Shadow didn't know where he was going, and didn't care.
There wasn't any intrinsic problem with other people messing around with the retrovirus, one part of him said. Why was he overreacting like this?
Because, another part retorted, the only reason why the human race has ever stood a chance against the Aliens was superior intellect. Placing a human mind inside a xenomorph – an enhanced xenomorph, at that – and that advantage was taken away.
Why are you so sure that Spiketail and… what was it? Talon? Why are you so sure that those two will turn against humanity? the other replied.
Oh come on, said the second. You know how Spiketail acts. How she spoke with pride about going on killing sprees back on Earth. And if Holly/Talon actually wanted to undergo the change, then surely she won't turn out much better.
Spiketail's not all bad, said the first defensively. You got her to admit that she didn't want any harm to come to the people of the Charon. She got an overdose of the virus, so her mind went further than yours did, but there is some humanity in there. Besides, she risked her life taking on that Queen, and look at how she begged you to help her help the Yautja! Those weren't the acts of a xenomorph.
Well what about what happened before that attack? the second replied bluntly. She practically ordered you to go onto the Asphodel and kill someone. That's not the act of a human. Do you really trust her to stay with the best-case scenario? 'Cos if she slips from that…
Talon'll help with that, said the first. Oh, Spike will try to bring her over to her brutal ways, but that can go both directions. Talon might give Spiketail back some humanity.
Maybe, the other replied doubtfully. But as I said, anyone who actually wanted to use a retrovirus is probably half-xenomorph already. Mentally, anyway.
Don't be so melodramatic, the first said flippantly. We've known Holly for over a month, and surely any sort of imbalance like that would have shown through…
Abruptly the feel under his claws changed from bark to… something else. He focused on his surroundings, and realised what he had landed on.
It was a ship. The landing had clearly done a lot of harm, but the overall structure seemed to be intact. It was roughly crescent-shaped, and was made of a strange, resinous substance. In a bizarre visual inconsistency, one of the prongs that made up the shape was slightly shorter, yet managed to still look pleasingly symmetrical.
Nothing moved inside the hulk.
Driven by curiosity, Shadow moved to one of the numerous gashes in the hull, and entered.
The inside was reminiscent of a hive dome, but was made of a different substance, and there was a kind of pattern to it that was lacking in a hive.
Here and there on the floor were skeletons. At first they were too broken up to recognise, but they became more intact further in.
They were Aliens.
Dozens of splintered white exoskeletons littered the inside of the hulk. Scattered among them were some sort of resin structures.
He picked one up. It was a regular, cylindrical object with a short protrusion at the bottom. It was far too smooth to be natural, or of Alien design.
Further in, there were still more skeletons, including a few Praetorians, and still more of the disks.
One of the disks abruptly sparked as he approached, and to his astonishment, it lifted a metre into the air before dropping again. The protrusion swivelled, and glowed at the end a faint green, but then the entire apparition went still again.
There were fewer of the disks again, but still more skeletons. He had given up trying to count them, but there had to be over a hundred so far.
The corridors opened out into a central room, and the sight took his breath away.
Two huge skeletons lay in the centre of the room, locked in combat even in death. The first was unquestionably a Queen. The second was a lot smaller, maybe the size of a Praetorian, but unlike anything he had ever seen. It was bulky, and similar to a human body built on a much larger scale. The head seemed to be elephantine, with a long trunk-like appendage, and large eye-sockets.
>So quiet…> he said to himself. The scene was so terrifying, so strange, that he had to break the silence.
>I wonder how long they've been here…>
/Almost five standard rotations of the planet you call Earth./
Shadow leapt in surprise, looking for the source of the strange telepathy. It was almost like a Queen, but there was a different tone to it…
>Show yourself!>
/As you wish./
The air around the strange skeleton blurred, and something moved away from the battlescene. With a creaking sound, the mover materialised.
It was a living example of the elephantine creature. Thick armour was layered all over the creature, leaving only the head exposed. Larger versions of the protrusions on the disks hung loosely from the creature's belt.
/Consider yourself lucky that I no longer care about such intruders as yourself, P-17D./
They've only been here five days? How have they been reduced to skeletons in so short at time? And what are you?
/Our weapons reduce flesh to ash, leaving bone untouched. They were locked in battle, and I fired in the hope that the P-17M only would be affected. I was wrong, and both died. As for what I am… our word would be beyond your comprehension. Others have called us Pilots, Space Jockeys, Wraiths, and those that were once our slaves call us Tarutaska Amedha./ Shadow stiffened at the Yautja term. /You have encountered the Yautja, then. And communicated with them… something unheard of since the rebellion. Your Queens once called us… the creators./
Shadow stared at the creature. >You… created xenomorphs?>
/Project 17. Our greatest success. Our most powerful weapon. The cause of our downfall. Such a simple concept… why waste drones or slaves when you can use soldiers that replicate from the foe? And afterwards, on a genetically-encoded signal to the Queens, all would die. Leaving us victorious… we were so proud when the DNA was spliced successfully, to create… you./
>You spoke of rebellion? Yautja and Aliens communicating before?>
The creature laughed, a strangely painful 'sound'. /No-one would have dared question us once. Masters of the galaxy. And now I, one of the last, am quizzed by an impudent… xenomorph, was it? I suppose I should tell you. Someone must remember our legacy, even if it is just a drone./ It made a strange choking sound, and collapsed against the central control area. /Ah… the end approaches./
Shadow stared at the creature, and then saw a faint blip. Through their connection to the hive mind, an Alien can 'see' another's exact location from the place that their mind broadcasts from. And there was one such mind inside the Jockey.
It had been infected.
/Our high point was billions of years ago./ the Jockey said. /We ruled the entire galaxy. Could cross it in a matter of hours. We were the first intelligent species to be formed in the galaxy, but others soon followed. Over two billion years ago, another species came close to our level of achievement./ Shadow felt an unpleasant yank over the mental link. /Ah yes. You have met them already. The term that was used was Cythera./ It choked again. /Our war with the Cythera destroyed both our races, to the point that we no longer took part in the wars, using slaves and machines to do the fighting. That was when we created… you. The ultimate weapon. Combined with our Yautja slaves, we pushed the Cythera to the edge, and then destroyed their homeworld. We thought they had been destroyed, and but obviously we weren't as thorough as we believed./
/Our war with the Cythera decided us in the matter of what to do with the younger races. They were to be enslaved, or destroyed. And that was what we did, for millions of years. Until it went wrong. A few ships of Yautja overwhelmed their masters and fled, taking several eggs of what they called kainde amedha. They hatched the eggs, and learned to communicate with the Queens, something that previously on we had been able to do./
>The Queens were loyal to you?>
The Pilot laughed. /Oh, no, little one, they loathed us. But they were clever. They knew that if they disobeyed us, they would die sooner. Where there is life, there is hope… but now the Yautja and xenomorphs allied. The Queens, through the very adaptive abilities we gave them, evolved past their death-signal. When they attacked, we could not force them to die. Our job had been done too well, and one by one our worlds fell. Even in space, we could not win – the Yautja were technologically inferior, but they had numbers. Something we had never regained since the war with the Cythera./
/We began to fall. A little over one and half billion years ago, there were only five of us left. All the others had been wiped out. One died when the last eggs under our control infected him; he lay within his ship for millions of years on a barren world until it was disturbed by humans. One by one we died, until I and my companion fell prey to the Voidscream. And now I am the last, and soon, even I will die. So ends the race that once ruled the galaxy…/
>Wait! What's the Voidscream?>
/The source of all our miseries on this planet. It is what brings ships back into the real world and forces them to land here. All of it comes from the Voidscream of the Sentinel. More questions/ it asked. /The Sentinel is the greatest achievement of the Cythera, and like you, it came to destroy them. A monstrous computer system that infiltrates the entire planet, and uses viruses to take control of passing ships. It was once a means of capturing our ships during the great war, but with the passing of the Cythera, it grew. It became… insane. It now pulls ships into this planet, and prevents them from leaving, regardless of what they are. What purpose it has, I do not know, but I do know that what Cythera there are on this planet now serve the Sentinel, not vice-versa./ Abruptly, a strange faint scream echoed across the link. /It comes! I will not fall to our own creations! I… will… not/ Shuddering as a horrific snapping sound emanated from within the its chest, and reached for one of the belt weapons.
There was a mechanised shriek – a flash of green light – and the Pilot began to dissolve. Ash fell in clouds to the floor, leaving the shining white skeleton of the creature, and the little chestburster's bleached exoskeleton just visible through the splintered ribcage.
Shadow stared at the remains of the last member of a race that had once ruled the galaxy. That had enslaved the Yautja. That had used the Aliens as a weapon.
The race that had created the Aliens.
Thanks a lot, he thought dryly.
>I don't get it!> said Talon. >Why can't we just go and see Spineback as it is? From what you've told me about Her, She wouldn't take too kindly to being kept in the dark about my change. Hang on, I was capitalising Her…>
>Instinct, that one,> replied Spiketail. >If She's your Queen, the respect is automatic. It is physically impossible for an Alien to attack its own Queen. And as for keeping Her waiting, Spineback won't be too pleased to have another uppity ex-prey drone around the place. She's made it clear to both me and Shadow that She doesn't like us, and the moment we put a toe out of line we'll be turned into emergency rations. Bringing back a host will keep her sweet.>
>So what are we going after?>
>Lesson two, Talon. Keep an open mind about your prey, because you're often strong enough to take it whatever it is.>
The drones moved through the canopy in silence for a while.
>What's that?> asked Talon. >That hissing.>
There was something inside a small ravine. The problem was, there was a low tree canopy over it, so the only way the drones could see what the creature was was by ending up right on top of it.
>Lesson two, eh?> said Talon in an unnaturally cheerful tone. >Are we going in?>
>Shut up. And yes, we are. I've yet to meet a creature on this planet that I can't beat.>
They stealthily dropped to the ground, and moved into the ravine.
Spiketail saw what the creature was, and groaned. >Pyrocula. Whatever you do, don't stop moving. The only weak point in the armour is the mouth – you'll get some good tail practice.>
>Why can't I stop moving?> asked Talon, eyeing the monster.
The Pyrocula stood five metres at the shoulder. It had a short, horned head filled with sharp teeth, long arms with huge claws, strangely short back legs, and a tail that looked heavy, but twirled in the air constantly. Crocodilian armour covered its body.
The creature sensed their presence, and turned. With a curious scream, a blast of flame jetted from its jaws.
>THAT'S WHY!>
The drones split and moved along the ravine's walls, dodging the blasts of fiery liquid that accompanied the Pyro's rasping screams.
Talon reached the creature first, and leapt from the ravine wall onto the Pyro's back. In a move that would have been anatomically impossible for almost anything else, the Pyro bent one arm backwards, and swatted her off with a flick of the huge claws.
She recovered instantly, but with terrifying speed, the creature spun and screamed again. She tried to dodge the burning sludge, but was a little too slow.
She shrieked in pain as it slapped into one foot, and collapsed, clawing at the liquid to get it off.
The Pyrocula moved towards her, ready to give the deathblow with its claws. As it raised an arm, it opened its mouth in a roar of triumph.
In a dark blur, Spiketail leapt from one side of the gully to the other, flicking out her tail inside the behemoths jaws.
It shrieked, reared backwards… and slowly collapsed as the neurotoxins did their work.
>Dangerous if you don't know how to deal with them, but they've got a remarkably low tolerance to our tail stings,> commented Spiketail. >And stop whining, you sound like a lost puppy. You'll be limping for a few hours, that's all.>
>I've been through plenty of pain before; hell, I even got shot once. But that was beyond description!>
>Like I said, stop whining. It's better than it feels. You need to learn to shut your mind down to the pain; it gets enhanced by your senses so that you always know exactly what injuries you have. Now help me drag this lump back to the hive...>
Many thanks to Dawley, who provided the idea for the Pyrocula, among many others (which you'll see some of in part three). And the Pyro is pretty tame compared to some…