Disclaimer:
This story has been written purely for entertainment purposes, and in no way, shape, form, or fashion means to impede, or infringe upon any copyrighted material whatsoever. I do however retain credit and claim responsibility for the creation of names and character statistics of any and all characters within this publication. These characters are based on copyrighted ideas and or characters of the respective owners of said material within the entertainment industry. No money will be attributed to the author of the following publication in any form. Definitions and wording used to describe devices, and other such items are derived from other literary works involving these types of characters. This publication was created for the sole purpose of entertainment and the expansion of a concept formerly copyrighted by an individual or individuals as a group.
Chapter Ten"We…" Devi suddenly became mute from the tension of the situation and no longer found herself able to speak.
"Lieutenant. I want answers." The Colonel's voice was demanding in tone and Maddison knew that some sense had to be made of the situation.
"We were in our bunks and heard some unusual sounds from outside our room and decided to investigate. By the time we entered the hallway and made our way here these soldiers were already dead. I had enough time to look out of the open window. I counted three Yautja rounding the corner of the far building on the other end of the courtyard through the broken window. They appeared to be running and had weapons still in hand. One of them saw me and then rushed the others even faster out of the area and around the corner." Stated Maddison.
The Colonel was satisfied with the explanation. It was clear and concise as was typical of Maddison in nearly every report she had ever given. The other soldiers as well as the Yautja guards were still gathered at the doorway.
One of the guards had already raised his left wrist gauntlet and made several motions with one of his clawed fingers. This action had resulted in the holographic projection of another Yautja's face appearing nearly in midair. Both the holographic image and the Yautja holding the device seemed to be communicating. It was only moments later when he barked out an order for two of the other Yautja present to go and do what was obviously a search of the area. In the meantime the lead Yautja guard had made his way into the interior of the room and stood by the Colonel quickly beginning a conversation with him in English.
"Colonel Cantwell…" Spoke the Yautja in a heavy rough voice.
"Yes." He said surprisingly as he wasn't previously aware that this guard would have any knowledge of their language.
"I have informed my superiors as to the situation at hand and my orders are as they were before…your protection. Of course, I have also been ordered to get your soldiers back to their rooms as soon as possible. Unless of course you would prefer that all of you be moved to another location."
"For the moment my remaining soldiers are present and accounted for. Although, I agree with getting them back to their rooms to make handling this situation easier."
The two Yautja sent away earlier to do a search of the area had now returned and the Colonel overheard them giving their report to the Yautja in charge. Before too much information had passed the Colonel was smart enough to use the translator in record mode since the Yautja were now speaking in their native tongue.
It was as the Yautja in charge made his way through the remaining human soldiers now on their way back to their respective rooms that the Colonel replayed the audio recording through the translator in English and discovered that there were also two Yautja guards killed further down the hallway and around the corner from where they were presently located. He noticed that the Yautja in charge had left the two guards who had accompanied him since the beginning of this incident here in the hall to help organize the return of the humans to their domiciles.
As the rest of his soldiers slowly filtered out of the hallway he took it upon himself, especially after learning of the deaths of these Yautja guards, to follow the lead Yautja. As he passed his loyal troops his eyes locked on to the one person who's assistance he knew he was going to need in the next few moments, and made a bee-line for his second-in-command; Major Williams.
"Follow me." He said quickly, and only loud enough for the Major to hear.
"Yes sir." Replied Williams without even the slightest hint of hesitation.
Williams would soon find that there was no need to ask where they were going after only a short stride down the hall and around the corner. Both the Colonel and Major Williams slowed their pace from a fastidious walk down to a casual yet concerned rate as they saw the Yautja in charge and the two previously investigative guards standing over what looked to be nothing short of an alien homicide. Green blood was splattered in patterns reflective of the stance in which these guards were in at the moment of their death. Chunks of meat and intestinal matter were scattered across the areas where blood seemed to be the most noticeable.
As they approached the scene the lead Yautja took note of their presence and addressed them with as much respect as he could considering his uncertainty as to whether or not they should even be allowed to be there. Of course this situation was unique to all of them. Not only were there murders of respected, non-slave humans on the Homeworld, but there had also been the simultaneous murders of some of their own Yautja warriors, and for what was obviously the same cause. To make things even worse these murders were committed by some of their own Yautja people.
The lead Yautja present was far to confused and suffering from the chaoticism of recent events to prevent the Colonel and his second-in-command from attending the scene. It was nearly common knowledge among the Hunters that the humans were very adept at studying death in general and what the multitudes of causes were to those deaths. The lead Yautja present was well aware of this fact and had decided that perhaps allowing the Colonel and his associate to have a look might not be such a bad idea after all.
Major Williams was the first to speak after bending down and positioning himself oddly in front of the grisly scene.
"Colonel."
"Yeah, Williams."
"I think these are burns accompanied by explosive impact. Probably made by the Yautja weapon known to us as a shoulder cannon, or burner."
Before the Colonel could speak the lead Yautja interjected with as much diplomacy as he could muster.
"How could you know that?"
The Colonel then took it upon himself to answer that question with just the right balance of arrogance and diplomacy he could offer considering his militaristic standards of etiquette.
"Your people have been hunting our kind for how many thousands of years now?" Asked the exasperated Colonel before continuing. "Simply stated you've given us experience in the matter."
The lead Yautja merely clicked his mandibles with what was nearly perceived as an aggravated but submissive quality, as he took a step back, clearly letting the two humans have their space to aid in the assessment of the situation.
If he had mandibles they would be clicking uncontrollably out of anger at the news that had just been the reason for his awakening. Hulij-Thwei was furious and smashed the console of his computer interface terminal. The face on screen became a blurry, warped, unidentifiable image of some Yautja still speaking to him as he crawled out of his bed with a determination nearly beyond that of rage.
"On your way over there I want you to access the security recordings for that area and for the area at least ten pe'lrs in circumference, and the logs of any craft vehicular or otherwise within a twenty pe'lr range for at least fifteen py'ev before and half a kerev after the incident. Is that understood Pok'de it'ktse?" Asked Hulij-Thwei.
"Of course Leader, I'll see you there."
Hulij-Thwei quickly dressed himself and hurried out of his domicile, rushing to his airsled. Along the way he contacted the lead Yautja at the scene and was informed as to the presence of the Colonel and his associate as well as the details of the scene as best he could in the short time it would take for him to traverse the nearly forty Earth miles back to the visitor center where the humans were staying. In his airsled the trip should only take less than five minutes, which would be enough time for him to contact the Elder about the matter if someone hadn't already done that beforehand. Either way he would need to speak to the Elder in private about his immediate plans to rectify this situation.
He scanned the instruments onboard his airsled and knew that he was less than a minute from his destination. He had already contacted the Elder and spoke briefly with him concerning his plans and as for now he had nothing else to do but wait until he arrived at the scene. With only about an Earth minute left before arriving he thought for a moment to himself about having been awakened in the middle of the night and seeing the light of three moons dance across the water of the ocean in front of his home as he raced for his airsled not even five minutes ago.
What in the universe could have possessed any Yautja to do something like this, especially when it was well known that these humans were under his care so to speak. Wouldn't his resulting wrath have been enough of a deterrent against this kind of horrid act? These thoughts and more flooded into his mind as he traversed the last minute of the journey back to the central visitor's quarters of his clan. He was stunned to find that the last minute or so of the journey was but a mere blank to him as he realized that he was nearly in zazin about the situation. He was even more startled to find that he hadn't run head on into one of the taller buildings in the area as he sped high above the city streets toward his destination. It was only the proximity sensors that pulled him from his trance-like state and back to reality enough to actually fly the craft the last few seconds onto the roof of the building where the humans were staying.
Once inside the building he moved with rapidity through the vast halls concentrating solely on arriving at the destination where these multiple killings had taken place. He knew that the Colonel would not be happy nor would his Elder take this matter lightly either. In his mind the Colonel and his safety wasn't so much his worry as was his concern about how this would affect the working situation between he and the humans.
Deep in thought, he continued through the corridors until they began to decrease in size and grandeur more or less for the purpose of efficiency. Relatively speaking the intersection of hallways he was in measured out to be about thirty feet wide by thirty feet in length; rather large compared to human standards but then again this was a structure designed by a culture to represent the greatness of their history and for those visitors to be astounded by the artistic value in the way that they lived and died. The size of even some of their smaller locations was still roomy by human comparison. Put simply the area through which he now passed was strategically perfect for ambush. In fact, he was so deep in thought that he hadn't even taken into account the sudden surge of adrenaline he felt at the thought of possible ambush; or the surprise attack he had received from a cloaked Yautja warrior that came up from around a corner and behind him, and catching him off guard. It was only because of the adrenaline coursing through his veins from the stress of the current scenario that he was able to muster enough speed in his defense at the very last second.
Only because of his strict sense of duty and personal need to always be prepared did he dress into full warrior gear before leaving his home. If his attackers were smart they would have known that he never went out in public in anything less than his armor. This he was sure would be the determining factor as to the outcome of this particular fight.
'Attackers…plural…there's more than one!' He thought to himself, realizing that he had only taken this into account upon saying the word. He spun low to the ground avoiding the swinging spear above his head. Whoever this was had significant training in how to fight dirty and without honor. He believed this more than ever when he heard the telltale sound of a shoulder cannons whiny gears directing the path for the soon to be fired plasma bolt to follow. 'At least two of them as far as I can tell' He thought, all the while, leaping up from his current low slung position. It was then that he grabbed what he perceived to be the ringlets braided into the hairy growth on the side of the head of the Yautja closest to him.
Only because he had made some modifications recently did he have the ability to mentally control the helmet visor he wore and manipulate it with mere thought. His vision was changing before his eyes as the visible outline of his opponent revealed the assailant to in fact be a Yautja, not surprising, considering the use of a spear only moments before.
After having what he thought was a firm grasp on the head and neck of the primary attacker he turned toward the sound of the shoulder cannon targeting him from close by.
It was far too late for his primary attacker to even react as the pulsation of the plasma blast rippled through his body and exploded with enough force to knock Hulij-Thwei backwards. He had dropped the body from the sheer force of the exploding blast and immediately released the trigger effect through mental manipulation of his wrist blades.
As if in slow motion, Hulij-Thwei heard them begin to slide out of their resting places within the housing of his wrist gauntlet. It seemed to him as if they were taking forever to lock into position. It was during this slowing of time that his senses went into overdrive and his hearing seemed to be amplified a thousand times over as he heard another shoulder cannon gearing up to be fired from another part of the small intersection of hallways he was in. Immediately reacting to the sound he turned in that direction to face the newest opponent. His eyes were level with the flash he saw coming at him from the barrel of the fully charged burner. With a speed he never knew he had his arm nearly autonomously raised itself to a level in front of his face before the wrist blades were even finished on their outward journey from the housing they were typically sheathed in.
The explosion from the charge of plasma the burner had released in his direction was enough to cause a stinging pain throughout his entire arm. Lucky for him the gauntlet was a recently updated version and kept his hand from being blown off at the wrist.
Nonetheless, he couldn't remember the last time he was in this much pain. It hurt to move his hand. He was sure the wrist blades were destroyed. His eyes searched the intersection of hallways for the rest of these would be murderers, and to his delight he spotted the de-cloaking of a smart disc weapon, as he also realized that the blast of the burner had sent him back against one of the curved walls of this particular junction of halls. His mind quickly raced and laughed internally at his antagonist's idea to blast him into nothingness. It was their poor planning that gave him the advantage. Now that his back was against the wall he knew nothing could come at him from that direction. That narrowed his fighting window down a bit in front of him. From what his visor told him there were only three of them that remained. Would they fight him honorably, at this point, probably not?
The smart disc weapon flew and cut through the air with razor sharp blades accurately making their way towards Hulij-Thwei's head. His mental image of the fight again changed in front of him without warning as he felt the time around him speed up and theirs slow down. The contrast was almost sickening. It lasted long enough for him to duck under the approaching smart disc thrown at him. He rolled forward toward the Yautja who had thrown it, and he leaped into the air as he came to his feet, while concurrently retrieving his ma'auk, the Yautja equivalent to a human sword, from its attachment point. He flew with a grace and height surprising even to him, almost overshooting what was to be his intended victim. He thought for a moment as he were going to miss his opponent altogether when he felt a slight pressure on the blade of his sword and he looked down to see that it was currently passing easily through the skull and helmet of his former attacker.
At that moment time began again to normalize before him. The confusion he was left with was enough to distract him from the current danger of having two more assailants rearing around towards him. The smart disc then lodged into the wall just above his head, after bouncing off several other walls, as he began to stand. As usual, his sixth sense for this kind of thing caused him to hesitate at the last second before having his head removed and becoming someone else's trophy.
He found himself turned somewhat to the right and one of the two attackers was not in his peripheral vision as he thought should be the case. Being overly cautious, he turned with haste in their direction only to find that one of them had taken the initiative to do battle with him up close and personal. Just as the missing attacker had reappeared in his vision he felt the blunt impact of a spear glance off of his helmet. It was done with some force though; enough to jar the helmet in such a way that the visual screen in front of him had gone blank for but a second before returning blurry and fuzzy. The other remaining antagonist in the corridor had joined his attacker; and they both stood in front of him now. Hulij-Thwei heard one of them unsheathing the wrist blades that nearly all Yautja implemented. He was about to raise his sword and realized that there was nothing but empty space to grip. The pain of the blow to the head must have caused him to lose his hold on the weapon. Confidently he said to himself, 'I have others…'
The blades were slammed sideways into Hulij-Thwei's upper left arm before he could blindly react or get his helmet off to see again. He remained calm and barely made any audible noise as he shuddered violently; blades still stuck in his arm. He could feel the weight of the attackers body still attached to the blades as well, and used this to his advantage. Knowing that the Yautja attached to the blades was in that close of proximity to him he reached up with his previously damaged right arm and managed to grasp at the throat of his current assailant. His strength, even in the weakened condition he was in was astounding. He knew he was doing some damage solely based on the sounds coming from the throat, and mouth of the Yautja whose life was now in his hands. Hulij-Thwei felt the familiar sensation of flesh giving way within his grip as the windpipe of the creature before him snapped shut as if it could no longer endure the pressure of his grip. As soon as Hulij-Thwei felt the flesh within his fingers condense, he pulled with a twist as violently as possible, further feeling the tearing of fleshy tissue stretch until broken away from where it once attached in the neck of his attacker.
Hulij-Thwei heard the body fall limp in front of him, giving him a slight sense of momentary relief.
'One more…' he began to think to himself before being knocked to the ground by what he assumed was the last assailant and the spear he was still obviously carrying. Hulij-Thwei's head hit the ground violently as his own vision blurred slightly before he finished his thoughts, '…to go.'
He slowly reached up and removed the clasps holding his helmet in place. The familiar hiss of atmosphere escaping filled his ears drowning out whatever motions the last attacker might be making. Realizing this, he quickly began again to stand and look around for what was surely going to be another attack. Somewhat dazed he stumbled from the force of the head blow only moments before and shook his head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs from his blurry vision and hopefully regain enough sight to fend off this last opponent. He turned his body and received nothing less than a spear tip in the side near to his kidney. 'This guy cheats' he thought to himself. 'He knows without my helmet I can't see him in this low of light, yet he doesn't uncloak for the Honorable Fight.'
Hulij-Thwei spoke aloud the next few words.
"Don't get too close to me vermin…for if I do manage to get my hands on you, the next day's sun will shine only on your rotting flesh."
The idea that mere words would provoke a Badblood to fight fair and honorable were most likely a waste; and Hulij-Thwei knew this, but even the slightest hesitation or unplanned reaction by the Badblood would give away his position.
'He's good…no reaction whatsoever.' Thought Hulij-Thwei.
Suddenly from behind him the shuffling of sandaled feet was heard for less than a second before Hulij-Thwei was able to react in time to what he was sure would have been a paralyzing strike to his spine, as the blade of the spear again opened his flesh between some ribs and he was sure that a lung had been punctured at this point.
He feigned more pain than what he truly felt; hoping that it would convince his would be killer into thinking that now was the time to get close enough for a killing blow. He was now more agitated than he could ever remember being. Every thought was a monstrous wave of energy filling him to the brink of his existence with the need to kill this putrid excuse for a Yautja.
Hulij-Thwei could still feel the point of the bladed spear protruding from his backside and the nudge that its owner gave told him that frustration had now stricken his attacker. He knew that his enemy had planned his most recent attack as being the final blow. This was now the opportunity to turn things around.
The adversary again pulled harder this time at the spear and dislodged it from Hulij-Thwei's back. 'Stupid mistake…' thought Hulij-Thwei. He stood but for a moment listening. Listening closely. His foe made a move towards him from behind and released the wrist blades from the gauntlet he wore. Hulij-Thwei could hear the movement of them off to one side as if his enemy was going to reach up from behind and slit his throat.
Instantly, Hulij-Thwei reacted and spun to his left leaving only his already injured backside to the oncoming blades. As he spun, the dagger he kept under his forearm was pulled from its resting place and shoved clean into the attackers chest. Hulij-Thwei continued to shove and twist spitting in his enemies face; cursing him as the piece of filth that he was. His attacker was strong though, and endured the pain as he bent his longer arm over Hulij-Thwei's shoulder and pierced Hulij-Thwei's back with his wrist blades. The two of them separated from the pain.
Hulij-Thwei was shoved away with such force it nearly knocked him down. Having the overwhelming desire to kill this insolent Yautja he again decided to lunge at the attacker, when suddenly a shot of plasma shot past both of their positions distracting them into their present state of momentary confusion.
Hulij-Thwei slowly turned his somewhat hunched and twisted body in the direction of the blast thinking that this useless dog of a Yautja had somehow brought reinforcements. He forced his body to adopt a more upright stature before speaking.
"Rest assured… some of you will surely die at my hand before I see the Shadow of Death." His hands were shaking and he was ready to take on all opponents.
Without warning, a voice from the shadows of the hallway in front of him came across with a clear message, a message he completely unexpected.
"You won't be dying today unless of course you refuse to be treated for your injuries my friend."
"Pok'de it'ktse??" Inquired Hulij-Thwei in an unnaturally strained voice, as he saw the silhouette of his friend walk through the faded light and settling dust. He wasn't the only one though. The Colonel and Major Williams, as well as a small contingent of his soldiers were carrying their weapons at the ready for his defense, which were also joined by the Yautja guards in charge of their safety.
The stunned sensation of the moment had quickly worn off as Hulij-Thwei remembered the Badblood behind him. He turned to face his opponent and realized that he was gone.
There was no more pain, only anger, nothing short of full-blown rage now filled his mind with visions of hatred, visions of the most dishonorable methods of killing and torturing someone coming to life inside his conscience. He was beyond driven. He felt himself walking towards the spot where his former assailant had been only moments before. He was screaming things out loud to those around him like orders.
He was in such a state of madness that no one could muster the ability to move an inch. They were all stunned into silence by his pure rage and his beating on the walls of the hallway around him and the destruction of at least two man-sized statues of Yautja, as he ran back and forth between them screaming insults at the missing assailant and how he was going to make everyone in his family suffer for this indiscretion towards him. He was not in his right mind at the moment. The blood poured from his wounds making the sight that much more astounding to those watching until the Elder, Itu're Kra'a, approached him speaking some words he thought might calm him down.
"Hulij-Thwei, listen to me friend. You will never do those things to him if you die of your open wounds."
Hulij-Thwei being the man, the Yautja he was, still had control enough of his own mind to hear words of wisdom when they were spoken. It took a few moments of course before his breathing came down to normal levels. He still leaned against a wall and stared at the floor beneath him, as the blood continued to streak his backside.
After what seemed an eternity to those waiting for him to turn around, he revealed himself to those present after gaining his composure. He stood there for a few seconds breathing deeply and obviously holding back the pain that was written on his face in more ways than one.
The right side of his face was torn open from the front of his cheekbone clear back to below his ear and looked as deep as a canyon. Blood still flowed slightly from this wound as well. One look at his arm and it was obvious that the burns were severe and most likely would cause him pain for some time to come. There seemed to be the remains of some broken wrist blades still stuck in his left arm. The blood there seemed to be the only place where the bleeding had stopped; most likely from the blades still being firmly in place.
Devi, one of the Colonel's loyal soldiers had accompanied him along with Maddison to their present location after hearing the commotion of burners being fired from within the building. There were others along too, including the Yautja guards and obviously the Elder, along with Pok'de it'ktse. It was she that spoke to Maddison as quietly as she could.
"Can you believe this guy? He's standing there with injuries that any one of us would be dead from by now. He's definitely not from Earth." Stated Devi in near disbelief.
Maddison stared blankly with only a slight hint of what might have been labeled as curiosity. She responded to Devi accordingly.
"I think I have to agree."
"About which part? The dead by now part, or the not from Earth part?" Asked Devi.
"The not from Earth part."
" Oh…" Answered Devi in a more than confused fashion at Maddison's answer.
Morgan calmed herself as she realized that her friend hadn't caught on to the true meaning behind her answer. She didn't really feel like sharing her thoughts at the moment anyway. Not in this particular situation.
Hulij-Thwei began to step forward from his almost paralyzed stance as he began to stagger towards his Elder and friend Pok'de it'ktse. Slowly he turned and stopped again, as if he were looking for something. His eyes fixed upon his dropped sword, which he would hold again in his hands before dying. He bent down carefully, picked it up, and slowly made his way again towards those that waited for him. He had made it past the crowd of people valiantly with his head held high and his shoulders emanating nothing but pure strength. He passed Devi and only slightly turned his head to acknowledge Morgan's presence, at which point he seemed to straighten up even further picking up the pace of his injured stride. It wasn't until he had passed everyone and was alone in one of the corridors with everyone watching from behind that he let himself fall to his knees.
Maddison couldn't stand it anymore. She had to do something before he died, she wasn't going to stand there and let this man do this to himself. She began to rush forward to help him and was stopped dead in her tracks by a looming Pok'de it'ktse, who looked at her as if she was insulting him.
Before she could say anything at all Pok'de it'ktse spoke quietly in her ear.
"If you help him now he will have no honor."
"I can't let him die; I've taken an oath as a medic to keep that from happening if I can."
Pok'de it'ktse began to chuckle slightly and again addressed the female who's arm he had a fairly decent grip on.
"If he dies, so be it, it was meant to be. He must walk off the battlefield with his own weapons, under his own power, and continue until no one can see his face until he is either dead or unconscious. He will still have honor this way." He paused and continued almost with what was an afterthought. "He's been through worse though, I'm sure he'll live."
She looked up at him astounded with his words and gaped confusingly at the meaning of his statement.
"How could anything be worse, a normal man would be dead by now."
"As if you haven't noticed…he's no normal man." Replied Pok'de it'ktse. "It's been said that even the Shadow of Death fears him. He's far too stubborn to die."
Hulij-Thwei had managed to make it back to his feet after collapsing to his knees. Slowly he began to drag his feet under the immense weight of his muscled frame and finally his legs could take no more. His entire body slumped to the ground in front of everybody watching from behind.
Pok'de it'ktse again spoke to Morgan, as he released her arm almost guiding her towards him.
"Now you can go to him!"
Glossary:
Pe'lrs- A Yautja unit of measure of distance equal to that of almost an Earth mile.
Py'ev- A unit of time represented by a triangle or pie shaped segment of a Kerev the amount of which is represented inside the triangle by a number, which is divisible by ten and can be represented by any decimal place up to the whole of the unit.
Kerev- A standard Yautja unit of time equal to about one Earth hour represented by a circle with a number inside to represent the number of these Kerev passed.
Ma'auk- The Yautja equivalent to a human sword, rarely used but seen in different styles.
M-di'Yut Thwei- See Badblood.
Badblood- Typically any Yautja who breaks their laws, recently this has begun to apply to any species allied with the Yautja. (See also M-di'Yut Thwei)