Chapter One: Awaken And Hit The Ground Running


Vincent PoV

I took a gasping breath as I had woken up and glanced around in a panic and soon realized I was in a hospital. My body ached from pain, thirst, and hunger as my senses came around slowly screaming for relief. I calmed down as much as I could and sat up taking slow and shallow breaths in an attempt to relieve as much pain from my chest as I could and slowly remembered I was was implanted with a xeno and gave birth. I grunted at the thought of giving birth."If that's what child birth feels like I would've loved a drink before we went straight to third base." I said in a hoarse grumble looking for something to drink but couldn't see anything. It slowly dawned on me that there were no sounds coming from the outside of my room but I paid no mind as I saw a note on my medical table and moved to read it.

I unfolded the note and started reading

'Hey big bro if I'm not here when you wake up then I'm sorry. Things have kinda heated up with small new xeno hives popping up through the city so the boys and girls have been rooting for you to pull through since your too stubborn to die from having your chest popped like confetti. Anyways everyone here has scrapped up some gear for you to wear. Unfortunately its standard issue grunt armor but at least its something. Another shitty thing is we couldn't talk the med staff to allow any weapons just short of a combat knife so for that were sorry. Btw Lieutenant cross is pissed you went and almost got whacked by the bugs so I would be on the look out for him when your back on your feet. Back to the subject of new xeno hives the brass has given up on full sterilization and focused on containment so the word on the rumor mill is that we wont be able to hold much longer if things keep going as they are. You should also know we lost contact with New York and Miami shortly after you decided to take a nap and our battalion is the only combat effective unit now on the east coast and we wont be much longer. Stragglers of the 225th and 382nd Mobile Infantry also came from New Jersey so we assume the place is lost too. So as of now this city is the last active star port on the east coast and we've been ordered to hold till the civvies get out before we pull the plug. Well that's all I can think of that's really been happening so I should get back to my post before the Lt has my ass. Get well soon big bro so we can get back to kicking ass together again.

Much love from your lil sis. Katrina Henderson'

I folded the letter and put it down then walked to the clothing closet and opened it to find the armor she mentioned and removed my gown to show my bandages wrapped around my sternum and removed them. I was stunned seeing my wound."Oh your fucking kidding me how long was I fucking out!" Seeing my wound completely healed but leaving a ghastly scar. I stopped thinking as I ripped out the BDU and put them on as well as my socks and boots. Then took the armor down and methodically attached it to my body with speed that only came with untold amounts of repetition. I shifted around in the familiar embrace as I walked to the door as I muttered."First I'm going to the mess hall to find some food and something to drink. Then I'm going to find a bug to plant my boot in its ass." I said as I walked out of my room rubbing my head as I felt a headache coming on. I wasn't surprised the hospital was abandoned after seeing my wound had healed over so I could only assume the city had been abandoned as well so I would either have to find a ship or call for evac. Either aspect wasn't appealing since being alone almost always meant death when it came to dealing with xenos. Granted there were some rather extraordinary exceptions where some USCM personnel pull off the impossible but I doubt my luck was any better at this point if me birthing a xeno is any clear indication. I sighed as I moved through the hospital trying to think of a better plan but my headache had gotten moderately worse and could swear I was hearing whispers but whenever I looked around they stopped so I just continued to move on and made some colorful curses under my breath knowing full well I could very well not be alone so I kept as quiet as possible as best as I could.


Aura PoV

It's been a month since the humans left their planet and only a very few of them remained so it was a rarity when we found evenjust one anymore so when I did find one I was completely ecstatic.
More so since this one was clearly a warrior human that had been left behind so I made the decision to capture the human but I needed to check with my mother Ferexia our queen before I tried to subdue it since more often then not there was almost always more than one human warrior close by.

I quickly dove into our hive link."Mother. I found something that will please you very much." I said with glee.

A few seconds passed."Oh? What has you excited so Aura? I don't normally hear you in such a mood." My mother said with a chuckle.

I grinned toothily."I found a human warrior. It's alone and seems distracted. Do you wish for me to take him now?" I said with enthusiasm.

Mother quickly grew serious."Not yet. Find out why the warrior is there and then contact me again then we will decide from there." She said Darkly.

My mood quickly soured."As you command mother I will stalk the human further. Then will I be allowed to take the human?" I said questioningly.

Mother took another few seconds to reply."Not alone. I have dispatched another of your sister drones and one of our warriors so we suffer no losses." She said flatly then she severed the link.

I hissed with irritation after the conversation with my mother. She never liked taking risks with humans and more often then not hunting was never enjoyable since we always attacked in groups for subduing humans. Just then I noticed the human lean against the wall like it was ill and holding its head and saying something too quietly to understand. The urge to take the human while it was weak was almost too much to bear. The human started moving again and so did I.


Lithia PoV

My queen and mother Meraleth had been in a foul mood as of late ever since the humans left their settlement and all but her royal guard had been able to shy away from her lashings. Though the day had proved more tiring since I had been feeling like someone was reaching out to me and as I reached out to them there was a haze as if the connection was being disrupted. The stranger thing was I felt as though I knew the xeno trying to make the connection to me but was not able to sustain it. As the feeling progressed through the morning it was becoming increasingly difficult to perform my duties as I grew tired of the confusing incidents so I tried to ignore them but was not successful by any means and my brothers and sisters were noticing. Which meant if they were noticing the queen did as well and that did not sit well with me in the slightest. I hissed in aggravation as I had one of my sister royal guards to change places with me so I could guard the entrance to our hive so I would be away from the scrutiny of my queen which I would hope would help me collect myself.

As the day progressed the queen had turned her attention to me more than once sensing my discomfort on more than one occasion. I had talked to her when she questioned me about my situation and I had told her of what was happening to me which had concerned her somewhat. In the end the queen had told me to go and investigate what was happening to me but reminded me to be cautious since we were at war with the neighboring hive and gave me leave and now I was back on the surface of the human settlement. As I moved quickly to whatever was trying to reach out to me the connection became stronger but still felt like a fog was disrupting it but to a lesser degree as I got closer to the source. While I was traveling quickly I ran into two of that belonged to the hive we were at war against and we stood still squaring off against each other.

I hissed throatily."You are trespassing onto my queens territory leave now or die." I said menacingly to the enemy hives drone and warrior.

The enemy warrior stood to its full height."You hold no authority with us praetorian. Your hive is small and weak." He said mockingly.

I rose to my full height after those words were said."Being smaller in number does not mean weaker. We have won many fights against your hive with little to no losses. We may have a smaller hive but we are clearly better in quality while yours is lacking warrior. My queen has many royal guards who are not praetorian's because they have won many victories against praetorian's your hive has sent against us while you have yet to kill any of ours." I finished talking then unleashed with a deafening screech that boomed through the empty human settlement making the drone that belonged to our enemies hive cower away as I made it clear to challenge them both to a fight. The enemy warrior shifted and leaped through the air in an attempt to knock me off balance but I back handed the wretch sending it crashing into a wall. The warrior regained its senses quickly and sprinted in a diagonal angle but I was already upon him and tackled him to the ground with a large crash. I quickly pinned his head to the ground gripping one of his arms I pulled hard snapping off his arm as he thrashed acrid yellow blood spraying me and the area around us. He couldn't use his tail to impale me since I was using one of my legs to pin it but my tail had no such issue as I snaked it between us and hissed in pleasure of my victory and then in one swift motion I speared his chest causing him to go limp. I got off of him and raised him off the ground using my tail and gripping his other still intact arm. His head hung lazily to the side but still drawing breath as I revealed my second mouth. Flexing my second mouth open I speared it into his face. Once I retracted my inner mouth I gripped his arm and his stub that used to be his arm tightly as I ripped off his other arm and using my tail to rip his upper body from his lower spraying more blood all over the place and screeched out my victory in another deafening sound that echoed through the area.

I quickly turned my gaze in the direction of the enemy drones location only to find her gone. I hissed in displeasure knowing there would be a reckoning and soon. So I hastily moved to my previous destination after being side tracked by one formerly insolent enemy warrior. Suddenly I felt in a better mood after the fight being able to kill something finally as I ran full speed.


Vincent Pov

After I made it to the mess hall I quickly found a can of fried beans and a bottle of water and practically inhaled them. I had also thankfully found enough supplies to put a basic medkit together which made things easier for me since I knew things were going to go to hell in a hand basket sooner or later. More than likely sooner was what I was thinking. I didn't dwell on it as I grabbed my supply bag and stuffed it with some bottled water and the few canned foods I could find. After I gathered what I could find I turned to leave but was taken off guard as the ceiling came down in front of me revealing my stalker. It was a drone and it looked stunned at what happened to it so I dropped my bag and raised my fists in preparation of a fight.

The drone got up slowly while it held its head."Ugh I hate human buildings. Too flimsy to support our weight." The drone said making me stare in disbelief as I heard it say inside my head.

I stood there putting my head to my face shaking it."Oh sweet Jesus. I'm losing it if I can hear these damn bugs talking in my head." I said to myself.

The drone stood ridged as its head snapped to me with its mouth hung agape partly."What did the human say.!?" It blared inside my head causing my headache to intensify.

Realizing I wasnt just hearing things I flipped shit."Oh fuck no. I can believe surviving giving birth to one of you but talking bugs is just too much." I snapped at the damn bug.

We stood there for awhile not saying anything as we stared at each other not moving an inch as we decided what both of us should do. The bug spoke first."How is this possible? This is unheard of."
It said inside my head again making my now apparent migraine to flare and sour my mood further.

I glared irritably at it."And how the fuck should I know. All I remember is having my chest pop open like fucked up confetti birthing one of you then waking up here with the worst headache imaginable. So you fucking tell me." I snapped out.

The bug shifted uncomfortably."I have no idea how this is possible... But mother might." Said the bug quietly as it thought.

I snorted."Not a chance in hell girly I aint goin back to one of your hives after what happened last time after my men and I cleared out the last one. I came to kill your kind and left your home with a baby on board. Sorry but if your thinking about bringing me home to meet mommy I will have to pass. You aint my type." I said in a tone of dark humor as I dropped back into a defensive stance.

She flinched at my statement."You were a human leader for your warriors? And you exterminated my kind?" She said as she hissed clearly upset making me laugh at this farce.

After I stopped laughing."Look here darlin You started killing my kind before we started killing yours. You really expect us to just sit and just take being used as living incubators without feeling we deserve some payback? Then your as deluded as the rest of my kind who think they're entitled to everything. When you attack sentient beings expect war. Yeah we may be weaker but were not helpless and to prove it I'll knock you on your ass. So girly wanna try your luck?" I sneered drawing my knife making her hiss defiantly as she dropped lower to fight.

Thankfully the mess hall had been cleaned and tables moved out of the way to the storage area before it was abandoned so it left for plenty room to maneuver as we circled around each other. I rolled my shoulders and cracked my knuckles holding my knife in a reversed grip and my fist primed to deck the prissy bitch. Then she strode in with a graceful and authoritative walk as she moved her arm wide to swipe at me forcing me to duck under her attack and I moved to her side as she put too much force into her swing allowing to lay a hay maker into the side of her face rocking her side ways while I jumped backwards not taking my eyes off her. She screeched in anger at my attack and ran at me in a charge at full speed with arms out stretched to prevent me from side stepping so I slid between her legs as she ran right over me missing me once more. I stood up realizing I needed to plant the bitch on her ass like I promised or toss her out the fucking the window. Learning from her mistake she made her way to me once more in a rush but in a controlled way. Once she was close enough again she made a move to swing her claws in a downward strike but I stepped forward and brought the palm of my knife hand to her chin to her chin rocking her head and her upper body off balance then I brought one of my legs behind hers and swept my leg backwards sending her falling to the ground with me following in kind but I had enough leverage to end up sitting on top of her chest with my knees under her arms. Switching from a reverse knife grip to a forward knife grip I brought it to her neck and let it hover inches away as her head was forced to turn side ways since it was shaped like a fucked up banana.

Panting as I sat on the drone. She dared not move."So I believe I kept my promise. And now you know not to underestimate things you think you know of. Anything can turn from hunter to prey in seconds. So are we gonna come to some sort of middle ground. I don't want to meet mommy and the family and you want to find out why I can hear you. So whats it going to be darlin?" I said huffing out each word and tilted my knife making it touch her neck causing her to flinch.

Hissing as she thought of answer."Very well human. We will come to this middle ground you speak of. Though so you know. I do not know how to explain this situation to mother since she will undoubtedly want to meet you. Even if you refuse she would send my siblings to collect you forcibly. If you wish to avoid my siblings in this case I would have to travel with you to alert you to their presence." She said said reluctantly.

I got off of her and looked at her wondering if this was a good idea or not."Are you asking to travel with me?" I asked her eying her carefully as she got up slowly.

She huffed as if annoyed."Since your set on not seeking answers the easy way I will have to travel with you to be an intermediary between my mother and you. But I will not fight my siblings if we come across them at any point. Which I'm certain we will and soon since my mother has sent two more of my siblings to capture you as it stands now." She said in a flat tone.

As soon as she said that I quickly gathered my supplies and looked at her."Then we need to move now." I said quickly.

So we rushed our way through the abandoned hospital quickly coming to the main entrance to the parking lot. I looked around and took my surroundings in looking for the closest USCM weapons depot.
Once I figured out where we were I looked at the drone and motioned for her to follow."This way. I need to go shopping for weapons at one of our FOB's. So lets get a move on darlin." I said in a nuturaly calm voice.

She stood there taking a stance of indignance."I do have a name you know. It isn't darlin." She hissed in annoyance.

I rolled my eyes and snorted."Right... I shouldn't be surprised since you can talk. Alright I'm curious what is it." I said in a partially mocking voice causing her to bristle at my tone.

After a moment she looked back at me."Its happens to be Aura. So if were going to be on a name basis what is yours I cant keep calling you human." She said in a equally mocking manner.

I stopped and stared at her thoughtfully."Well well. Someone does have some wit don't they. Alright i'll play the name game for now. Its Vincent if your really set on knowing." I said chuckling.

As I turned and kept walking I couldn't help but shake my head at this whole deal."Well at least her name is attractive and offsets her freakish appearance. Not to mention she sounds like a giddy child in a candy store. Damn what have I gotten into now." I muttered to myself thankful the drone Aura didn't hear otherwise im sure she would chastised me again and then say she happens to be the hottest drone in her family. The thought of her saying that made me shake my head in amusement.

After we had walked for awhile it was late afternoon and the heat was at its peak so I traveled in the shade as she walked in the sun basking in the heat like a lizard would sun bathe. Then we felt the ground thud as something approached us. We both looked at each other and she shook her head indicating she didn't know what it was. Then all of a sudden a giant ass xeno covered in dried yellow xeno blood came around the block at a full sprint halting as it saw Aura and then me and tilted its head to the side wondering what we were both doing I could only assume. We all stood there in a tense silence.


Lithia PoV

I stood and stared shocked at what I was seeing. One of our race traveling with a warrior human like it was one of our own. Granted the drone was not of our hive and clearly smelled like she was related to the two I had encountered earlier but this was just absurd. Then the winds changed and I caught the humans scent and was just as disturbed when it smelled like my host I had birthed from. Such a thing happening was absolutely never heard of and the human didn't even seem to be panicking which yet again disturbed me further. I turned my crested head between the two not knowing how to proceed. It was obvious the human was the cause of the incidents messing with my hive link and I could only assume he didn't know or was trying to figure out what was happening since he was clearly in conversation with the drone. I had decided to dispose of the drone and take my former host to question so I turned to the drone and roared a challenge and bound off to the drone.


Vincent Pov

The big xeno finally moved and clearly deciding Aura was a more pressing concern as it charged in to kill her its intent clear. Aura yelled for me to run through the hive link as she accepted the praetorian's evident challenge in an attempt to protect me. When I was still with the USCM we had fought them praetorian's in the past. We knew they were vastly more powerful and harder to kill than the regular xeno with the exception of a queen and I couldn't just leave the one bug to actually play nice with me so I cursed my self for having unflinching loyalty and waited for an opening to jump into the fray. Aura was smart I had to give her credit. She used her surroundings to her advantage since the praetorian could scale walls the natural way and used quick strikes to try and whittle down its defenses but I knew even xenos had a limit and Aura would reach hers before the praetorian would. I could even see her attacks wernt even scratching is armor and to my horror the praetorian grabbed her from mid air at such a outrageous angle and slammed her to the wall next to them and decided it was now or never and charged in as fast as I could to take the big bitch off balance or tackle it to the ground. Either outcome was very unlikely but I would be damned if I would lose the only ally in this fucked situation.


Aura PoV

The praetorian had me against the wall holding my neck with a grip like it was trying to pop my head off. I screeched, clawed, and kicked at the royal guard in a vain attempt we both knew was pointless. I had yelled at Vincent to run as I accepted the praetorian's challenge trying to buy him time to escape. As the praetorian leaned in its mouth was hanging open preparing to strike out with its inner mouth to finish me our fight was interrupted by a human yelling at the top of its lungs and we both turned our heads in shock only to see Vincent smack into the praetorian's side and jar its grip loose enough to allow me to free myself and we all collapsed onto the ground in a heap which Vincent and I jumped clear of its reach as it thrashed getting back up. Rage was practically oozing off of the praetorian realizing we were working together.


Vincent PoV

Once Aura and I got clear of the fucker I had the nagging sensation I knew this praetorian but I pushed the thought aside. My eyes darted looking for anything I could use. Eyes falling upon a dead Marine I called out for Aura to distract it while I check to see if I could find anything to be of use from the body as she nodded. The big bitch had other plans and she changed sights to me but Aura railed against it hard enough to knock it down again and jumped back away in time. I got to the body and immediately recognized the armor scheme. It was Hernandez. I shook my head and refocused myself frantically searching for anything. I found two grenades, a pistol with three clips, and five clips for a Pulse rifle which was no where to be seen and I cursed. The standard procedure of dealing with praetorian's was the use of heavy ordinance. Rocket launchers, mortars, anti-tank mines, APC turret fire, tanks, or artillery. Which at this time I had none so I had to improvise. So I turned back to the fight and saw the praetorian was still close to the unstable wall and various cars that were abandoned in a panic in the evacuation. I primed one grenade and threw it to the opposite side of the praetorian away from the wall. I screamed for Aura to move away as fast as she could. She barely made it as the explosion rocked the praetorian into the wall causing it to partially come down. The other grenade I had was already in the air on its way to its destination and I took cover again. A second later another blast drowned out the roar of the praetorian and the wall came down. I stood up and roared for Aura to haul ass while I did the same. I knew the collapse of the wall wouldn't kill it. Just slow it down and piss it off.


Aura PoV

I couldn't believe what Vincent and I pulled off. We actually defeated a praetorian! On the other hand I was confused why we were running as fast as we could away from our victory. But humans were strange in that regard. Although his face was plastered with a grim and frantic shadow which further confused me.

Curiosity got the better of me."Vincent why are we running from our victory?" I said.

He snorted and laughed with a hint of dark amusement."Your kidding right? Those two grenades don't have the force to take down a xeno like that. Although smaller xenos like yourself are a different story entirely." He said grimly without emotion.

I grew worried."If that was not enough to stop her then why do such a thing to bring her fury down on you? And what would be enough to stop her?" I asked casting a quick glance in the direction we came.

He looked at me with a glint of hope."To where I'm headed which should hold what we need. If not were fucked. Personally I would prefer not being Princess Bowsers kibble meal next time we meet." He said laughing at a joke I didn't understand.

I was about to reply when we heard a large crash which sounded like debris exploding outward followed closely by a roar of rage and pain by the sounds of it. We both looked back and saw the praetorian limping a few steps then stopping to tend to its wounds. I heard Vincent sigh which I could only assume was in relief as we continued to run down the road in silence.


Lithia PoV

After I had broken through the rubble that fell on me I realized my human host who I seemed linked to had purposefully made the wall fall on me. If it was to kill me or slow me down I did not know but the human was very clever. He risked his life to save the drone and then they worked in perfect teamwork to stop me from harming them further. I was shocked with myself that I wasn't angry at the the human for hurting me as he did but more upset I couldn't learn why I was linked to him and learn more about him. I roared in frustration and tended to my wounds. I contacted my queen and requested assistance since I was vulnerable in my state which she replied help was coming swiftly and to stay strong till help came. So I resigned myself to tending to my wounds till I could continue my pursuit of the human and ultimately sate my curiosity. I knew one thing though. This human was going to change a lot of things in the future but for better or for worse I did not know. I huffed in frustration at the realization since I never liked involving myself in matters of importance. I enjoyed the quiet life of the daily duties of my hive. Being a Praetorian was a simple enough life since I answered only to the queen and all my siblings gave me a wide area of distance. All we really had to do was guard the hive entrance, our unhatched bothers and sisters, and the queen. Fighting was rare and sparring with my fellow royal guards was enjoyable since it encouraged us to better our fighting and our standing in the hive. I had yet to lose any standing in the hive so challenges to me were rare but I sparred for the bonding and enjoyment. When I was sent to fight I made sure to be at the front of it all making sure my weaker siblings came home alive even though losses were bound to happen this garnered the respect and admiration of my siblings as well as the profound respect of my queen which I prided myself in. I had also made sure my weaker siblings knew how to fight opposing hive praetorian's successfully which enabled our hive to outshine even the larger hives that opposed us. I was feared and respected in the region in the other hives. Though our hive never truly went to war since we preferred a calm approach to daily life and the other hives knew if we actually decided to war on a particular hive in general we would win decisively since we always trained our young and adults to survive as opposed to other hives just swelling their ranks with drones and warriors. We had the most praetorian's out of the other hives as well. I guess in general we strove to be better in everything but numbers and the war with the humans proved our prowess in ambushing and fighting. There was one rule between the hives that was adhered to though. The sharing of hosts for our unborn generations to ensure a stable growth for all hives even if hosts were scarce and rare all hives dared not betray the others for fear of annihilation.

As I mulled over my thoughts I was snapped back to reality when a group of fellow xenos came around a corner. Some were on the walls and the others on the ground being led by a praetorian. They stopped a little ways off only then I realized they were from the hive I killed the warrior from. The opposing praetorian strode up to me and was clearly male as it aggressively bashed the drone who led them to me which I could only guess was the very same one that fled home like a coward making me hiss in anger.

The male stopped a few yards from me making sure to keep a safe distance from me."Well. Well. Well. It seems your queen has been arrogant to send a praetorian out alone. Even one such as yourself should never be neglected as such. Today has been most kind to me indeed as this situation leaves me with three options. I could kill you and gain profound honor in my hive. Capture you and drag you before my queen to force you to submit to her will. Or... I could mate you and turn you into a queen to father my children and start a hive of my own... All of these options are very enticing I must say." He sneered in a gloating tone which made my chitin crawl as if being swarmed by hive lice.

I hissed in anger."Even if I happen to be injured I am still well enough to be too much for you to handle. You may have the highest standing in your hive and be considered alpha among your siblings but dont think for a second I am lesser. I am the right hand of my queen and alpha as well so I am far from being helpless against you." I said as I parted my lips baring my fangs.

He chuckled."Every xeno and sibling knows what you just endured. You survived yes. But. Even a Praetorian does not come out mortally wounded against two human grenades. And to top it off you survived a wall collapse. That in itself should have done you in then and there. So no I don't see you as a lesser xeno. And I also know which hive you belong to and I would be a fool to kill you. That would sow our undoing since you are your queens favorite daughter. However. If I capture and turn you into one of us by bringing you to the will of our queen I would no doubtedly lose my standing after you are healed since there can be only one alpha. So... Taking you out of the picture entirely without killing you is the best course of action." He said walking to me once more.

I roared my defiance and stood up even though the pain was excruciating and prepared to defend myself. I could sense his amusement at my will to defy him. I knew I probably wouldnt win. I was too badly injured and I wasnt ignorant to the fact. His underlings gave us a wide berth for our fight by jumping to the walls to watch as two alphas were about to clash. I evaluated the situation while we circled each other ignoring my pain. He was rested while I exhausted. He was uninjured while I was badly wounded. Most importantly Alphas rarely travel out of the hive. But when alphas do clash it always ends with one dead. I knew his intentions and I refused to be turned into a queen until I was blessed by my queen to travel out to further her will. We stopped circling each other as we finished sizing one another up and charged to the center of the fight to meet. We collided and the sound of us smacking against each other echoed around loudly. His siblings screeched at approval of the way it started. He swung a massive hand at me and I tilted my crest forcing the blow to glance off of me as I threw my own blow to his chest making him slide backwards. Not even missing a beat we charged to meet again and as we almost smacked into each other again I swiped with my left claw which he ducked under not realizing I was already twisting my body in anticipation of his move and swung my tail viciously against his mid-section causing a resounding thump to reverberate around us as my attack sent him sprawling to the ground. Blood was drawn and splattered the ground from the wound that my bony tail drew from his gut but not tearing him open. I leaped upon him and bought my right claw down to cleave his jaw from his face but caught my hand. He swung his tail and connected against the side of my rib cage which sent me sprawling to the ground five feet away from him and we both stood up slowly. Yellow blood dripped from my mouth as I bled internally but ignored it. He had various cuts and possible internal damage but I couldn't be sure. We circled each other again but this time he was just as wary of me as I was of him. Both of us knew either of us could end up dead with one mistake. Hissing at one another I slapped my tail against the ground in fury. He just flexed his claws thinking of how to subdue me to have his way with me. He knew my future in my queens hive was on the line and that I would fight with a zeal that would shock even a queen. We stopped circling and charged once again but I was determined to make this his last clash against me and if possible end his wretched existence. We slammed into each other harder than the previous time we did and hit each other hard enough to rock both of us backwards. I had more experience though as I used the momentum that rocked me backwards and used it to leverage my lower back to gain momentum and swinging my left arm downwards as hard as I could but also prepared to use the momentum to tackle him again if my first attack missed. He saw my attack but was slow to react as my claws connected with the top of his head and with the immense force behind it that when my hand connected to his head a loud and audible crack resounded through the area as well. His face hit the ground so hard his face just disintegrated showering the area around where his head shattered with chitin, acrid yellow blood, and brain matter in front of me covering my legs.

The screeches of his siblings quickly died out as they just stared at me with horrified expressions and mental outrage. Their outrage quickly died as I rose to my full height heaving with labored breaths and let out the most air shattering roar of victory causing the various other xenos in the area to reply acknowledging my cry of dominance. My roar had caused a small majority to shrink away from my furious mood the rest just jumped down to try and avenge their fallen alpha. Most of them warriors but a few were drones. In my state of blind rage I was oblivious to the pain of the attacks that landed on my cracked chitin but my attacks I delivered were even more vicious blows. Every blow that connected to an opposing warrior was a death blow from my claws. My tail lashed and sliced my enemies felling even more. I was remotely aware that I was starting to actually bleed from the hits the newer attackers were landing but This was what praetorian's were bred for. Taking hits and killing numerous foes. I stomped on a few enemy drones and warriors who were foolish enough to get in the way of my feet and just as quickly as it started. It ended just as fast. When my senses returned to me I was blinded by white hot pain as I dropped to a knee using an arm to keep myself upright in a desperate attempt to stay conscious. I lazily moved my torn crested head that bled profusely. Some of my blood trickled down the front of my face every now and then blinding me temporarily. From what I saw there were dozens of dead xeno bodies with blood seeping out from various wounds which burned through the ground before it could be absorbed since there was a virtual pool of it. I couldn't help but think darkly how much this day has turned into such a curse. I had never fought so hard in my life much less alone. I was completely unaware of fellow xenos from various other hives arriving to view the scene only to be shocked to see Meraleths very own alpha standing in the middle of a massacre with Ferexia's children and dead alpha laying around me. Though they may have been more shocked by the fact parts of my chitin were just gone revealing the sickly yellow underskin in large places. Dried yellow blood covered my pitch black chitin where it was still intact marking me like I had bathed in fountains of our kinds blood.

A short while after help from hive arrived only to stare in horror as well but didn't waste to much time as they saw how badly hurt I was. Thankfully my queen had sent four drones to heal me with their special saliva enzyme and prevent me from bleeding out completely. The warrior who led the group hovered around me with questions but I was too sore and beat to hell to answer and he shortly left to guard the area I vaguely sensed him talking to our queen telling her my situation and the altercation with Ferexia's hive alpha and siblings and was requesting more help to keep me guarded enough till I was able to move under my own power. I was also aware of other xenos from other hives that offered to stand guard before I passed out.


Aura Pov

Vincent and I had made it to the place where he said weapons of his warriors might be and while he searched I perched myself on the top of the small building keeping an eye on the area Since it was dark and humans couldn't see well if at all in the night. As he looked around for what he was looking for we talked using our hive telepathy and I learned a great many things from him. He had apparently grown up on a colony as humans called them where the gravity was heavy. Which enabled them to gain heavier bone and muscle strength so that explained why he was able to take me and help knock over the Praetorian from earlier this evening. Then I learned how he joined his warrior caste and became a very accomplished king warrior of thousands in one of their flying void hives. How to his kind learned to fight ours with their weapons and various other strategies such as flankings which meant coming from the sides or behind the enemy meant to catch them off how he was called to protect his hive home world and in the end failing as his hive protected this massive settlement against over a dozen hives killing all but five till his Hive leaders ordered his own hive off their home world leaving him behind as he healed. All I could think was how terrible it was for him to be left behind. The hive would never abandon one of their own like that unless it was just short of jeopardizing the safety of our queen or eggs.

I became chipper thinking of something."You could always ask mother to accept you. You now share the hive mind and offer very much in the ways of leading others to battle. Mother would be very pleased to have someone like you to help organize the hive if she accepts you." I said with explosive energy.

I felt his displeasure."I thought we went over this before? Or was I just hallucinating? I aint big on goin to meet parents its always ended up with me almost getting murdered. And your momma might very well succeed where others... Actually... I take that back. She definitely would succeed. Sorry Aura the answer is no unless I can get a guarantee no harm will be directed to me." He said irritably.

If I could pout I might have very well done so. He pretty much earned his place and doesn't realize it since he saved me from an opposing hive praetorian. After a while he came back out with him carrying a box and a helmet that looked changed as well as his warrior chitin looking very different. I jumped down to look closer at his chitin. His chest had two plates one on his left and right side of his chest. His back had two plates as well which covered his left shoulder blade and right shoulder blade it all looked very maneuverable as well as sturdy. He had rows of overlapping back plates going down his spine which looked like it provided a lot of ability to shift and pivot without making him stiff which also curved around to his front connecting to three large overlapping abdominal plates on his front that looked like he could bend and lean forward as if it flexed also it looked much sturdier than his other chitin. The plates on his shoulders curved perfectly to him and looked more flexible rather than protective but if anything got that close without him wanting to he may very well be dead in that case. I was utterly fascinated.

I smirked a bit."Do you and your other human warriors molt this fast and evolve their chitin?" I asked as I poked his plates and confirmed my suspicion that they were harder than the other one.

He looked at me with confusion."What are you talking about? Humans don't molt. We use composite and titanium metals to make and wear armor."He rolled up his sleeve."We natuarally have soft skin.
we dont have natural armor like your species so we have to make it. Even then its not perfect." He said in amusement at feeling my revulsion.

I stopped poking his armor and looked at his face."So now that you have a better chitin and weapons... What do you plan on doing now? Leave the planet and go back to killing my kind? It doesn't make sense leaving since your own race abandoned you to die. You have the hive mind and skills to live a comfortable life in the hive my mother runs. You saved me... She wont kill you. But she wont trust you either. You would have to earn that even though you have my gratitude and trust since you came back for me." I said emanating waves of gratitude for what he did earlier.

He made what sounded like a growl."Why the hell are trying to push me so hard to join your hive!? I may not understand this link but I have enough sense to see your hiding something. So what the fuck is it? I have told you my past and you avoid yours like your a monster. Well let me tell you something Aura IM JUST AS MUCH OF ONE AS YOUR RACE IS! I have killed hundreds if not thousands of your kind and lets not get started about how many of my kind I had to kill to put them out of their misery when they begged for surgery to remove your children from their chests only to receive a bullet by ME! I refused to let my soldiers pull the triggers. I bared those sins on my shoulders so they could sleep at night while I see and hear them every second of every day." He snarled out in his actual voice into the night at at me and everything.

He spat on the ground."Our god has forsaken us to die by your hands as it stands anyways. We'll be dead before long anyways. Our leadership estimates if we cant stop the spread of your kind into our planets we have less than fifty years before our race clocks out and you inherit what we have. We call ourselves the plague of the universe but your kind is just as much the same thing. I know for a fact your mother would never want someone with as much blood I have on my hands in her hive no matter how many times I saved you." He said as he finished railing on me in his anger.

I tried to collect myself at being called out with his observations."I honestly don't know what you mean Vincent. I just want to find out what you now are exactly. You birthed a fellow xeno of my race and lived. Nothing before hand has and the birthing process is meant to kill. There's also the possibility that whoever you birthed if they're still alive has a connection with you and will try and find out what this new connection is. Now mind you this is all just theory. Not solid fact. I don't like making pokes in the dark when it comes to matters of thought. Mother always did spoil me when it came to my brain power. Anyways you would more than likely know who your child er... xeno son or daughter. Human terminology is so strange."I was happy I had made something up to cover myself seeing he relented finally accepting my answer.

I realized then he was isolating himself than actually refusing me. He felt like he is to blame for his home world falling and that he wasn't there to see its defense to the end. He may have also hinted at being left behind but I wasn't too sure though. Then there was the hive link and him being able to talk to our kind which made me wonder if he resented the gift which was given to him. Or it might very well be the fact he is a male who gave birth. I never thought about it till now but I could understand the revulsion behind the idea a bit. All of a sudden I realized I had been out of contact with mother since this morning and panicked all of a sudden making Vincent arch an eye brow as I sped off for privacy.

I hastily opened out hive link."Mother I'm so sorry for not checking in sooner but things hav-" I was cut short.

Mother hissed in anger."Where have you been! I sent out Rezafir and a small group to look for you. NOW HES DEAD AND SO IS THE GROUP ALL KILLED! BY MERALETHS ALPHA ALONE!"She screeched and roared in the hive link.

I nearly fainted from the amount of influence mother forced onto me."Mother... I'm so sorry I found out something that's never happened before and I lost track of time. We were attacked by a lone Praetorian as well near the settlements large human hospital and managed to wound it which enabled us to escape." I said in a pleading tone that clearly begged for forgiveness.

Mother quickly refocused on me catching onto my explanation."We? You were alone the entire time. The help I sent was stopped by Lithia. Explain Aura. And it better be good." She hissed angirly.

So after collecting my thoughts and memories I fed them to mother slowly making sure to explain each incident and conversations including my attempts to have Vincent join us. Mother had remained silent for a while then asked if he could communicate long distance and I had told her it was unclear. Mother then asked if she could use me as a conduit for the inevitable talk with mother and Vincent which I agreed to perking me up. Mother then asked me when would this multi connection link occur and I remembered something about Vincent saying he needed rest so I told her early morning tomorrow and she snorted cutting the link leaving me to my thoughts. I saw Vincent walk back into the building and I followed after him and entered to rest with him for the night out of the cold.


Vincent PoV

I had woken up right as the sun started to crest the horizon revealing the broken and deserted landscape I now had to find my way off of. During the night I had modified my motion sensor and Pulse Rifle to be rigged together but the motion sensor was smaller than the original and had less range than the larger one but it would do while I was here. I switched out the under barrel grenade launcher with a under barrel shotgun that carried four flechet rounds per load. Then I changed its ammo type from light AP to medium AP to give me enough stopping power but the mag size was reduced from ninety nine to sixty which I thought was a fair trade off in order to deal with any future praetorian run ins. My second primary was the CAMSR compact anti-material sniper rifle. The CAMSR is a much smaller version of the standard issue AMSR which is near on impossible to use during CQB so that's what the CAMSR was built for and is used in almost all urban xeno conflicts when intel has reported praetorian or queen activity. The rifle uses a heavy AP explosive bullet that when it impacts the target it peels and slams the dart that's covered in barbs and explosive. Once penetration is achieved that's when the explosive around the dart goes off turning the dart into shrapnel which causes extreme internal and surface trauma as well as internal concussive trauma which quickly kills both Queens and Praetorian's when aiming at center mass or head shots. The use of the CAMSR is strictly advised to only be used against hard targets when Infantry units are ineffective using standard kits in the field. If the soldier in question uses the CAMSR on smaller Xenomorph targets the subjects will just explode into a vapor cloud of acid blood and would find them selves in a military tribunal for causing an environmental hazard to fellow soldiers. I had also replaced my side arm with a four clip shotgun pistol that carried the same ammo as the under barrel shotgun for my modified pulse rifle.

After I had inspected the weapons I returned outside and watched the sun finish rising and just enjoyed the morning breeze before I set out to the hopefully intact USCM communications station to the west of the city to see if anyone is still floating upstairs somewhere to pick me up.

I flexed my back and rolled my shoulders as I stood watching the view."You know... Its impolite to sneak up on friends. Or whatever we are." I said in a mock scolding.

She walked up next to me."Why are you up so early Vincent. You were up really late during the night. Don't humans need more sleep?"She asked with concern.

I shrugged."Normally yes. But. With proper training humans can run on less than the required limit. Still unhealthy as hell though." I said not glancing at Aura."Beautiful isn't it?" I said to Aura.

She looked impassive as well."I don't understand. How does watching the sun rise count as beauty?"She said in a strange tone.

Glancing at her for a second I eyed her curiously."It depends on how one sees and defines the word. It can mean a great many things. To me the sun. Or suns since there are plenty out there. To me they signify that life goes on even if I die so in that regard its beautiful. Wouldn't you agree Aura?" I said in a warm tone as I remembered better days of my past.

Aura tilted her head and shifted uncomfortably."I think its just a human thing. Sentimentalism I think humans call it. Though I will try and see what you mean."she said in a tone that sounded as if she was sighing.

Now I was concerned."Ok. Somethings up your not your chirpy and uppity self. Tell me whats really wrong Aura. If you tell me I will tell you something I remembered from yesterday." After I finished saying that she perked up slightly only to reced further into herself.

She was pissed."Why would you care. You hate all my kind. Your trying to get back to those who abandoned you so you can start killing again while I offered an out to you. If you hate the monster you fear you'll become then remove yourself from the situation. I talked to mother about you yesterday night. She said she would meet with you and during the time you stay. As she screens you she said you would come to no harm and I would be your guide through our hive. You happy now human. You got your wish of protection from my queen." She said as she screamed into her hive link to me giving me another headache.

I collected my thoughts as I rubbed my temple."Well in honesty I don't hate you. In fact your better company than most humans I've spent time with. And on the note of you pissed. Were you jealous I wanted your mothers protection instead of trusting you with my life? Aura that's not the reason I didn't want to go. If you and I walked into your mothers hive without warning what would she have done? Truthfully during the day yesterday when you asked me after fight with she bitch hulk I honestly did say that because of my self preservation. Then. When we talked as I worked on my weapons I changed why I wanted the promise of protection. She NEEDED to know about me and make it clear you or I were not to be harmed on the off chance one of your sisters or brothers got a hair up their ass to pick a fight with you or I. So tell me. If we showed up there with me in tow unannounced what would happen to both of us?" I said in a surprisingly upset voice.

She slumped a bit and huffed."She would have ordered my execution and you to be a host." She mumbled quietly.

I smiled at her realizing the situation."I understand you may feel some form of protectiveness over me but that doesn't mean you need to run in blind. That's how people die and believe me I know better than anyone you know."I chuckled with a hint of morbidness.

She sighed into the hive link."Why did you come back for me? I'm a pest to most in my hive except to my mother who loves my affections to her. Yet. You seem to have absolutely no issue with me. Why?" she asked.

Her question made me laugh openly making her frustrated and looked as if she was going to tackle me."Because. Its very simple. I have a sister who acts just like you. There's virtually no difference. She was my anchor when things got rough and no matter what she was always smiling as though her glow would never dim. She always beat around the bush. And when she got pissed like you were a few seconds ago looking like you were going to tackle me. She struck that pose making me correct her stance so no one sent her to the ground. We were all we had. Since I'm alive were all we still have. She was my family, friend, companion, and ally. So the reason I saved you? What would my sister have done to me if I let someone with a shining personality die when I could have prevented it? Even if you are a xenomorph we spent the entire day talking. Well you did. I just filled in the blanks with an answer here and there." I said completely striking her silent.

She backed away slowly shaking as if she was terrified which alarmed me and I stepped forward. I reached out into the hive link painfully towards her mind and was utterly confused by the phrase swirling in her head."Its Him" I slowly tried to snap her out of her weird fit but she closed down and hauled ass. I swore and pulled a tracker beacon round for my side arm. I loaded, aimed, and then with a loud CRACK the beacon to my tracker lit up with a good signal. I ran to the building and collected my weapons, ammo, and supplies then hauled ass after Aura."What the fuck man. Women suck no matter the species. Cant even guess at what goes on in their damned minds. If I live through this bullshit I'm retiring and writing a book. Damn it I need a beer after all this." I said grumbling aloud as I sprinted down the road as mid morning hung over the sky and my tracker directing me surprisingly to the USCM com tower. Suddenly I was grateful for taking the queens offer.


Warrior PoV

After we had escorted Alpha Lithia back to our hive to recover she had sent a good portion of our rescue to look for this human she wanted to question but how she would do it was beyond us. I looked at my fellow warrior and he half shrugged and walked ahead only for us to get knocked over by drone who looked as if she was trying to race a runner. As we got up we looked into the direction she disappeared to.

"Mithzen why do drones always do strange things like this?"Hreazu asked.

I shook my head."I know not young brother. But one thing is certain... That drone has definitely got some speed to her. For her to be gone like th-"

A loud vocal voice rang out."Aura get your ass back here damn it! Were not done talking!"We stared stupefied at the human chasing after the drone.

We watched the entire thing play out not moving an inch trying to process what the hell was happening and trying to decide bringing this to Lithia's attention was either a good thing or bad.
I gave in and led Hreazu back to the hive hoping this incident doesn't make us sound like blubbering idiots. But at least we found Lithia's human.


Hope you enjoyed the first chapter and don't forget to leave a review/pm letting me know what you think.