More Xenomorph goodies for you! I don't really know all the ranks in the military and whatnot, so correct me if I am wrong. Ummm, what else to put here? Ooh, I got a job! Good for the money, bad for the spare time. I am also entering in an art contest for MGC this month and I have to work on Return to Earth and I have to work on Tale of a Mutate… Yar, I need a clone.(buries head in hands)Either that or a spiffy little watch like in Clockstoppers.

Disclaimer of insanity: I own nothing but the human characters, X-13, Ebony and the personalities of my Xenos. Use without permission and suffer my awesome wrath of doom and stuff.

Yeesh, only three reviews! Review more or also suffer my wrath! I know you are there with my friend the hit counter.

Dawley: Thanks!

Psy. Belmont: I'm glad you are so happy that I decided to be slightly motivated! Scary enthusiasm there. Take a few deep breaths maybe. LOL!

Thunder Demon: You think? What do you mean about tread? I confused.

Chapter 2

X-13 lay on her side in the large storeroom she had designated her inner sanctum. She was wrapped in blankets because her belly was now far too bloated to allow her to wear any of her black spandex suits and she was not so resistant to cold as the other Xenomorphs. One lay curled around her back, dozing, his rhythmic breaths huffing gently onto the back of her head, soothing her into drowsiness despite her discomfort. Hive life was stable; no human had bothered them since the last few had expired in their little emergency armored rooms. Deep in her abdomen, X-13's daughter squirmed. She smiled, closing her large eyes and dropping into sleep.

…..

Something rippled down her spine, compressing her belly. X-13 awoke with a gasp and panting, trying to figure out what woke her. One nudged her. Giving a mental shrug, X13 decided it was nothing and squirmed slightly, trying to get comfortable again. Just when she was teetering on the edge of the long smooth slide of sleep, her belly rippled again, more insistently. She sucked in a breath. What was happening to her? It came again, quicker, stronger, lasting longer. X-13 whimpered, fear surging through her body.

: MATRIARCH? WHAT IS HAPPENING: sent One with concern.

"I-" She cut off, gripping her stomach with her long, slender hands. "I Do Not Know… Wait! I Think The Child Is Coming!" X-13 realized that her fear was not just her own. One hissed softly, nuzzling her, then pressing his forehead and upper lip against her belly, sensing the child within.

: YES. THE CHILD IS COMING. DO NOT BE AFRAID, MATRIARCH.: X-13 took a deep breath, willing away her fear and trying to calm her daughter when another contraction clenched her body. She hissed and rolled onto her back, leaning against the now sitting One's chest. The contractions strengthened, her excitement fleeing before the ravening monster that was fear. She moaned, twisting halfway into a weak cry. One echoed her softly, his close mental bond letting him feel the same. X-13 tried to stifle her pained cries and block her fear, but each time she tried, another ripple would come and destroy her concentration, preventing her from sealing her mind away. With the next contraction, her water broke, gushing over her feet and wetting the twisted blankets. Her instincts took over and she pushed hard with the next wave. Slowly, slowly, she birthed her daughter, screaming her pain. The entire Hive echoed her in their own harsh voices, clenching their own bodies in response, clutching the air with their talons.

…..

General Bowie was once again back in front of an assembled group of military and government officials. He stood perfectly straight, his dark green uniform hugging his thick body exactly. The screen bore a picture of X-13 this time. She floated in a huge test tube, sensors and wires stuck all along her head and body, an intravenous needle inserted in her wrist. Her eyes were shut, face peaceful.

"This is what the late Joshua Hager created. He melded the DNA of a Xenomorph with a human together, intending to create the perfect assassin and perfect Xenomorph killer. He was unsuccessful twelve times. The thirteenth time was a success. It was strong, healthy and perfectly formed." Images flashed over the screen; previous experiments, twisted and deformed.

"His idea was brilliant; make something that looked like a Xenomorph, was as strong as a Xenomorph, but sympathized with humans. Send it in to kill the Queen and most of the Praetorians, then let conventional soldiers clean up the disoriented Xenos. Your assassin would be able to infiltrate Hive after Hive and never risk death at the claws of the Xenomorphs. It would be stealthy and intelligent enough to kill even the best guarded of enemies. He made one massive mistake. He treated it like it was his own human child. In a way it was. He had used his own DNA for the human half, but that shouldn't have mattered." He flipped the television screen to a picture of X-13 when she was still in the lab. She was sitting on the floor of her room, a blanket draped over her shoulders, a slight smile on her not quite Xenomorph mouth. The impatient officer raised his brows.

"Doesn't look too dangerous to me, sir. You could almost say it was cute with those big eyes. Like a big puppy, sir." Bowie continued along, pretending not to hear the comment.

"Once it found out what it was created for, the experiment lashed out. It brought a wounded Praetorian on board as well as an egg. Under Hager's orders, they were not terminated as they should have been. He paid for his mistake by being impregnated. The chestburster was later successfully removed, but complications arose later. He had borne the chestburster longer than any other survivor and it changed him. Or more specifically, his DNA. Without the chestburster to regulate some hormones and other functions of the body that it had taken over, Hager's own body began to reject itself. The altered DNA and cells began attacking the newly created, normal ones. Traditional gene therapy did not work, so to prevent the greatest Xenomorph geneticist from dying, they tried the only thing they could think of. They used Xenomorph DNA. It worked, but Hager's behavior and personality begun to change. He became much more aggressive, territorial and short tempered. Before the full range effects could be seen and documented, the experiment and over twenty other Xenomorphs escaped."

"Sir, how could that happen? I have read that when Bu-Xenomorphs are caged together, the dominant ones always kill the lowest on the pecking order and escape. I saw the report. These were caged alone." said a colonel.

"That's true. It seems that the experiment told them to cut themselves and bleed on the metal gratings. Like I said earlier, Queens can guide other Xenomorphs to do things that they cannot. The experiment was an extremely skilled problem solver. Dr. Hager taught it to be that way. After the escape, the majority of the scientists in the laboratory were killed within a few hours. The last survivors managed to survive three days more before we lost contact. That lab contains the largest concentration of Xeno eggs outside of a Hive. There were hundreds. If I had my way, that lab never would have gotten started. The stupidest idea in the world is bringing vicious aliens to Earth. I do not know how many scientists or missing civilians were impregnated, but I do know they must be stopped."

…..

X-13 cooed at the tiny Xenomorph cradled in her arms. One peered over her shoulder and rumbled his approval. Her daughter was glistening black all over, though when she had just been birthed, her chiton was dark gray and soft. Now she was armored and shining with iridescence. She had eyes though, longer and more slanted than X-13's and her body had a distinctly human look about it. She was shorter limbed and slightly round bodied, but something told X-13 that this was normal. Many of her spines and ridges were greatly reduced, some missing altogether. They should grow eventually though. She named the child Ebony. She blinked her over large eyes slowly.

"HUNGRY." she sent, a note of urgency in her childish mental voice. One nuzzled X-13 and Ebony then stood and scaled the wall, disappearing into a tunnel. He returned minutes later, fresh meat clenched in his jaws, dripping blood. The two new parents ripped off slender strips and took turns feeding the child and each other, rumbling contentedly all the while.

"My Daughter… My Ebony…" X-13 whispered gently, rocking Ebony slightly and tweaking a corner of blanket more securely about her tiny form. She cuddled against One.

: SHE IS SMALL, BUT SHE WILL BE STRONG. SHE WILL BE A DEADLY KILLER.: Slowly, the other Praetorians and several of the Drones slunk into the room, arranging themselves on the floor and even the walls and ceiling, surrounding the Matriarch and Patriarch.

: PROTECT MATRIARCH.: they chorused as one. : PROTECT PATRIARCH. PROTECT THE CHILD.: