Disc.: Still not mine. D'oh!
The echoes of screams and shootings carried throughout the pyramid to the small team assembled in the sarcophagus chamber. Max and Sebastian were trying to get in touch with others on the radio but there was no answer. Lex shook her head and swiped a beam from her flashlight along the walls of one of the corridors which had opened to them, pondering their options. The way they had come from was closed. They'd have to find another way out of here and to the others.
"All right, move it people. We need to get to the others to find out what happened. We go that way and than turn right. I've seen some kind of a crossroad further down the corridor. Hopefully, it'll take us into one of those corridors we passed on the way down. I repeat again - keep it close together. The group mustn't split. Is that understood?"
There was a choir of yes and Lex started down the corridor. She knew they were in trouble. Hell, who was she kidding? They were in deep shit, she just didn't know yet what kind of it. She prayed it was only a trap set up for unwary thiefs and not something else. Something more dangerous. Verheiden came to walk alongside her. She didn't spare him a glance, focused on the way ahead. However, he wanted something.
"Here, take this," he handed her a pistol.
"What is it?" she asked, confused about the whole thing. She was a climber, not soldier. She didn't use guns, of any kind.
"We don't know what awaits us up there. It's for your safety."
"Thanks, but I don't need it. I don't like guns."
He shrugged as if to say it didn't matter to him whether she was as stupid as to refuse the offered gun or not. He slowed down to bring up the rear with Connors who handed him one of the alien guns to carry it. Lex noted this and frowned. They had had no right to take those weapons. They were what had landed them in the trouble. Why didn't they see it? Stupid men. Get them new toy and they throw caution in the wind.
They came to the crossroad and Lex turned right as she had planned. She expected to enter another long corridor but after a short walk they found themselves in a chamber of some type. There were four exits from it. Lex stopped to think about their next way. The pyramid turned out to be the real maze. She looked at the compass and pointed in the right side again.
"All right, now we should go..." she didn't finish because a sound came from the pyramid and it started to change again. Lex thought for a moment they should try to run to the next chamber but one look at Weyland told her he wouldn't make it. "Everyone stay here."
Max, Verheiden and Connors looked at her in surprise. They were just about to try and enter the next room before it closed off but then stopped when she ordered so.
"We can't split up," Lex repeated and glanced pointedly at Weyland. Max nodded. He knew his boss' health wasn't the best and so he motioned for his men to stay in their places. Lex looked around the room and realized very unpleasant thing. There were no exits now from the room. They had to stay in until a new way opened to them. Lex didn't know how long they would have to wait but there was nothing she could do about the situation.
"Lex?" Sebastian asked.
"Make yourself comfortable. We'll wait."
Three hunters stopped as the pyramid shifted again. Blade growled impatiently for about sixth time since they entered the building and Scar's patience was wearing thin as well. Hunter had to be patient. If he rushed something the hunt might have ended with him dead. Blade was good in killing but still had a lot to learn in hunting. The growl came again.
"Blade," Scar said lowly and menacingly. "Shut up. Your complaints won't help anything. We'd have to wait six hours either way to hunt Xenomorphs. This way we can pass our time better while hunting humans but you should show some self-control and stop to bother us with your problems."
"And what gives you right to order me around?" Blade snapped back.
"Being your older brother does. You wanted to go on hunt. I thought you weren't ready. No," Scar raised his hand. "Physically you are prepared as much as any of us but I'm not sure you're ready mentally. So please, for once prove me wrong and behave like an adult."
Blade didn't answer and quickened the pace, leaving Scar and Celtic behind. Scar shook his head. Hopefully, Blade would come around. Celtic had watched their exchange and now wanted to add his two cents in.
"Don't worry about it. All females are strange. That's what makes them so dangerous."
Scar shot him a look.
"You think I don't know it? I've grown up with one. One that wanted to be a Hunter," he nodded to Blade. "It's not unusual to have a female warrior but it's not an everyday occurence either. I want her to gain the honour but I can't let her to jeopardize our lives."
Celtic shrugged and then steered conversation in a different direction.
"Where are the humans?'
Scar switched the holographic image on and studied it for a moment.
"One group of them is in sacrificial chamber. They aren't moving. Probably have been infected. Six of them," he looked up. "Two xenomorphs for each of us. Not so bad. The other group is two rooms left," Scar checked something. "The way to them should open soon. Call Blade. We need to make a plan."
Blade was still furious. How had he dared to talk to her like she was a small child? Alll right, maybe she was young but she could hunt even better than him. If only he let her prove it. But no! Mr 'I'm-your-older-brother-you'll-listen-to-me' had to keep her on short leash. She was in a terrible mood and didn't take notice of her surroundings much so when Celtic came and touched her shoulder to let her know he was there, she whipped around, bringing up her wrist blades to bury them into a supposed attacker so quickly he barely had the time to unsheath his own set and save himself at least a very painful injury of the chest.
When Blade noticed who she had attacked she hid her blades again but didn't apologize. His fault for not being more careful.
"What do you want?"
"We found the humans. Scar wants us to make a plan."
Blade wanted to say something derrogatory about what Scar could do with his plan but then changed her mind. He could ban her from joining in hunt and she didn't want that. So she walked back to where Scar was still studying the hologram. There was a group of dots not so far from their position. Scar looked at her when she came but didn't say anything. He looked one last time at the three-dimensional map and nodded to himself, then switched it off.
"I thought about it and we'll go in using our cloaking devices. I don't want them to see us. We just take back our weapons. We won't kill them."
Both Blade and Celtic looked surprised at this but Blade was the one to voice her doubt.
"Why? It's not like it would be very hard or what."
"I know. That's one of the reasons. They offer no challenge for our potential. The other reason is, that only six of the humans were infected. It would be easy to dispose of the Xenomorphs that come out of them. But if we let these humans live, they may find other eggs or we can let few of the first ones to get them."
"So we'll have more to hunt," Celtic understood. "That sounds better."
Blade just nodded. She wasn't exactly happy about this arrangement but it had its logic. Let them live now and you'd have more to hunt later. Yes, it sounded good when she thought about it.
"Which way?" she asked.
Sebastian wasn't able to sit peacefully. He was walking around the room, checking writings on the walls and talking to himself.
"I think I figured it out."
"What?" Lex asked from where she sat next to Weyland whose condition was deteriorating with every minute passed.
"The changes are regular. This pyramid has different layout every ten minutes," his eyes shone with an excitement. "This is far beyond any technology mankind has ever had. There are thousands, maybe even more combinations. The culture to build this must have been superior to ours in every way."
"That's great Sebastian but I only need to know one thing - when will it change again?"
That she was obviously not interested dampened his mood a little.
"A minute, maybe thirty seconds."
"Good. Let's prepare. As soon as that walls open I want us all to go as fast as possible for as long as possible. We have only ten minutes to get through some distance to the surface so don't fall behind and ..." the pyramid moved. "Let's go."
They followed her. She tried to keep an eye on Weyland to make sure he didn't have any problems. She knew the tempo she had chosen was hard for him but it was all for him. They needed to get him to safety as soon as possible. She cursed herself for letting him come though she had known he hadn't been in any shape for it. Well, too late now to blame anyone for spilled milk.
They moved together for about two minutes when Lex felt something like a breeze. It was like someone had just walked by. She slowed down, looking around but seeing nothing. She picked up the pace again to get into the chamber ahead. Behind her group, three Hunters turned to follow them. The energetic readings told them their shoulder cannons were carried by the three men in the back line who had the weapons of their own as well. Scar measured them up. They shouldn't be hard to defeat. The tallest of them reached a little over Blade's shoulders. The other humans he didn't even take into consideration. Although, he had passed too close by the woman in the lead and somehow, she had sensed him. He had seen her to slow and look around, searching for something. Luckily, no one else had noticed. He'd have to be more careful next time.
The group of both humans and their hunter followers continued its trek through the pyramid. Scar wanted to wait until they were in a chamber so the risk of getting more dead than alive humans would be less. And one chamber was coming ahead. He softly gave Blade and Celtic signal. They acknowledged it and prepared themselves.
Lex entered the next room and stopped in surprise. While the other rooms they had been in had four exits each, this one had eight of them. She signalled for others to stop. She didn't want to get them lost. She turned around to look at the people gathered behind her who relied on her to get them to safety. She glanced at everyone to try to judge how they coped with the situation. Miller looked slightly nervous, Weyland was about to faint, Sebastian still had that air of being in historical heaven and Max, Verheiden and Connors wore typical soldier's expressions. And behind them...
"What the..." Lex started. She wasn't sure but it seemed as if the air was moving towards them. She tried to focus on what it was but it moved too quickly. It jumped on Connors who fell down. Two similar things attacked Verheiden and Max. Unfortunately for them, they didn't manage to get their pistols and then it was too late. The alien weapons were yanked from their grips and as fast as the attack had begun it was over. The three soldiers laid on the floor, the weapons seemed to float in the air until they disappeared from the sight as well. Lex ran over to help the three men to stand up.
"What was that?" she asked. When she looked back to where the weapons had disappeared she could make out the moving air in humanoid form. "What is that?" she pointed to it.
Verheiden and Connors took out their guns and clicked off the safety while Max pushed Lex away. She realized what they wanted to do and reached her hand to cover Max's pistol.
"No!" she said. "Let it be!"
Max shook off her hand and nodded to the other two. They raised their weapons and started to shoot. At first it seemed they really were taking shots on an air but then a sickening noise of bullet hitting flesh sounded and a neon-green fluid appeared closely followed by a growl. The growl sounded again but this time from the other side and then something slammed into Verheiden and sent him flying against the wall.
All had seemed to go well, Blade mused. Humans had been so surprised they hadn't even defended themselves. But then, just as they were ready to leave, the three men took out the weapons and started shooting. Blade saw the only other female in the room try to stop them and realized that no matter where in the universe they were, females were always the more clever gender. The shooting didn't bother her. It wasn't as if they were able to see them. But then, by some kind of stupid luck on humans' side, they hit Celtic. He growled in pain and Blade felt herself go into killing mode. They hurt one of her friends. She growled too and launched herself at the nearest human. She slammed into him and he impacted with the wall. But that wasn't enough for her. She raised her hands. She could have blasted him with her shoulder cannon but she preferred to be more personal.
Verheiden was about to get up when he felt something raise him into the air and sent him into the wall again. This time he stayed laying, crumbled at the bottom of the wall which depicted how the hunters had disposed of those who had crossed their path. The two falls had left him desorientated and unable of defending himself. He barely registered shouting of the others when the something came for the third time.
Lex watched as Verheiden flew across the room, flinged away by something very strong. Connors and Max looked unsure about what to do and stopped shooting. Verheiden tried to get up when the something hit him again. He looked like a puppet being dragged around by strings. Lex frantically looked around. She noticed that the green liquid on the floor was expanding, trickling from the air.
'Oh my God,' she thought. 'It's blood. They are bleeding just like us.' Her eyes sought out the source of the bleeding and she could make out two figures standing next to each other, one of them obviously supporting the other. Lex realized they hadn't wanted to hurt them. They had just wanted their weapons back.
"Don't shoot again!" Lex screamed at Connors and Max. "They'll let us be just don't shoot!"
The two of them were so confused they lowered their weapons but then Verheiden screamed. Everyone turned to him. He was laying on the ground, struggling with something which had him pinned down. Blade kneeled on the man's chest and was about to strike down when another thought entered her mind. She pressed one button on her arm computer and her cloaking disappeared. She ignored Scar who was shouting at her to cloak again and the surprised cries from the humans. She leaned over the man under her and raised her wrist blades for him to see. Then with a precise and efficient movement she jerked the blades from left to right and sliced his throat. The blood came out as a geysir from the torn jugular aorta and landed on her mask. Then she felt a pain in her arm as something hit her. She hissed and turned around, ready to strike.
While Lex and the others in her group were watching as a tall figure appeared on Verheiden, Scar cursed. Had Blade lost her mind? He watched her as she sliced the man's throat and readied his shoulder's cannon. These humans were able to inflict damage upon them. Celtic's wound was deep and they needed to get him away and take care of it, not to play with their prey. He set the targeting system on and let the three laser dots move on one of the men with weapons.
Lex tried to hold back bile that had arisen in her throat at the sight of dead Verheiden. Too late she realized that Connors and Verheiden started shooting again and this time they could have seen what they were aiming at. She saw one of the bullets graze the creature's arm. It hissed in pain and annoyance and turned towards them. Seeing it deal with Verheiden, Lex didn't doubt it was about to finish them off as well. But before it could move further, a growl sounded from behind them, where the injured creature was with the other.
Blade stopped when Scar told her to. She saw his shoulder cannon ready and so she stood up and cockily approached the humans. One of them raised the gun again but the female was quicker this time and stood between the muzzle and Blade, blocking his shot.
"Are you out of your mind Woods?" Max cried out as she jumped in front of his pistol. "Why are you saving it?"
"I'm saving us," she snapped back and pointed behind his back. He turned around to see that there were two other creatures like the one that had killed Verheiden. Both of them had the weapons they had found in the sarcophagus. One of those weapons was currently trained in their direction and a narrow red light was coming out of it. Max followed its trajectory with his eyes until he found triangular shape made of three red dots on his chest. Targeting system. He felt his throat go very dry.
Lex watched the alien with weapon carefully. It didn't seem intent on killing them. No, it looked like it only wanted to get its comrades to safety. Fine, she wanted the same, so they could find some kind of an understanding. She knew what she had to do. She reached out to take the gun from Connors. He protested but she silenced him with a kick. The dots moved on her when she took the weapon. She raised it by muzzle and then slowly laid it on the ground. The dots moved back on Max.
"Lay the pistol down," Lex hissed at him.
"What? And let them kill us?"
"They'll do it if you don't do what I say."
Max grumbled but did what she asked him to do. The red dots were still there and the creature made some gesture. The other one behind them, the one which killed Verheiden, growled in annoyance. The answer it got was a growl in loud, commanding tone and the creature started to walk to the others. As it walked round them, the blades it carried on wrists slid back into their sheaths with a loud click.
"Bastard!" Connors said.
Scar watched Blade carefully, trying to make sure none of the humans threatened her. He let his gaze linger on the human woman who returned it as if feeling he was watching her. Her interference saved the whole situation. He hadn't wanted to kill them all but he'd have had to, to assure Blade's safety. The woman certainly had the courage. She trusted him to keep his end of their unspoken bargain - I won't let them kill your friend and you won't kill us. It was amazing how they made an agreement only with looks. He nodded at her in respect. She seemed confused by the gesture but returned it. Scar then supported Celtic's massive form, quickly assured himself with a glance that Blade's wound was only a graze and switched off his shoulder cannon. The three hunters quickly left the room behind.
Lex still couldn't get over what had just transpired. She could have sworn that when her gaze had met the gaze of the alien she had known what it thought. It even nodded at her as if to acknowledge that she had made the right thing. And somewhere deep down Lex had known it could have been trusted to let them live if they gave up their weapons. And it did. Thank God, it did! Lex sank to her knees and the pyramid changed again.
TBC
Ha! I'm evil, evil, evil, evil! Sorry, too many antibiotics. So, what do you think? Blade, Scar/Lex interaction? Let me know.
