Disclaimer: neither the Predators, nor the Aliens belong to me.
"What did this?" Khte'katildei'h growled, crounching down to examine the remains of a drone that had been literally torn apart, much of the stony ground beneath it eaten by the creatures acid blood before it had dissipated. Scanning the kainde amedha, she hissed quietly-- noting several large holes in its body, as if pierced by talons just before its death.
What was that?
Spotting an unusual shape at the floor, the yautja elder carefully cleared the debris partially covering it, shifting the vision modes of her mask as she tried to determine what it was. Oval in shape and with a slightly tapering end, some hair-like roots still attached, it was a mottled scale twice the lenght of her hand. Khte'katildei'h turned the scale in her hand as she studied it-- too large to come from any species she was familiar with, the scanning system in her mask indicated that it was made of a substance sharing many qualities with metal.
With an extremely strong substance, it also still contained a faint trace of bioelectricity, as if it had been newly shed.
Khte'katildei'h tucked the scale in behind one of the leather straps at her armor, turning to face the pack leaders who had gathered nearby to pass on the information they had been provided by the warriors.
"The kainde amedha were taken by surprise, obviously. Whatever that attacked seemed to have moved so fast that even the hive mother had no time to tear herself from the egg sack to protect her hive. Tracks has been found, as if made by a giant raptor, and scales-- like the one you just found" Ka'ron said. Then the male warrior raised his arm to show a handful of scales-- most of them whole, but a few that were cracked or cut.
Reaching out, a few of the pack leaders picking up a scale to study it, as they clearly speculated what kind of creature they had belonged to and if it was still around-- which was a concern particulary valid if the creature was responsible for such a slaughter.
A call of warning echoed through the grotto, and with a growl, Khte'katildei'h spun in the direction it had came from-- instinctively unsheathing her wrist blades.
Whether it was the survivors of the attack on the hive having regrouped and was attacking, or drones coming in from the further reaches of the hive too late to save their queen, it didn't really matter. Neither of that changed the fact that hundreds of drones were advancing at the yautja hunters, emerging from vents in the wall as well as the larger entrances to the cave. With ferocious speed, a group charged at the yautja who had first sounded the warning, swiftly overwhelming and killing the hunters by sheer numbers before they swarmed back up to join their fellow drones.
Still, a pulse of pride went through Khte'katildei'h as the yautja moved into a defensive position in the split second interval before the main charge came-- forming a double triangle. Then the cave was filled with smoke, the stench of acid and the flashes as the warriors fired their plasma guns and burners, screams of dying warriors and drones alike filling Khte'katildei'h ears.
But even with the glory and rush of the fight pulsed through her veins, it was clear to the yautja elder that the kainde amedha was not attacking with their full potential-- it almost seemed that something unsettled them. Frequently she noticed that large numbers of them paused, seeming to hesitate and scan their surroundings, the hearts of those drones was certainly not entirely committed to the fight.
Kainde amedha that were afraid?
Was that even possible?
Khte'katildei'h's eyes narrowed as she noticed many of the warriors around her watching the drones with hints of the same puzzlement as she was feeling, what was going on?
A startled his from one of her fellow warriors was all the warning Khte'katildei'h got. Taking out another drone as she whirled around, some strange instinct told the female warrior to throw herself to the right, and as she rolled to a stop, the source of the drones strange behaviour revealed itself. While Khte'katildei'h watched, she saw several of her warriors getting crushed by something unseen as it dropped from the ceiling of the cavern-- even more being throw thought the air as they were nothing.
Then..., it revealed itself.