Zara was very pleased with herself. This human had come expecting trouble, she could tell by its smell. However he was nearly frozen with fear when she had shown herself. This was a huge accomplishment for Zara as, even though she was a full head and shoulders taller than the average Histash drone, she had little fighting experience. Everything she knew she got from her instincts.

Her mind began to wander as she dragged her new catch to her little nest, Of course I would know a lot more about fighting if my hive hadn't aban- NO! There's no need to think of that. That's all behind me now.

Zara tried to think of more positive things, and when that failed she just focused on the task at hand... dragging the human through the ventilation. If this one is as keen to talking to me as my other guest i'll have no end to company. Even if not the other one is plenty to talk to. He seemed sad when I left, I wonder if I should bring it something to eat... no, it will be fine. The human she dragged behind her groaned slightly. If it knows what's good for it, it won't make any trouble for itself.

But the human had no plans to remain captive...

(POV switch)

Troy came to feeling like he had a leg up on his opponent...in a way. He was being dragged by his leg and it was so far in the air that it was completely numb. With the bad joke over and done, Troy focused on the here and now. One of the few things they taught Troy in the one month training course he took, before he shipped out on this little adventure, was everything that had anything to do with the Xenomorph and the Niccupa. With no possibility of Niccupa on the ship he tried to remember everything he had learned about the Xenomorph.

They live in hives like bees and can number in the thousands. They have a sort of hive mind and each has their own rank but seem to view all but the Queen as equal.
The Drones are small, only a little smaller than a human, and nimble. And, while weak by Xeno standards, still many times stronger than a human. They have a slower operating brain and listen to the Queen for guidance.

The Warriors are slightly bigger than a drone and much tougher, they can bend solid steel bars and take shotgun rounds to the face. They also have ridges along their arms, legs, and head to denount their rank. They have higher brain power than drones but still listen devoutly to the Queen.

Then, there's the Praetorians... The only goal in their existence is to protect the Queen, they stand almost twice the height of a full grown warrior and have ordinate "crowns" atop their heads. They are so strong that they have been known to take a tank round to the face, then proceed to rip said tank to pieces, and move on to the next one. They never leave the Queens side and will give their lives without hesitation. They are devilishly clever and can make most decisions without the Queen and will often act as advisers to the Queen.

And finally, there's the Queen. She is the largest of all Xenomorphs standing about the size of a small house. The only feasible way to kill one is to bomb the hive, where she almost never leaves, into a steaming radiation riddled crater (this has not worked in every case). She has a very large, very ordinate crown and has a small set of secondary arms that don't appear until adulthood. The Queen is in all ways a mastermind genius, she can speak to all of the hive and give a coordinated attack plan in seconds. The Queen lays eggs that start the cycle of Xeno life.

The eggs the Queen lays contain a spider-like creature that is pale in color. The "facehugger", as it is often called, emerges from the egg and laches to the face if its victim. It then plants an embryo into the chest of the victim, now called the host, where it grows until it becomes a "chestburster".

All Xenomorphs start as a chestburster, a small snakelike creature that is fairly defenseless against any outside force. That said, they reach a deadly size in about one day. Their name comes from the fact that they claw their way out of the host's chest cavity and "burst" into life.

And, while all this knowledge was fine and good, none of this was helping Troy's current situation. The Xeno that was currently dragging him across the floor looked nothing like the pictures they showed him during training. For one it was bigger than a Warrior, but still much smaller than a Praetorian and certainly not as large as a Queen. It also had a small crown and a large blade-like tip to its tail. The whole thing matched up with nothing Troy had learned. He had little idea what he was up against and whatever it is, it had the upper hand.

Troy took a chance and took a peek at his surroundings, he saw the interior of the vents and some of the resin stuff the Xenos spat all over the walls of their hives. Well, if I'm gonna make a move its now or never, Troy thought. But he had no idea how to do it. Then he remembered one of the last things they tought him. "Xenomorphs are extremely sensitive to sound because they use a form of echolocation. Remember, this is both a blessing and a curse to them..."