Hey guys! Took me forever but I finally got this chapter done! I bet you've been itching to know what happens next. Well I've got good news for you, there's some more action, new twists and turns and…more foes coming your way!
DISCLAIMER, Seeing thou I haven't done this in a while, here goes…
I don't own the Xenomorphs and the Predator trademarks. They belong to someone else known as FOX (ring any bells? Good!) Some ideas are not mine for they belong to James Patterson. I DO however own some of my characters in this story. That is Storm, Tania, Ray'jin, Sarket, Drekane, the Ky'Hads and any other living thing you don't recognize.
Oh…and one more thing before I let you read in peace is concerning the Ky'Hads. It's a predator name I made up to call them so when you say the name Ky'had, make sure that you make that K at the beginning make a distinct click when you say it. Don't worry, it's so easy a toddler could do it! Just say the K sound using the back of your tongue while clicking it at the same time.
oOo
Unexpected Discovery, part one.
Edge of canyon, overlooking the crash site…
Ray'jin pushed aside some brush with his right arm and peered over the rocky face of the canyon with his stealth still engaged. There was the ooman ship, clear as day in his thermal vision and it seemed that the oomans hadn't done anything about their predicament. He smiled lightly behind his mask, purring with excitement and turned to face the others. "Well, we're here. The ships just below."
The others took a look.
"Let's get 'em." Drekane hissed.
A faint crunch sounded from the darkening trees.
All three Predators spun around towards the sound.
All was silent.
They scanned the trees.
Nothing.
Ray'jin shifted through his visions and spotted a limb behind a tree. He turned to X-ray and spotted the creature and it was not alone.
"Ky'Hads!" Ray'jin hissed and whipped out his spear. Sarket let out a low threatening growl and his wrist blades shot out to their full two-foot length. Drekane's soon followed, causing the still air to sing with chilling resonance.
All three predators un-cloaked.
Hyena-like laughter started to reverberate through the surrounding trees. The leader emerged out of the bushes ahead of them, back arched and snarling rabidly. Two more emerged on either side of the leader, then four more, surrounding the Predators completely.
Thou the Ky'Hads were brutally and physically inferior to the Kainde Amedha, they were still agile, smart and sported very long teeth and four abnormally long, razor sharp talons on each paw. To a human, they would seem crossed between a Hyena and a wolf with something else polluting the gene pool. Their backs were arched like a hyena's and a shaggy mane of black fur ran along the length of their backs. Thick silvery scales would run down either side of their bodies and some of the scales were darker in colour, making distinct stripes. They frothed at the mouths and preferred to hunt in packs.
They knew there was strength in numbers and would give shrieks of laughter when they had potential prey cornered. One would think that they were like demented serial killers that took pleasure in destroying the lives of women and children. It was virtually impossible to fight a pack of Ky'Hads and emerge out of it without at least one set of claw marks. Just like hyenas, they were opportunistic little shits! and there attributes made them worthy of a good warm up during a hunt on this Jungle Planet if you ever ran into them or vise versa.
The leader leaped, brandishing his claws, maw gaping and eyes flaring. Ray'jin sidestepped the sudden attack and the rest of the Ky'Hads leaped in at once. Sarket and Drekane moved to open the gaps between them so they wouldn't collide with each other when fighting. Two directed themselves at Sarket while three went for Drekane, the other decided to aid his leader with the attack on Ray'jin. Ray'jin threw his spear forward. The leader dodged out of the spear's path but his assistant wasn't quick enough to react when he realized why his leader dodged, revealing the deadly shaft. The spear struck flesh as it impaled the Ky'Had in the chest and burst out the thing's back. The force of the throw sent it flying back wards and tumbling along the jungle floor. It convulsed in death's grip before going still. The leader didn't stop charging. He ran to the side to catch Ray'jin off side but Ray'jin extended his own wrist blades and did a back limbo. The leader of the pack sailed over him and he felt fire burn at his side as its claws found flesh. He brought his right arm around in a wide ark. The tip of one of the blades caught the thing's head and it yelped in pain but did not let it disorientate it's decent. Amazingly, it landed on all four paws and spun around to face the Predator. Ray'jin noticed that he didn't do that much damage. There was a clean cut across the leader's right eye and purplish blood was oozing from the wound, not to mention that it looked pissed off
Ray'jin leaped up into a tree and the leader went after him, tearing up the tree and ripping out chunks out of the bark in a revengeful rage. Ray'jin swung around and kicked the Ky'Had in the side. It fell to the jungle floor with a loud thud. Ray'jin jumped to the ground himself to finish off the leader. As he approached he noticed that the others of his hunting party had finished off four of the beasts and three still remained. The leader got up shakily and gave a short bark, commanding a retreat. They bounded off into the jungle yipping and laughing in their usual way…
oOo
5 minutes earlier in the Verloc…
"Hurry…we don't have much time!" Storm shouted to the rest of the group that was lagging behind her. Tania had no problem keeping up with her. 36 survivors, including Tania and Storm, were accounted for but the rest were missing. They made it to the internal hanger bay doors and both Tania and Storm heard a crash behind them. They turned to see a black swarm of Xenomorphs surging around a corner at the far end of the corridor. More were coming down the corridor flanking them.
Major McCane accessed the security locks on the door. The codes were accepted and the double doors hissed apart. The group rushed into the hanger, and Storm, assessing the situation quickly and considering what they had. Then the doors hissed shut and commanding her awesome power, took control of one of the five available drop ships and moved it across the hanger and blocked the interior door.
Major McCane looked as if he'd seen a ghost when he witnessed that stunt.
"MOVE!" Storm shouted, "GET INTO THE DROP SHIPS."
Everyone knew the plan already, as there were only three pilots: Johnson and the pilot and co-pilot of the Verloc, so only three drop ships could really be used and they now had four ships to choose from. The two Verloc pilots and eighteen survivors, including four of the marines, divided themselves between two drop ships. Johnson took Tania, Weyland, Andrew and the rest with them in the other drop ship.
Storm contacted Tania… /They've got to get the bay doors open. Blast them if they have to/
Storm felt a mental nod and a revelation yanked her back to reality like a bungee cord. She looked at the blocked door to see it dissolving in places and her eyes went wide.
/Hurry…they're sacrificing themselves to dissolve the door/
The drop ships hummed to life and directed themselves at the bay doors. There was the clank of metal as missiles where set ready. They aimed and fired…
oOo
Back to the edge of the canyon overlooking the crash site…
BOOM!
Winged creatures of all sorts screeched in fury from being disturbed and took off into the space over the canyon, the echo's of the explosion reverberating off the canyon walls.
"What the pauk?" Ray'jin hissed as he spun around putting his cloak back on to look at the Ooman ship. They peered over the edge to see three Ooman craft flying out and away from the crashed ship and through the canyon. "What the pauk?" He found himself asking again. Something else shot out of the gaping hole on the side of the ship and was behind the Ooman craft and it was…flying?
He zoomed in on it and found himself too lost for words. It was an ooman of all creatures…WITH WINGS!
It was true all right. In the dimming light of the blue giant sun, the 'Ooman's' muscles burned bright in the wings, according to his thermal vision. He switched to a very special vision mode that allowed him to see colour as some races could. His race's technology had also upgraded over the past 100 years and this vision wasn't particularly used for hunting purposes but to learn everything about the environment and their prey.
He looked at the flying ooman. Its' skin was a pale tan, its' hair was blue-black and its' wings were the same colour as its' hair. The last rays of the blue sun streaming into the canyon shimmered across those dark wings in blue waves.
"What is that?" the others asked.
"I don't know." Ray'jin rattled as he peered closer while getting excited at this new find. The desire of a worthy kill was running through his veins…
Then it happened.
The ooman's eyes darted in his direction.
His heart nearly skipped the third of its tripartite beat, as he stood stock-still. Luckily, he and the others had put their cloaks on as well, but questions swam through his mind; "Did it see us? Why did it look straight at me? How…?"
Ray'jin was lost in his own thoughts and shook his head to clear them. He didn't need distractions.
"There is Kainde Amedha as well!" Sarket hissed
"WHAT!" Ray'jin clicked, "That tears it! Let's get in there and end these experiments." He got up to retrieve his spear. He bent down over the impaled Ky'Had, took hold of the shaft and pressed the button on the handle to make it go into its' compact form. He returned to the others and assessed the situation. He turned his head to his right, following the direction of the ships, "By the looks of things, the oomans are going to their abandoned base up north." He barked, thinking aloud.
The predators rattled in conformation and leaped over the edge of the canyon wall, jumping rock after rock, down towards their prey.
oOo
Dum dum dum dun…
Did I mention that this was a part one and that there was a part two? Well… to put my evilness into action, I ain't gonna submit the next chapter until I see at LEAST eight reviews!
MUHAHAHAHAHAH!
So what are you waiting for? REVIEW REVIEW!
But I'll be nice and inform you that I've done a rough map lay out of the scene. If you request it, I can email it to you so that you can have a fair idea of the scene as it is!
-Storm
(-SR3.3.3.-)
"I'm half way to hell."