Author's Note: I got AVP 2 yesterday…my new favorite thing to do as a Predator is head-snipe distant enemies with my spear gun and listening to the Predator's sadistic chuckle as the head goes flying yards away from the body…ahem. The idea of the Marinesdoing what they do in this chappie is rushed,but I meant for the atmosphere to be hectic and fast-paced. Anyway, Panzer, does THIS answer your previous question?

Prey to a Hunter

Chapter 8:

Training

Incident+370 Hours. Fall 25th, Year 5

The Yautja warrior knelt over his dead quarry. The hunt was successful, and the Yautja's superior hunting prowess had defeated one of the human warriors in traditional combat. The human's final act of firing its weapon in close quarters, had the Yautja been unmasked, might have succeeded, but the mask was impenetrable, at least by the brutish human weapons.

Extending his wristblades, the Yautja stabbed into the human's neck, feeling around the flesh and grasping its prize. Lifting its trophy high into the air, the Yautja opened it's mandibles under its helmet and roared. The primal roar of the warrior terrorized the stricken forest as small animals fled and the humans ran in fear. Let them run, enough blood had been spilled for the day. The Yautja would kill them all, leading to the conclusion of a perfect hunt.

-

Ann moaned and sighed under me as she convulsed for the millionth time this night. It had been about a week since Private Jenkins' death at the hands of that creature, but the forest ambush was the last thing on our minds at the moment. Our bodies were covered in sweat, and the lights were out, the light of the moon the only guide in the darkness. And it was all I needed, as Ann's screams and moans of pleasure were a testament to. In the ample light, I could see Ann's eyes rolling in her head as she flung her head back and screamed loudly.

The night seemed to darken as Ann finally relaxed under me, breathing heavily. She looked at me contentedly, smiling.

Ann shuddered uncontrollably as I traced my hand across her stomach, and giggled uncontrollably as I kneaded her tiny ribcage. Squealing and thrashing, Ann playfully fought back, squirming and trying to get away. It was times like this that really made life stand out to me, as Ann and I were consumed by our blissful joy.

"Jack, stop it! It tickles!" Ann whined, batting playfully at my hands. I smiled at her and replied,

"Ah, but that's the point!" I smiled at her and kept up the assault. Ann snickered and helplessly kicked her legs out at me, which I nimbly dodged. Helplessly laughing her head off, Ann squirmed and desperatly tried to escape as I used her worst weakness against her. Ann absolutely HATED being tickled.

The whining of the two dogs startled me. Looking up, a crisp knock, marital in its sound, resounded in my house. Sighing and pulling on some clothes, I stood up and walked over to the door.

"Yes?" I asked, opening the door. It was Private Takatura.

"Jack, may I come in? Of course, if you're busy…" she smiled cunningly, eyeing my current appearance and my ruffled shirt. It was obvious that she had heard what Ann and I had been doing, and I blushed before asking

"What is it?"

"I believe you'll want to see this, Jack. I'll give you some time to make yourself decent," she smirked, eyeing me from head to toe, "and we'll head out".

I shut the door and straightened my shirt. Ann had been listening to the conversation as well, and was in the process of donning a simple grey sweatshirt and blue jeans. She threw me a long-suffering look before grabbing my shotgun off of the bedside table. I was surprised at Ann's change of attitude towards the weapon; going from complete distaste to a sort of pleasure in handling the weapon was strange in my opinion, but Ann always did like trying new things.

"You can stay home, Ann. I'll go; I'm feeling better" I told Ann, slipping Doug's pistol into my belt. Ann shook her head defiantly.

"Look, just because I'm carrying one extra doesn't make me weak! And as I recall, I handled myself just fine in the woods out there yesterday! I'm coming, Jack!" she said firmly as she slipped a pair of socks on. I knew arguing with her was pointless now, so I simply shrugged and pulled my jacket on.

"We're ready; let's go" I announced as I stepped outside. Takatura glanced at me with a sly grin, suggestively moving her hands together. I shook my head, and Ann flushed bright red as she saw what Takatura was doing with her hands…

As we walked into the Town Square, the mood was anything but happy. The look on everyone's faces was one of grim resignation. I knew then that another party had been dispatched and had found the remains of Private Jenkins.

Thomas' speech, which was halfway through by the time we had reached the Square, dispelled this thought and put a new, sinister one in its place.

"Today, the remains of Private Wallace A. Jenkins were found outside of the Town Inn, where the rest of the Marines are staying. His skull and spine were missing from his body, almost like one would strip the bones from a killed animal" Thomas' cold simile sent a shiver down my spine.

"We recovered the majority of his equipment about a week ago relatively unscathed, as well. The sergeant is asking for another group of volunteers…" the Mayor continued, before the crowd began to yell in anger.

"Another group? How many will get killed this time, huh?" shouted the angry voice of Sasha. Jeff held his hands up to try and console his angry wife, but she shrugged him off like an annoying insect and continued on her angry tirade. Karen glared at her mother.

"Mom! This isn't helping! How do you think I feel?" she yelled angrily at her mother. Both mother and daughter glared at each other as others began clamoring to get their opinions voiced.

"Maybe we could set a trap for it?" Barley was speaking sense. May hugged his hand in a death grip as the throng of people pressed tighter.

"Use explosives, possibly?" Saibara's idea was a bit over the top, but it might only be enough to stop this mammoth creature. I knew that Saibara had some role in creating the fireworks every year, and he probably knew enough about explosives to contain the blast and kill this alien.

Thomas held up his hand to calm the raging storm of the crowds.

"The sergeant has suggested that everyone in town sleep in one place until this creature is caught and destroyed. You will all move out of your houses into the Inn by three o clock this afternoon, per his orders" Thomas grimly addressed the issue. Everyone's faces ranged from anger to shock at this new development.

"If you gather in a large enough place, the thing can't possibly take down one of us without alerting the rest. The Marines and any other volunteers will take guard duty in shifts" Thomas continued. The marines, standing in line behind him, looked exhausted and bedraggled.

"But wouldn't this just be putting all of us in one place to be slaughtered?" Ann silently wondered. The marines had apparently realized the same thing, because Takatura spoke up, saying,

"I know some of you may think we're all vulnerable in one place. Nothing to worry about; we're highly trained Marines. You have nothing to worry about" I snorted at this comment. Still with the infamous Marine bravado, even after the loss of one of their own, at least they all weren't too down after Jenkins' death.

"Three o clock, people!" the sergeant barked in conclusion, leading his men out of the Square and into the direction of the hotel.

-

The Yautja slid its fingers over the activation button of the long weapon it held. The Yautja spear-gun, a long-range weapon used for softening up targets of particular strength or interest, tracked the head of one human as it confidently stalked out of the square. Even after the loss of one of their warriors, the human morale was still surprisingly high. Not for long. The Yautja re-activated its cloaking shield and prepared for its next kill.

-

I couldn't help but feel I was being watched as I marched into the Supermarket with Ann. We needed some supplies for the upcoming winter, and besides, stocking supplies early never hurt anybody. Jeff was sleeping at the counter when we walked in, and the chime of the tiny bell startled him into consciousness.

"What? Oh, it's you, Jack. Hello, Ann" he greeted both of us. I returned his greeting and Ann smiled as we picked out several items, namely oil, bread, and flour, for the winter. The bell jingled, and an indignant Karen stomped into the room. Ann and I winced as Karen practically bellowed out many unprintables, and her eyes flashed with fury.

"Karen?", Jeff asked in concern for his daughter. Karen snarled at him in return, and Jeff visibly recoiled. I could hear her muttering something about cowardice as she slammed the back door to the supermarket.

"Did she go to see the Marines?" I asked Jeff. He nodded.

"She was trying to organize another search party. She still thinks that Rick is out there, alive. It's been almost a week now, but she's stubborn. Now, did you need something?" Jeff told me as I paid for the produce.

"I'll go see Karen" Ann told me as I stuffed the food into my pack. Ann and Karen were best friends, so I heartily agreed. I certainly didn't want to go into the hungry lion's den. I decided to visit Doug at the Inn and return his weapon to him. Telling Jeff where I was headed so Ann wouldn't panic, I headed for the Inn.

The young Marine, Nickson, stood sentry at the door. He saluted as I approached the door, and I saluted him before speaking,

"May I come in? You guys aren't planning anything in there, are you?"

"Oh, no, sir! Please, come in! I think the owner of the Inn wants to see you, anyway!" Nickson enthusiastically reported, flinging open the door. Doug was polishing a glass at the countertop when he saw me.

"Jack! Come in!" he called, putting the glass down and filling it with my favorite vintage wine. I usually didn't drink wine, but since Doug had offered me the drink, I couldn't refuse it. I sipped the beverage while slipping the gun back under the counter. Doug, puzzled, frowned at me and handed the weapon back to me.

"You'll need it more than I will, Jack. Take it. I gave it to you to help protect Ann" he firmly stated, pressing the handle of the weapon into my hand. I shook my head.

"But what if that thing comes here? I've got a weapon at my house, and you'd be defenseless against that thing!" I exclaimed. I didn't want Doug hurt, and Ann had already lost her mother, Doug being one of the last members of her family still alive.

"Do you think a handgun would do much against a thing like that? From the descriptions, that thing is a monster. Besides, the marines are bunking here. There's enough firepower here to level a city block, Jack. I'll be fine". I wasn't swayed by Doug's fake show of confidence. "Enough power to level a city block" wasn't quite enough for this thing, as our last encounter proved. The black agent was casually sipping a white substance and observing my actions in the corner, and had not the sun flashed off of his glass, I never would have spotted him.

"Well, I raised Gateway on the line. A helicopter with some supplies and some pair of consultants, 'experts' as the General called 'em, are incoming. There'll be enough weapons to arm at least one family member per family soon enough" the sergeant happily announced as he strode down the stairs. Well, that solved the problem of weaponry, at least for the time being.

"Jack? Jack, are you here?" Ann called. A subdued-looking Karen followed behind her. Karen's eyes were red and bloodshot, like she had recently been crying. She still managed to smile at me as she and Ann strode into the bar.

"Hi, Jack. Hey, dad! Jeff told me you left and came here" Ann told me. I nodded.

"Yeah. I figured you and Karen needed some time alone, and I didn't want to go home just yet"

"That's alright. Hey, dad? Is Cliff here?" Ann asked her father. Doug nodded.

"Yup. He ate breakfast and went back upstairs. Haven't seen him since" Doug told us. Ann, Karen, and I all marched upstairs. Private Stacker stood in the bathroom, half of his face shaven, humming the song "Banana Phone" to himself absentmindedly.

"Alright…grip it here…uh-huh…now, push, hard, there…uhh…yeah, that's good…oh, you've got it…" came a low, happy voice from Cliff's room. It sounded like the mysterious seventh marine and Cliff. Together.

Cliff's grunts and groans resounded in my ears as my hand froze right in front of the door. Ann's eyes were wide, and Karen was blushing a bright shade of crimson and staring at the ground.

"Hey…I think someone's outside at the door!" Cliff's voice rang. A loud thud accompanied the sound of the doorknob rattling. Ann, Karen, and I looked at each other, panicked. Had we just disturbed Cliff in the process of…?

To our relief, Cliff and the marine stood before us, fully clothed. The word "Mira" was stenciled on her helmet, and to my surprise, Cliff was wearing a set of Marine casual fatigues and spotted a bright red headband around his head.

"Hey, Jack, Ann, Karen! What's up?" he asked casually. Ann eyed Cliff up and down in confusion, and Karen slowly pulled her jaw back up from its fallen position on the ground. The sight of Cliff in a Marine uniform was odd, to be sure, and Karen was expressing all of our disbelief quite clearly. The expression on her face was almost comical in its appearance.

"Um…Cliff, what are you wearing?" Ann asked. Cliff beamed.

"Well, since the Marines are now one short, I've enlisted in this unit! Mira- oh, by the way, that's her name," Cliff began, gesturing towards the marine, "vouched for me after the ambush in the woods, and the sergeant got the O.K. from his CO back on Gateway. I've taken some of Jenkins' gear, and was practicing with it. Wanna see?" Cliff asked, hefting the massive M56. Karen's eyebrows arched.

"That thing is bigger than you are!" she remarked. Cliff grinned as the weapon tracked her hand's movement. The barrel and cartridge of the weapon were missing, but the weapon's ATS system was obviously still online.

"Exactly" Cliff grinned as he set the weapon down and took the eyepiece out of his eyes.

"My gear's been ordered, and my impromptu training began four days ago. The armor, fatigues and equipment are incoming. Some kind of experimental junk, 'motion trackers' or something. Once this is over, I'll be officially trained, and join the Corps!" Cliff excitedly exclaimed.

"You must understand how desperate the situation is. Normal rules go against such quick enlistment, but this is a special case" Mira explained, noting my look of confusion.

"We're all probably in for it when we get back to Gateway, but, hell, we ARE one short…" Stacker yelled from the bathroom.

"He's actually proficient with some of our weapons. The M56 is a difficult weapon to master, but he's made phenomenal progress" Mira complemented Cliff. Cliff beamed.

"We started training a day after the incident. They taught me the basics of firing your weapon, cleaning it, and the other maintenance procedures for this bad boy. I've always wanted to join the Marines, but I could never summon the courage. They taught me how to bandage wounds, use the field radio, and how to operate the tracking system on my weapon. I'm still trying to take all of it in, though. I'm still no good at bandaging wounds and using the other weapons, but I'm learning fast" Cliff reassuringly told us. He was speaking rapidly, and was obviously very excited.

Karen, her finger at her chin, resting in thought, suddenly suggested,

"This is a good idea, Cliff! Why don't we teach some of the other villagers? They're sending us weapons, but we need to know how to use them, right?" Stacker walked out of the bathroom, drying his face with a towel.

"You're not the first person to suggest this. Why the sudden interest, Karen?" Stacker asked, using Karen's name with a gentle concern. It occurred to me then that Stacker…liked Karen. I smiled inwardly at the Marine's infatuation; just about every young male traveler or passer-by that came through Mineral Town had eyes for Karen at one point or another.

"Teach me too" Karen explained simply. Stacker stared at her, mouth slightly agape, before shaking his head.

"Are you sure?" he asked, surprised. Karen's scowl darkened.

"Do I look serious to you?" Karen asked imperiously. Stacker visibly recoiled.

"Whoa…I didn't mean to…I'm sorry. I'll teach you, if you want" Stacker quickly recovered, offering Karen his hand. Karen seemed to consider this for a moment, and shook his hand.

"Deal. When will those weapons be arriving?" she asked. Stacker shrugged.

"Sarge wouldn't say. Could be anywhere from fifteen minutes to fifteen days. You can begin training by using mine, if you want" he said, putting his razor back into his pocket. Karen nodded.

"I'd like that. Can we start now?" she asked. Stacker nodded and retrieved his rifle from his room. Shiro followed him.

"Ah, so, we have some temporary reinforcements. Believe me, what Sarge will put you through is only a taste of life in the Corps. Believe me on that. When you get to Gateway for your proper training, don't expect any mercy like we're going to give you" she warned grimly. Cliff gulped, and Karen's eyes hardened.

"I'm ready. Let's begin" Karen declared. Stacker smiled and jammed a clip into his rifle.

"Follow me…" he said, leading Karen into the back. Ann flashed Karen a supportive smile, which Karen promptly returned. Mira and Cliff did several more drills with the rifle for a while, before quitting for the day and eating lunch with the rest of us.

Larsen and Takatura walked in the Inn's doors, looking sweaty and exhausted, but triumphant.

"Well, sir, the scanners are in place. If anything else bigger than a cat moves out there in the woods, we'll know about it" Larsen said happily. The sergeant, who was sipping a beer at the counter, grunted in acknowledgement.

I opened the back door of the Inn to see Stacker standing over Karen, holding his weapon.

"Alright. That was good. Now, it's time for the basics. This here is a good friend of mine. It's the M41A Pulse Rifle, and a soldier's best friend on the battlefield. Hold it like this" he began, standing behind Karen and showing her how to shoulder the short rifle. Karen complied and sighted down the weapon's barrel.

"Yeah…now what?" Karen asked, her fingers tightening around the empty weapon's trigger. Stacker nodded.

"Uh-huh…just like that. Now, this little counter on the side, here, see it? That shows you how much ammo we have left to play with. Of course, when it reaches zero, just tap this button," he instructed, poking a button next to the LCD counter, ", and pull the clip out. Jam a new one in quick, and you're ready to rock. Got it?" Stacker asked, handing Karen an empty clip. Karen nodded and slammed the clip in.

"Like this…got it. What's this do?" she asked, running her hands over the weapon's grenade-launcher.

"Oh…you don't want to play with that. That's the grenade launcher, pretty dangerous stuff. I once knew a guy, Harrison, I think his name was. He took a grenade and got jumped by some fanatic. Got so surprised, he fired his grenade right into the guy's face…heh…wasn't much left after that. Don't mess with this, now" Stacker finished, nervously fingering a grenade attached to his ammo bandolier. Karen glared at him.

"Oh, come on! You got me interested now! Show me everything!" she demanded. Stacker sighed and pulled a grenade from his belt.

"Now, don't go using these up real fast, now. They're pretty scarce as it is. Just slide it in here," he stated, sliding the grenade in, "and pump this back and forth. That'll launch the grenade. These babies explode on contact, so watch out so they don't bounce off walls or something" he cautioned. Karen nodded and ejected the grenade from the launcher.

"So, there you go. That's about six months of training in a nutshell. Remember; short controlled bursts when firing. That chopper is due any day now; be careful with your weapon when we hand them out. We can't go around fighting these things hand-to-hand" Stacker warned as Karen walked back to the Supermarket.

Today had been a very odd day indeed. The marines, arrogant and self-confident, were taking on apprentices in the midst of hell! And there was only one of these invisible hunters out there, to boot! Something here was wrong, very wrong. I couldn't help but feel that we were only puppets, controlled by an unseen force. That agent may have had something to do with all of this, but that was absurd! I sighed; I was thinking myself in circles again.

Ann must have noticed as well, because as we approached Trayus, she smiled at me.

"Don't think too hard, Jack. You might hurt yourself!" she giggled at me. I opened my mouth to make a quick comeback, but was suddenly surprised as something brushed right past my face! A stinging pain seeped into my head as the noise of metal striking stone resonated in the air.

Blood dribbled into my eyes as I noticed the spear embedded in the ground. The shaft of the weapon still quivered slightly from its supersonic flight across my forehead. The spear had flown from the top of the Poultry Farm, slashing a small line across my forehead. An inhuman laugh echoed through Mineral Town as I finally noticed the shimmer on the rooftops. Our hunter was back.