Sacrifice

Rated: M

Chapter: Fifteen

Ah'Kahn-de crouched on a small glowing ledge high above the Kainde Amedha as they circled their captive, the strange Ooman. He passively noted that the glowing was highly irregular and decided he would take samples when this was over. Someone of higher ranks would be interested in this information.

This room was much larger than the previous and he knew it must have had some importance when the structure was built. Hardened resin covered everything. The Kainde Amedha had been very thorough, proving that their intelligence was perhaps more than he'd originally thought. This group in particular seemed rather interested in making their Empress comfortable. She even seemed to have a sort of sleeping area sectioned off from the rest of the room by higher walls of resin. Until moments ago, she'd been curled up in a tight circle. Eyeless, but she seemed to have been sleeping. It was difficult to say, but this queen was very different from any he'd seen and he wasn't keen to go charging in just yet.

Further adding to his suspicion of their levels of intelligence, he noticed that they had not killed the Ooman. This went against everything he'd ever known about Kainde Amedha. They were brutal, thoughtless killing machines. Their intelligence existed, but was overpowered by the instinct to kill, eat, and breed. So, why weren't they either killing or impregnating this tiny, weakened creature? Ah'Kahn-de was very puzzled by this. So, he only watched, even as the rest of his clan entered the room.

He rolled his eyes at their clumsy entrance. They were young yet. Even blooded as they were, they still had so much to learn. They were lucky the creatures in the room were all so caught up in their apparent pent up fury. They did not even notice his companions' entrance. Even so, the young warriors at least seemed to have some sort of plan. They spread out, each taking a side of the room to clear.

The only one whose tactics he was confused by was Eh'Pik'Tis. The arrogant Yautja stalked right down the middle of the room. He was walking right into the heart of the soon-to-be battle. Not an intelligent move. He was tense and focused, though. Ah'Kahn-de could only shake his head in disdain. Even with years of experience in the Hunt, Eh'Pik'Tis always stupidly sought the largest and most difficult prey to tackle alone. It would ultimately be the end of him. There was little honor in stupid planning.

He'd trained this particular Yautja since he was very young. He'd always been impressed by his fearlessness and his ferocity in battle. He had no mercy for the weak. He also had no respect for those he could over power. He relied only on instinct in battle; a fatal flaw to his prowess. Despite all of Ah'Kahn-de's teachings, Eh'Pik'Tis always did as he pleased. Even now, deep in a tomb, on a foreign planet, and in a room filled with several of the most lethal Kainde Amedha in the galaxy, he ignored every rule of battle.

Ah'Kahn-de sighed and shook his head.

Nearby, sprawled on the floor in the center of the room, the small Ooman bared its teeth up at the infuriated Empress in… aggression? He couldn't be sure. He'd never been terribly interested in studying Ooman culture. There were several other creatures in different parts of the universe he'd been more inclined to research at the time, but now he wondered if he'd been mistaken to neglect Oomans in his studies; it seemed that they were more complex than he'd previously believed.

If the bared teeth were meant to be aggression, it was the only signal the Ooman was giving that would hint so. Its muscles were relaxed as it leaned back to stared fixedly at the empress. It made no move to attack, though it also made no move to run either. A quick scan of its body through his helm showed that its body was greatly weakened. It was resigned to its fate and refused to cower. This Ooman was truly a warrior, he noted with no small amount of awe. It would die with honor and Ah'Kahn-de would record the story of the strange Ooman who fought alongside Yautja warriors not once, but twice. He would include that this Ooman was the only in history to ever be marked as a warrior for its bravery, strength, and honor in battle.

Ah'Kahn-de was nodding in affirmation to himself when he noticed Eh'Pik'Tis. The young hunter stood still in the center of the room several lengths away from the empress. However, his attention was not on her. He was tensely eyeing the Ooman.

Ah'Kahn-de frowned and silently dropped from his perch. Whatever Eh'Pik'Tis was thinking, his mind was obviously not on the mission. This could not be allowed.

…

Lex felt strangely calm as she looked up at the infuriated queen. The abomination of an existence screeched down at her, crouched like a cat on the edge of the nest. She was much more humanoid than the others Lex had battled. Her hide glinted under the ethereal lighting as though it was wet. Soft muscle tissue bulged on the inside of her arms, unprotected by the hard shell-like skin that ran along her face, shoulders, back, and legs. Likewise, her torso was vulnerable, Lex noted. Two small mounds on her chest were akin to human female anatomy and rose and fell as she breathed shallowly. She took a deep breath and threw her head back to scream, mandibles flaring wide.

The sound reverberated off the walls and Lex's ears rang. It was bound to signify an imminent attack, but she found that she just did not care. She knew death was coming, but was not afraid. Somehow, she even felt pleased that this all was almost over. Death equaled rest at long last.

"Come on," She goaded," You're ugly, but not ugly enough to scare me to death. Let's get this show on the road."

As if the queen understood, she snapped her jaws shut and snarled. Sinking back on her haunches to strike, her claws dug further into the resin. Her muscles were bunched and ready to spring. She turned her crowned cranium to the human on the floor and seemed to grin coldly through saliva covered, silver teeth. She hissed deep in her chest and leaped.

"Finally, some excitement," Lex responded, preparing herself for the blow that would hopefully kill her.

As the queen launched herself, Lex tensed, but did not look away. She held her breath reminded herself that she was not afraid. She was a warrior. Just like Scar. He would not be afraid and neither would she.

Time seemed to slow as claws stretched for her, tips twitching with eagerness to dig into her flesh. The queen's mouth opened, revealing snapping, hungry inner teeth, darting in and out impatiently. Between the thick inner muscle and the sharp, thin teeth, the tiny second mouth would have no problem smashing through her skull. Well, at least this would be over quickly, Lex noted.

However, a deafening roar sounded from mere feet away and her enemy suddenly, inexplicably flew to the side as if hit by some invisible force. The green resin floor shattered as the queen's jaw cracked audibly against it.

Lex's heart leaped into her throat and she whipped her head around to the bare spot where the queen had been. Her eyes searched and found nothing for a moment. Then, the air in front of her came alive with blue sparks. The small bursts of electric energy danced over a tall humanoid form.

Lex's throat tightened as tattered silver colored armor, net covered muscles, and a joltingly familiar mask flickered into visibility. Dark green blood had dried in splatters across the skin and armor of the hunter who stood tense and focused. Despite his obviously extensive injuries, he stood erect and strong; an image Lex had been sure she'd never see again.

"S-Scar!" She choked on his name as elation spread through her. She'd never been happier to see anyone in her life.

Whether Scar spared a glance or not was impossible to tell behind his emotionless mask. He did, however, offer a series of clicks. He slightly inclined his head toward her, but kept his front facing the insect-like queen, who unceremoniously picked herself up off the ground.

"I'm fine," Lex affirmed, grinning madly up at him.

With a nod, Scar turned his full focus back on his enemy and snarled in reproach, while taking a step forward.

All around Lex, chaos erupted. Amongst the screams of anger from the aliens, who were just mentally catching up with the sudden intrusion, other roars signaled that Scar had not come alone. Not too far away, acidic blood sprayed and Shadow appeared in very much the same way as Scar did. He threw the spindly body away from him and roared, chin lifting slightly as he shook his head in triumph.

As everyone was distracted, Lex tried again to stand. Her body still screamed in agony, but adrenaline suddenly pumped through her veins and she was able to stand. She knew she would be little help in battle, but she hoped she could at least get out of the way and start looking for a weapon to protect herself.

As she turned, she was met with a heavy blow to the face. She crumpled back to the ground and winced. Her vision swam and a hand flew to her face, rubbing along her jaw. She turned and growled. The last person she hoped to ever see again glowered down at her.

Titan growled back and curled his hand into a fist. Twin blades popped from his wrist unit, looking sharper than ever. Lex pulled back, hands desperately reaching behind her for something… anything.

"This is insane," She tried to reason," We're on the same team."

That didn't help. Titan's brows furrowed further and he leaned forward to roar down at her. Like Scar, he had suffered several wounds on his earth colored skin, but this didn't seem to hinder his vigor for attacking her. In fact, he seemed more than happy to take on an injured human female.

Before he could strike, a blur of black plowed into his chest. A serpentine alien perched on his chest and pinned his arms to the ground. Much more muscular than the ones they'd already fought, he was a better match. It helped that even a monster killing machine like Titan had to be feeling a little weary after the day's battles.

It showed. He panted with exertion as he grappled on the floor.

Lex turned to haul herself up again. She had to get away. This was insane. Everywhere she turned, she was being attacked.

A screech behind her had her turning to see two blades, glimmering with acidic green blood protruding from onyx colored hide.

"Fuck it all!" Lex cursed to herself as Titan discarded the body and rounded on her again.

Titan turned fury filled eyes back to her and advanced, even as a fourth hunter materialized behind him. Gray dreadlocks swung as this new hunter turned his back to them to face other aliens approaching quickly. He was snarling, clicking, and shaking his in what seemed to be more irritation than aggression. Regardless, he was to be of no help to her this time.

"I really fucking hate you," Lex said to Titan as he stood over her. He rumbled in response.

"I am enj-hoy thees," he spoke in his own gravelly voice in poor English.

"You're a coward," Lex couldn't be sure how much English he understood because he didn't acknowledge anything she'd said to him before, but at "coward" he snarled and lunged.

Lex gasped and curled away, but he froze. Tensing, his expression changed. Fury melted from his face and he coughed. A little fluorescent blood dripped between his fangs. He looked down at a black spear protruding from his stomach and bitterly spat something in his own language.

Soft hissing responded.

The hairs on the back of Lex's neck stood on end as a creature crawled forth on all fours from behind him. The alien with the missing tooth turned his bald face to her and bared its long, silver teeth. Lips trembling, it released that hissing laugh and stood to its full height (easily as tall as Titan). Its powerful barbed tail lifted the tainted hunter slightly and Titan groaned, grasping the pointed tip at his stomach. He could do little to free himself from the sneaky alien.

Lex's gut turned to ice and horror flooded her as she looked up at the eyeless face. Had it interfered on purpose? She couldn't help but wonder. Could these creatures even fathomrevenge?

Titan seemed to be immobilized by shock, but Lex was not. She knew she had no hope of running; she knew the thing could outrun her and Titan would obviously provide little distraction if it was so intent on killing her.

Thinking fast, her eyes searched Titan's body. His spear was strapped to his back and well out of her reach. His wrist blades were attached and there was no way to quickly remove them. He had to have other weapons. Scar seemed to pull all sort of weapons out of every possible place on his armor. She squinted and saw a silver ball poking from the top of Titan's belt.

"Yes!" She hissed to herself.

Pain made her knees buckle, but she grabbed for Titan for balance. The hunter eyes flickered to her in alarm as she hooked a hand into his belt and heaved herself up as quickly as she could. She was leaning heavily on him as she wrapped her hand around the silver ball peaking from his waist area. With a quick upward tug, she pulled out a dagger that was about eight inches long. It was shorter than she was comfortable with, but it would have to do.

The queen had a lot of tender skin that started just below the jaw and ran down her entire stomach. Now closer, she could see that this alien, too had soft skin around its neck, though the chest had the hard black armor covering it.

That was unimportant.

Lex moved fast. She pushed hard off of Titan's leg and launched herself at the alien. In a swift movement, she plunged the dagger into the side of the creature's neck. She felt some doubt for only a second. Blood spurted around the hilt of the blade and she knew she hit some sort of a jugular vein. Lex's celebration was short lived, however; she yelped as some acidic droplets splattered on her hand. She heard the sizzling only a moment before she felt thin layers of skin burning away.

Pulling her abused hand close to her chest and withdrawing quickly, she narrowly missed Titan's thrown body. He landed loudly beside her with a crash of metal and growls of pain. The serpent-like alien screamed and clawed at its neck, flailing in panic. It back-pedaled and tripped over its own feet.

Gargling as it choked on its own blood, it twitched at the feet of the hunter with the gray dreadlocks. He'd just turned from his kills and spotted the dying creature. With a quick look towards Lex, he chittered and cocked his head.

Lex stared back, forcing herself to stay on her feet for a moment longer. She somehow felt that she must pass this scrutiny. Holding her breath and focusing on steadying herself, she lifted her chin. At long last, the hunter turned and crushed the suffering alien's skull beneath his boot. It caved under his weight as though it was made of cardboard.

He then turned to the remaining enemy: the queen.

Scar was still fighting, though he had retreated a ways and didn't look like he'd be on his feet much longer. Shadow had moved in and was battling the queen now. She was quick; surprisingly quick for her massive size. Despite her humanoid appearing build, she was as flexible as a snake. She twisted her body into impossible angles to avoid attack, but she was growing clumsy against Shadow's lightning fast reflexes. His single sword slashed again and again at her skin. She only became more infuriated.

Despite this, Lex could see her injuries. The queen was fast, but she was also mortally wounded. Her jaw hung slack, probably broken from Scar's initial attack. She was also missing an entire mandible, where she was bleeding profusely, and she had several deep cuts along her chest and arms. It seemed they'd noticed her major weakness, too. Good. Then, this shouldn't take much longer.

As the three circled in on her, Lex allowed herself to collapse next to Titan. She was exhausted.

She'd give anything for a warm bed. She wouldn't leave the covers for a month. Maybe longer.

Titan groaned as he inspected his stomach. Lex turned to look. The flesh of his stomach was already swelling. Gore covered his chest and armor. With no amount of sorrow, Lex was suddenly struck with the realization that this wound might be fatal.

"You're such an idiot," Lex pointed out. She couldn't honestly say that she cared if he lived, but she thought someone should break it to him. He was strong, yes, but a good hunter? Definitely not.

"I…hh-ate you," He responded, turning his head slightly to glower at her, yellow eyes narrow and burning with the emotion. She frowned back. He was a fast learner.

"I hadn't noticed."

He grumbled at her, but she couldn't understand what else he said. Frankly she didn't care what he thought, anyway. It seemed like he was finally too consumed by pain to try to kill her at the moment and she was okay with that.

She leaned back on her elbows and inspected her own wounds. The cut to her side was deep, but it had swollen so much that it didn't bleed anymore. Unless infection killed her, she ruled that she would probably live. There was little she could do at the moment anyway. Perhaps one of Scar's companions had a better medical kit than he'd had.

With a sigh, she turned her head to watch the fight end. Carcasses littered the floor. The air was rank with their stench. It was a smell Lex knew she could never forget. Her eyes sought Scar. The shortest of the three, he was the easiest to pick out. It showed in his movement that he was in pain. He stumbled in for the kill and Lex felt… sad.