Chapter 10
C'jit – Damn
It was either late at night or early in the morning and Xander was still awake along with Chang and Mao. He was still trying to convince the older men that she was more than just a girl, but they were hesitant to accept her being a God until they saw her kill all the bugs and set them free of the terror. Only then would they give her the respect that Xander was pushing for.
Their conversation was cut short by the distant hissing of the bugs. They were unsure of this. They hoped that Aleris had made it in alright and they prayed that she was able to take control of all of the bugs.
A sudden knock at the door startled the men. Xander was the only one to get up. He slowly opened the door, hoping not to find a bug just outside.
To his extreme surprise, Aleris was outside the door and looking happy.
"Aleris! You're not dead yet!" Xander said excitingly
"Of course I'm not dead yet!" Aleris said slightly offended
Xander glanced behind her and saw the shine off of hundreds of bugs. "Would you like to come in?" He really didn't like this situation
"Sure, but only for a second. I still have to prepare"
Aleris walked into the dim bar, carrying some very large, black object in her arm. She walked up to the table that the two older men sat at and smiled at them.
"What on earth is that?" Xander asked in astonishment
"Well, I killed the Queen no problem. This is her head. Now I'm prepared to finish this" Aleris said happily
"That is a head..?" Mao asked, mouth gapping open
"Yes, one of the more efficient ways to kill them. To cut there head off"
"Are you leaving now?" Xander asked
"Yes, I must fully connect with my drones and map out a battle plan before the battle or else I will most certainly fail. Live well, my friends"
Aleris started to walk out the door, but Xander grabbed her arm.
"Are you coming back? Back here?" He asked
"No, probably not. After I defeat the enemy Queen, I'm probably going to be picked up soon after by the Yautja. Why do you ask?"
"Will I be able to see you before you leave?"
"If you come to the battle field when the great battle is almost over and you find me; you can say whatever you need to before I leave"
Aleris placed her hand on Xander's shoulder and smiled. Then, without a word, she turned and left the bar. Xander ran to the door after her, to watch her go without saying what he felt. He would have to wait until much later to tell her; if she was still alive.
He watched her walk down the dark street. The shiny black bodies of the bugs surrounded her like a wave of water.
He looked back to the two older men. "So, we're just going to sit here tonight and tomorrow and hope she wins?" Mao asked
"Do we have to wait? Can't we just, you know, wait an hour and then follow her?" Chang asked quietly. Xander and Mao both looked at Chang. He looked at both with confusion. "What?"
"You actually want to go and watch her fight this battle for us?" Mao asked him skeptically
"No, I want to go and make sure she doesn't die and leave us with a bunch of angry bugs"
"Ok, I like that idea" Xander chimed in
"Then it's agreed. We followed at light" Mao concluded
xXx
It was almost daybreak and the air unusually calm. Aleris sat at the top of a grassy knoll, just sitting there. She held the severed Queen Head next to her body trying not to think of her impending doom, but the light was slowly starting to fill the sky, so it became harder with each passing moment.
The countless Kainde Amedha could sense her uneasiness and remained quiet.
Xander and the two older men knew they were close to Aleris. The bugs had condensed into a single teeming mass. The men walked quietly along the edge of the horde.
The Kainde Amedha seemed uninterested in the three meat people. Their Queen was stressed and they knew something big was coming. They opposing Queen was coming closer, and they knew how well Queens did NOT get along with one another.
They knew that when two met, one would defiantly die.
The sun was almost completely up now and the darkness of the opposing Kainde Amedha was starting to become very visible, but so far, it appeared to be only drone Kainde Amedha. So far, there was no big threat brewing on the hill not too far away.
She relaxed back and watched the opposing Kainde Amedha numbers starting to grow. She then noticed that one of her own Kainde Amedha drones had walked up next to her.
It hissed quietly to her. Aleris looked over her shoulder and saw the three men coming towards her. She sat straight ahead and exhaled loudly.
"How dare they follow me to such a dangerous arena!" She hollered at the Kainde Amedha drone next to her. It nodded to her and joined the ranks of its brethren.
Aleris stood up, signaling to the Kainde Amedha that it was almost time.
The three men came up behind Aleris, but said nothing. Xander was the only one of them brave enough to disturb her. He gently tapped on her shoulder.
"It is far too dangerous for you to be here" She didn't turn her head to speak to him
"We just wanted to see you in action" He said softly
"Well, if you get killed, it's not my problem"
"We're well aware of that my dear" Chang blurted out
Aleris looked over her shoulder to the much older man. "You men must have a death wish"
"Yes, we do. But we are here to support you in defending our kind" Mao voiced in such Mao fashion
"And if I lose?" Aleris was being her pessimistic self again
"Then we will still honor your struggle to save our kind and our world" Mao smiled so sweetly to Aleris
She hated this. These men actually believed in her and would love and honor her even if she died. Although that was sounding awfully fine right about now.
Aleris looked back over the ridge. The other Queen had come over the ridge, and was now standing tall. This was it. Aleris brought her arms, signaling to the drones to make a line on either side of her. They did so immediately, stretching far on both sides.
"We are about to witness history, men" Chang announced
Aleris wanted to get the upper hand quickly, so she told her drones to charge ahead towards the enemy Queen. Hopefully if Aleris had caught the Queen off guard, it would give her a head start and she could finish this quickly.
The Queen's roar echoed towards Aleris and the men.
-C'jit! She was ready after all-
Her drones started towards Aleris'. They soon met and they began to lash out at each other with teeth and claws. Aleris beckoned for her Praetorians to come to her. They walked up behind Aleris, waiting for her commands.
The three men were taken a back by the much larger aliens that now stood in front of them. The men had never seen these aliens before. These great bugs were not only much taller, but their heads were shaped like the Queens' head, long and flattened. They noted that they appeared especially fierce.
Aleris crawled up the back of one of the praetorians, placing most of her weight on its shoulder and kept her bag close to her. She placed the Queen's head next to her body for a shield and ordered one praetorian to stay behind and watch the men. It roared loudly in protest, but did what its Queen ordered of it.
"Do not worry, men. I will not fail our kind" Aleris announced nobly
The group of praetorians charged away from the men. Xander watched Aleris go towards the chaos. He didn't like it, but he sure wasn't going to go into a large group of bugs.
As the praetorians charged forward, Aleris slide back behind the large head of hers. The praetorians were not going to stop and she didn't want to loose her head by accident.
The faint sound of the fighting drones now grew louder. Claws making contact with flesh and ripping it apart. The shriek from a dying Kainde Amedha. Aleris knew she had to hang on for the bumpy ride to come. She griped her fingers around the creature's back spines and rested her head on its back. She hoped that the long, flattened head of the creature would keep her safe from harm.
The praetorians hit the mass of drones, but it did not stop them. The creatures just put their heads down and charged through the aliens. The drones bounced off the head of the praetorians. A few opposing praetorians ran down the hill towards the hill from their Queen. Some of the other praetorians peeled off the line, running head long into the enemies. Aleris' kept straight, right for the Queen.
Aleris made it through the mass of dead and still fighting drones. The small drones were no match for her alien steed. It ran steadily up the hill, alone now since the other praetorians had branched off to keep the enemy ones at bay.
It made up the hill, no problems. The Enemy Queen was just ahead of them with her back to them. Perfect for a surprise. Her steed ran for the Queen, but did not make it so far. The Queen turned quickly, allowing her tail to knock the praetorian back, nearly landing on Aleris.
She was able to roll out of the way before her steed landed. The Queen gave a mighty roar, telling Aleris that she was no match for a pure blood Queen. Aleris looked to her praetorian. It was standing now, prepared to do his Queen's bidding. With a simply hand movement, Aleris sent her steed to attack the Queen.
It jumped onto the Queen's back and began to viciously claw at her back. The Queen turned her attention to the small praetorian. She tried to strike at it, but only succeeded in driving her tail through herself. With each strike, she screamed. Her blood poured onto the grass, burning it immediately. The Queen spun in circles, hoping to knock the creature off her back, but the praetorian drove its claws into her hilt, causing her even more pain.
Aleris set her Queen shield down and started to rummage through her bag of gadgets that the Yautja gave her. She quickly rummaged through it. She pulled out a retractable spear, a net gun, an energy sifter, and a disk.
She looked at the disk. A small button in the middle of it. She, of course, pressed it, releasing finger like projections from it. She ran her finger lightly across one of the fingers. It cut her easily. She looked back to the Queen.
The Queen threw the praetorian off her back, and before it could get up, drove her spiked tail through its chest. It screamed loudly in pain, then ceased to move. The Queen was obviously proud with herself. She turned back to the small Queen. With a mighty battle roar, she announced to Aleris that she was going to kill her just like she killed the other one.
Aleris stood up and studied the Queen for a moment. The other Queen was swaying slightly in place. Her acid blood was pouring from her and her breathing was labored. There was no way she could avoid a long range attack.
Aleris hoped anyway.
Aleris threw the disk at the enemy Queen. She saw it of course and tried to attack it by stabbing it with her tail. Bad move. The disk cut her tail in two until it sliced one half off and continued past her. She screamed again as she retracted her bleeding tail. The disk came back at Aleris. She held out her hand to catch it but she missed it and one of the sharp fingers sliced into her palm.
She turned her palm over and back again, looking at her blood pour over the finger of the disk. It sizzled and smoked. She pulled the disk away from her hand while the finger fell out the other side.
The Queen roared again. Now she was angry. Her acid blood was spilling into a pool on the ground. Aleris decided to try one more time. She flicked her wrist and sent the disk flying again at the Queen. The Queen charged at Aleris. The disk flew past her head, completely missing her.
Aleris took a feeble step backwards. This was it. She was dead. Aleris looked past the Furious Queen. The disk she had just thrown was now heading back to her. The Queen lunged for Aleris. Aleris stood there, strong and unmoving. She watched without emotion as the disk tore through the enemy Queen neck, leaving a trail of acid blood behind it.
The disk came to Aleris, and she caught it with one hand. The Queen's body fell against the hard ground. Without missing a beat, Aleris too fell to the ground. She was exhausted. She had been running on pure adrenalin for the whole fight and now it had started to take its toll on her small body. She laid back onto the ground and shut her eyes.
She didn't know how long she was asleep, but she was forcibly woken up some time later. Everything was blurry at first, but things then cleared and she saw Hiram kneeling over her. He had his hand behind her neck, keeping it straight.
"How do you feel?" He clicked to her
Oh, she had forgotten what his little translated voice sounded like. She smiled to him.
"I could use some chocolate" She chuckled to herself. She knew he wouldn't get it, but she did
Hiram carefully picked her up into his arms and had started to walk towards their ship, but Xander stopped him.
"Hey! Wait!" he yelled out
Hiram only turned his head in anger. How dare he stop him, a superior specie.
"How is she?" Mao asked out of breathe
Hiram turned so Aleris could see the human men. They were relieved to see that she was still alive.
"Are you leaving now?" Chang asked
"Yes, I am" The men were immediately saddened by this fact and she saw this. "But do not fear, my friends. I will return some day in the future"
"But Aleris," Xander ran up to her and put his face close to hers, "You are our savior. Stay here with us and rebuild the world. We can shape it to your desires" Xander pleaded with her
"My dear Alexander. I will never be far from you, nor will I be gone forever," Aleris kissed him deeply for a brief moment," I have given you something so you will still be here when I return"
The predator turned away from the men and walked onto the ship. The three men watched as the remaining predators soon followed suit and the ship took off, going back into space. They were alone, now without their savior. Xander looked back to the large pile of dead bugs. Billions of them, all dead. It was now up to them. It was up to them, the remaining humans, to rebuild the planet. If they were lucky, there were more people out there, still alive.
It was their time now. Their time to make the world a better place, going off of past knowledge of good and bad. They could eliminate all of the crime and drugs and poverty from society. They could make Earth into whatever image they wanted it to be. They can train society to do the same and to avoid going back to the way they once were, before the bugs.
This was their Day of Realization.