I do not own Predator, although I have Predator, Predator 2, Predators, AVP, and AVP: Requiem on DVD.
Guan-thwei prepare to choke the life out of this ooman-what was the word? "Police Officer?" It would not have been his first choice—she was brave and honorable prey—she deserved a blade. That was the greatest compliment he could give her, and she deserved it. She, her fellow police, and her commanding officer were fearless. He had already killed one—a male—and taken his skull. From what little Guan-Thewi could gather was that these "police" maintained law and order like Yautja Arbitrators did. This city certainly needed it with the chaos between the groups he'd been hunting. There were worthy opponents among the outlaws too, but he'd already killed the leaders of both factions. His hunt would not truly be complete until he returned to the homeworld the lead police officer's skull. He had seen him from the distance, several times, but they had not directly confronted each other yet. He looked forward to that, but for now the police officer he was holding by the throat on the chain would be more than enough. Her unconscious partner had disqualified himself. The female police officer was both fearless and competent. He had won largely because her weapons could only graze Yautja skin, and his sheer physical strength was too much for her.
He hadn't won yet, technically, Guan-thwei reminded himself. He had her by the neck, but he wouldn't squeeze. He would drag her off the train and take a blade to her throat. She would have the honor she deserved.
It was then that his mask caught a secondary heat source in her abdomen. He toggled the video feeds on his mask to get better resolution. He could see a tiny head, arms, and legs.
Cjit!
She was pregnant. She herself likely did not know or he could only assume that she would not be on duty. He didn't know for sure—oomans were pretty crazy, but what kind of parent would willingly endanger its child? Few Yautja women took up the hunt—it was primarily a way for males to prove their worth to females—but the few females who did hunt were forbidden from doing so while pregnant. The child could grow up to be an honorable warrior or noble matriarch, but it would never have that opportunity if its mother died with it still in the womb. Gian-thwei desperately hopped that the humans had the same wisdom, but from what he hd seen they had little in the way of wisdom. Bravery, yes. Conflicting systems of honor between the police and the two criminal groups, but systems of honor all the same. Wisdom, though, Guan-thwei did not see. Everywhere there was chaos. Hopefully, that was because this was a war zone. Yautja preferred to hunt in areas of conflict, as it was easier to hide their own work from the prey. Still, though, this was not a good place for an expectant mother.
As Guan-thwei had already recognized, the female police officer was worthy prey and fully deserved to be treated as such, but her unborn was not…or at least not yet. If he killed her now, he would be removing a possible future prey from the equation. He could come back for the mother after she had given birth, but if he killed her now the child would never reach adulthood. Only a brave and competent adult would make worthy prey. This embryo had the potential to become that, or the potential to become unworthy like the unconscious police officer. Only the right combination of time, nurturing, and genetics could predict, and even then, there was still a wild element based entirely on the individual that would throw off all those calculations. There was no way to predict what the child would be, except by killing the mother right now. Then the child would be dead and of no use to anyone. If the child lived though, there was a good chance that it would take after its mother and become the very kind of brave competent prey that gave Guan-thwei a challenge and was worth hunting. Then the playing field would be even—or as near even between ooman and Yautja as any hunt could get. It would be an honorable end for the child—no, the adult. Yautja never hunted children for the contest would not be fair. Just earlier today Guan-thwei had almost killed a child near an ooman burial ground. The child had held a toy weapon—it looked exactly like the projectile weapons that the oomans used that Guan-thwei momentarily registered him as a threat and began to target him. Only on closer inspection did his scans reveal that the child's "weapon" was actually a toy. Had he not followed through with the scan, he would have killed a fully sentient pup—of a prey species, mind you—but a pup nonetheless, and be branded as a Badblood. That child was another future trophy that Guan-thwei hoped to collect—if it kept up its interest in weapons. No, the adage of the Elders was sage: "Kill pups and pregnant mothers now and you will steal worthy prey from yourself in the future."
The hunt was only worth it if the prey was worth it. The prey defined the hunt, and the hunt defined the hunter. The Yautja could only prove their own superiority as a species or prowess as individuals by seeking dangerous trophies. That was why they risked breeding the Hard Meat. That was why the returned again and again to prey on the primitive but resourceful oomans. The Yautja had to be perfect…
And that was what brought Guan-thwei such sadness. Preserving the unborn of prey made sense, but preserving your own genetically tainted offspring did not, and that was the position Guan-thwei and his life mate, Dadtou-di had found themselves in just before this hunt began.
Most Yautja did not mate for life. A coupling with the best female of the best bloodline was a male's reward for bringing back the best trophies on a hunt.
On the homeworld, a male's position was earned; a female's was inherited. Separation of a boy from his mother's family usually happened around the age of fifty, when the male would begin to train under a hunting Clan, usually the same as his biological father's, but the instructor in the ways of the hunt would be the dominant male role model and ties to clan brothers would be more binding that ties to blood brothers or sisters. By the age of one hundred, a Yautja male was sufficiently trained to undergo the chiva and become an adult, a blooded warrior, and a full member of the Clan. Only then was a male allowed to mate.
However, Guan-thwei had met Dadtou-di during his childhood and, though he he had been attracted to her sense his body was capable of such things, he had always had a love for her that went beyond the physical. When he returned, fresh from his Chiva, with the markings of his clan burned into his flesh with Kainde Amedha blood, she was the female he chose, but he let her know that he wanted their bond to las the rest of their lives. He could not believe that Dadtou-di had always dreamed of him as her hero and wanted the same, but readily accepted it.
Disaster came within a few months of their mating…the child's heart only had four chambers. The physical manifestation of Guan-thwei and Dadtou-di's love for each other was imperfect…and was a threat to the genetic purity of the Yautja species. Most Yautja mothers would opt to abort the child—no male would want a disabled female that would pass on defective genes—and no disabled male could hope to obtain honor as a successful hunter. There child would be a disabled male, but regardless of gender and the related life difficulties, their love had produced it. They would not follow the common practice—they would keep him. Guan-thwei would train his son in the ways of his clan himself, and already had some lesson in mind to practice with his son as soon as he could walk. He would be more heavily dependent on his mask, as a weak heart meant weaker lungs, and he would be more dependent on his netting as he would be more vulnerable to the cold—but these things could be overcome with skill and carefulness. He would probably not live the full thousand year plus Yautja lifespan, but he would grow strong to compensate for his small heart and cunning to use that strength effectively. And if anything happened to Guan-thwei, his clan brother Dachande would take over the role of father-teacher.
Guan-thwei thought of his own little one as he looked at the ooman embryo in the police officer's belly. Both of their pups would live.
Fortunately for Guan-thwei, the ooman in his grip went limp. His visor told him her blood wasstill circulating and she was still breathing. Good. He'd neutralized her without doing any harm.
He was a bout to let go when he felt a projectile hit his skin. It might take a lot for the oomans projectiles to kill him, but even a single shot hurt like Cetanu's spear. Fortunately, Yautja had a high pain-threshold.
He turned his head. It was the male police office, the stupid one He poured projectile after projectile into Guan-thwei. This slowed the Hunter down but could not stop him. The police officer's fate was hopeless. Without pausing, Guan-thwei noted a sudden in his perception of this police officer. He was stupid, yes, but also brave. He seemed very eager to protect the female from what he could have only assumed was her eminent death. It was probably because they were officers who served together in a unit, like him and his clan brothers—but still—he was male she was female, and Guan-thwei had observed him trying to flirt with her—was he the child's father? Probably not. Why flirt with someone who had already agreed? But then what did Guan-thwei know of the ooman cultures? If the child was his, Guan-thwei hoped it took after its mother. She hadn't allowed her self to get positioned at the back of the transport with no escape. This ooman fought without strategy, not a good trait to pass on.
He continued to fire on Guan-thwei, inadvertently triggering the Hunter's cloak. Normally, a yautja warrior was supposed to decloak before delivering the killing strike, but Guan-thwei didn't really see the point here. The ooman could already tell where he was from the outline of his movements and had seen him decloaked only a moment before. The Predator gradually made his way to the back of the tansport where the ooman had boxed himself in. This one really was stupid…but he was definitely brave. Had he combined his courage with skill, he would have been truly worthy prey. Guan-Thwei walked closer, through each painful shot.
He finally decloaked and slit this ooman's throat with his wrist blades,He couldn't take his skull here. He needed to be gone when the medics arrived and in hiswell into the final phase of hunting the head police officer. The medics would ensure that the female lived, so that he could hunt her when only she would. They would ensure that her child lived so that he could hunt it when it was an adult. Then he could give them the honor they deserved. Or at least the mother…maybe his son would hunt the child…no oomans aged faster than Yautja. For the first century of their lives, it took Yautja five years to age as much as a human did in one. For the rest of their lives, Yautja aged slower still. Taking ten years to age as much as a Human did in one. He would probably collect the child too if it grew up to be worthy prey. At least it would grow up.