be here? What did you do to me?"

As it seemed she only could see within his mind when he thought of something with strength, John decided to think on all he knew. It seemed he was able to communicate with at least a human morphed into a Xeno, so if this was of use, she would see all that had happened until this point, including his whole story.

Thinking of one's story is easy, as far as you remember it. Many end up having only images, but the information associated to them is so great, that only the one thinking about it can digest it, and even a machine of this time, probably even those of higher alien beings, would be unable to go through it as fast as the one that had been through it all. Two minds linked together, however, would be able to surf through the seas of pictures, of images, emotions and all kind of desires from what it was and what could be, in as much as a minute.

"Oh… god…"

Puking could also be done in a minute, though hers went through the building whole.

It seemed remembering his whole life was both a brutal thing to do when someone prodded on your mind and you inflamed their own with loads and loads of information. A human mind would never be burned for lack of space, we don't live long enough to fill even a part of it, and we never forget, we just lump things into the 'unimportant' bin and let them there until you sometimes remember it. It is a whole different thing to have two lifetimes inside, well, it wouldn't be if you had the time to enjoy those lives, but to be 'force feed' all of it?

Well, maybe the problem was that she had seen a life of misery, brutal murders of creatures and the usual live feeding, as there were few creatures that he could kill without first munching a part of them as raw as possible. He had to admit that, compared to a normal person, he probably was close to a Neanderthal in manners, but, hey! He was alive, he was human and he had no one to worry about. She was fucked up.

"Fuck… Christ… What the hell was that?" She groaned as John got closer, to her hand and snapped it back to place, earning a hiss and a cry of pain, and also a nearly fatal save as the tail came less than an inch from his throat "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

He just hinted to her wound, to his ear and basically being at equal ground after he had pounded him and probably made part of his wounds from the last fight re-open, which meant nearly broken bones yet again.

"Whatever"

She hissed at him as she studied her hand. It had been snapped back in place very easily, obviously, for what she gleamed through his mind, Xenomorphs (If that is what… she was now) healed quickly, at least these ones. She also saw in her mind the images gleamed through his, the way that a NORMAL Xenomorph would be born. It made her shudder, but not as much as she shuddered once she reached the point where memories ended.

She reached yesterday's fight, and her father.

She pushed John away with her tail, gaining impulse to charge at the door, breaking through it as if it was wet cardboard. The young woman always told her father how she wanted to be an actress someday, using the old special effects from the black and white movies. This would, in any other occasion, extract a grin or a chuckle from her, and somehow John could feel that from the girl, as if their minds had been intertwined together. He also could feel the agony as she screeched and cried over her father's remains.

For this to pass, it would take hours, many hours, if it ever stopped for her. It had hit when she had all her life with her father, and she loved him, John could feel that. Sympathy creped to his mind as he felt her emotions, but he swatted such a thing away for now, at least as much as possible, as there were priorities here: Get her in a stable mood, and then bolt away.

Time was of the essence.

Time was NOT of the essence, not to the girl at least. It was night again and rain was pouring down on the pile of rocks she had erected near the stairs, where part of the walls had crumbled during the fight that took place yesterday.

Marino hadn't said a thing during her recollection of every scrap of human bone she could find. It soon was revealed that she had the eyes of a human, or the eyesight at least, though any human pheromones showed in her vision as an 'aura' of blue around the object, which grew fainter the less of the pheromones they had. She had been able to find all the bones of her father, though not all intact and, obviously, not all in good places.

An octopus doll, sewed by him, had been placed in a very compact box that her father had given her to take her secrets anywhere. She had left a note, as she still could write with the hands she sported, for anyone that would find the remains. After that, she had piled up what was left and constructed the grave.

She hadn't muttered a word, nor felt anything, since that.

"He was a good father" Marino muttered finally.

John just eyed her. He had been standing there the whole time. He knew she needed solitude more than confort now, she could give that through their link quite easily, but she had let the link stay, even if John knew that a creature like a Xenomorph could be able to break them, except probably the one with their queen, with ease. She didn't want to be alone because she knew that she would probably do something stupid.

Yet she knew not what to say, or what she wanted someone else to say to her.

"I… suppose you wouldn't understand, not with your own as it is. I have two lives to compare… I suppose I am the lucky one" Marino's tail waved from one side to the other, scratching the concrete as she did so. She was searching for anything that would make her slightly happy "My mother is still out there, she didn't want to move. She divorced my dad when he decided to come here, nine years ago. I am nineteen, so I was angry to leave my mother. I kept in touch until this happened… I would like to see her again someday"

Marino felt talkative, John felt envy. Neither looked at each other, neither uttered another word, or a thought, for that matter, she just gave him a nod and he walked away.

He knew she was not going to do anything stupid now, Marino just needed to pay her respects and take her time. She would not let her life go to waste, not at least… at least until she found her mother. For all she knew, she would never see her again, not without getting a bullet somewhere in her body, but she had some hope to cling to. Unlike John, she had something to LIVE for, not to die for.

It made him felt bad inside, but he wouldn't care. He just got to the supplies she and her father had, objectivity was all in his mind and he just in need for something useful that would help us. If she had something to survive for, he would help, as much as he could at least, it would give him points with Jacob. Marino had obviously felt that, but she did understand him as much as he understood her now. It was a screwed up fast bolted relationship, in part one that could be described as a symbiosis, as he finally had someone to 'talk' to and she had someone that understood her when she had basically been an outcast, since she was of the last to come to live here.

And also she was basically illiterate and had dyslexia. She was not stupid, she just couldn't read, so she was 'different' and kids are very, very cruel. Maybe that reinforced his feelings towards the young woman, after all she was all but normal now, even if she was just 'different' before. He was also all but normal, but he was technically forged as a monster, at least one of vengeance.

If all of those that he would find were this weird, he could find a reason to live to, as it would be some short of a family.

But… well…

'Keep on dreaming, John' He thought to himself, not letting it surface so the girl wouldn't 'hear' it 'You just got into society and you are trying to fit in already. You are not a pack animal anymore'

He harrumphed as he took count for at least a bag full of food and water, fifty more pistol rounds, twenty shotgun shells and four 'expanded' clips of Pulse Rifle. Expanded clips means that each clip came with a grenade for the grenade launcher, since they came like that in the packs so two clips could fit with two grenades with no problem. When military personnel got bored, they got 'inventive' with names.

In the little time he had to fight for his life, not only for food and survival, but to avoid monsters from the real world, John came to understand why the security forces or the colonial marines did stupid things like those when they became bored: Anything is better than to sit and mull over where you will die or when your friends will be the next causality. Life lasts longer doing idiotic things when you know your name is on the reaper's most wanted list.

John took the packs and pulled them out alongside the ammunition. He had found that there was indeed another pistol and two more clips, but one of them, with the pistol included, was half melted and bent in a horrible way for a weapon. It would never work again. There were also the remains of a shotgun, but it was obviously melted from, probably, a short very close to the user. Maybe Maria's father had been knocked after the young girl, so he had been able to fight, though obviously he had the burns from the last day because he had done his best.

But doing your best was not enough. You either did it, or died, there was nothing in the middle.

"Take the name tag" John almost jumped as he got off the room with the packs "Take his nametag from the backpack" Marino ordered in a level voice.

Not wanting to alter the girl, as it could be felt that she was again unstable, John did just as she said and took her father's tag from the deceased's backpack. Surprisingly, a combat knife came down from a pocket that was just under the tag. It was a nice way to hide a weapon in plain sight, as far as you didn't have to pass any strict security area.

"He was in the marines for a while" She told him "Those knifes are serrated in the back and slim in the tip. They are made of alloys that, he said, would shrug off even the worst of chemicals. I suppose my dad did well hiding Xenomorphs under the nickname 'bugs' when he told me those stories" Marino shuddered as she took both backpacks. With her new body, she was obviously quite strong "I never thought scary stories were real, but at least I am lucky to SEE that they are… and maybe that they end up in a good way"

John only nodded; he could do little else for the girl right now. She was going to be thinking of her dad for a long time now and it was obvious that she was also going to do her best on the contrary, but being direct with his thoughts, he knew that she would be quite unable to let go until she did something very violent. It was not recommended, but it was therapeutic, and what had let him live a 'normal' life without going insane.

Marino just scoffed.

"If we find a 'normal' Xenomorph, or that big one that escaped you, I will kill something" She grumbled as she took the shotgun from the pile on the ground and loaded it with eight shells "My dad taught me self defense and how to fire a gun, and since I should be able to rip them apart without having a bad time with acidic blood" Marino gave a very disturbing grin "I will get them to come at me"

For a moment, a sickening feeling washed over John. Revenge, it was revenge, something that he had felt all his life, but hadn't been able to understand as to how it would be noticed if it came from someone else. He stood where he was as Marino prepared the weapon and used her tail to pin in place both of the bags. She was acting so natural, so much like he felt she acted on her day to day basis… maybe it was because she had lost all she had had during the last nine years of her life, the only person that had been with her during half her life, or because it was something that could run so deep that it would pass you without showing itself until it was too late?.

It was worrisome in every way at least. Was this kind of feeling what had come to be John's whole being after so long? Maybe he was the problem as they had this kind of link after they had meet? His sudden, and, in truth, only hope after this kind of realization was that he only wanted someone else to be present.

He was not able, not mentally, nor physically, to help the young woman right now, and he felt a sudden urge to stop and think as much as something else in him called on to get moving and approach the eventual end of this ordeal, only to get close to his father.

In the end, his mind hardened and he returned to his original thoughts: Job done, punishment given. The girl would understand soon enough that she had a chance of getting to her mother, so she would either realize she could still live, or she would throw her life away. To him it was all the same, as he had nothing to live for but to get at his father, so both results would come in due time. John was not going to delve in something that he would ultimately not change unless she wanted it to. He had only his own end in mind and it was an end that HE would NOT change at least.

"Shall we get going?"

Marino had been privy to only part of what he was thinking. John was used to have his thoughts only for himself, so it was not hard to hide at least part of it. Still, the girl was able to at least notice part, and one of those thoughts basically asked for them to continue.

John ultimately nodded as he took a look at the equipment before picking all he didn't need to store into the backpack. Only in case, and hoping that things would maybe go smoothly from here on. John took the motion detector and the Pulse Rifle. With his strength it was not hard to carry both things (Shooting would be something else entirely, though), so he and Marino went onwards, towards the walkway that connected with the next building. If things went their way, they would find the other girl soon enough. This time things should go without 'accidents' if possible.

'Interesting… But she is perfectly well'

On the roof, and seeing them get going, Kah awaits, not wishing to test his luck with both the human and the pseudo Xenomorph. While she would be unable to run at full speed like a normal Xenomorph, she would still be faster and much stronger than a human, plus, she would be able to see him.

And shotguns hurt, a lot, even if they fire normal shots.

First and foremost, Kah is a medic; he knows that there are two universal truths in warfare: 'There is no such thing as overkill' and 'The heaviest armor is as strong as its weakest point'. His own armor had showed that small things, such as a drop of acid blood, could mess with the whole thing, so a point blank shot by a shotgun would most surely end with him having a hole somewhere, and he wanted only to survive, so that was out of the question. It also meant that he would still be put down even if he used his whole strength to fight them, as if one of them survived, he was fucked.

Kicking ass of any short would be for later anyway. There was something very strange and he had three bad news to deliver already, including the also 'not so good news' that weren't really bad, once compared with the others that is.

Three Yautjas had already lost their lives. It had been less than one hundred hours and three had died, their self destruction mechanism had been partially deactivated and small parts of technology had been taken away towards the building that the notes he took showed as Weyland-Yutani's spaceport. While he was interested in humans, he knew that The Company was the worst thing in existence and that they probably had designed the Xenomorphs with some tweaks, such as the idea of killing and disarming others of his kin to get anything they could back to where they would meet their makers.

How did they get them to be such lap dogs? Kah didn't know, the notes specified tested variants, strengths, weaknesses, possible mutations or alterations, but nothing apart from that. The notes regarding the human led to believe Yautja technology had been used for the things he had, but the small remains captured would only be electronics that could grant nothing to The Company, either for building materials or information.

Why, then, were the creatures taking the remains? It would only serve of some use to another Yautja.

Of course…

"Kah, you are letting the human go again" Char's voice growled gently from behind his back "And there are a lot of bugs near your trophies, I won't be the one cleaning them, or retaking them if that human finds them interesting"

"At least you haven't shot the Kainde Amedha" He said, not taking the view from his wristband as he used one of the newest models to check the information he was rummaging through. The 3D images and holograms were great for someone with his vision "How did you know it is a hybrid much like him?"

"I didn't" Char deadpanned "The mask's detector acts the same way with it"

"Sounds good enough coming from you" Kah eyed the thirty images that he had in his medical hud. Three were red, the rest were bright blue… and then one turned to green "Ssssssssssssssssssssssshit"

"What?"

The pair had already gone away and into the building, getting down a few levels to explore, Kah felt confident that they didn't hear him as he roared in anger.

"Our family sticks together for this hunt, right?" Kah looked frantically through the information he had, fear was not something a Yautja, hybrid or not, felt commonly "QUICK! Tell me Char!"

"Yes! They are together!" Char took a step back as she saw how Kah was reacting "What is the matter?"

"Three are dead, from the novices, three are already gone" Kah's tone was of sorrow, or as much as a Yautja could emulate it "One, one just got infected" Anger, however, was much easier to feel and emote.

Char remained silent as her brother typed something in the console of his wristband. Dying with honor was the least thing that a hunter could do during a hunt, be it a novice unblooded, a veteran arbitrator, or an elder. Getting captured by the enemy was a shame that could not be erased without much, much work. Being impregnated by Kainde Amedha was the worst fate possible and the whole group of novice hunters would be obliged to hunt down that precise creature.

An Abomination.

"Elder Ski-Hivha, I need to talk to you"

Char snapped from it as she looked at her brother and the holographic screen that now had a simple white like line in the middle of a blue hued screen. The line moved as the terse and quite fierce voice of the elder matriarch, Ski-Hivha, answered the call.

"What do you wish for, Kah" The voice sounded all but pleased.

"I have reports to make" Kah gave a slight hit to his chest, fist tight, to at least give the basic required salute to his superior "I know you told me to use this on emergencies, but there are four details you should know"

"Go ahead, Kah" The matriarch sounded impatient "You were the only one that stood to attention when I asked you all to help the humans, per our pact"

Char went wide eyed at that, there had been some kind of briefing, much like those humans make, in the private chambers of the matriarch. She had said that only those that had confidence in their skills should come, the rest received the basic 'Good hunt' before being told to do their best and come back with glory or not come back at all.

"The human is safe for now, Matriarch, he has also found some interesting help, but that is not important at the moment" It was surprising how level headed Kah sounded. He was one of those that took death and Abominations for that matter, much worse than the rest "But there are complications, such as three of our numbers already dead"

The Matriarch said nothing, in most first hunts most unblooded didn't return "A fourth has been taken by the Kainde Amedha and is already infected" At that there was a hiss, but nothing else "Also, the Kainde Amedha either have human allies after being modified by the humans, or those modifications allow them to deactivate, partially, the devices at our wrists, because I doubt I have missed any nuclear explosion in the vicinity"

There came a very simple answer.

"Pauk!"

And then growling, yelling, threatening, curses that are better not translated and the smashing sound of something very delicate and very hard to replace.

"We need a level head" After whatever carnage had been done, Shi-Hivha sounded much calmer "You will have to search for everyone. Groups on the first hunt are common, like your brothers and sisters, but they will be enforced now. When you inform of everyone about the need to lead as many humans to safety for our bargain to go on, you will also need to inform them of the Abomination" The growl behind the communication was so high pitched that there would be no surprise if the Matriarch would add another scar to her face, something common for the large female as her anger issues were on par with most males "Recover whatever was left of those who die. The oomans will not have anything we haven't exchanged fairly"

"There is another issue, Matriarch"

Another insult, not plainly translated to English (though you could mix a few of the worst and you would have an approximate of what she just said) came from the other side of the line.

"The spy system caught something four hours ago, standard human time" Instead of more curses, the Matriarch waited "I am not good with electronics, but I could filter the readings. Another Yautja vessel has entered the system. It is a very large hunting vessel, but it has cloaking to protect it from other scanners, as I directed our pilots to get a quick scan. Humans got it by pure luck"

"How big?" Came the quick and stern question.

"A fourth of the Clan Ship you command, Matriarch"

By human means this meant it was around the size of a frigate, probably bigger, much bigger. The Clan ship on itself was literally a space station capable of jumping through hyperspace thanks to the capabilities of going at light speed. Humans had just barely mastered this art not long ago, but it was just employed in the bigger ships, thanks to the power needed.

"There is no official hunt declared anywhere near this system" The Matriarch growled and the sound of mandibles colliding quickly showed unrest "Much less one so big. It would be able to carry a full party of twenty, maybe more warriors. We haven't asked for help to any of the clans that were with us in this deal. No one was interested in helping create safe havens for humans in the worst case scenario of a war coming between our species"

Char had been silent and still, but that made her shiver a bit. War? Hunting was tradition, war had been the bane of their own species and most other species in the known space had made it clear that if they went in another war they would be terminated. It was extremely hard to get any other species within the Milky Way because of how little any other creature believed in the Yautja's self control.

"Nor have we received messages forcing a hunt here to eradicate any possible traces" The Matriarch went on "Whoever it is, it is not someone that is within the clans"

"A Bad Blood?" Kah's stance hardened. Char didn't want to imagine what would happen if it was…

"No, but close" Ski-Hivha let on a sigh, not human like, but close, something she had caught on after being the one to teach Kah to fight (Or better say that she learned to get exasperated quickly with him) "We think it is what oomans call a 'Slayer', one of our kin that has lost it to the rage and desire to kill. Much more dangerous than Bad Bloods, usually kept in pens like animals by some groups of those that betray us" The Matriarch relaxed her voice for a moment "There are around twelve known cases where the Yautja was strong enough to overcome madness, but they still seek destruction, their own or the destruction of those they chose"

"Are you hinting that one of those heard of this?" Kah looked up. Char did the same.

The vision of the mask could maybe detect a fickle of a ship that large, it sure did catch the large Clan Ship. It would take a minute as Ski-Hivha thought of her next words, but there was a quick flash of energy that seemed to approach the planet.

"There are many that don't like what we are doing. Humans think we are not civilized, but even our kin can play politics, or be very dirty without compromising their honor" Her voice was grave, cautious and had a hidden danger to it "Someone could easily get such a dangerous and miscarried Yautja to find a way to make this even more dangerous for you, the humans and, in return, all of us who pledged for this plan to continue"

"What should we do then?" Kah lowered his mask as he looked to his wrist. Another mark had turned colors and flickered red "We just lost another one"

"…" Static came for a second "I doubt that one of our stray kin is the one doing this, not yet anyway. He or she would go for the strongest opponent, not novices that would fall so easily" Clicking sounds those coming from the large nails of the Matriarch as her patience grew short, took most of the two siblings' attention. The Matriarch was growing angry and wary to the point where she could probably call the hunt off and send everyone there, she was a very protective (and vindictive) female for her species "Proceed as said: Find those that live, order them to go in groups, to hunt the Kainde Amedha and to 'guide' humans to a safe place. If they have to hurt them it doesn't matter, but save them as fast as possible. I am sure that the new arrival will try to kill them first, since they can be the most dangerous opponent out there"

"I will do it, Matriarch" That said, Kah cut communications and looked at his sister "You don't seem pleased"

"I was promised a hunt" Of course she was not pleased, she didn't need to show her face, nor give him a look, which, by the way, could freeze a sea "Not a military operation. Our kind CANNOT do this"

"Think of it as a very hard, very rewarding hunt" Kah smirked under his mask as he walked to the building's edge "If we survive, father will let us do whatever we please because THIS is a hunt, yet not the kind that you would commonly hear of, right?"

Kah smiled briefly, but he just took all the strength he could muster and jumped to the next building before his sister could inquire. Char, on the other side, growled as she looked up to the sky. This world was very clean, enough to see the stars during the day, whenever the clouds weren't in the middle. What she liked to see, however, was if the ship was still around here.

A minute later she shrugged and jumped. The ship would come down, or not, she did not care. It would be a single enemy and they all would be together. Worst case scenario included a few causalities; however her family had been practicing together since they were kids. Unlike most Yautja they didn't feel the need to go their separate ways.

Not yet at least.

Char knew she would go as fast as she got her shire's permission, no sooner. Most her sisters didn't want to go away and Kah was probably going to stay at their shire's Clan Ship as a medic. Char just wanted fame, glory, to make her shire proud. It would not be found in a Clan Ship that, like most, thought that females should be breeders, caretakers, teachers or medics. They couldn't even create or repair weapons by law! Each clan was different, but the oldest of traditions lived on, sometimes for the worst.

Female hunting clans were hard to come by, and most times they only did so when the time for mating season was in order. If they had male pups, they would give them to the father's clan. If they had female pups, they would stay within the female clan, but the father could, if he so desired, visit, but that was it (a Yautja mother would easily kill a male if she was enraged, so do not touch baby, ok?).

Plans for the future, but as she landed on the next building, not looking up again, she had to question. 'Would there be a future?'. This was not a normal hunt, in fact this wasn't even a 'mission' for warriors or arbitrators, whom would probably find it reckless and strange enough to accept. This was a test to prove whether many females and a few males, all of them unskilled in real combat, could manage to avert a dangerous crisis. Such danger only because no one else would probably wish to come to help, that, or because pride and honor would demand no call being made.

As she resigned herself to probably lose her life in this world, a bright flash came down from the sky, approaching fast towards the river's edge far away from her position.

Someone had decided to drop by.

*Notes*

Quick and to the point: Thanks for the reviews!