Chapter II
It was now winter, cold, harsh and relentless to most living things. Max and Damocles were the only things that stalked the winter landscape for food and host for the hive. The two had gotten to know some of their limits but were always test the boundaries and their resolves. Being the only white xenomorph in the hive it was easy to collect any prey during the day or night.
'We should get something to guard the entrance better than those brutes.' Damocles said referring to the eight xenomorphs they had hidden near the entrance of the old compound.
'That maybe try but it's hard to find anything with good enough qualities to harvest.' Max replied as they laid waiting for a napis to come by and drink the water from a nearby stream. After a few more minutes of waiting a pack came by and started to drink leaving one for a lookout.
The napis was the closest thing to a wolf on this planet that Max had seen. It's fur was as white as the snow around it. Its three heads searched for any prey to hunt its six legs impatiently lifted and settled back down in the snow. After a moment or two it caught the scent of something close and bared its teeth letting the rest of the pack know with a growl.
'Now.' Max commanded sending a swarm of face-huggers jumped out of the snow and attached themselves to the napis implanting embryos in them. When the pack laid still Max called the rest of his hunting party to quickly gather their new project.
'Well that was easy.' Damocles said watching the last of the pack get carried away.
'Too easy. One of them acted like something else was out here.' Max pointed out as he turned around and looked out at the horizon and saw nothing but a blizzard coming. 'We should head inside before the storm hits Searnîsh will start to worry.' Damocles agreed and they headed back inside the hive.
As soon they left the cold Damocles eased his hold on the his hold on the body and allowed it to return to human form leaving them both bare to the chilled underground air of the hive. Max made his way to pile of clothes shivering as a gust came in from the approaching storm.
"We need to figure out a way to change and change back with my clothes still on. I'm getting tired of having to come back cold and naked." Max said pull a shirt over his scared body from the countless fights with the wild life outside of the hive.
'I'll never get tired of seeing it though.' Searnîsh said sneaking behind him pulling him in a hug wrapping her tail around them both. Max smiled at her antics and rested his head on her should for a little bit before continuing getting dressed. 'You two always ruin the fun.'
'Well humans do get cold you know. No matter what is in their blood.' Damocles pointed out allowing Max to break free of their lovers embrace.
"How many does that make now?" Max asked Searnîsh planting a light kiss on her hard exterior.
'Twenty napis. And our first ones came out while you were gone.' She motioned with her right hand for something to come out of hiding. Shortly after the sounds of multiple claws echoed in the darkness of the hive and a three headed xenomorph came into being its thought chaotic and animalistic compared to normal xenomorphs it came up all three heads growling and snarling at them until Searnîsh laid her hand on one of its heads then it's thought became collective and controlled. The heads stopped snarling and growling and the tail started to whip around aimlessly and almost harmlessly throwing the spearlike tip around. When she removed her hand Max expected it to go savage again but instead it stayed tame and stayed close to her.
'We found that once you've touched one it will listen to you and you alone.' She said giving each head a scratch under the chin. 'Even Alpha was pleased with the turn out of this experiment. He has taken two for himself but I've kept one aside for you.'
"Thank you." Max said giving Searnîsh a proper kiss on the lips before leaving to get some much needed rest, after he hunted down his own three headed xenomorph.
'Half-blood!' An all too familiar voice shouted from farther up the hive tunnel it belonged to Alpha the biggest male in the hive and the one that like him the least. Not long after his nickname was said two three headed xenomorphs came running out of the darkness and blocked his way out of there. 'I have to admit this idea of yours was worth putting up with. But that doesn't change my opinion of you as a disgrace to this hive.' Alpha stepped out his midnight skin covered in scares from many duels to get his position and keep it. His right hand was missing his middle two fingers giving him the classical alien look his dome head was lined with multiple scares.
"It's nice to know that you approve of it. And it's also nice to know that you've a liking to it as well." Max said looking over his shoulder at the xenomorphs hissing at him daring him to try something.
'Oh I think this belongs to you.' Alpha said throwing a bleeding xenomorph it's three heads all had cuts and was bleeding profusely as was its body. With that Alpha motioned for his own xenomorphs to follow and left.
'Of course we're stuck with the dying and broken one.' Damocles complained as Max knelt next to it causing it to cower and let out a pathetic hiss.
"Broken has many meanings and this one shows none of them." Max replied picking up the xenomorph not caring about his clothes any more allowing the acidic blood melt them away. By the time he made it back to Searnîsh's home his clothes were in tatters and the xenomorph was asleep in his arms its bleeding stopped and its wounds were slowly healing.
When Searnîsh saw state his appearance she rushed up to him looking for any injuries on him. 'Alpha did this to you didn't he.' She accused the Alpha of putting him down like this again after all he had done for the hive.
Max smile and laid the three headed xenomorph down gently before answering. "No, but he was so nice enough to bring my runner to me."
That still didn't calm Searnîsh down any. 'You need to challenge him.'
"No. What will it prove if I challenge him? That I want power? Respect? No I don't want any of those I want peace between us and right now that doesn't seem to be any closer now than when I first met his acquaintance." Max said scratching his runners heads lightly slightly disturbing its slumber.
'Well he did give us a compliment about the runners.' Damocles piped in bringing Searnîsh's attitude towards Alpha down a bit.
'Well it's a start.' She grumbled allowing the conversation to end there.
Max removed the remains of his clothes and looked for new ones to replace them, after digging around Max found a pair of pants that he had fashioned from the hide of Kati. Its firm thick hide made a windbreaker its fur was soft against his bear skin making him relax more to the point of wariness.
'I don't know why but every time you put this on I get so tired. I hate it.' Damocles said as he too felt Max's wariness rub off on him.
'I'll let you two boys get some sleep then.' Searnîsh said keeping her sadness unknown to them both.
Max closed his eyes feeling Searnîsh lay next to him before falling into a dreamless sleep.
Searnîsh laid awake for some time wondering how to tell them that they needed to leave the hive even though the queen knew of her condition and was happy for them it just wasn't natural to have a rival queen in the same hive she thought of waking them and telling them but thought against it knowing that the two needed their rest more than anything, this last hunt took four weeks for them to do four weeks for her to notice the first of the changes. Four weeks to feel the new generation coming, although their births won't be normal by any means she knew as did the queen that she will soon take the appearance and responsibilities of a queen and need to make her own hive.
'Do not fret child I will not kick out.' The queen told her easing her worried thoughts a little.
Finally her conciseness started to slip as she drifted into slumber next her lovers. No her mates she could now think them as such without wondering what anyone else would say about it.
The next day Max started scouting the nearby colonies looking for any weaknesses in the perimeter. The storm hadn't let up making it almost impossible to see, but thanks to Damocles's sight he was able see the heart beats and heat signatures of everything within a few hundred yards.
'They got snipers. Colonial marines, they make good warriors.' Damocles noted after seeing how those standing inside the shelters on top of the wall stood trained and ready for anything even in this weather. 'How easy do you think it will be. To get in and take it.'
"Too many to deal with now but...maybe if we started tearing them apart from the inside we might be able to watch it collapse at our feet." Max replied watching for a few more hours noting the watch turnover times how quickly it was done who stayed behind a little longer.
'What are you boys hunting now?' Searnîsh asked crawling up to her mates causing them to look at her in shock as her black contrast stood out even in this blizzard that hit the night before.
Soon the alarms were going off and a sniper shot slammed into the snow next to Searnîsh making her jump and hiss at the spot then at the shooter.
"RUN!" Max yelled giving her a forceful but worried shove in the direction further into the storm.
The two ran in the storm as more and more shots where fired slowly getting closer and closer until on hit Searnîsh in the back of the head. The force of the shot ripping through her head sent her sprawling to the ground her body convulsed as her mind died leaving Max and Damocles feeling the bullet tear through their own head from their connection with Searnîsh.
"NO! I'll kill you. I KILL YOU ALL!" Max cried out before turning towards the colony and approaching lights as squads were sent out to confirm the hit.
'We need to return to the hive.' Damocles said in pain surprised at Max's reaction to something like this the two had seen and dealt death to humans and animals alike.
"No the deserve to die. Like animals." Max said sounding more like an animal himself.
The lights were closer and Max started to run at them his white hide his him from sight but not the trackers.
"Hold up I got something coming this way. It's fast, Gomez you got anything?" A marine asked as he stopped running and quickly scanned the area with his eyes but saw nothing.
"Negative nothing but snow. Wait is that a-"
The sounds of a shrill and enraged scream cut the marine off and the sound of flesh being ripped filled the others ears. One by one the marines died at the hands of some unseen monster till only one remained and he started to run back to the safety of the colony.
The marine just started to make the outline of the colony before he felt talons rip through his legs and lower back sending him flying to the ground and crippled, the marine whimpered and started to crawl in the direction of his home before something grabbed him and dragged him back.
"Where do you think your going." An unnatural voice asked as the marine was turned till he saw his pursuer a white xenomorph stained in the blood of his fellow marines its mouth baring its teeth. "You've taken the last bit of happiness I had now you will know my pain." With that the xenomorph brought its tail to its arm and pierced its skin enough to get some blood on it and Drew an "X" over the marines heart and watched as it quickly ate through his armor and started going into his chest. The marines screams was music to Max's ears as he watched the acid eat the marines chest in half sending his lower half to the ground. Max threw the upper half to the side and continued to the colony.
The alarms in the colony were still going off and all of the defense lights were on the top of the wall was filled with marines looking for the reason for the alarms. After awhile the marines started to lose their sense of urgency and treated it as if it was a drill pointless and repudiative. As the marines started to leave to go back to their beds and stations a woman's scream cut through the the night.
By morning the colony was silent the storm had passed revealing homes broken into blood splattered the walls children laid slaughtered amongst the elderly marines piled in the very center of the colony with one at the top impaled in a metal beam its head had a fist size through her head. Max still as a xenomorph stumbled out of the colony blood frozen to his body, looking for his dead love now buried in the snow. Once finding the spot he began to dig until he found her corpse he picked her up gently and started to journey back to the hive.
'What did you do.' Damocles asked knowing quite well what had happened.
"There is a reason why I never fought for power it would end up the same way. Now shut up and let's get back to the queen." Max snapped silencing the alien inside of him.
As they entered the hive Alpha was the first to greet them in his normal way. 'Well look at the hal-' he was stopped short not just by the way Max hissed at him but also by his blood covered appearance and by what he carried the corpse of his love. Alpha immediately ran up a head clearing a path directly to the queen keeping any hive members he came across to stay out of the way for Max.
When Max reached the queen she let out a screech of pure sorrow as she saw the lifeless corpse of one of her children. Then saw how Max looked blood now starting to thaw and drip from him and onto the ground of her chamber.
'Did they suffer Damocles?' She asked but got no respond from him.
"Yes they did." Max answered letting the sound of dripping blood fill the void between them for a moment. "My queen I will be leaving there's no reason for me to stay and I'm no longer in control of myself I will need to go somewhere we're can't harm anyone."
The queen tried to reason with him but stopped when it was clear that he wasn't going to change his mind. 'She never got to tell you that you were going to be her alpha.' The queen said sadly to Max's back as he walked out leaving everything he had grown to love after so long of fearing and hating behind he left it all.
For once as he walked the winter landscape he wasn't cold he didn't feel anything anymore he was hollow, dead to all things that made him human still.
'Where are we going?' Damocles asked quietly which brought Max out of his brooding and thoughts of how he could've saved her.
"We're heading off planet. To a place where only those that deserve our punishment go. We're heading, to earth." Max said as the colony he had just wiped out came into view.
Max searched through the blood covered homes in search for clothes and money. Once he found enough to get him just about anywhere and anything he through the marine weapons scattered under the snow. The sniper rifle that killed his beloved was not a normal but a custom made one that collapsed making for easy storage stuffing that and a handful of amo Max picked up a pulse rifle and amo for it and kept going to the nearest spaceport on the planet. Max didn't forget Damocles's promise of revenge on the one that sent him and his human family to die here he was going after Weyland he was the enemy and he was going to die with a sniper round through his skull.
Meanwhile on earth...
"Mr. Weyland, sir we have reports of another colony going dark after what seemed to be reports of a white xenomorph." An android said reading from its holopad of reports from colonies around the galaxy.
"A white one you say. How interesting, I wonder has something new been made." Weyland said to himself as he mulled the information over and over in his mind. "This might be worth investigating send in a detachment to the colony and see if the reports are true."
"As you wish sir."the android replied already making the orders for the nearest cruiser to head for the outer rim of the galaxy.
'Nothing will stop me from taking what is mine.' Weyland thought as he brought up the list of colonists from that sector looking for anything out of the familiar nothing popped out the majority were already dead. Swearing Weyland slammed his hands on the table and looked out his massive window overlooking the city.
End of chapter II