Aliens: Intelligence Theory

Chapter 1

The forest was quiet, peaceful, save for the occasional buzz of insects, the songs of the local birds, and the sound of morning dew landing on the damp soil after dripping off the leaves from high in the canopy. In addition, were the soft, barely audible sounds of foot falls from the forests more recent occupants. Xenomorphs, or 'Aliens' as they were more commonly known as.

There were two of them, both about the same size and shape, their carapaces a shiny black. One however, choose to walk solely like a quadruped, where the other alternated between locomotion methods. The 'switcher' had lines of various depths here and there across it's body, a few of it's tail spines missing: the mark of a seasoned warrior. The other was the younger of the pair, it's carapace relatively unscathed, and the spines on the last foot or so on it's tail were elongated, as it's host had been partly aquatic in nature.

This pair of xeno's where making their way back to the hive after an all night scouting trip. The goal had been to find new sources of food and hosts for the hive, as the immediate surrounding area had been all but cleaned out of suitable victims. Now much of the hive was starting to starve as more and more hunts ended in failure: their queen had even halted producing eggs to conserve resources. It was becoming more likely they will have to risk moving the whole hive to a new location.

Suddenly the younger of the two xeno's paused in it's stride, then changed it's direction. The more senior of the pair hissed questioningly and hesitated a moment before following, a low hiss emanating from it sounding like an annoyed sigh when it got no response. 'Switcher' didn't have to follow it's younger xeno far before it realized what had gotten it's partner's attention. Unlike other members of the hive, the younger xeno had a sense of curiosity that would surely cause it's end some day. Fortunately, what caught the xeno's 'eye' was far from dangerous.

It was a very large plant with long thin leaves surrounding it's base many layers deep. These were rarely seen in the forest and obviously the younger xeno had never seen one before, who was circling around it, sniffing it. The moment it had touched it though, the leaves all snapped up, forming a bud over the plant. The sudden movement startled the young xeno, who jumped back, landing on it's rump. Slowly the plant unfolded itself again and the xeno poked it again, with the result the same as before. Seeing this as a fun game, the young xeno continued the cycle. The older one gave another one of those sighs and sat down, knowing it could be awhile before the other xeno got bored of this 'new thing'.

The morning dew had all but dried up by the time the young xeno had grown bored of the game and wanted to move on. They were already late in returning to the hive and 'Switcher' just wanted to get home. Before they took two steps though a sound drew both of their attention. Not just any sound though: the voice of a humanoid.

Neither xeno needed to discuss what needed to be done: they both hid. Switcher took to the trees, while the younger xeno jumped onto the plant it had been teasing earlier, it's leaves snapping up to conceal it. Inside the plant, the xeno bit and scratched through the leaves until it had an opening it could see through.

It wasn't cowarduce that guided their reactions, as xenomorphs were hardly afraid of anything. Instead, they were positioning themselves for possible attack, as ambush was their greatest weapon in absence of superior numbers. Going by the number of voices they heard, they were definately outnumbered.

The younger xeno heard 'Switcher' make a mental call for any other xeno's in their area to converge on their position. However being only a warrior, it's call paled in strength and distance compared to their Queens, meaning the chances of more of their kind being close enough to hear it was low. That meant they will be forced to face these humanoids alone. Again fear was not on their minds as they patiently waited for the humanoids to come closer, rather it was elation, as these men will not only mean new hosts for the hive but food as well.

The first man finally stepped into view, followed closely by two more and the xeno's bodies tensed, ready to spring. This was the first time the younger xeno had seen the creatures that called themselves 'humans' and it felt it's sense of curiousity raise. It nearly pushed it's way out of it's hiding place to get a better look at them, but a strong mental warning from 'Switcher' forced it to stay put. So instead the xeno was forced to be content with listening.

Such odd means of communication these humans used: various howls, grunts and hisses formed by their mouths. Rather unsophiciated compared to the hives mental voice. Sure they made vocal sounds, but those were used more as empathsis to the mental at close range. Unsophiciated yes, but the young xeno was fasinated by it. listening intently. Through the emotional tones of their voices it started to comprehend what they were saying: fear, puzzlement, confusion, indifference, even a bit of annoyance. Overwhelmingly the xeno got the feeling they were hunting, which was visually confirmed by the gear they carried. But what where they hunting?

One of the men suddenly knelt down and inspected something on the ground and their voices took on an excited tone, their weapons suddenly raised and ready. They seem to have found a trace of what they were looking for, but there was nothing living here they could hunt.

Except them.

The realization hit the young xeno like sicking drunken wave: these humans must be extermination squads their hive had heard about, humans that hunted ithem/i. Worse, they knew they were in the immediate area. The xeno started sending a mental warning to 'Switcher', but it was too late. With a battle cry 'Switcher' had leapt from it's hiding place, it's tail snapping forward like a snake. But it's strike never got to land on it's intended victim, as an arc of blue thin fire suddenly enveloped 'Switcher', blowing him back and making him convulse violently and uncontrolably.

'Switcher's' scream of pain tore through the young xeno's mind, prompting it to act. It burst from the plant with a fury of claws and snapping of jaws, pouncing upon the human closest to it. But no matter how much he clawed or bit he couldn't harm the human and with surprising gentleness the other men grabbed it and pulled it off him. Instinctively the xeno whirled around to attack the one that handled him, only for the blue fire to find him. The young xeno dropped to the ground, unable to control it's own body as the electricity coursed through it. Just as the pain stopped and the xeno started getting back it's senses, one of the men shot it.

The xeno 'yelped' in pain as a long thin tube attached itself to it's hide. With a loud hiss of defiance the xeno ripped the offensive thing off it, it's corrosive blood leaking in a thin stream down it's arm briefly. Strangely the men kept their distance from it, weapons lowered and non threatening. It started to dash forward to attack them again, but ended up tripping over it's own limbs. It felt tired for some reason, when it knew it shouldn't be. Determined it tried to reach the humans, only for it's limbs to get heavier and heavier with each step. Finally it's limbs gave out completely and the world itself started to get dark as a forced sleep overtook it, wondering why they weren't using the force it had heard these humans used against their kind.

Just before it lost consciousness completely a human approached it and draped a net over it's unresponsive form and understanding came.

They wanted them alive.