There were few survivors of the siege at the outpost. Goodson, Astin and Jones had been lost in battle; their bodies were buried alongside those that perished eleven years previously. Hindle and Elwick had both disappeared. Wren had somehow been knocked unconscious and was now laid out on a makeshift bed in the cargo area of the boarder. The Yautja had reluctantly agreed to enter the boarder and now stood closely together in the corner watching the Oomans with great curiosity. Plaskitt handed his hip flask to Kelly who gratefully accepted, "you earned your stripes today kid. I'd want you next to me in battle anytime", he took a swig from the flask, walked over to the Yautja and offered it to them. The Yautja simply stared at him. Their eyes could be seen through their visors at this proximity. They were narrowed with confusion. They had not realised how similar the Ooman's culture and social interaction was to their own. Obviously, the Yautja honour system proved them to be far more civilised but for the first time, Nahkor and Som'tir regarded these creatures in a way that showed them as something other than soft meat. As the boarder; now piloted by an extremely anxious Collier with only a few hours of pilot school flight time under his belt; drew closer to the hive, the marines began their final weapons checks and good luck rituals. This was also observed with great interest by the Yautja. The boarder landed and Collier opened the tannoy system, "Okay guys, We're here. I'll keep the boarder prepped for take off. Just be quick, yeah?"
Bailie, Lee, Plaskitt and Kelly stood at the doorway to the ramp. The Yautja stood beside them, they extended their wristblades and offered a quick phrase in unision, "Dtai'k-dte sa-de nav'g-kon dtain'aun bpide" - The fight begun would not end until the end. The others exchanged glances, and nodded at the Yautja. As the ramp lowered, Kelly raised his pulse rifle in the air and took a deep breath. "Men, we started off as two separate teams, we didn't jell too good. Now, in spite of severe losses and vicious adversity, we are operating as a single unit. I am proud to be going into battle with you". He lowered his rifle in front of the team, they placed theirs on top and then; Bailie, Lee, Plaskitt and Kelly pointed their voices toward heaven with their new battle cry, "Blackstaff!", the Yautja roared in agreement, they knew a battle cry when they heard one.
The team pounded down the ramp and toward the mouth of the hive. As they came closer to the entrance, a swarm of aliens poured out of the doorway. The Yautja yelped in surprise, these aliens were different. They had the same basic size and shape but now sported lighter skin and mandibles. The Yautja realised what had happened, their genetic purity had been violated by the hard meat. These abominations must be destroyed. The Yautja removed their masks revealing their true appearance. Upon seeing them, Plaskitt also realised what had happened. These hunters had the same physical attributes as these mutated creatures. The aliens must somehow take on the DNA of creatures they come into contact with. The Yautja waded into the swarm of alien/yautja hybrids and began to hack limbs and heads off with their wristblades. Kelly looked to the others; they were visibly afraid. He couldn't blame them really. They were going into battle with their former predator against their common enemy. Except these creatures were totally different; they looked like a cross-breed between the predator and the alien. "Let's get in there!", Kelly screamed as they made their way into the fray.
Within moments the team were surrounded. Their backs were covered by the Yautja who in turn had theirs covered by the marines. Plasma bolts and pulse rounds lit up the faces of both the marines, the Yautja and the Predaliens. As one of the abominations leapt toward Plaskitt he fired straight into its mouth sending luminous blood spattering over him. He braved for the agonising acid burn. There was nothing. The blood of these creatures wasn't corrosive! "Close range fire is a go!" he shouted to the others, "their blood doesn't burn!"
"In that case…", Lee unhooked the smartgun from its housing across his back and brought it to bear on the creatures. He flicked it to smart mode and aimed at one of the creatures. "Shit! Its zeroing in on the friendlies too!" the smartguns intelligent targeting system could not differenciate between the Yautja and the predaliens. Their genetic makeup was too well intertwined. The Yautja correctly read the situation drew some of the predaliens away from the main swarm. Once the Yautja were out of range Lee opened fire. Tiny ballistic missiles launched from the muzzle of the gun in a spray of fire; each one impacting perfectly on the chests of the predaliens. As the smartgun ran out of ammunition, the number of predaliens had more than halved.
Kelly ran forward, still firing; "come on boys, we've got them reeling!"; his pulse rifle firing bursts of hot metal toward the hybrids. Then Kelly's rifle fell silent. Plaskitt watched in horror as Kelly dropped his rifle, his determined, steely grin changed into a look of terror as one of the predaliens pushed its tail further into his chest.
"Kelly!", Plaskitt handle whipped the creature in front of him and made for the Major. As the predalien opened its mouth to deliver the final blow, a roar came from behind Plaskitt. Nahkor had seen events unfolding and threw his long spear with deadly precision. It landed in the hybrid's mouth and pierced the back of its head. Kelly and the predalien fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.
"You bastards!" Plaskitt, Lee and Bailie unleashed their weapons in a fit of anger. The remaining predalien warriors were turned to pulp by the gunfire and plasma bolts from the Yautja.
The battleground fell silent. The creatures had been destroyed. Nahkor walked over to the body of Major Kelly and knelt over him. It removed the spear from the corpse of the hybrid and placed it at Kelly's side, then finally reached forward and very gently closed his eyes.
The hybrid queen was furious; her babies had been slain by these weak, imperfect beings. She had to teach them a lesson. They had to pay.
She pulled her self away from her egg sac and tore through the doorway; she may not be as large as a pureblood queen but her ferocity and single-mindedness more than made up for it. As she made her way to the surface she immediately saw the interlopers and set her mind on revenge.
The team said nothing. There was nothing to say. The Major was dead; they had lost countless other friends and comrades. In no way, shape or form had this been a success.
Nahkor turned to face the hive to take one last look at the venue for what had been the final battle of his blooding trial. The Chiva was now over for them. He let his glance remain at the doorway too long. He noticed movement inside the hive. A single figure lurked in the darkness. Nahkor clicked his mandibles with impatience and marched toward the doorway with wristblade extended. As the figure came out of the darkness for all to see, Nahkor stopped and remained rooted to the spot. His eyes widened and his face filled with fear. He mustered his composure and ran back to the group. Plaskitt looked toward Nahkor to locate the source of the disturbance, behind Nahkor stood another single predalien. This one was different. It was larger than the others and its head had a horrific crown-like shape to it. Its hostility appeared to be the same. It quickly caught up with Nahkor and was about to strike with its tail when Som'tir burst into view, his long spear extended. He leapt through the air and planted the spear straight into the beast's chest. The hybrid dropped to its knees and grabbed Som'tir. He struggled to free himself but it was in vain as the queen pulled him onto the spike with her. Som'tir roared defiantly in the face of the queen and then fell silent. The queen and the body of Som'tir fell slumped to the floor. Nahkor walked over to the bodies and removed the spear and laid his fallen comrade out as he had done with Major Kelly; a last dignified act for a fallen warrior. Plaskitt pulled out the second hunter's razor disc that was still lodged in the ship and offered it back to Nahkor
Nahkor walked to Plaskitt and Lee, pushed Plaskitt's hand and the razor disc away, places a hand on their shoulders and clicks appreciatively. "Yeah, thanks for the help" replied Plaskitt and placed the razor disc in his pocket.
As the mother ship materialised above Nahkor, he stepped into the tractor field and disappeared. The mother ship then raised into the sky and disappeared into space.
Lee turned to Plaskitt, "I know he saved us and all but he was one ugly motherf…"
Plaskitt cut him off, "let's just go home shall we?"
