Chapter 13: A Sad Moment

Mac-11: I have returned! Here's the new chapter. What's in this chap may not be sad to you, but it's sad to the Yautja. Enjoy...

Jentr'ck transported them onboard the ship that Doun'ch was flying, in outer space. It was then that they realized they were in the head of the ship and in front of them were Doun'ch and their parents. Their parents were all standing in a line and Doun'ch called out a order. They waited and Doun'ch looked to see if they actually do it. Finally they all took off their masks and activated their wrist blades. They looked at the family insignia that was carved into their mask's forhead one last time and then, sadly, scratched it off.

It was like scratching off an important part of themselves. This was, indeed, a very painful moment. The young clan, however, did not show it, but it was plain to see that they were suffering inside.

"All of our hunts were for the glory of someone else," said Netak as the realization hit him. They all watched the young clan now carve in a new symbol, It was Doun'ch's. They immediately began to do training excercises afterwards, getting ready for Doun'ch's first session.

"So what is our purpose in this story?" asked Merc'rk. "You are the most skilled ones with Doun'ch's training and are the only ones who even stand a chance against the queen. These monters we created were made to be the most excellent hunt and now they are out of control," was Jentr'ck's answer. "But, wait! You froze them remember. Nothing could live that long being frozen the whole time," said Essra. "We used plasma freeze. Plasma freeze can keep a living life form in suspended animation since it has a small amount of plasma energy and it takes far longer to melt with higher temperatures than normal ice," he explained. The clan looked confused and, yet, irritated.

"But, the ice is currently at the last stage of melting and you need unlock the door with that key to get it. So I'll leave you with the prophecy. 'The enemies that were once bonded have been unleashed. The five chosen will return to where their ancestors originated. The leader will be marked from losing a limb in battle a replacing it with the key of Doun'ch. They will get the weapons of their masters to face the evil that has now been awoken'," said the elder and suddenly they all woke up.

In the real world: They looked at eachother with shock on their faces, each one of them wondering if it was real or not. It was also then that they realized their special weapons were missing; Essra's automatic spear gun, Reco'de's plasma caster and wrist blades, Netak's disc and spear, all gone except for Merc'rk's metal arm and the plasma fletchette on it. "What the?" said Reco'de as he looked at his shoulder. Just then the room began to rumble. The room itself was an ancient elevator and it was going down. When it finally stopped and the doors opened they all saw what appeared to be a large mass of melting ice. They walked out of the elevator and headed toward it.

When they reached it they found two front doors frozen solid. Merc'rk shot them with his plasma fletchette and the doors shattered into tiny crystals. Inside was a court yard and there frozen in place was the battle scene. The ancient aliens against the ancient predators in a massive slaughter and, by the looks of it, the predators were losing. The ice was melting very quickly and some body parts that the creatures had been holding high were now above the ice. There was also a small pond forming from all the ice that had melted and any Predator that was standing was chest high in water. They walked on top of the ice to the king's throne and there was Jentr'ck, frozen in place. He was frozen with his hand pointed toward a wall. The clan walked over to the wall and saw a loose brick in it. Essra pushed it in and the wall collapsed into rubble. Behind it was a small room with four doors and in the middle of them was a small hole in the wall.

The clan walked up to the wall and inspected it. It was very dusty and they could tell something was written on it, but couldn't see what it was. Essra walked up to one of the four doors, wiped off some of the dust, and found a drawing of a spear gun. Reco'de walked up to a second door and found a drawing of a plasma caster and wrist blades. Netak found a spear and disc, and Shou'nk found three shuriken. "He will have lost a limb and replaced it with the key," recited Essra as she looked at Merc'rk. "Leader, if the prophecy is right then your arm is the key," she said and pointed towards the whole in the wall. There was only one way to find out...

The clan leader stuck his metal arm in the hole. It was just the right fit. He twisted his arm and a loud click came from the inside of the wall. All four doors opened and revealed a certain treasure to the clan.

Essra reached inside and pulled a high advanced spear gun. It had a new where would charge the metal spears with plasma before they would fire and make them explosive.

Shou'nk pulled out plasma charge shurikens with smarter computers .

Reco'de pulled out dual plasma casters set that, if the writting on the walls was right, could fire at two targets at once. He also found wrist blades that could be charged with plasma to cut through enemies better.

Netak found a new spear and disc, each one had edges that could be charged with plasma to make its cutting ability more effective... and deadly.

One thing they all noticed about their weapons was the marks on each of them. Essra found the insignias of both her father and mother on her spear gun's barrel. Reco'de found the insignia of his father on the inner side his left plasma caster and the insignia of his mother on his right plasma caster. Netak found the insignia of his father on both the spear heads of his spear and his mother's insignia at the center of his discus. Shou'nk found his mother's insignia at the center of his shuriken and his father's on the other side.

Merc'rk tried to pull his arm out of the hole, but it wouldn't budge. They all looked at him with confusion and hoped that it wasn't stuck or anything. Something inside that hole was messing with his mechanical arm. When the clan leader pulled it out it suddenly had a upgrade, even the plasma fletchette had been enhanced. They stood there for a moment, surprised by their advanced weapon upgrade. Then one by one, grins began to appear on their faces. "And they will get the weapons of their masters," recited Essra again as she remembered what Jentr'ck had said. "I think I might like being a chosen warrior," said Reco'de as he attached his weapons. They equipted themselves with their new weapons and headed back to the throne room.

"What do we do now?" asked Reco'de. "We free our brothers and then get out of here," said the clan leader. They knew that they couldn't take on the aliens all at once, alone, and even with the help of the ancient Predators, but even they were already losing.

"How are we supposed to do that?" asked a skeptical Reco'de. "Like this!" yelled Netak. He was standing next to a block of ice with an ancient predator inside of it. He pulled out his spear and activated the plasma charged edges. The plasma charged spearhead glowed an icy cold blue. Netak then stabbed the ice with his spear and the super heated plasma melted the ice holding the Predator in an instant. The ancient Predator fell down on the ground where he lie motionless. The clan gathered around, all curious if he was actually alive or not, after being frozen for so long.

Since no one was doing anything Shou'nk decided to try poking him in one of those annoying ways that makes you wake up. He got down and moved his arm towards him. Suddenly before his finger could even poke his skin the ancient Predator's arm lifted off the ground and grabbed the younger modern counterpart by his throat. His eyes snapped open and he threw Shou'nk far into a large block of ice that shattered on impact. Before he could stand up, Netak put his spear to the ancient hunter's neck. He froze and then finally got a good look at who his thought-to-be attackers were.

Their equiptment was far more advanced then his own, but they were all of his species. He began inspecting them, clueless as to who they were... until he saw Doun'ch's mark carved on the forhead of their masks. He immediately got on one knee and bowed to show his highest respect. "Please forgive me! I did not know you were of Doun'ch's clan! I beg for your forgiveness!" he said. "Nice toss," complimented Reco'de, completely ignoring the fact that he had assaulted Shou'nk, but more interested in the distance he'd been thrown him. "Your forgiven, but we need your help," said Merc'rk. The ancient Predator stood up, relieved. "My name is Deckn'ov," he introduced. "What is it you need?" he asked. "Free the rest of us and then follow me out of here," he ordered. "The same for the rest of you," he said towards his clan. They carried out his orders and went to free more predators.

They began to chip away the ice and free the Predators. There were only about 58 ancient Predators left out of the whole civilization, so freeing them wouldn't take long. Merc'rk freed another Yautja and let him fall to the ground. He was awake, but he seemed dazed, tired, and freezing. It was hard to imagine what the Ancient Yautja had gone through, being frozen like that for over 500 years, the lenght of an average Yautja's life time. Merc'rk stopped and looked at the throne room. He jump inside and slid down a slop of ice. He stopped right in front of the throne and there was Jentr'ck, sitting right on it in a frozen block of ice. He pulled out his wrist blades and began to gently chip away the ice. After a few moments he had freed the Ancient King Yautja, but all Jentr'ck did was sit in his throne for a few moments.

Just then his eyes snapped open. He looked extremely tired, as if it would kill him to move. Merc'rk helped him up and put his arm over his shoulder to walk him out of the throne room. "You have finally come," he said as Merc'rk carried him out. "Yeah, but what I don't get is how did you get these weapons and why didn't you use them against the hardmeat?" asked the clan leader. "I had to use all my forsight to get those. I saw as far into the future as I could and looked at our race's weapons and how they were made and then I made some of my own, but Doun'ch was only one hunter. It would take a lot more than one yautja to fight the hardmeat, but I had only the materials to make one set. So I told Doun'ch to each train you to best your father's and mother's most significant weapon and I knew they would pass it on to you. I also set everything else up for you," he answered.

They came out of the throne room and walked to the battle ground area. All the ancient Predators had been freed while carefully not freeing the ancient aliens. Half of the ancient hunters were extremely tired and weak, or wounded from the fight that they were frozen in, while the other half, that weren't, help them up. Once Jentr'ck walked out they all kneeled and bowed to him. Jentr'ck said nothing, but looked at Merc'rk and pointed to an exit. "We need to get out of here before the hardmeat wake up." Merc'rk nodded and walked to the exit. Once he reached it the rest of the predators followed.

Mac-11: Well, this time it didn't take too long for me to update. Thank you those of you who reviewed and remember to review if you want me to update.