Disclaimer: I do not own Predator. Predator is © 20th Century Fox. I do, however, own all original characters, creatures, and settings; you will need my permission to use them if you want to.

Allies

01 – Landfall

She had no idea how long she had been lying there, but it felt like forever.

She had been unconscious for most of the time. A few times she had woken up, but there had been nothing but complete blackness and a loud thrumming from somewhere far off. She did have a vague recollection of a person with bright lights behind them sticking an object into her neck, but not much else.

Suddenly, the girl jolted awake. She could hear someone coming, their feet clanking heavily on the solid, cold floor. Shakily, the girl tried to stand, but as soon as she was up oh her elbows they gave way, and she tumbled back to the ground.

The footsteps got closer.

The girl began to breathe rapidly, her head hurting, her legs and arms feeling like lead weights. And there was a strange throbbing coming from the back of her neck, as well. Slowly, she raised her hand up behind her head and felt at where it hurt. The place stung to the touch and she hissed, pulling-

The footsteps cut off.

The girl pulled up, ignoring the heaviness of her arms and legs for the moment. She felt a hot stab of panic in her heart and scrambled backwards against the wall, trying to get away. Then the floor began to slide away from under her, and the girl tumbled into space...

...then the girl jolted awake again, screeching. She tried to jump up, her heart beating madly and adrenaline pumping through her body like burning ice, but a pair of strong hands shoved her back down. The ground was cold, almost icy, and-

'Hold her still!'

The girl froze. For some reason she couldn't quite put her finger on, the voice had a soothing effect on her. It made her feel safe that there was someone else inside with her. Suddenly, there was a quick prick in her upper arm and the girl hissed, turning her head. Her vision was heavily blurred and she couldn't make out anything more than a dark green blob with a smaller brown blob on top.

'I think it's working,' said another voice. The girl thought about what the voice said, confused.

Slowly, she began to calm down. Her heart slowed down and the adrenaline began to dissipate. The girl felt her vision come back slowly, but it made her feel dizzy. Slowly, she shook her head and kept them shut.

'Mizae,' said the soothing voice she had heard earlier. She glanced to her left and opened her eyes.

The man was crouched down on his knees, and was holding a small needle. He saw the girl looking at him and smiled... but the smile gave the girl a faintly unpleasant feeling.

'Welcome back from the storm plains, Mizae,' he said, and smiled again. This one was a little warmer and made the girl feel better.

'...Mi-Mizae?' the girl stuttered. Her mouth felt loose and swollen, and she flexed her jaws briefly to get used to them. The man nodded slowly.

'Yes, that's your name. Mizae,' he said, patting her on the shoulder reassuringly. 'You took a fall from your bed and hit the floor pretty hard. We had to give you a stimulant to restart your heart, and then I had to sedate you. Do you feel any good?'

Mizae shut her eyes hard and thought for a minute. She thought she could remember the man's face from somewhere, but couldn't remember where she had seen it. She thought harder, trying to remember something... and then it hit her.

She couldn't remember a thing.

Slowly, confused, Mizae opened her eyes and looked back up at the man.

'I... I-I don't r-rememb-ber... I don't remember anything,' she managed to say. Her throat was dry and felt like a desert wind. The man smiled again, and Mizae felt the unease crawl up her back again.

'In that case, Mizae, I am Bnoda Belva, and I'm the reason you're on this ship,' he said flatly. Before she could do anything, Mizae felt herself get lifted up roughly and put on her feet, before getting dragged out of the small room with Bnoda close behind.

'Wait! What the hell is going on!?' Mizae yelled at Bnoda. He took one look at her and smiled again, ducking his head slightly, and Mizae nearly whimpered.

'You'll see, traitor,' he spat softly.

x-x-x

Mizae didn't offer resistance as the two guards – both over a head taller than her – dragged her around the curved hallway of the ship. The hallway was rounded slightly and had a ring of softly glowing lights built into the walls. Occasionally there was a second corridor that branched off from the inner section, but apart from that there was nothing distinctive about the place.

As she was being pulled along, Mizae began to walk on her own feet again. It had taken a while to get used to walking again as the guards pulled her along, but she was now moving her legs normally as they did. She couldn't help but notice that the guards and Bnoda were wearing heavy boots, and she was barefoot. The cold steel under her feet had a sobering effect, and she was soon fully awake and alert.

But the throbbing on the back of her neck hadn't died down.

Mizae tried to reach back to rub the spot that hurt, but then one of the guards clicked loudly and tightened his grip on her arm. Mizae growled back, and the guard began to laugh.

Before she could do anything, the guards stopped and released their grips on her. Mizae almost tumbled to the cold floor but managed to stay up, despite the weakness in her legs. Then the guards grabbed her arms and shoved then roughly behind her back, and as she yelped in protest they clamped something around her wrists. It felt like metal, but in contrast to the floor it was quite warm.

'Don't try it again,' Bnoda hissed in her ear. Mizae frowned, now getting even more confused.

'What do you mean?' she asked as the guards began to shove her forward again. 'I-I was just reaching back, my neck...'

Mizae's voice trailed off and she went quiet. She had decided that it was better not to question the captors.

Now that the guards weren't holding her up, Mizae found walking just a little bit easier. Her legs were beginning to warm up and the cold steel no longer felt as painful as it had. The guards suddenly grabbed her and pointed her to one of the side corridors, then began to poke her forward. Mizae growled angrily... and then stopped.

The corridor was covered in scorch marks and burns, but all of them were cold. In a few places, the damage was so great that entire panels had been torn off of the walls and floor. And there was something else there, too. Something-

'Move,' hissed Bnoda angrily, and he poked Mizae hard in the back with something sharp.

Mizae whipped her head around and bared her teeth at Bnoda, and to her surprise he backed off slightly. Then the guards began pushing her down the corridor again, and Bnoda fell in behind her, smirking.

x-x-x

After a few minutes of being shoved around through a maze of corridors – Mizae believed that if she tried to run, she would get lost – the guards reached a circular door. One of them pressed a hand against a panel and it glowed warmly before splitting in two and opening.

Mizae felt her eyes widen and she gawked at the inside.

Unlike the completely empty, sterile corridors and rooms outside, the central room was packed with other people. They hustled around, some carrying items and some sitting in large chairs with cages around them, staring at computer screens. The air inside was warm and humid, and Mizae felt relaxed as she walked inside. The atmosphere felt calmer, soothing to her.

The guards took hold of her arms again, this time holding her firmly but not roughly. They guided her around the maze of computers and people, and she noticed that all of them were stopping and staring at her.

All of them had venom in their eyes.

Mizae felt herself shrink back as her mind reeled, trying to figure out what was going on. Bnoda and the guards had acted fairly hostile to her, and now everyone else was. She began to feel dread rising up in her stomach, like she was supposed to know she had done something wrong. It felt childish to think that way, and another feeling flared up: anger.

Then the guards jostled her to a halt in front of another door. The one on the right, as before, pressed his hand into a glowing pad and the doors opened. Then they stepped inside.

'Commander Kasgo,' said Bnoda warmly as they entered the room. It was circular, with a raised section in the centre. More chairs and computer terminals were scattered around, mostly on the walls of the room. Mizae noticed that none of the people seated at the stations looked up, and she wondered who was being acknowledged by Bnoda.

Then she heard the footsteps and looked around to the person coming around the raised section.

Mizae's eyes went wide again and she stared. The person was wearing dark clothes covered with metal armour plates, mainly around the legs and the torso. They also had a helmet slipped back over the back of their head. The helmet and the armour gave off no heat from their body. And they were flanked by two guards like the ones that held Mizae.

The person got closer and Mizae saw it was a male. The guards, however, were female. They were armed with long rifles that had loops around the hands, as well as a-

The man hissed angrily and Mizae flinched. Then the guards let her go. She faltered on her feet a second and then stood, glancing around the room for a way out.

There's nowhere to go, Mizae thought, and the fear began to rise up in her chest. Her heart began to pump faster, almost painfully.

'So this is the Kal-Ved that infiltrated us?' the man said. Bnoda stepped forward and the guards stepped back, towards the door. Mizae felt her heart sink.

'Yes. It's her, General Kasgo,' Bnoda said, and without warning he kicked Mizae in the back of the knee. She fell down onto one knee and almost yelled out in pain.

But she didn't.

Something inside her was calm and focused, and said that if she showed fear it would be exploited...

'You've caused quite the trouble for me and my new clan,' Kasgo growled. Slowly, he reached out and pulled Mizae's face higher so she was looking into his eyes. She saw a scar running down behind his eye, sticking out on his pebbled skin like a crevasse on a plain. Mizae kept a straight face, but her heart – if it was possible – began to thump harder in her chest.

Kasgo smiled. Mizae almost frowned, because while it was sinister it was also warm... genuine. 'You don't remember what you did, do you?' he asked.

Mizae ignored what her feelings said and shook her head. Kasgo grinned, showing his teeth. This one seemed even more genuine than the first.

'That's much better. For a moment I thought that Bnoda had wiped your basic functions out of your head. That wouldn't be good, would it?' he asked. This time Mizae didn't respond, but simply gazed back into Kasgo's yellow eyes.

The smile dropped from his face.

'Just as I thought. Still stubborn,' he growled, and then pushed her to the floor. Mizae hit the floor with a clang, but managed to jump back to her feet. Her eyes darted around nervously, just in case Kasgo would make another move.

Instead, he stood back. He clicked his fingers and Bnoda saluted, running his hand from his left shoulder to his collar.

'Bnoda, I want to you to put...' Kasgo paused. 'I want you to put her in the pod, with the others. Understood?'

Bnoda nodded. 'Is that all General?'

Kasgo smiled thinly. 'Of course not,' he said. Then he leaned over to Bnoda and whispered something, but despite her tries Mizae couldn't hear a word they were saying. Bnoda smirked, nodded, and nodded to the guards. They picked up Mizae and dragged her back out of the room.

The guards pulled Mizae back out into the corridor and went along the outside of the room, heading along it. Mizae noticed that they were moving much more briskly than before, like they were-

She heard someone coming back up behind. It sounded like Bnoda. Mizae turned her head... and was met with a fist. Her head whipped back around, the cheek stinging. Then she whipped back around and snarled at Bnoda, and like before he flinched back.

'What's the matter, are you afraid of me?' she said, smirking. Bnoda sneered back.

'Maybe. I should just consider myself lucky that we wiped your mind, huh?'

'Maybe,' Mizae said back. The guards turned a corner, and then Mizae felt her heart start to go fast again. She turned back around and looked at Bnoda.

'What are you going to do...?' she asked softly. Bnoda smiled sadly.

'We're currently in orbit over a planet. It's a nice place, full of jungles and marshes,' Bnoda said. He leaned in closer as the guards jolted to a halt.

'You are going down there, and we're going to hunt you like the scared snake you are,' he said icily.

Just then Mizae heard a harsh metallic whine from in front of her. She turned around just as the guards began dragging her forward into yet another room. The doorway that joined this one to the corridor was unusually long, and like the larger computer room it was dark and warm. This room, though, was filled with an odd pheromone that Mizae couldn't put her finger on. Lining the walls were six small boxes, and-

Those are escape pods, Mizae thought, and she felt a small pain in her forehead. It disappeared after only a second, but she didn't care about that.

She had remembered something!

Then her thoughts were interrupted as the guards jostled her forward. Bnoda shut the door and the room went oddly quiet, sending a chill up Mizae's spine. She didn't like the vibe of the place.

The guards let her go. The one on her left stayed by her side while the one on the right went over to the nearest escape pod and opened it up. The pod was small, barely large enough for a person to lie down inside without being crushed. A wave of hot air billowed out and the guard went over to computer panel, typing something into it.

Okay, think Mizae, think, she thought to herself. They are about to lock you inside an escape pod and... launch you out to a planet below. Then they are going to hunt you. Hunt you. How the hell are you going to get out of this!?

'I hope that you at least remember some of your training, traitor,' Bnoda said. Mizae turned around slowly and noticed he was wearing a similar uniform to Kasgo's, only it had bigger shoulder guards and no helmet.

'...why?' Mizae asked, trying to sound as brave as possible. Bnoda smirked.

'Trust me, you're going to need it.'

The guard next to her jostled her over to the pod. Mizae fought back for a moment, but then decided against it. It wouldn't be wise to piss off the people who seemed like they could kill you in a heartbeat and not bat an eyelid.

Okay then Mizae, keep calm... Mizae thought to herself again. You know that they're coming down to the surface. Maybe... are there other people out there to help? Just hope...

'Get her in,' muttered the right guard. Mizae yelped as the left guard knocked her feet out from under her, lifted her up, and stuck her inside the pod. She almost fought back, wanting to lash out at the guard and knock him out, but she managed to restrain herself. The left guard flipped the top of the pod shut and the right one entered something into the computer... and the pod sealed.

There was quiet, except for Mizae's breathing. Now that she was inside the pod she was surprised; there was a little more room to move around in than she had thought. But it looked as if the pod would strap her back in case of a hard impact with the ground.

She took a good look at her clothes and found panic start to settle in. She was wearing long pants and a padded top, similar to the uniforms the guards and Bnoda wore. But there was no armour plating, and her arms and midriff were exposed.

Hell, I don't even have any shoes she growled to herself.

Suddenly, the pod jolted.

Mizae glanced around for a moment, fearful, and then felt the pod shudder. It felt like something bigger was outside, shaking the little pod. The shaking made her roll over onto something sharp-

Mizae pulled back and looked where she had just been lying. There was a knife there, about as long as her forearm, with a slightly curved blade and a solid black handle.

There was something carved into it. Mizae picked it up and glanced at it.

they will know if I helped
so take this and don't worry
-Genzad

Mizae looked up, out of the little window port in front of her face. She could see the left guard standing there, looking down at her... then the guard winked and looked back up.

Mizae managed a weak smile and tucked the knife into her pants, then felt the ship vibrate again.

They were going down... and she was seriously frightened.

x-x-x

A.N.: So then! I'd like to know what everyone thought of the first chapter. Any reviews and/or crits are well appreciated. Thanks. :)