Just making this note, but I made my own race of people called the Regollen. They are effectively larger version of humans, only have different eye colors and hair colors. They effectively act like the samurai of Japan with their honor code, and are all but extinct. The main character, Drag'lan, is a Regollen Yautja hybrid, but the yautja is at least 7 generations in the past. Also, there will be crossovers in certain chapters. These were agreed upon by both me and the authors of the stories included in the crossovers.

Prologue: The Raising

Drag'lan didn't go through his life as if it were a cakewalk. His entire family (his father, mother, younger brother and 2 younger sisters) were attacked by Xenomorphs when they were vacationing on a planet that they thought was uninhabited when he was seven. Despite his father being trained in the Regollen art of Dreelorn, of the art of "Strategic pain Suffrage and Retribution", he was killed by 13 Xenomorphs after having killed 7 in hand-to-hand combat. The acid in the Xenomorph's blood had dissolved the armor his father wore and they brutally tore him limb from limb. After they murdered his family, Drag'lan was forced to flee for his life into the forest.

After running for what seemed like hours, he hid under a tree, hoping not to be found by the Xenomorphs. One found him, but before they could kill him, it was blown up by something that Drag'lan couldn't see. After the lifeless body of the Xenomorph fell, Drag'lan saw his saviors: 10 people donned in armor carrying guns that Drag'lan had never seen before. one of them spotted him and tried to get close to the tree, but one of the others said "I've got more readings on the Motion Tracker." They both backed up and readied their guns.

The other twelve Xenomorphs came out and the Marines mowed them down because 4 of them were carrying what looked like chain-guns, but they tracked the Xenomorphs as they crawled on the trees. Once the 12 Xenomorphs were killed, the same one approached and said "It's okay, little guy. You can come out. Nothing will hurt you." The man reached out his hand. Drag'lan was hesitant to take it, but thought better of it. The 10 men then led them back to their base and talked to their Commanding Officer about letting him live with them. The Commanding Officer was suspicious at first, but when they said that 13 Xenomorphs had followed him, the guy just said "yes".

Over the next 6 years, the USCMC made Drag'lan the best they could. One training mission Drag'lan went out on 2 years after they had taken him in brought him to the place where his family had been killed. When he saw this place, he noticed that there were 4 plain swords on the ground, 2 short-swords and 2 great-swords. Feeling as if they had been there waiting for him, he picked them up and look at them. Once he picked them up, they glowed a bright blue. When the blue faded out, there were symbols Drag'lan recognized. On the short-sword built for the left hand, the runes read "Strength, Endurance, Haste, Perseverance, Accuracy, Steadfastness" with one rune on the hilt meaning "Strengths of the body", the sword built for the right hand read "Humility, Purity, Innocence, Mercy, Love, Honesty" with a rune on the hilt meaning "Strengths of the soul". He set the swords down and looked at the Great-swords. One of the great-swords said "Hatred, Disease, Greed, Feebleness, Corruption, Pride" with two runes on the hilt saying "Weaknesses of the body and soul" while the other said "He who fights with honor holds the battle entire" and had 2 runes on the hilt meaning "Unity and Family.

While Drag'lan didn't understand this, he looked down and saw something that he hadn't noticed before as it had been covered by the swords. He saw a battle harness that that he had seen his father wear when he went out to fight. As he looked over the harness, he noted that there were two large crossed sheaths, obviously for the great-swords on the back part, and there were 2 smaller sheaths where his hips would be if he wore it for the 2 short-swords. When he slipped it on, Drag'lan saw that the harness was loose on his body, but figured he'd grow into it. He put the blades in their sheaths and continued his training run before heading back to the base.

When he got back to the squad that had taken him in, they were somewhat surprised at his attire, but not fully. One of them asked, "Where did you find that stuff, Drag?" Drag was the name the group had given Drag'lan.

Drag'lan said "Out in the forest."

One of the other soldiers said "Then why did you pick them up?"

Drag'lan said "It looked like they were left out for me to pick up."

The same soldier said "And how did you know that?'

Drag'lan shrugged and said "I didn't i just...felt it to be true."

The leader of the squad said "Drag, come here."

When Drag'lan got near him, he pulled Drag'lan aside and said "Drag, I've known some fucking dumb people in my life, but none were dumb enough to go out and grab weapons that were just laying on the ground. You know that this planet has been hunted on by the Preds. What if those weapons had been a damn trap?"

Drag'lan shrugged again and said "I guess luck was on my side at that point, Lt. Davis."

Davis just gave Drag'lan a look that said "Yea, REALLY fucking lucky" before leading him back to the group and saying "Alright, people, Lights-out in 15. Stow your gear."

Everyone walked to their lockers, but Drag'lan walked to his crate. When he popped it open, Davis said "Drag'lan, come here. I need to show you something."

Drag'lan walked over to him and they walked to a locker at the far end of the room where the new people to the squad normally stowed their gear. When they stopped at the locker, Drag'lan saw something that took his breath away; his name had been engraved on the plate where the names were supposed to be.

Drag'lan said "Really, sir? I'm gonna join you guys?"

Davis said "Yep. Command just gave the green light to train you, but check the inside of the locker before anything else."

When Drag'lan opened the locker, he was confused. There was a place specifically designed to hold his harness and other things to hold his swords. He turned to Davis and said "What are those things in there for?"

Davis looked at him and said "I knew this day would come sooner or later. It's time you knew the truth. Come with me and we'll talk." Drag'lan followed him.

Davis said "When you were about the age of 2, and I mean by looks, your father ran into us when we were preparing for an operation. He was damn lucky he didn't get fucking shot. When he got near us, he asked for a favor of us. He told us he had seen that he was going to die in a few years, and since he also saw that your family would be killed too, that he wanted us to take care of you. We were very apprehensive, if that's the term for it, about this whole deal, but when he unhooked his harness and set it down, swords included, on the ground to seal the deal, we knew he was being sincere. Why else would he leave his weapons on the ground?"

Drag'lan nodded, but stayed silent.

Davis continued and said "5 years later, we were moving out for a training mission when we saw the Xeno on the tree you were hiding in. Then Frank shot it with his Pulse Rifle till it died. Fred then tried to get near, but Miles said that she had more readings on the motion tracker. We cleared out the area and took you in, just like we had promised in the deal. And now, today, we gave back to you what was rightfully yours. I hope your father was right in his hope that you would use these weapons with dignity and honor."

And with that, Davis walked to his locker and stowed his gear. Drag'lan just stood there, in somewhat shock. He then shook himself out of it. He then unhooked the harness, and stored it along with the swords and his main uniform in the locker. He then shut the locker and went and climbed into his bunk. he mulled the thoughts over in his mind. Then tears started to form and he silently wept over what Davis had said. The others saw this and gave him his space. When Lights-out came around, Drag'lan was out, having cried himself to sleep.

Four years later, the training he was in was nearly over. he just needed to pass this test and he would be part of the USCMC. He just stood there with his M41A Pulse Rifle and waited for the judge to provide him with a clip. When the judge passed by him, he gave him a clip. Oh crap, the judge thought, we got the guy that Omega squad had found. He just kept walking though.

Drag'lan made sure to check the clip over and looked at the ammo count. It was a full clip, so he loaded it, turned to face the firing line and waited for the signal to fire to be given.

When the signal was given, Drag'lan readied the Pulse Rifle and fired in short controlled bursts. When the clip ran empty, he just lowered the gun, popped the clip out and waited for his scores to be given.

The judge looked at the statistics and said "Drag'lan Hellanille. Accuracy: 89%, Hits: 88/99, Acceptance: APPROVED. Welcome to the USCMC."

Drag'lan did a small cheer in his mind, set the Pulse Rifle down with the clip and walked back to Davis' barracks to tell him the good news.

Davis was glad to hear it and said "Great job, Drag. Now you can train to join our squad."

Two years later, Drag'lan lost the closest thing he had to family. He was with Davis' squad going through the forest in search of the Dropship they would take back to base, as they had been dropped with live ammunition in the jungle and were tasked to find a spot about 100km from the drop spot. Drag'lan was ready with the custom helmet he had. This bad boy had a built-in motion tracker and was able to become a sealed environment, filtering air in from the outside and recycling oxygen if needed. He was wearing the harness his father had left him and the swords were in their proper places. He was starting to fit perfectly into it, but nobody was surprised at this. They had figured he had his father's build. The squad was moving out, and while readings on the Motion Trackers were common, there were some loud ones, sometimes for minutes at a time. They stopped to rest for the night, and the loud readings on the motion trackers died out, as if whatever was causing them was backing off. This unnerved them, but they didn't show it. Once dawn came, they all grabbed their gear and kept heading to the point where they were supposed to find the Dropship. Drag'lan noticed that the readings picked up again as they they arrived at the point, they saw the Dropship, but what they found inside was disconcerting: the pilot, copilot and the 2 other marines on the ship were missing. Blood was left in streaks in the Dropship's hold and also in the cockpit, but no bodies were found. Miles said, "I've got READINGS!", and Drag'lan left the Dropship and looked at the Motion Tracker in his helmet. He saw that Miles was right; there were 5 large blips on his motion tracker nearing their position. Everyone took a defensive position, with the 4 smart-gunners Greg, Chris, George, and John, pointing in four different directions, but in over-lapping fields of fire. Then, all of a sudden, one of the reading on the Motion Tracker stopped completely. Drag'lan was suspicious of this, so he decided to look up in the direction of the reading. Right as his head came above the cover he was at, Davis pulled him back down, saying "STAY LOW, DUMB ASS! There's fucking Preds out there!" Not a moment after he said that, something impaled the hull of the Dropship and an extended spear phased into sight RIGHT where Drag'lan's head had been a few seconds earlier.

George and John converged fire on the trees in that direction, but a Predator came from nowhere and stabbed it's Wrist-blades into John's back, lifting him about 4 feet off the ground. Apparently, it had been staying still on the ship when it decided to strike. Upon seeing this, Drag'lan unleashed a large burst of fire at it, but he barely hit it. The training only provided for when you weren't having an Adrenaline rush. Only three out of the 15 rounds he fired hit it, but they were all non-lethal hits. It looked at him, reactivated it's camouflage and disappeared. The sniper, McKenzie, started firing into the trees with his custom Sniper Rifle, and he apparently hit something because a roar was released for where he was shooting. However, from where he was standing, McKenzie didn't notice the Predator walking up to him from his side. Miles yelled at him "MCKENZIE, WATCH OUT!" and McKenzie turned to his left just as the predator impaled him with it's spear.

Miles started to run towards the predator with her shotgun ready and preparing to fire a double blast, but a Predator's Smart Disc saw that it wouldn't happen. It sliced off her entire Left Forearm and her Right hand. As it returned, it slashed across her midsection, spilling her intestines. She fell immediately after that. After she went down, the Medic, Fred, tried to get to her, but a Predator shot him in the head with his Plasmacaster. The remaining Soldiers started to converge on the predator that took out McKenzie, but one of the other 4 predators took out Davis by cutting him in half with one of the discs. When Drag'lan saw the one that had thrown the disc, he dropped his Pulse Rifle, pulled out the 2 short-swords he had in his harness, and charged his target. What he got though, was kicked so hard in his abdomen that he got sent flying into the side of the Dropship. When he hit the ground, and he hit it hard, he watched as the remaining five people of his squad get executed. The lead predator was the one that had kicked him and had all the five kneeling, with his five lackeys holding them down. He said "They're not the ones with the man named Alaric. Time to finish the job we started."

Drag'lan put his swords away before struggling to get up. He couldn't, as something was wrong with his back, so he was forced to watch as the Predator took out one of its Smartdiscs, primed it and threw it at the line in such a way that they were all be-headed. Drag'lan then fell back to the ground and watched as the leader approached him. It knelt beside him, popped open the face-cover of his helmet and said, after seeing his hair structure, "As for you, we'll leave you to the Khainde Amedha. Let's hope they put you through hell, Half-Breed." That last word held so much disdain for Drag'lan. He tried to reach for one of his claymores, but the lead Predator saw this and grabbed his arm. It said "No you don't." before delivering a blow to Drag'lan's head that was hard enough to knock him out cold.