I do not own Star Wars, Halo, Mass Effect, Alien, or Predator.
Planet Garvug
Ganar Yulaz had experienced a lot in his long life: the bloodlust he felt when he survived the krogan rite of passage, the pride he felt when he rose to become the leader of the Blood Pack, following in the footsteps of his clansman Ganar Wrang, and the satisfaction at wrestling control of the gang from the vorcha after the Reaper War.
He was a warrior, one to be feared and respected, for he commanded the strongest and most infamous security company in the Skyllian Verge.
Which is why today's events were both baffling and infuriating.
Darth Maul, the infamous criminal warlord, had landed an army on Garvug, consisting of Death Watch warriors, Black Sun soldiers, Blue Suns mercs and Zann Consortium soldiers and vehicles. What was even more surprising was that soon after landing, Maul had contacted the Blood Pack leader, requesting that he join up with him and Aria T'Loak.
Yulaz felt his blood boil as he stared at the hologram of the Sith Lord in front of him, whose soft voice displayed a lack of respect or fear and was tinged with a sense of... boredom.
"You're asking the Blood Pack to join you and that asari, and yet you offer no payment?!" Yulaz snarled angrily.
"Join us or die, the choice is yours." Maul replied.
Enraged now, Yulaz cut the transmission and ordered the forces in the capital to converge on the assembled Shadow Collective army, who were outnumbered given the large amount of vorcha and krogan that were on the planet.
As the Blood Pack legion marched, Maul stood on a hill, unconcerned with the horde of vorcha and krogan converging on them. Given the histories of both species, he knew that bombarding the planet from orbit wouldn't win their respect or allegiance, and on the advice of Savage, chose to meet might with might, perfectly willing to prove to the krogan that the Shadow Collective is not to be trifled with.
As the Blood Pack reached the outskirts of the city, the Collective's secret weapon landed on planet.
"Deploy the annihilator droid," Maul ordered, a slight smirk growing on his face.
The Scorpenek annihilator droid clambered out of the Zann Consortium transport and rose up to its full height, observing the opposing army, who had paused to marvel at the sight of the massive scorpion-shaped automata. Deploying it's bubble shaped ray-particle shield, the droid started unleashing volleys of laser fire at the assembled Blood Pack army, reducing the few Tomkas to smoking husks and vaporizing dozens of vorcha and krogan with each volley. Returning fire simply splashed harmlessly against the annihilator's shield, and soon most of the vorcha had broken ranks and fled.
Maul smiled as the annihilator droid carved a path through the Blood Pack, allowing the rest of the Shadow Collective to storm the capital. Known as the 'big brother" of the feared destroyer droids, the Scorpenek annihilator droid was one of the deadliest weapons in the arsenal of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
During the Clone Wars, a single annihilator was known to be capable of turning an armored column of a dozen AT-TEs into a pile of smoking wrecks, and had been responsible for several Separatist victories. Because of this, the droids were astronomically expensive, the Colicoids having built less than a hundred in total. After the war, the Empire had collected the remaining annihilator droids and transferred them to Palpatine's citadel on the planet Byss.
Consequently, when Byss was destroyed, the galaxy thought all the remaining annihilators had been destroyed with them, but Maul had found one while searching through one of his master's old vaults, safely hidden in the Outer Rim.
It had taken a lot of time and energy to reprogram the annihilator, but as Maul and Savage watched it tear apart Blood Pack fortifications, they knew it was well worth the effort and expense.
Moving into the city, Maul and Savage headed straight for the HQ of Ganar Yulaz, with most of the resistance from the Blood Pack crushed in their path.
As they arrived at the top floor, the brothers were greeted by Yulaz charging at them. They had no time to react as the 500 pound krogan body-slammed into them both, grabbed them and then hurled them into the center of the room.
Savage recovered first and was able to stop Yulaz's second charge with a combination of his own raw strength and the power of the Force. Holding the krogan in place, Savage unleashed a brutal flurry of Force assisted punches that wore down the Blood Pack leader. Yulaz's own blows were either blocked or dodged by the unnaturally fast moving Nightbrother, and Savage was free to continue his barrage uninterrupted.
An uppercut from his cybernetic arm was the coup de grace that sent Yulaz sprawling on the floor, stunned.
"Excellent work, Savage." Maul said, as his brother grinned at the compliment. Praise from Darth Maul was rare, and it is something to be remembered.
Stalking over to Yulaz's stirring form, the krogan leader awoke to see the blade of the darksaber pointing at his neck.
"Submit or suffer." Maul growled as Savage ignited one of the ends of his lightsaber and joined his brother by pointing the tip at Yulaz's throat.
Seeing no other choice, Yulaz bowed his head in a gesture of submission.
"It was supposed to be an easy job." Burke said over the communications link, "deliver the crates to the warehouse, we were told that the Eclipse would be able to handle that."
He gestured to the screen that displayed Captain Enoli
"And yet you failed." He accused, pointing his finger at the asari.
"There were security guards waiting for us at the drop point, and you promised that wouldn't be the case." She replied, "I lost several of my best men, and a good chunk of their equipment, so you better be able to pay for all of that."
"For an unfinished job?" Burke replied angrily.
The task had been simple: smuggle a number of crates to multiple space stations all over the sector. These stations all had some importance to Omega, and Weyland-Yutani had been ordered by the Separatists to deliver their surprises to them, so they could eventually move to Omega itself.
The first 3 deliveries had gone smoothly, but for the final drop, someone had tipped off station security, who had attacked Eclipse as they arrived.
"My benefactors paid the Eclipse, specifically, because we were told that if there was any armed resistance, your men would be able to deal with it, but they send you running?"
"Security was tighter than we were told, and we can't go back again because they'll be waiting for us." Enoli replied.
Burke cursed, "Alright," he said "We'll pay you for the deliveries done," he said, as the payment transferred to the accounts the Eclipse had set up.
"Deliver the remaining crates back to us, and we'll pay you for the rest."
"I don't think so," the captain responded, "we're taking the remaining crates as compensation for the men we lost, and I'm sure the contents will be worth more on the black market than what you're paying us."
She cut the link before Burke could respond.
Enoli sat down in her chair, grimacing. They had been given 20 crates; 4 large ones capable of holding a person inside, and 16 smaller ones, that were split into groups of 4. 5 crates were to be delivered to each space station, but as the Eclipse proceeded with their mission, they realized the crates doubled as stasis containers, holding their cargo in suspended animation.
A few curious soldiers attempted to peek inside, but found that the crates were magnetically sealed with a timed lock, keeping anyone from opening them.
Enoli had ordered that the deliveries would proceed as planned, but when they got to the station in the Arinlarkan system, they found security forces were waiting for them. A firefight had ensued, leaving 5 of her men dead, and several of them injured, having barely escaped into their ship before Enoli ordered a retreat.
Figuring that the contents of the crates were fairly valuable, but desiring payment at the same time, Enoli had contacted Burke to ensure he paid up before ordering a course set for the Eclipse space station hidden in the Fathar system.
Arriving at the old run-down space station, Eclipse guards offloaded the 5 remaining crates, and got their lock-picking specialists to work on them, to see if the locks could be broken.
Unfortunately, they couldn't do break the seal, so Enoli decided to wait it out, seeing as the lock was set to open in a day or so. All in all, not the best mission for Eclipse, though, whatever was in the crates would hopefully make it worthwhile.
Back at the Weyland-Yutani HQ, shortly after Enoli had disconnected, Burke stood there in shock for a moment, but got over it just as Weyland walked in.
"Well, that's a shame," the android said, "but it's still useful. Those crates are capable of being remotely opened, correct?"
"Of course," Burke replied, "Shall I give the order?"
"Yes," Weyland said, "But wait until they arrive at their base, to increase the number of casualties.
Burke grinned in response.
"We'll make the Eclipse regret having crossed us."
On the Eclipse space station, Captain Enoli ordered that the crates be moved into secure storage, sealed from any form of theft until they opened the next day.
Because of this, there were no witnesses in the vicinity when the remote activation signal unsealed and opened the crates, revealing 4 xenomorph eggs and a live xenomorph drone, who quickly crawled out of the largest crate and into the vents to search for prey.
A few minutes later, the facehuggers exited the eggs and followed closely behind the drone, ready to impregnate any isolated and unsuspecting being that they came across.
Unlike their brethren, which had been implanted with nanotechnology and forced to work with Separatist forces, these xenomorphs were uncontrolled and feral.
Weyland-Yutani had unleashed them to serve only as area-denial weapons, leaving them feral so that there was no actual evidence that the Company was behind their release (true, it was no secret that Weyland-Yutani had extensive access to xenomorphs, but they were not the only ones).
As the facehuggers spread throughout the station, finding and impregnating isolated guards and soldiers, the drone made its way to the reactor core, dispatching anyone that got in its way.
Crawling to the level underneath the reactor, the drone started setting up a hive, while Enoli and her soldiers made their way to the cargo hold, expecting to see the crates opened and valuable weaponry inside.
What they found instead was 5 empty crates... no wait, not completely empty. The smaller crates each contained a single leathery object that resembled an egg. However all 4 of them were empty, which angered Enoli to no end.
Furious, Enoli ordered a curfew in place for the civilian workers, while the Eclipse forces spread out searching for whatever had been inside the crates.
Locking civilians in their quarters had been intended to keep the Eclipse's sources of income safe, but unfortunately, this allowed the xenomorphs to kidnap them and take them back to the hive, to be used as hosts or nutrients to create more eggs.
Within 3 days, dozens of drones had been birthed and fully-grown, and the remaining Eclipse soldiers soon found themselves engaged in a guerilla war against a species that knew no fear.
Squad chatter often consisted of panicked screams and horrible screeching. When reinforcements arrived at the source of the signal, the only evidence that those squads existed was splatters of blood all over the walls and the floor.
Attempts by the Eclipse to send a distress signal were futile, as soldiers found the comm operators dead, their workstations destroyed, and the comm tower itself was discovered have its inner workings melted by acid blood.
Attempts to escape also proved to be futile, as the escape pods all had their distress beacons removed; as Eclipse deemed it a waste of money to keep them. Enoli attempted to escape using her ship, but a xenomorph must have secreted itself inside, as the ship spun out of control shortly after exiting the hanger and slowly burnt up in the atmosphere of the nearby planet.
Eventually, as the casualties mounted, the remaining Eclipse soldiers were forced to fall back on mechs, hoping that the mechanical soldiers would be able to flush the creatures out of hiding. However, the programming of LOKI, FENRIS and YMIR mechs was incapable of fighting against an enemy such as this, and the mechs were destroyed one by one.
Salarian and human mercenaries watched the feeds of the mechs in horror, as their last resort weapons were torn to shreds by the razor sharp claws and teeth of the jet black monsters.
One salarian was watching when he felt something warm and wet splatter on his shoulder. Inspecting the substance, he realized it was drool when a sharp pain in his chest interrupted his thoughts. Staring down, he saw a long jet black tail sticking out of chest, before it retracted, pulling him into the vents with it.
Several hours later, it was over. The Eclipse outpost had been completely overrun by the alien monsters, leaving the station to float lifelessly through the void.
Events were not faring much better on any of the other stations, as the xenomorphs overran each supply port, the residents were growing desperate.
The station in the Arinlarkan system would be the only one to receive aid during this outbreak, as a cloaked ship docked with the side of the station and cut a hole through the hull. If anyone in the hallway had still been alive, they would have witnessed three cloaked humanoid figures step through the hole.
The 3 soon decloaked revealing themselves to be members of the Predator race. O'rika, the leader of the three brothers, consulted his holomap and found that most of the serpents were in the central area of the station.
Unsheathing their wrist blades in anticipation, the Yautja hunters ran down the corridor, blood boiling in preparation for a worthy hunt.
A scream drew O'rika's attention, diverting his and his brothers path to a nearby medical center. Kicking the door down, O'rika took aim at a turian-birthed serpent standing on an operating table. Hissing, the creature leapt towards him, before a plasma bolt sent it flying in the opposite direction.
This drew the attention of several xenomorphs, who crawled into the room through the vents. However they were quickly cut down by the 3 Predators. Eventually, the tide of xenomorphs stopped and the Yuatja quickly located the source of the scream they had heard:
It had come from underneath a doctor's desk, as a terrified Rodian had screamed and then shot and killed a xenomorph. In panic, he shot a blaster bolt at O'rika, who's armor absorbed the impact.
Ripping the gun from his hands, O'rika bent down so that his face was at eye level with the Rodian. Using his translator, O'rika explained that they were here to help, but the Rodian kept muttering one thing.
"Soldiers in white... took one of those things! They brought them here and left us to die!" The Rodian chanted over and over.
The 3 Predators looked at each other as their minds worked: clearly someone had been here before them and taken a xenomorph. But why and who?
The obvious culprit was the Weyland-Yutani Corporation; their soldiers and combat androids were primarily given white battle armor, and they were known to have an obsessive nature when it comes to xenomorphs. But they already have a monopoly on xenomorph bioweapons, so why would they need to kidnap one, when they already have hundreds if not thousands?
Besides, Wey-Yu xenomorphs have Separatist nanotechnology implanted in their skulls so they would see Separatist IFFs as friendly warriors, and also so they could be given specific instructions.
A quick scan from O'rika's bio-mask revealed that these serpents were unmodified; they were uncontrolled and feral. So who would do something like this?
Shrugging off these thoughts, O'rika called one of the Yuatja aboard their vessel and requested that he escort this Rodian aboard until everything was sorted. Then he and his 2 brothers resumed their hunt in the darkened utility hallways in the facility.
On the other side of the station, a Delta-class stormtrooper transport had docked at one of the still functioning airlocks, dispensing two squads of Stormtroopers from the 501st Legion. These brave men and women set out to find out the source of this infestation, and hopefully stop it in its tracks.
While the squads split up and fought their way through the bowels of this supply facility, a squad of spacetroopers arrived on the exterior of the station; targeting any xenomorph who had escaped onto the surface and tried to breach their way into the troop transport.
If the hull had been clear of xenomorphs, the spacetroopers would likely have noticed another ship detaching from the station and leaving the system.
In the bowels of the station, Sidon Valen was fleeing for his life from the monstrosities behind him. As a turian, he had been taught to stand and fight against whatever the opponent threw at you. Never let your enemies see you run, and set traps as you fall back.
Whoever had pioneered those strategies had never encountered these nightmares.
Sidon kept running through the bowels of the station when he tripped over something long and thin. Getting his bearings, he realized it was a xenomorph tail; a salarian-born bug to be precise, if the two cranial horns sprouting from it's elongated head were any indication.
Frozen in terror, Sidon could only watch as the creature raised its tail in order to plunge it into his chest. There was a loud whine and a bolt of red energy slammed into the xenomorph, cauterizing the wound and preventing it's acidic blood from spilling.
Sidon looked behind him to see a squad of Imperial stormtroopers unleashing a volley of blaster fire into the salarian bug, then focusing their fire on any other xenomorphs drawn to the noise.
Once the xenomorphs were all dead, the stormtroopers came up to him. Worried they might shoot him, Sidon realized his fears were unfounded when the lead stormtrooper offered his hand, and helped him up.
"I am Su-mil, what is your name?" The white-armored soldier asked him.
"Sidon Valen." The turian shakily replied. "We'll get you out of here, Sidon, I promise you." Su-mil said assuredly.
The sound of plasma fire drew the attention of the stormtroopers, forcing them to take Sidon as they made their way towards the racket, expecting to have to rescue more survivors.
What they found instead was a large amount of dead xenomorphs, and lots of holes from where their blood had melted through every nearby surface. Sidon and the stormtroopers were surprised to see 3 individuals holding off a horde of xenomorphs with nothing but bolts of plasma, blades and their own hands.
Sidon recognized the 3 aliens as members of the Yautja species; better known as the Predators, they had a tendency to hunt down armed and deadly sentient life for sport, and xenomorphs were known to be some of their favorite prey.
Just as Sidon was wondering if they had been responsible for the xenomorph outbreak, the Predators finished slaughtering all the xenomorphs in the vicinity. Hearing the sound of blasters being pointed at them, the Predators spun toward the source of the noise, targeting lasers pointing at the stormtroopers and Sidon.
An old human phrase summed up Sidon's feelings towards these circumstances:
"Out of the frying pan, into the fire."
Stay tuned for the next chapter, you may be surprised at what happens next.
Please review, I'd like to know whether or not I'm wasting my time on this story.