A/N: Well here is chapter two. One thing I've found about Predator fictions is that some authors liked using the Yautja language. While it makes the reading more interesting it doesn't usually help the reader know what they're talking about unless they are a hardcore fan. Which I have to say I am not. So for those of you like me who are like... "What the hell is a dah'kte?"... in the middle of a story. Some of the words though are blatantly simple to translate, mostly their expletives. Anyways, here are some Yaujta words I'll be using this chapter to hopefully lessen the confusion.
Kainde Amedha Chiva - hard meat hunt
kiandi amedha – hard meat, xenomorph
Chiva - hunt
C'jit - shit
nok – unit of measure (13 inches)
dah'kte – wrist blades.
Akrei-non – bomb or explosive
sivk'va-tai - plasma caster/cannon
Paya – Gods as a whole
Lilka - Refered to as 'The Goddess', Goddess of home, hearth, and Life
Cetanu – God of Death, the Black Hunter
kcud – looked for a Yaujta animal that was weak, didn't find one so "kcud" is "duck" spelled backwards, whatever.
Well that's it for now. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with other.
A/N2: Edited for grammar, word usage and content 3/1/15. For full commentary on edits check out the beginning of Chapter 3. If you're a first time reader you don't need to worry about missing anything and enjoy the story.
Chapter 2: Crash
After their departure the unblooded Yautja settle down for the long voyage. While many stayed in the lounge area talking to each other a few journeyed to other parts of the vessel. Couple went to the armory to spar or maintain their weapons. Others went to the data core where they review the data on the planet they would be landing on. Many still had too much adrenaline pumping through their system to get any rest. One though was successful in finding the way to unconsciousness. One of their fellow unblooded noticed this with a mischievous grin. With extreme care they crossed the lounge area as quietly as possible as to not disrupt the sleeping target.
"Don't even think about it Hehtk'eki," the once sleeping Yautja growled.
"Jeez, you're no fun Ja'anya. For once, I'd like to catch you unprepared." Hehtk'eki gave a frustrated sigh and flopped in the seat across from Ja'anya.
"How did you know it was me?"
"You're the only one who would be stupid enough to try."
"Not stupid," Hehtk'eki clarified, "brave enough. Seriously everyone believes you're the perfect hunter, warrior, female, everything! I'm just waiting for the day when I can catch you in that imperfect moment."
"I know I'm not perfect. I have my flaws and weaknesses just like everybody else. I just do a good job working to overcome them."
"Jeez, and humble. You're sure your bearer is the Clan Matriarch? At this point you were a daughter of Lilka."
"If I am indeed a demigod I'm not yet aware of my divinity. Though my abilities and conquests thus far have been blessed by Paya I did not inherit Lilka's beauty like you have." Looking at the two female Yautja there was quite a bit of difference in their physical appearance.
Ja'anya like her mother, the Clan Matriarch, portrayed enormous amounts of strength. She didn't have an ounce of fat on her, the muscles on her arms, legs and abdomen had defined lines distinguishing one muscle from another. Her shoulders were just a little wider than her hips, giving her a rather masculine appearance. The Yautja species as a whole had very little body fat due to their diet, active lifestyle and millennia's of only the strong reproducing to where undesired genetic traits were practically removed from the gene pool. Ja'anya had a smooth forehead with small serrated ridge in the middle, ending in a point about the center. Small horns pointing away and up sprouted around the fringe above her hair tendrils. Both the serrated ridge and fringe horns characteristics of her heritage. The only defined female aspect she showed was having larger mandibles and higher cheekbones than her male counterparts. The tendrils coming out below her fringe we decorated with silver bands scribed with blessings of stealth, courage, strength and wisdom in battle. The first tendril on her right side had bands describing her clan, family, heritage and status with several empty spots for when she earned the rank of warrior or higher.
The only tenderness in Ja'anya's body was her thick skin that only softened her features slightly. Her skin pattern was mostly a brown-green color with darker brown splotches outlined in white randomly running across her body. Once when she was a pup, an older male once compared her pattern to a gecko. Thinking a gecko was fierce predator on a far off planet she took the comment as a compliment. After discovering a gecko was a small lizard-like creature that was considered a pet and practically harmless, she broke the male's arms in four places. Her armor was in a word was effective, offering the maximum amount of protection while not sacrificing mobility.
Hehtk'eki portrayed the ideal of Yaujta feminine beauty for their age. While Ja'anya demonstrated female strength, Hehtk'eki portrayed female grace. Her hips were wider than her shoulders with a gentle hourglass curve in her waist before arching up into her ribs. She did not have the muscle mass her fellow clan sister, but she was no pushover as she had defined lithe arms, legs and abdomen. What little 'chub' they did have at their age went straight to their posterior. Hehtk'eki hindquarter was succulently rounded, which gained her attention and envy among her young peers. Her skin was a brown-red color with dark maroon strips extending outward from her spine, giving her a tiger like appearance. Like Ja'anya she had a smooth forehead, large mandibles and high cheekbones. However she a smooth fringe and no center ridge without any hierarchy blood in her veins. Her dreadlocks were free, spinning around her as she moved decorated with silver cord that matched her armor. Her armor was significantly less that Ja'anya's. Hehtk'eki preferred tactics relied heavily on speed and agility which left her armor preferences to be at the bear minimum.
Neither of them had yet to develop mammary glands as they had never become pregnant, it was an odd characteristic among their species. When Paya creating their species they meant them to be very adaptable. Some growing to the size of giants, other adapting to colder climates or having skin that helped camouflaged them in a particular environment. So when their female ancestors did not develop mammary glands until motherhood they took it as the Goddess weaving something special into their blood. Of course, once they did become bearers they made up for lack of breast in their normal development with a vengeance. In their younger years the females would appear similar to males. The only way to identify them were slight differences that could only be observed in close proximity, hearing their voice, scent or having their genitals on display. Females where larger than males, but a young female could be confused for an older male. So size was not always the best way to tell the gender. During mating season it was easy to differentiate the genders. The two sexes produced contrasting pheromones, avoiding any 'awkward' discoveries in the bedroom. Males were obviously more attracted to older bread females due to the presence of breasts, causing younger females who had yet to develop this asset to be more aggressive in pursuing mates. Ja'anya and Hehtk'eki though didn't need or want to worry about attracting males or bearing cubs this early in their lives.
"I may the blessing of youthful beauty bestowed upon me, but Paya will be sure to gift you with the same endowment as your bearer," Hehtk'eki responded to Ja'anya's compliment.
"Your bearer's endowment is not something to scoff at either. You will have no problems attracting males after your first pup." The two females paused before breaking out into laughter. They were on their kiandi amedha chiva and they were taking about pups. The conversation shifted from the present topic to the subject of the chiva. Both were skilled and knew that they would succeed in their endeavor the only thing that needed to be discussed was how to get to the queen. The planet they were traveling to have several different hives, some of which were at war with one another. Those hives produced several of more dangers kiandi amedhas like the Praetorian, Crushers and warriors instead of the standard drone. There was also a report that one of the scouts didn't return so the prospect of a kiandi amedha yautja abomination was also possible. The scouts that did return mapped several hives, that didn't mean things were still the same. New passages could have been created, entrances closed off or rooms shifted. The kiandi amedha known for their viciousness and overwhelming numbers, but they did have a certain level of intelligence. For drones and warriors it was fairly low, however under the command of a praetorian or queen they could be used in cunning strategies. They were discussing plans in combating a praetorian in closes quarters when a pilot came over the intercom.
"Guardian Yik'ak please come to the cockpit." The role of Guardian in the kainde amedha chiva was filled by an elder, elite warrior or arbitrator who had proven more than capable to overcome any challenge. They were not to interfere or help the unblooded in any way during the chiva. As a Guardian it was their responsibility to clean up after the unblooded if they made any mistakes, to insure the honor of the chiva was maintained and the solemn duty to report to the family if their pup died. Yik'ak was a legend among many of the clans for his role in capturing an empress kiandi amedha. He was well desired as a breeder for this accomplishment and many other feats of skill.
"You summoned me," Yik'ak said as he entered the cockpit.
"Yes we've lost communications with the clan station. There is some ion activity coming from one of the nearby solar systems that is interfering with the ships systems however that isn't the reason I called you here," the pilot swiveled around to walk over to a navigation screen pointing to several coordinates on the chart. "What do you make of this?" Yik'ak looked at the chart scrolling to several of the coordinates the pilot had notated.
"I don't know it's like..." Yik'ak stood back regarding the screen. He wasn't a scientist by he understood enough about how the universe worked and what he was looking didn't make sense. "It's like," he zoomed out to get a better overall view, then it dawned on him, "...it's a trap! Change course immediately, get us out of the ion storm as fast as possible." The pilot jumped back to his chair pulling hard on the controls to change course. He engaged the afterburners on the engines as they increased speed. Then suddenly all the warning lights went off at once.
"PROXIMITY ALARM! THEY'VE GOT WEAPONS LOCK!" The pilot yelled. Yik'ak quickly made is way over the to the control console punching the general alarm and picking up the intercom microphone.
"Everyone strap yourselves in, we've got a problem," Yik'ak put the microphone back down. "Who are they?"
"Don't know, can't get an identification on the ship. Did we piss off another clan recently?"
"Not that I'm aware of, have you sent the emergency beacon?"
"They're jamming us, it wouldn't do any good and this tub doesn't even have weapons. C'jit they're firing."
Hehtk'eki and Ja'anya had their seat straps on and where trying to figure out what was going on. Watching the port-hole they could see that they had shifted course and increased speed, but they still didn't know why. As if to clarify their situation several bolts of plasma shot past them.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!?" Hehtk'eki asked in a panic voice. Ja'anya leaned closer to the port-hole looking out watching as the stars rolled and the plasma bolts missed their target.
"Looks like," Hehtk'eki was about to make a smart as comment when their trip to hell started. There was the sound of an explosion from somewhere on the ship, it jerked violently then went into an uncontrolled spin. Ja'anya looked away from the port-hole as she started to get motion sickness watching the stars chaotically jump and spin. She hated flying with a passion. Something about being in the void of space in a vessel that could become decompressed in five seconds set her stomach on edge. Sure the station she lived on was in space, but it was protected by an outer hull that was twelve noks thick. She was thankful her mask hid her distress from Hehtk'eki. The vessel went into a controlled spin as it continued to dodge the plasma bolts.
"By who?" Hehtk'eki asked.
"Could be anybody."
"Why?"
"Kidnapping, rivalry, territorial expansion, trespassing... there could be a hundred different reasons."
"Jaaa'aaanyyyaaa," Hehtk'eki nodded to the port-hole as a planet come into view. 'Oh, this is why I hate flying,' Ja'anya thought. Closing her eyes and gritting her teeth she held on for dear life, her claws digging groves into the arm rests. Hehtk'eki had started to recite a prayer to Paya. Both of them were fearless, however when it came to something they could not control or influence all they could do is hold on tight and hope for the best.
It wasn't long before the ship started to tremble in a sure sign they had reached the planet's atmosphere. This was a very bad thing as the vessel still rolled and weaved trying to avoid fire from their attackers. The uneven stress on the hull made the vessel groan in discomfort, as if to release the stress a loud shearing noise was heard. 'That can't be good,' everyone on board thought as they gripped tighter onto their safety harnesses.
As the gravity of the planet took hold the ship righted itself. Ja'anya risked glance through the port-hole. The ship's rumbling from atmosphere entry stopped as the sound of rushing air could surrounded the craft.
"Everyone hold on, we're flying with only one engine," Yik'ak yelled into the intercom. What happened to the other five? "Landing is going to be really rough." Ja'anya closed her eyes again she could still hear Hehtk'eki reciting her prayers. It calmed her a little as she focused on controlling her breathing. It felt like an eternity until Yik'ak's voice came over the intercom again.
"Brace for impact in five, four, three," Hehtk'eki's prayers stopped as she took a short inhaled and held it. "Two," Ja'anya exhaled squeezing her eyes shut. "One...IMPACT!" The ship bounced as it made impact with the ground popping right back up, sailing an unknown distance before hitting the ground again. This time it dug in. The ground was soft as there wasn't any noise of tearing metal. It was a loud rumbling, like a landslide that rolled down the side of a mountain. No crack of large boulders colliding, no breaking trees, just dirt being pushed aside by the ship. Gradually the effort of digging a trench exhausted the momentum of the vessel as it slowed, then stopped.
The ship was quiet. Everyone holding their collective breaths. Then slowly the passengers realized they had not entered the afterlife yet, breathing a temporary sigh of relief. Hesitantly, Ja'anya opened her eyes. She looked across to see that Hehtk'eki was rubbing her head.
"You okay?" Ja'anya asked in a worried tone.
"Yeah just got a little whip lash, nothing to worry about."
"Okay," Ja'anya mind started to break through the fog that settled in during the crash. She realized that they didn't have much time before whoever shot them down would be landing nearby to confirm their kill. "Hehtk'eki get yourself unbuckled and go check on the others. I'm heading to the cockpit to check on the pilot and Guardian Yik'ak. When you've got everyone together, meet me there."
Ja'anya was up and sprinting to the cockpit before Hehtk'eki could respond. The hallway was unobstructed and her mask provided night vision for where the emergency lighting had failed to turn on. Reaching the cockpit door she had to manually force it open by using her dah'kte. What she saw didn't improve their situation at all.
The windshield of the cockpit was broken open with a massive amount of dirt filling the room. The pilot was most likely crushed to death underneath. Yik'ak was strapped to a chair further from the front, but was buried up to his stomach in dirt. She made her way carefully over to the Guardian.
"Guardian Yik'ak are you alive?" Ja'anya shook his shoulder comforted when she hear a groan. He coughed up some green blood, while pulling off his mask.
"Ja'anya, I apologize *cough* for the rough landing," Yik'ak wheezed before coughing up more blood. This wasn't a good sign, he had probably ruptured something internally.
"Apology accepted, now tell me what happened," Ja'anya commanded.
"When the pilot called me here he showed me some odd *cough, cough* readings that were disrupting communications. It was confusing because the origin did not match any know models of ion storms," Yik'ak paused to go into a coughing fit resulting in more blood being expelled. Ja'anya patiently waited until he had caught his breath before continuing. "Millennia ago during one of the clan wars there was a method of using satellites broadcasting ion beams to set up ambushes. The ion beams blocked all communications and disorientated navigation systems. This was disguised as a natural occurrence so no one suspected what was going on until survivors reported the practice. The ambush we fell into was a textbook example of what was reported."
"So are you saying some resentful clan is attacking us for losing a war over millennia ago," Ja'anya asked.
"No, the High Matriarch at the time ruled the practice dishonorable, and those who used the tactic to be exiled." Upon hearing that Ja'anya's stomach turned into a knot.
"Who attacked us?" she asked fearing the answer she would receive.
"Cet Mar'cte, the Black Killer Clan," Yik'ak answered solemnly. "Ja'anya we are no longer the hunters, we are the hunted. Our options right now are limited."
"I know," Ja'anya said, her head dipping down in defeat.
"Young one, right now it is your obligation to insure the survival of your hunt sisters and brothers. Under the circumstances I would have taken the command role, but this responsibility must fall to you." He dug down through the dirt to expose a large piece of the windshield impaling him to the chair. "Gather everything you can make use of, our attackers will come to tally their score. When they do I will set off my akrei-non and take as many with me as I can. You'll need this," carefully Yik'ak detached his sivk'va-tai from his shoulder.
"None of us are blooded, it is forbidden to use such a weapon," Ja'anya exclaimed.
"The Cet Mar'cte will not hesitate to use the most dishonorable methods of hunting you. Use everything you can to survive," Yik'ak roughly shoved the weapon into her hands. Reaching to his belt he pulled out some extra power packs, a healing kit and a few supplies. "You're running out of time. Get away from the ship. Live young one," Yik'ak gave Ja'anya an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder before pushing her away.
Ja'anya held the sivk'va-tai as if it were a new born. Knowing she was not yet worth of the weapon yet held onto it as her life depended upon it. Exiting the cockpit she headed back towards the lounge area. On the way there she ran into Hehtk'eki leading the other unblooded. When they saw her holding the sivk'va-tai they realized how serious the situation had become. There was dreadful pause as the realization sank in.
"Is this everyone?" Ja'anya asked, they were four short. "What happened to Sai'Aaliya, Kal'deris, Sil'cais and Lei'Tuk?"
"Gone," a male called K'on answered. "Sai'Aaliya, Sil'cais and Lei'Tuk were all in the armory. There was a hull breach and … their bodies aren't on the ship."
"And Kal'deris?"
"We found him in one of the hallways," K'on continued, "a plasma line to the engines ruptured. There isn't much of him left. What about the Guardian and pilot?" Ja'anya shook her head in the negative. She looked to each one seeing their fear and sadness at the loss of their hunt brothers and sister. She needed to make sure no one else died, she needed to be a leader. Taking a deep breath she organized her thoughts.
"May their souls go peacefully to Paya's embrace. Now let us see if we may serve justice to their killers. We need to get out of here before they come looking for trophies. We're at a disadvantage here. Kra'vyx and Syl'vyx," Ja'anya turned to the twin brothers.
"Search this ship top to bottom, scrounge any supplies, extra weapons, food... anything that can help us survive, meet at the starboard entrance hatch when you're done. Go," The two brothers split off from the group on their mission. "Hehtk'eki you're the best shot out of all of us take this," Ja'anya handed her the sivk'va-tai. She was about to protest but Ja'anya gave her a deep growl to obey. "Get the starboard hatch open, then take look out. I don't want them sneaking up on us." Hehtk'eki nodded running off. Ja'anya scrutinized at the two remaining members Vi'koni and K'on.
"Which one of you is best with computers?" Ja'anya asked.
"I'd say Vi'koni is," K'on answered. Vi'koni have his follow hunt brother a 'what the hell' look before turning back to Ja'anya.
"Vi'koni, head to the data core and get the flight recorder or download the data. They set up a signal jammer and we need to that data to figure out how to get a message through. K'on go with him and see if you can find this planet in the index. We need a map of where we are and where a safe place might be, go." K'on turned to head off, but Vi'koni took a few steps before looking back at Ja'anya.
"What about you?"
"I'm going to find the emergency beacon," Vi'koni gave a nod and ran after K'on. Ja'anya let out a sigh before turning and heading back to the cockpit. When she entered she didn't look at Yik'ak she could still hear him breathing heavily and coughing. She went over to a floor panel undoing the bolts before diving into the mass of wires looking for the beacon.
"How soon before our clan comes looking for us?" Ja'anya asked.
"They'll detect the ion storm and figure that we can't contact them. However, our destination would have been beyond *cough, cough, cough*. Beyond the sphere of interference so when the pilot doesn't check in they will start to worry," Yik'ak paused to catch his breath and to think. "If I had to guess, they won't send a ship to investigate until the fourth solar cycle and then two more, before they mount a search."
"We have to survive for six cycles," Ja'anya said in a matter of fact tone.
"At the minimum," Yik'ak added. Ja'anya felt her fingers finally reach the emergency beacon as she carefully unscrewed the wires connecting to it. She checked it for damage before tucking it under her arm. "Is there anything else in here that you would recommend taking?" Yik'ak thought for a moment before answering.
"There's a backup beacon in the floor panel next to the door. It smaller, but it'd be good to h...," Yik'ak choked on the last word before coughing up more blood. Ja'anya looked at the growing puddle of blood in front of the Guardian thinking how much he had lost, but still remained attentive. Like the first Ja'anya removed the floor panel then reached inside for the beacon.
"How much longer can you hold out?"
"A while if not, I'll set my akrei-non to detonate on a proximity sensor. So don't come back to the ship," Yik'ak's voice strained as he try to sound stern.
"Very well, may Cetanu bless you with company," Yik'ak let out a light chuckle.
"He has been a friend for years, I'm sure he'd oblige me." That made Ja'anya smile at the grim humor. Giving a nod to the warrior she left for the starboard hatch. As she made her way she glanced around looking for anything useful. She didn't find much, one of the twins must have already gone through here. When she got to the hatch there was a small pile of gear spread out so they could take an inventory in what they had. The large ship offered a lot, the only restriction was they were on the run so they needed to say light and fast. An excessive amount of gear would only slow them down. As she stepped outside she glanced at the sun on the horizon.
"Hehtk'eki is star rising or falling?" Ja'anya called out to the cloaked figure standing on top of the ship.
"Rising, haven't been here long enough to know how much daylight we have." Ja'anya engaged her cloak before jumping up to join her hunt sister. Jumping on top of the ship she noticed the damage done to the vessel. The stern of the craft was literally ripped off. Walking to the edge she could look directly into the engineering room. The frayed edge a mess of metal, wire and leaking fluids. She did a slow turn around taking in the terrain. It was flat with a few rises that just amounted to a small hill. While this provided for an excellent place to crash-land it wasn't to best place to be caught by their enemy. No cover what so ever and whatever path they took was sure to leave some sort of trail in the grass.
"Any sign of our attackers?"
"No, which worries me. They could be cloaked right over our heads waiting and we wouldn't even know it."
"Is there any cover we can get too?" Ja'anya saw Hehtk'eki's arm extend in a direction pointing her finger.
"I had to use the zoom function, but there appears to be a mountain in that direction. It has a different heat signature, so the vegetation there might be different, not sure." Ja'anya focused on the area she had pointed. There was indeed a mountain rising in that direction. Focusing as hard as she might she could not tell its size nor the distance to travel there. Like Hehtk'eki she couldn't tell what kind of vegetation was surrounding the mountain, but it did show up differently than the grassy plane they were occupying.
"Well that's somewhat promising," She said scratching her chin in thought.
"Hey, Ja'anya you up there?" a voice from below called out.
"Yeah, be down in a second. Stay here," Hehtk'eki nodded in confirmation as Ja'anya jumped down. The twins stood before her going through all the stuff they had collected. Weapons, food, spare armor, air scrubbers, cooking stove, water, some tools from what was left of the engine room and a few odds and ends. "Do we have anything to pack this stuff in?" One of the twins pulled out three duffle bags.
"Ja'anya we've got the flight recorder," Vi'koni and K'on approached carrying a black cylinder about the size of a cup.
"What about the map?"
"Yeah got that too, it's on my computer." K'on motioned to the gauntlet on his left wrist. Pressing a few keys on the gauntlet's pad a holographic image of the immediate area surrounding their crash site was displayed. K'on continued to manipulate the image to showing topography and vegetation as it started to zoom out.
"Wow," Kra'vyx observed, "we decided to crash in the largest open space on the planet."
"Yeah, we're sitting kcuds out here," Syl'vyx agreed with his brother.
"Look," Ja'anya pointed to the edge of the map. K'on zoomed out further showing a densely wooded area at the base of a cliff. "That's our nearest cover." K'on typed in a few commands calculating the distance from the crash site.
"It will take almost a half cycle to get there," K'on said.
"Then let's not waste any time. Load up everything we can carry and let's go." After the order was given supplies and gear were loaded into packs. When everyone was ready they engaged their cloaks and headed off. They figured that since they were in terrain that was easy to leave tracks there was no point wasting the time to hide them. Their best bet would be to get to cover as fast as possible and once they got to cover then they would conceal their tracks. What unnerved them the most was the fact they knew they were being hunted. Yet their attackers had yet to take advantage of when its prey was the most vulnerable. When Ja'anya told them it was the Cet Mar'cte that had attacked them they knew what to expect of their opponent.
The Cet Mar'cte, or Black Killer Clan, was a notorious Bad-Blood clan that had plagued their galaxies for far too long. It was said that the very first Yautja that was ever marked in dis-honor founded the band of murderers. They lived to seek revenge on those who had cast them out. Seeking the sensation of power and pleasure from a kill. They could care less about trophies, all that mattered was thrill they got from killing a living creature. That was the least of their transgressions, over the centuries many of the Bad-Bloods had developed 'fetishes'. Some were so sick and perverse that the bounties on their heads could buy an entire planet. The members of the Cet Mar'cte were by far the worst and most notorious.
It was just after the star at the center of the solar system had reached its zenith in the sky that everyone heard and felt a rumble. Vi'koni was in lead and halted to listen. Everyone frozen crouching low to the ground eyes looking in all directions. After a long silence Vi'koni finally spoke.
"Did everyone hear that?" Vi'koni asked for a moment doubting his own senses.
"Yeah," Kra'vyx asked from the middle of the pack.
"I think Yik'ak finally joined his ancestors," Ja'anya said mournfully. The distant rumble they heard was Yik'ak setting off his akrei-non. "Our enemy is at the crash site we are even not half way to the forest yet we need to pick up the pace." Without a word everyone turned and began running.
"We made it," Syl'vyx exclaimed as he rested his back against a tree. They were about two hundred meters inside the tree line before they all stopped to take a breather. After they heard the explosion and seen a heat plume coming from the direction of the crash site they really picked up the pace. The sun was a few hours away from dropping below the horizon and all of them were exhausted. Vi'koni and K'on dug around in their packs for the food rations they had packed. Once finding the brown square packets of meat and dried fruit they distributed them among the six of them. Each eating greedily as they took liberal amounts of water from a canteen they passed around.
After each of them had caught their breath they slowed their consumption to observe their surroundings. The forest floor seemed barren even with all the large tree like planets around them. It was an old growth forest where the trees were massive, their branches blocked out most of the sun light. The forest floor was heavily shaded not allowing any growth underneath the canopy. The trees were far enough away from each other to make everything seem open.
"So," Kra'vyx started, "what do we do now?" What did they do now? Ja'anya during their exodus was too focused on observing their surroundings for dangers to really think of a plan once they reached the forest. She noticed how all the others looked at her. Expecting she would have the answer to this question. They needed to signal for help; that was certain. There was no way they could survive six cycles being hunted by the Cet Mar'cte.
"We need to find a frequency that gets through their jamming signal. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can get out of this situation. Vi'koni, K'on work on the flight recorder see what data you can retrieve. Kra'vyx, Syl'vyx scout ahead see if you can find a well-protected spot to set up camp. Hehtk'eki and I will patrol this area while Vi'koni and K'on do their work. Any objections?" The group was silent. "Alright everyone to their tasks, if there's any trouble re-group here. Keep the comm channels quiet, I don't what to give them a signal to track us. Meet back in one hour."
The group departed to go their ways. As they split up Ja'anya started to evaluate her decision. She knew all the tasked she had assigned to her group were important however spreading them out over an area and not consolidating their strength made them better targets. She made the call, no sense doubting her choices now.
"So how do you want to patrol?" Hehtk'eki asked walking beside Ja'anya.
"Let's retrace our trail back to the tree line. If they're tracking us it would be the best location to see them coming. Stay hidden," Ja'anya leaped up into one of the trees and started jumping from branch to branch. She moved quietly and softly just as her instructors had taught her. Not disturbing a leaf or scale of bark as she traveled in the canopy. Alert and vigilant she continued to cycle through the different vision settings on her mask looking for anything out-of-place. Eventually she found a good lookout point. It had a wide view of the grassy plans they had just traversed while concealing her position with heavy leaves. One thing that puzzled her was the lack of native animals. Surely this planet had some form of life than just its fauna.
It wasn't long before she was heading back to camp. The sun was just beginning to touch the horizon and night was soon to follow. She hadn't seen any movement besides the wind blowing across the grass and swaying the trees. Hehtk'eki was already at the meeting point bent over looking at what Vi'koni and K'on had been working on. The twins weren't back yet which gave Ja'anya a little pang of panic.
"So how's it going?"
"Pain in the ass," Vi'koni groaned out to Ja'anya's question. "K'on and I might be good with computers but this is way beyond our field of experience. Retrieving the data, we understand. Identifying the ion wavelength being used as a jamming signal, we identified. How to send a distress call through it, no idea."
"It isn't just find the right frequency its being able to make it strong enough to break though as well. The way this jamming signal works is like being at an argument at a council meeting. Everyone is so loud and overpowering that any weak voice doesn't reach anybody's attention. So even if we could find the correct wavelength there would still be too much noise for anyone to hear our voice." K'on let out a similar groan to Vi'koni's before falling on his back looking up at the sky. "My brain is starting to hurt from too many calculations."
"I don't think any of us received any training to become an engineer or scientist," Vi'koni admitted. This made the group all breathe a sigh of frustration. Despite their intense education and upbringing to become future leaders none were fully taught how to deal with this problem. The only one who could have possibly solved their problem from their original group was the pilot of the ship. A noise caught all of their attention as the whirled around to face it. Their weapons drawn, their body under tension to spring into action. Two figures uncloaked a hundred meters from where they stood.
"We found a place to camp," Kra'vyx said, the group relaxed. It didn't take a full minute before they were up and moving again following Kra'vyx and Syl'vyx. They moved through the tree tops, trying to leave as little sign of their passage as possible. After about forty minutes they had arrived at their shelter for the night. A massive tree had a twenty-four noks wide diameter at least. Its root wad stood high above the ground allowing them to hide beneath the massive tree. The large branches above also provided a good lookout point and shelter.
The sky started to darken and night was now upon them. Drawing straws they decided to would sleep and who was on watch. It was a three on, three off rotation. Ja'anya, Vi'koni and K'on were on first rotation. K'on and Ja'anya decided to take lookout in the large branches above. The other stayed hidden below in the roots with Vi'koni watching over them as they slept.
It was quiet, Ja'anya could hear K'on's breathing from over a ten meters away. It was somewhat unnerving, but with this level of calm anything sneaking up on them would broadcast its position immediately.
A/N: A nice long second chapter for sure. Wanted to add more so I could introduce the Black Killer Clan but reading through it seemed like a good spot to end the chapter. I don't what to overwhelm myself and you guys with the story. I'm pretty sure the bad guys will be the focus of the next chapter to be sure. No Mature rating yet, but it's coming
So while doing my research on this chapter I came across a discussion board that was talking about Yautja females. One of the things they mentioned was the irregularity in their appearance. In some media they say that males and females were indistinguishable besides the difference in size, strength and genitalia (only if you ask them to pull up their loin cloth). While others say that females were larger, stronger and had breasts (aw yes, alien females must have boobs!). So, to play to both sides I decided that females don't get boobs until they've become pregnant, makes sense to me. Don't need breasts until you need to feed a pup. Then there was the debate that Yautja's don't nurse their young because the movies didn't show the males having nipples. Yet in the other media, there was the use of the phrase 'go back to sucking your bearer's teat.' So...I think at this point it's all up to creator's digression. So damn it, the female Preds in this fic will have boobs... eventually... maybe...because I don't know if they're going to have pups...whatever, don't want any spoilers.
Porter-Fuzz, thank you for your feedback. I'll be using the names you provided for sure. Also, while my unblooded seem a little...not bad-ass at the moment, they will be getting into their element soon enough. The whole scenario was something they were unprepared for and are adapting to survive. While it might seem pansy-ish to be calling for help so early. When you've seen the Black Killers you'll know why they want to get out of their so bad.
Grammar and spelling criticism is welcome as well as criticism about anything wrong with my Yautja society. Hope you enjoyed and I'll be seeing you all next chapter. Until then, Peace.
