.4.
-Threat increase-
.x.
From the onset of the Renegade's mission, nothing had gone to plan. When the time had come to dispatch the "gift" to Earth, the Renegade hadn't volunteered – he'd been chosen on sole merit that he technically was an Upgrade, an enhanced version of his former self. His familiarity with the operations of the u'darahje made him the most obvious choice. Others had been chosen too, some of them "true" yautja, the others defectors like himself. It became apparent immediately that any chance of succeeding would require a phenomenal amount of luck and skill. The u'darahje had already put countermeasures into effect. Subsequently he'd had his own taste of conflict with them not long after departing the homeworld with his precious cargo. He couldn't afford to waste time with a firefight; instead he'd taken a calculated risk, opening a rift in order to make a jump through space, a rift coded to his own vessel's engine signature, a rift his u'darahje opponent could not follow through. He'd gambled and lost, sustaining heavy damage before managing to escape through the rift. From there it had been a cascading series of failures, ultimately leading to his capture.
Upon escaping from Traeger's facility, he'd had to improvise a great deal in a very short span of time. Contrary to the belief of those that had found him in the jungle, the Renegade was well-versed in English, as were most yautja who came to Earth to Hunt. Unlike the others, his knowledge of the language had been born of necessity. Drugged into submission though he'd been, he'd been semi-aware for most of the time, long enough to hear what they'd been saying, long enough to realize what they'd intended. They had no interest in why he was here – they just wanted everything about him. His technology. His knowledge. And, after taking a sample of his spinal fluid and discovering he had fragments of human DNA, answers to questions they had no right to know.
And now here he was, stranded and without crucial pieces of his gear, hunted by a militarized human organization. And, if his instincts were correct, soon to be hunted by one or more of the u'darahje. The project and the exoskeleton were safe, he'd seen to that, but he needed to regain them. To do that, he needed his gear. And if he managed all of this, if managed to live long enough to get to that point, he needed to deliver the gift to the appropriate individuals. The human leader that had kept him captive – Will Traeger – had proven himself unfit to receive it. The Renegade hated to admit it, loathed to admit it, but he needed help in that regard.
He was still unsure of his choice in choosing the human he'd picked up off the ground, but it was all he had to work with given the time constraints he found himself facing. He'd heard enough during his captivity to know this particular human had some knowledge in evolutionary biology, which meant it had the potential to be of use to him later on. He'd saved it from the other humans, making a quicksilver decision on the fly. If nothing else, it had proven amusingly defiant even as it drifted into unconsciousness. It hadn't weighed much, either, but after running with it draped over his shoulder for several miles he'd decided he needed to save his strength. Dumping it into the lake had been amusing, too, and he'd enjoyed the way it had run from him immediately afterward. It wasn't until after, when he'd deterred it with a show of force from the burner mounted on his shoulder, that he'd noticed that the human's wet, clinging clothes revealed a feminine outline. As different as humans and yautja were, their physiology was not incomparable.
So. His little captive was a she. Interesting. He'd heard differing accounts of human females from other yautja who had spent considerable time hunting on Earth. Depending on who he spoke to, the females were either weaker and less clever than the males, or were smarter and better at survival. The Renegade was curious to see which side of hearsay this one would fall on, though given the current state of things, it would be healthier for her if she proved to be a survivor. It seemed she was, or had the makings of being one. The way she'd spun on him in the forest had told him as much. Human eyes, though far too small and close-set, somehow still managed to be remarkably expressive and he hadn't missed the hostile fury burning in hers. He'd pinned her to the tree by the throat and had enjoyed watching the anger fade in those eyes, watched them instead widen in panic and fear. Her life was s'yuit-de – he held domain over it now and only by his judgement did she still draw breath. He kept his hand around her throat until he was certain she understood as much and then let her go.
She chose to be obedient after that, at least temporarily, resuming her walk in the direction he'd previously indicated. Scanning the area through the vision modes of his visor had revealed structures in the distance, structures devoid of any living presence. There were things he needed to ascertain before he could proceed, things he needed to attend to from within enclosed walls, away from the light of encroaching dawn and any inquisitive eyes that might chance upon them. At his direction the human preceded him into the house and stood uneasily in one large room as he passed into another. Wasting no time, he'd activated his gauntlet's scanning system to first determine the location of his cargo and then pinpoint the missing pieces of his gear. The first matter was troublesome; the wreckage of his ship was a considerable distance away. The second matter could be rectified quickly providing there were no unforeseen obstacles.
The human had strayed into the room. An idea occurred to him. He beckoned her over, noting the the obvious hesitance of her posture and the extreme reluctance in the way she walked. She feared him. Good. He could – and would – use her fear to his advantage. He enhanced the image of his gauntlet's projection, first showing her the two locations of his gear and then honing in on one in particular. It was located in a human residence in the city not far away and of the two of them, the chances of retrieving that item without drawing unnecessary attention was far lower with her. The Renegade was no fool; he knew those that had held him captive would want her, want to strip from her anything she'd learned in his company, knew that they'd be looking for her as much as they were for himself. To that end, he intended to use her as a distraction. He doubted she'd succeed at the task he'd set – she'd be openly visible to anybody looking. Hidden from human methods of discovery by virtue of his cloak, he'd be virtually undetectable. Those hunting them both would more easily locate her, giving him the time and the freedom to obtain the first piece before turning his attention to the second.
He debated for a moment. He didn't intend that she die, though she was a liability given her knowledge of his existence. He could use her later, or more specifically, use her expertise. He reached a decision. He inputted a sequence of prompts into the gauntlet's controls. A small compartment on the bottom of his gauntlet ejected a tracking device. He'd taken it between two fingers and approached the human, but she'd guessed his intention and made to flee. It wasn't difficult to stop her, shoving her against the wall and pinning her there with his weight. He'd used one clawed hand to twist her head at the side, the other to swat away the thick dark strands that covered her head. The tracker was easily enough attached to her skin, her sharp cry letting him know that the process was not without pain.
He stepped back, bringing up the projection again, navigating the three dimensional map of the area until it clearly showed the building they stood in and more importantly, the blinking red dot of the tracker attached to her body. As comprehension dawned, the human said something in a low voice, her small dark eyes narrowed to mere slits. He'd understood her words – it was the human equivalent of ell-osde'pauk. Her temerity elicited a laugh from him and given the way the expression on her face contorted, she was entirely aware he was mocking her. She reached up to try and remove the tracker and he watched, still amused, as the resulting shock dropped her to her hands and knees. The only way it was coming off was if he removed it.
He dropped to a crouch and gestured to catch her attention. He didn't need to be familiar with human facial queues to know she was glaring at him, half her face obscured by dark strands. He mimed removing the tracker before using his fist to indicate an explosion. He did this three times before she figured it out. Her eyes widened. Good. She understood the stakes. He left her where she was, collapsed in a heap on the floor, certain that her instinct for self-preservation would prompt her to do what he'd indicated she was to do. If she obeyed his unspoken directive it would go easier for her. If she didn't, if she tried to run or seek asylum somewhere, from someone – well, he supposed they'd find the threshold for human pain tolerance together.
.x.
Finding the first piece of his equipment was not so difficult because as it happened, it was actually heading in his direction. He'd been tracking the signal, moving on an intercept course. It was quite obviously being transported in a vehicle. He weighed his options: at this point, discretion was pointless. He needed to retrieve it swiftly and move on to the other. With the perpetual threat of the u'darahje hanging over his head, remaining in one spot for too long was both unwise and dangerous.
The road he followed toward his target was a rural one, paved but remote as it wound through thick forest. Another quick check with the tracking system revealed his equipment followed the very same road and would reach this location in a matter of minutes. The Renegade chose a suitable spot for an ambush and began setting the trap. It took him very little time. He moved off the road, leaping up into the thick high branches of the bordering trees. He climbed until he found an ideal perch, doing so deftly enough that the bright autumn leaves barely rustled. His line of sight was largely uninterrupted, not that it would matter. He settled in to wait with the unshakeable patience of a hunter. He didn't wait long. Soon enough a convoy of trucks rumbled into view, three of them, large and boxy and all clearly military. He remained unmoving, only watching, until the lead truck was in position.
A simple tap from one of his fingers set off the first device, launching the truck high into the air with a resounding, rolling BOOM and a pillar of fire. The second and third devices were triggered by the first, detonating within fractions of a second of each other. In the aftermath the debris from the three vehicles lay scattered across the road and well into the trees, thick oily plumes of smoke billowing upward. Bodies lay strewn about in all directions, some whole, some not. The Renegade dropped from the tree, landing with a predator's nimble grace before moving out onto the road and dropping his cloak. He scanned the scene before him with first one vision mode and then another until he located what he sought. Part of it protruded from beneath a body. As the Renegade drew closer, he saw the body still moved.
He reached down and gripped the human soldier by the back of the neck, twisting as he did so. He felt the bones break beneath his hand and tossed the body to land in the ditch some several feet away. And there it was at his feet, the bio-helmet that had been stolen from him at the crash site. He removed the mask he wore and with a twist of his wrist lobbed it up and away, soaring end over end to be lost in the forest. Picking up his own helmet, he ran his fingers almost fondly over the slash marks that scored the right side, a gift from the second kainde amedha queen he'd ever encountered. He fit the mask over his face, emitting a pleased trill as the helmet's familiar information overlay filled his vision. One down piece down, one to go.
He caught movement in his field of view. A wounded human was dragging itself toward its firearm, making a tortured, wheezing noise at it did so. The Renegade observed this futility as he approached. The human heard his heavy footsteps, reached frantically for the gun, and rolled over onto its back in order to shoot. It lacked the strength to aim properly and the shots went wide. Flexing his forearm, the Renegade extended the dual blades of his ki'cti-pa. The human tried frantically to push itself backward with its legs, but one limb had been shattered by the explosion. It was an entertaining sight. Giving an amused grunt from behind his mask, the Renegade brought his foot down on the human's arm, the arm holding the gun. The human screamed as he exerted steady pressure, kept screaming as his bones were slowly crushed. The Renegade savored the sound and when it finally trailed off into pathetic, whimpering cries, he drove the blades of his ki'cti-pa through its throat.
Sounds from the road ahead. Another vehicle was approaching. He wrenched his blades free, shook his arm to rid them of blood before retracting them back into the gauntlet. He stepped back, casting one last satisfied look over the devastation he'd wrought before activating his cloak and disappearing into the trees.
.x.
A short time later, a quick check revealed something surprising. The last piece of his missing equipment – his other gauntlet – was now on the move. According to the tracker he'd placed on the human female, it was in her possession. Either that, or she'd been captured by whoever else had found the gauntlet. He began to move with greater speed, entirely capable as yautja to run flat out for far longer than humans could ever hope to. His tracking system was unerring. As he closed the gap, he realized the human was moving too slowly to be in a vehicle. She was on foot, then, somewhere on the outskirts of the nearby city. His swift, sure steps made only the slightest of noises; stealth and speed together were something he did very well. When a final check revealed the human and his gauntlet were very close, he left the ground for the advantage offered by the trees. Leaping from one to another, it took him only a matter of seconds before he reached his destination.
Crouching on a thick branch, obscured from human vision by his cloaking mechanism, he observed the scene. Spreading out before him was a large field of grass, enclosed by a metal fence. Walking across that field, drawing ever nearer, was the human female. She was not alone, however – walking with her were several other humans, all of them bearing some manner of weapon. A rapid flip through vision modes eventually located his gauntlet. It was secure in a bag riding on the human female's back. The Renegade was, despite himself, somewhat impressed. Despite heavy odds against her, she'd done it.
There was no point in waiting. He fired a shot from the burner on his shoulder, aiming for the ground to the right of the human group. As predicted, they scattered immediately and the Renegade jumped from the tree to the ground. As he strode toward the female he let his cloak melt away, boldly revealing himself in broad daylight to great effect. Shouts of alarm rose on the air as the humans attempted to regroup. The female, however, was steadily backing away. He closed the gap between them with a short burst of speed, catching her by the front of her shirt just as she attempted to turn and run. He lowered his head and roared in her face, the sound no less impressive from behind the barrier of his mask. He was aware the other humans were taking aim at him; he spun the female around, grabbed her by the back of the neck, pushed her forward and held her there. Any shot they took would go through her first.
"Don't shoot him! Jesus fucking Christ, don't shoot him!" Her voice exploded forth, a shrill and wavering plea. The Renegade rather liked the sound of it.
One of the humans was attempting to slowly circle around in a flanking maneuver. A quick examination revealed that the Renegade had encountered this particular human before – he recognized the face. It was the male soldier from the crash site, the one that had donned his gauntlet, the one that had wounded him. The Renegade uttered a low growling trill and walked backward, roughly dragging the female with him. The soldier stopped moving. The Renegade activated his animal loop and previously recorded words rose on the air.
"Walk away from the tree, Dupree."
The expression on the soldier's face twisted, making it even uglier. He recognized his own voice, clearly, recognized the last words he'd spoken to his fellow soldier before the Renegade had killed him.
"You ugly fucker," the soldier spat. The Renegade gave a short bark of laughter.
The other humans were trying to take advantage of the situation, assembling themselves into a semi-strategic position, guns held at the ready. To deter them, the Renegade hefted the female into the air, still holding her by the back of the neck. She sputtered, clawing at his grip, legs flailing wildly. The Renegade raised his other hand, made sure the humans saw it, and indicated with a downward motion of one finger for them to drop their guns. They hesitated, arguing amongst themselves. He shook the female, prompting her to cry out, and repeated his gesture. This time, they slowly and reluctantly obeyed.
Once the last gun was laid down on the grass, the Renegade ripped the bag from the female's shoulders and dropped her. She made to scramble away but he placed a foot on the small of her back and exerted just enough pressure that she stopped moving entirely. He tore the bag open as they all watched, retrieving his lost gauntlet with a trill of satisfaction before sliding his arm through it. It activated immediately, automatically adjusting itself so that it fit snug around his forearm. Systems that had been lost to him with its absence came online, informing him of two things simultaneously: the first, that a u'darahje engine signature had been detected on this planet's surface and the second, that there were multiple u'darahje life signs rapidly approaching this location.
The Renegade snarled, whipping around. What bounded out of the trees wasn't quite what he expected, but it was bad enough. Three u'darahje hounds, yet another another perversion of nature wrought by excessive experimentation. If they were here, their master was most certainly not far behind. The hounds exploded into action, loping across the grass with their enormous strides, their focus on the Renegade and the Renegade alone. That changed the moment the humans opened fire on them, and then every living thing present became a target.
The Renegade's newly found gauntlet contained yautja weaponry that was technically still considered experimental. He made use of it anyway, lifting that arm and aiming down it. A small burner seamlessly shaped itself out of the metal with an audible click, and when it fired the world explored in a brilliant, blinding burst of blue. The blast took the closest hound in the flank, blowing a hole clean through it. With a baying howl, it stumbled and fell, bowling into two of the humans. In the reigning chaos, the Renegade made a series of decisions in quick succession. The female had gotten to her feet and bolted the moment he'd become distracted by the hounds and had made it halfway across the field already. He fired another shot from his arm burner with the intention of creating even more chaos. Hounds and humans alike cringed at the blue light, either hitting the ground or diving to the side. The Renegade turned his back on it all and ran after the female. She'd slowed a bit to foolishly risk a glance over her shoulder. Seeing what was pursuing her prompted her to double her speed, which the Renegade easily matched in a matter of a few strides. She veered sharply to the side; he swerved to intercept, sticking out one arm and clotheslining her. She landed hard on her back with a muted grunt.
"Leave me the fuck alone!" she shouted, attempting to scuttle backwards. He followed her as she used her legs to frantically push herself across the grass. The sound of a hound's guttural bark whipped his head around to find that his true enemy – the only living thing in existence that he considered an equal – had arrived, appearing from out of the trees. An urgent chittering sound escaped him and he whirled back around to deal with the female. She was trying to get up. He dropped to one knee and shoved her down with his hand. She actually snarled at him, features twisting, baring her teeth. At any other time, he might have been impressed this display of feral ferocity. He kept her pinned down. With his other hand he pointed back across the field, to where the u'darahje and its hounds were wreaking havoc upon the other humans. She twisted her head to see. Beneath his hand her abdomen rose and fell as she sucked in a sharp breath.
"Oh, fuck me," she whisper-groaned. Her eyes flitted back to his masked face. "There are two of you?"
The Renegade made a sharp slashing gesture, shaking his head as he did so. He tilted his head and tapped the side of his neck. His reminder of the tracking device and just what it could do had the intended effect of taking the remaining fight right out of her. The threat of perpetual explosion would be enough to manipulate her into following him without a fight, but for the sake of expediting things from here on she needed a better understanding, or at least as much as he could convey in the very short time left to him. He made an effort to do what he'd never done before, his mouth forming words both foreign and awkward to him.
"Enemy." he said in English, pointing again at the u'darahje and its hounds.
Her eyes widened. Beneath his hand, her body went limp in astonishment. He was physiologically incapable of speaking her language well, but clearly she'd understood him regardless. The sounds of battle increased behind them, gunfire erupting from several locations and one very long, very loud scream abruptly rising and falling. The Renegade and female both jerked their heads around, just in time to see the u'darahje rip the arm off one of the humans and toss it to the hounds.
"Holy fuck!" the female gasped, beginning to breathe very quickly.
"Enemy." the Renegade said again, making her look at him, and then gestured to himself with his thumb as his mouth formed yet another unfamiliar word. "Survive."
He saw comprehension strike her, watched as her eyes darted between himself and the u'darahje, knew she was weighing the options of going with one brutal killer in order to escape the other. Another human scream made her wince, and as the Renegade stood she scrambled to get to her feet as well.
"Okay," she whispered, clearly terrified. "Okay. I'm with you."
.x.
