A/N: Alright, I've finally written this chapter. Now you fans have something to read! I've gone through so many revisions, I lost track. For quite a while, I was just too uninterested in writing, but I've finally gotten back into the swing of things. I hope to have more chapters up soon. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Life and Death

The hum of the army jeep was a constant drone, buzzing and ringing in the ears of Sgt. Peltew long after the squad had left them. The squad had left the jeeps at the entrance of a cave nearly two hundred miles from colony 59. His pulse rifle ready in his hands, Peltew lead squad one, consisting of thirteen armed soldiers, through the cave with squad two and three. In total, there were nearly fifty men. For the past hour they had been searching the caves, tracing and retracing their steps; the tracking signal had been lost. Determined to find the Predator nest, they searched on in the darkness, their shoulder lamps still shining brightly.

"Sgt. Peltew, Sir, we've been searching for nearly an hour with no luck. Permission to turn back, Sir?"

"Negative, Corporal, we are going to find the nest." The Sgt. was annoyed by the men. It was extremely important that they find the Predators and he was sick of their whining.

"Yes Sir." The man didn't try to hide his disappointment as he returned to the search. There was no sign of the Predators whatsoever and even the Sgt. was beginning to despair when a noise caught his attention. Signaling to his men to turn of their lamps and fall back into the shadows he readied his gun and waited.

The sound of labored breathing was the first thing that caught their ears. That was unusual; Predators had extremely high constitutions and rarely became fatigued. The footsteps heard were too light to be from anything over six feet tall, and they were uneven, as if the person was limping. Puzzled, the men held their ground and waited. As the creature in question drew closer, they were able to discern feminine sobs of distress and pain. Still they waited, and around the corner came a young woman hugging the wall and struggling hard to walk.

"Oh God, please get me out of here!" the girl choked out. "Get me out!" As she passed Sgt. Peltew, he reached out and snagged her, clamping his hand over her mouth so as to muffle her screams.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" he demanded, hissing into her ear. Muffled sounds came from her as she fought to speak, but was unable to do so properly due to the hand over her mouth. "Do you promise not to scream?" She nodded and the hand was removed.

"My name is Nytasha. I was captured and brought here by the Predators after they slaughtered the residents of colony 64." She informed him. "Sir I need-"

"Quiet!" The command was given and she had to follow it as the men strained to listen to make sure there was nothing coming. "Yes?"

"Kill me." Nytasha stated, grabbing onto the front of his clothes. "You have to kill me right now! If you don't the monster in me will be born! Just kill me!" She was desperate; it was easily conveyed through her tone.

"There will be time for hysterics later!" Sgt. Peltew hissed at her. Something was wrong. He could feel it. He just didn't know what. Then he noticed it; there was a slight disturbance in the air like something was moving. 'Shit' he thought. "THEY'RE HERE!" He shoved Nytasha behind him and fired where he suspected there to be a Predator. He knew it was too late but he still fought as hard as he could. Soon it was just him left, the rest of his men were dead and the girl behind him was begging him to kill her. Since there was no more reason to remain invisible the Predators appeared before him in full armor.

"You have something that is ours," the leader of the pack hissed at him stepping forward. "Give us the girl and your death will be painless."

"NO! Don't give me to them! I won't give this…this…thing in me life! I'd rather die! Just kill me!" Nytasha screamed.

"The lady doesn't seem to want to go with you." Peltew was stalling for time as his brain tried to process ideas for him to use to save both of their hides. All that was flashing through his brain was RUN, but there was no way they would be able to out-run the predators. Maybe he could cut a deal with them or something but that was a very, very slim chance.

"The lady doesn't know what she wants," the lead Predator said.

"The hell I don't! I know exactly what I want! I want to die! You killed Jeddeck and now expect me to help you! No freaking way!" Nytasha screamed stepping out from behind the cover of Peltew. It was the wrong move. Instantly one of the Predators aimed and fired, hitting her with another dart filled with tranquilizer.

"Now let's see what we shall do with this brave one." The leader's voice held a sadistic humor to it as he eyed the still standing human in front of him. "Isn't that Praetorian we have still alive? The one we were going to experiment on?" He asked this even though he knew it to already be true.

"Yessir," one of the lower Predators replied.

"Perfect." Peltew was hit with a dart and then all went black.

Groaning loudly, the Sgt. came to, his body throbbing from the after effects of the drugs that had been introduced into his system. Sitting up, he looked around, taking in his surroundings. He was in an arena; the floor was dirt and the walls were stone. He appeared to be alone, but knowing that he was in the grasp of Predators he knew that he could never be quite sure. Silently, he checked himself to make sure that he was physically all right, even if he wasn't there wasn't much he could do. Slipping his hand into his boot, he searched for his small pistol that he kept concealed in there. It was gone; as was any other gun he had had in his possession and a whole bunch of other things. All he was left with him was his belt, which contained three grenades, a machete, his gas mask and a small knife. Everything else had been confiscated.

There was a sudden noise, and he looked up to see two Predators hauling in a metal cage with an enraged Praetorian in it. In that moment, Peltew understood what they were going to do. They were going to make him fight this creature to the death in an uneven match. There was no way he could win, but there was no way he was goin down without a fight. Steeling himself, Peltew drew his machete and waited for the cage to be opened. He didn't have to wait long. As soon as the Predators had left and sealed them in the door to the cage burst open, and the Praetorian came flying at Peltew.

His reflexes still off because of the drugs, Peltew tried to dodge but was too slow and claws sliced into his flesh. Biting down a cry of agony, he focused on what he had to do. He had to survive, and to do that he had to kill the alien. Hitting the ground he rolled and began gathering all the knowledge he knew about the thing he was fighting. Barely anything could penetrate the armor; even with a gun his task would be near impossible. Pausing a moment, he dropped his guard and nearly paid for it with is life. The alien landed a devastating blow to his chest that flung him across the arena into the wall. Air flew from him and he felt his bones snapping under the pressure.

Dragging himself up, Peltew tried to find a weakness. All armor had weak spots at the joints because if it didn't the being wouldn't be able to move. His grenades had a ten second wait before they blew…that would give him just enough time. Turning to face the oncoming foe, he waited until the last possible moment, and then slid between its legs and jumped on his back. Knowing that the thing would instantly try to rip him off he wrapped his legs around its waist and slammed the blade of his machete into the weak spot where the arm joined the torso. Screaming in pain the Praetorian dug its claws into his legs. Blocking out the pain Peltew twisted, hacked and sawed at the Praetorian's left limb. His blood was spraying everywhere, as was the alien's. Every drop of the acidic fluid that touched his skin burned horribly, melting and peeling his skin and muscles off his bones.

Finally the arm came off, and Peltew pulled out one of his grenades, yanked the pin and shoved it into the Praetorian's chest cavity through the hole left behind by the missing limb. It was sheer agony, even for the short time that his hand was in there. Getting his hand out Peltew flung himself away from the thing before it exploded, but he couldn't move fast enough and it blew, launching him into the opposite wall. As the darkness gathered at the edges of his vision, he looked down at his right hand and nearly vomited from what he saw. There was barely any muscle left on the hand; it was almost completely bone. Moaning he allowed himself to be swallowed up by what he was sure was death.

Hearing strange noises Peltew opened his eyes only to quickly snap them shut again; bright lights shined directly in his eyes. Every single part of his body ached, and he knew that he wasn't dead. The knowledge both comforted and devastated him. If he wasn't dead that meant the Predators still had him. Around him he could hear them talking in their own clicking, growling language before the light was gone and he opened his eyes just as he disappeared into a machine. A needle was shoved into him and then all went black.

"Sgt. Peltew, it is time to get up." A deep clicking voice stirred the man from the dark endless sleep that had claimed him for two weeks. His eyes fluttered open and he stared up at the Predator above him. "Welcome back."

"What's going on?" Peltew demanded groggily. "What's today? How long have I been under? What are you planning to do to me?"

"One thing at a time. Would you like to get dressed? I have noticed that your kind are not comfortable without their garments." The Predator helped him sit up and handed him a set of clothes.

"These aren't mine," Peltew looked at the clothes that had been handed to him. They were a simple pair of pants and a shirt. They were comfortable looking, but they weren't his.

"Your clothes were burned. They were in no condition to ever be worn again."

"Do you have a name?" Peltew questioned as he pulled on his shirt, "Or should I just call you monster?"

"You have an interesting sense of humor, I would have thought you to be cowed by your experience; but you are not. My name is Il'nervaka." The Predator never took his eyes off of Peltew. "It's been two weeks since you fought the Xenomorph, and while you were asleep we healed you. As you may have noticed your hand has been restored to its prior condition and your ribs are completely healed as well."

"Why did you heal me if you are just going to kill me?" Peltew was finished dressing and was watching Il'nervaka with wary eyes.

"We are not going to kill you. You have proven yourself a worthy warrior in our eyes." Il'nervaka turned away from him and picked up something that the human couldn't see. "Since you found our clan we had to move to a different location, we are still in the old city. I am supposed to make sure you are in good physical health and then release you." He faced Peltew and in his hands he held a combistick. "This is to show you are a warrior equal to the Ta'Jenten." Reaching out cautiously Peltew took the weapon but as soon as his fingers grasped it the Predator hit him hard in the back of the head throwing him back into the depths of unconsciousness.

Groaning softly the Sgt. slowly came to and sat up. His head hurt like there was no tomorrow and it took him a moment to zero in on his surroundings. He was leaning against the outside wall of a colony though which one he wasn't sure. Using the wall for support he hauled himself up and winced at the pain that attacked his skull. Propped up next to him was the combistick, scowling at it he seriously considered leaving it there but he knew that he would most likely need it. Grasping the weapon he used it to help him walk to the nearest entrance to the colony his head spinning the whole way.