Chapter 3: Hooks
Scarlet had almost forgotten the day her mother had been killed. Almost. Little did the power hungry alien know that the same force that had wiped out her mother and the rest of her family would fight her again today. She could only think of her thriving pack and how it needed to become stronger.
Outside of the nest, three pods landed on the planet. They were followed by a huge, floating craft known throughout the universe as a predator "shrine", the structure that allowed a pack of predators to communicate with their mothership. The pods opened to reveal three predators, one hunter and two brawlers. Three brawlers turned on their cloaking mechanisms and went in search of the beast/beasts that had made this planet so uninhabitable. The hunter, seeing as he had a higher status, stayed behind to protect the shrine.
The brawlers raced through the forest, looking for anything that might be a trail left by the mysterious monster. After some searching they found a huge pool of blood connected to a smaller river of it, probably formed when the creature that had been wounded had been dragged off by its foe. It was a fresh trail, so the predators followed it.
The blood led to a large burrow, big enough for the predators to stand in and then some. They made sure their cloaking was on and continued their pursuit. They're thermal goggles detected no warm-blooded animal as of yet, so either their quarry was yet to be found or it was cold-blooded. It didn't matter, since they were invisible and would see or hear their prey before it found them.
Suddenly one of the brawlers' cloaking went down. He tried to turn it back on, but it wouldn't. His companion's cloaking also went down. He looked around until he spotted a large black object with a glowing green spot: an alien hive node. Hive nodes produce "spores" that not only heal aliens when their wounded but also covers alien prey, shutting off defense such as cloaking and alerting every alien to the possible prey item. This time the predators were the prey.
One brawler radioed the hunter at the shrine for back up, telling him that the monsters on the planet were aliens. As he was finishing his message he heard a scurrying sound. The two predators looked around for the source, but neither was experienced enough in combating aliens to think of looking above them. On the ceiling there were three warrior xenomorphs, waiting for the right time to strike. One warrior quietly crawled down till he was behind the predators and started the attack. Both turned to face him, unaware of the two behind them. They swiftly killed the xenomorph only to be wounded by the other two. The predators swiftly turned around and chopped their opponents to bits. One xenomorph let out a howling screech as it fell. The brawlers began collecting their skulls when they heard another sound. It was faint but growing closer, as though hundreds of animals were running towards them.
The battle was on.
The clan leader heard the message and smiled (or whatever the predator equivalent to smiling is). Aliens were always good sport. They were strong monsters and required many special cares: acid proof armor and weapons, advanced cloaking mechanisms, and many strong warriors. This was the perfect hunt to bring his son on.
As the clan put on their special armor, the leader told them their mission: each predator was to bring back as many alien skulls as they could get. On predators with twenty or more skulls were allowed on the ship. Failure would result in death or abandonment. Nobody but the leader was allowed to kill the queen. The clan leader had a fondness for queen alien skulls, already owning eighty-seven. He wanted to make it one hundred. His son was amongst the thirty predators going on this mission.
The predators roared in unison and headed down to the planet.
The brawlers had their hands full. They were now fight swarms of aliens with only their wrist blades at their disposal, which proved to be a weighty task. One of the predators sliced through and aliens stomach, only to have the creature pull his left arm into the wound. The predator screamed as he lost the appendage then collapsed on the floor with pain. Some of the aliens dragged the still living predator off as the rest focused on their remaining foe. The brawler growled and hacked at his opponents; he wouldn't be able to fend them off for long.
Just as the brawler began to lose hope, reinforcements arrived. The clan leader was now fighting side by side with the brawler, an honor that he wouldn't forget. Soon they depleted enough alien troops to force them into retreat.
The brawler told his clan leader how the battle had gone, and how the aliens had dragged off his companion. When he was finished the leader stated that whoever brought the skull of the fallen predator back would be rewarded, for being captured alive by your foe was a mortal sin in predator society. Predators either won their battles or died during them, there was no in between.
The clan descended into the hive. Besides the clan leader, his son, and the average brawler troops, there were also some specialized predators in the pack. There was a disk master; a predator who uses mind controlled bladed disks to kill its prey. There was also a hydra predator that was armed with six rocket launchers on his back, a few spear masters (the name tells all), and a few more hunter predators that were armed with large, dual bladed spears that looked a lot like shaolin spades. The troop eventually reached the egg chamber.
There were all the aliens that had run away before, lined up in front of the precious eggs. The first wave of brawlers charged into battle without the leader's consent. They soon paid for their insolence when the aliens stepped aside, allowing the eggs to open and release their facehuggers. Five predators were now as good as dead. The leader ordered the Hydra to blast the remaining eggs with some rockets, which allowed the predators to attack without being killed. Most of the aliens charged, pissed that they had lost some of their bretheren. A few aliens stayed behind and dragged off the facehugged predators to a safe distance.
The disk master was the first to achieve the goal of getting twenty alien skulls, followed by the clan leader. The chief didn't care that he had gotten second place. He only wanted one thing: the queen's skull. His mission accomplished, he passed through the alien ranks and proceeded to hack away at the unguarded eggs, killing every alien that tried to stop him from finding the queen.
At last he had reached his quarry. Scarlet hissed at the visitor, releasing her egg sack. Her favorite praetorian daughter quickly attacked the predator, who chopped her into pieces. Scarlet watched the mutilation of her daughter and screamed with fury, unknowingly releasing a pheromone. The other praetorians suddenly wrapped themselves into cocoons as Scarlet fought the clan leader.
Scarlet proved to be stronger prey than the clan leader was used to; in fact, she was the strongest and smartest alien queen he had faced! He tried to slice her with his hooks, but she knew better. Whenever he attacked she would back away; moving so swift and agile that it seemed unnatural for a beast of her size. She constantly led him towards eggs, hoping that the facehuggers would finish him off. But he dodged most attacks and sliced through the eggs, focusing on the queen. The leader began to grow irritated, for he wasn't used to being so closely matched. He tried to make one powerful attack with his hooks, but the strong assault missed and left him open for attack. Scarlet punched him with all her might at this one point of weakness, sending him flying towards an egg. The predator was unconscious, and soon a facehugger melted off the face of his helmet and implanted its embryo.
By now Scarlet's fight had attracted the attention of the other predators. All seven spear masters and the hydra began to assault the queen, for her skull would surely be a great trophy. But just as they had her cornered, the praetorians emerged from their cocoons.
Scarlet's daughters had grown to be almost as big as their mother. They had changed greatly; their bodies were different shades of blue, the spines on their backs had become jagged, their armor had become harder and more elaborate looking. However, the biggest change was in their arms. Each hand had been replace by huge, praying mantis-like claws.
The predators changed their target from the queen to the new aliens. One predator tried to impale them, only to be decapitated. Normally an alien wouldn't kill its prey outright, but rather render it comatose and let an egg finish the job. These blue aliens were different. They quickly began to slice through the spear masters, mutilating their bodies in a flury of green blood. The Hydra stood back and prepared to fire his rocket, only to have huge claw impale him through the head. The battle ended there.
The clan leader's son, a few brawlers, and the disk master were the only ones to survive the battle. Each had accomplished their mission. In fact, the clan leader's son had retrieved 67 alien skulls, more than three times the minimum, and he had taken the skull of the traitor. But to him it didn't matter, for his father had died. Now he was the clan leader, and was soon feared throughout the universe. The humans named him "Hooks", after the large hooked gauntlets he wore in honor of his father. Hooks promised to himself that some day he would return, take the skull of the queen that had killed his father, and burn the hive to ashes. But for now he would rest, a hero amongst his pack.
Scarlet also had mixed feelings about the day. She had lost many children, including her favorite daughter. However, she achieved so much more! The blue aliens, which are now to be called ravagers, were a strong addition to the pack. She also had some other strong replacements for her fallen children, creatures that grew in power with every kill: Predaliens.