Tenchi Muyo!
The Deadliest of All Species
By Randall Chase
Prologue
Space. Blackest black you'd ever see. The only other colors were little balls of white light coming from far distant stars. A single moon-like planet floated in orbit among the stars. Not much light struck it, making it look like a dark and miserable place to live. Suddenly from the dark shadow of the gray planet a ship appeared. It zoomed past the planets small moon. It was on a mission. It was a Yautja ship. It held a crew of about twenty or so. The clan leader stood in the bridge of the steamy vessel. His dreadlock-like-hair was dull and gray, and he had whiskers on his brow and chin. His forehead was wrinkled, and there were battle scars that decorated his skin. His eyes were colorless, and they sagged with age. His armor that cover him in vital places was scratched and dented, but it was also decorated with markings he made himself to proof his kills real. He purred softly and smiled under his long, gnarled tusks. His clan accomplished an almost impossible task. The planet they were leaving behind was used by their kind to breed the ultimate prey. Kainde amedha, xenomorphs. The elderly leader chuckled, he felt honored to know that his clan was not only selected to harvest these ruthless insects, but that they also completed this task without any casualties. He remembered reports of clans who would return with numerous casualties. He even remembered hearing about one clan who suffered so greatly that only one jehdin*, was able to remain alive just long enough to steer the ship back to their home world. The elder closed his eyes, hoping that his clan would not become one of those stories.
Back towards the middle of the ship, the young Yautja hunters were bellowing and growling with pride. They knew their clan leader was happy with their accomplishment. They have successfully harvested the deadliest of species. One jehdin cheered in triumph as his opponent laid on the floor chuckling. They have been wrestling, testing one another's strength, to see who was the strongest. The winning jehdin looked for another opponent. He struck the shoulder of one smaller yautja. He looked up at the much larger yautja and growled, accepting the challenge. The room echoed with chants and growls as the two faced off. They circled the room, facing each other like two wolves about to fight over the last piece of meat from a recent meal. The shorter yautja charged forward, slamming his body into the larger body mass with all his strength. All the others watching roared as the two began to duke it out. As the entertainment continued, a dark and looming figure sat perched on a throne-like base in the cargo hold. It breathed heavily, slime dripped from its jaws. Back on the dark world it had fought to keep from being capture, calling its drones to her aid, but nothing helped. All it could do now was sleep. It was alone. It lifted its head slowly. Not a sign of life anywhere. It lowered its head again and held its breath. An egg was soon under its hips. Using its smaller claws, the queen xeno picked up the egg, and shoved it behind her massive form. It was only a matter of time before it would hatch.
Back on the bridge, the elder snarled a command to a lone yautja standing next to him. The other nodded and turned and left. He made his way towards the back of the ship, past the room of young yautja, and into the cargo bay. Their prize laid asleep. He snorted and was about to leave when he heard a squeaking sound. He turned and looked around. He saw nothing. Suddenly a small creature leaped from above, wrapping its tail around his neck. The facehugger was fortunate enough that its victim wasn't wearing a mask. The unfortunate yautja tried to scream, but he was only muffled by the aliens attack. He fell back onto the floor under the Queen's head. As he laid there squirming, the Queen drew her head out from under her plated crown, hissing. Drool dripped down onto the quivering body. She hissed again with pleasure, her plan had worked. Now it was only a matter of time before phase two would begin.
*Jehdin - Individual