Boy, it's been a while since I got back to this story. Ah well, better lat than never. Thank you all for the awesome reviews, they are highly appreciated. Enjoy!
A bright sun, rose into the sky of the jungle planet and shone through the rectangle windows of the video room, where thirty heavily armed soldiers waited for Dr. Jensen. Jason was situated at the front of his team, while Cameron stood beside him. The Captain's whole body was covered in thick, bulky armour, specially designed to withstand the Xenomorph's acid blood for about seven minutes. His round helmet carried a long range communicator, motion detector and night vision goggles, and crisscrossing his barrel chest was a variety of small guns and knives. Strapped to his belt was a handheld taser gun, powerful enough to stun a drone and large steel net made with an alloy too strong for a bug to cut through with it's claws and tail. Slung over his shoulder was an automatic pulse rifle—one of the most powerful hand held weapon ever created in human history. From a distance of two hundred feet, a single shot could blow a softball sized hole through a foot of steel.
The thirty soldiers, some of them women, also wore the same protective armour as their captain, carried the same pulse rifles, tasers and nets, as well as their own personal weaponry. The soldiers shifted impatiently on their feet as they waited for the "good" doctor to arrive. A door on the left side of the room suddenly slid open and the short, pudgy scientist with his open lab coat flowing behind him like a cloak, strutted into the room. He paced up a four foot high platform situated under a large view screen and he faced the group with a wide, deceiving grin.
"Good morning Captain, privates. I trust you all had a good sleep because you will need all your energy for this assignment."
Dr. Jensen took out a remote from his coat pocket, pressed a button to turn off the room's lights and the screen came to life. The Bug Hunters watched a digital image of the green planet against a blanket of space appear on the screen, then in a split second the picture zoomed into the trees to reveal a small cave opening in a clutter of rocks and thick foliage.
"My satellites have found this new entrance to the nest, and with this also came a new discovery," the scientist looked to the brutes, "a Royal Guard."
Everyone in the room gasped and mumbled to each other. Royal Guards almost never left the nest, they protected the Queen much like a bodyguard protected the President. Only when danger came inside the hive or if there was a need to move the Queen else where, did the Royal Guards show themselves. Jason knew something didn't feel right and when he glanced at Cameron, he saw the same confusion and uneasiness. Dr. Jensen spoke up again.
"For the past week, a Royal Guard has been seen skulking around this entrance," the scientist pushed another button on the remote and the image changed to a video. The first few frames showed nothing, but then three bugs crawled out of the mouth of the cave. The Royal Guard was unmistakable, he was significantly larger than his two companions and his elongated head displayed a pattern of spikes. Dr. Jensen continued as he stopped the frame.
"Capturing a specimen such as this has never been done before and studying this magnificent creature will greatly benefit this science facility!"
'No, this will benefit you,' Jason thought bitterly. The doctor faced the mob.
"I want you soldiers to catch and transport the Royal Guard to this facility immediately."
The Captain glared at him, "You above all people should know that seeing this kind of behaviour from the bugs is not normal. Until someone figures out the cause of this appearance, I refuse to send my team. There's no way in hell I'm losing my men on a suicide mission!"
The scientist leaned over the railing and met Jason's glare, "Oh yes Captain, you will go out there and bring back that Guard, or I'll cancel the triple pay!"
"Consider it cancelled!"
There was an equal amounts of groans and cheers from the crowd. Half the team knew it was a fool's errand to attempt such a capture, while the other half didn't care what they were thrown in to as long as they were paid enough. But like obedient followers they walked behind their commander as he turned to leave the room. Dr. Jensen sighed.
"I had hoped I wouldn't have to use this," he reached into his pocket and pulled out an electronic card, "this document gives me full authority to lead this expedition, it has been approved and signed by your general. Disobeying this assignment is equivalent to disobeying a direct order."
Jason stopped dead in his tracks and turned in shock. Dr. Jensen grinned, he had him right in the palm of his hand. The Captain pushed through his soldiers and bounded up the platform.
"Lemme see that!"
Jason snatched the card out of the scientist's hand and he quickly scanned it over. True to Dr. Jensen's words, the document gave him authorization and it was made legal with his general's signature at the bottom of the page. Jason couldn't believe it, he felt his eyes flare in pain. What kind of lies did this bastard of a scientist tell the general to give him this bullshit mandate! The once blind marine heard the doctor snicker and whisper in his ear so the others couldn't hear.
"It's not a badge Captain, but it's damn close to one. There is nothing you can do to stop me from obtaining what I want. Decline this order and each and everyone of you will be discharged. All of you can be replaced easily with the right amount of bribing, but I doubt your precious team will look up to you anymore, since you'll be the cause of their removal," the doctor paused for a moment to let it sink in before continuing, "your move, Captain."
The doctor spat the last three words into Jason's ear. The Captain's eyes pulsed with pain as he gave the short man a murderous glare. Oh how he wanted to beat the doctor until there was nothing left but lard! With tremendous control he turned and roared at the soldiers.
"Move out men! Get your equipment and head to the ATVs!"
For a moment no one moved. The troops glanced at each other, perplexed that the captain would change his mind so quickly. Cameron stepped in before his friend could yell again. He knew Jason was pissed off and it was not a good idea to be around him when we was in a bad mood.
"That was an order, not a suggestion! C'mon assholes move those asses outta here! Let's go!"
This time the team jumped to attention and cleared out of the room. Cameron glanced over to Jason, who gave him a nod, then he turned and left with the rest of the soldiers. Dr. Jensen took back the electronic board from the Captain's hand and turned to leave.
"Shouldn't you be going Captain—"
He was suddenly grabbed by the collar, hoisted into the air and slammed into the wall. The doctor dangled four feet in the air as he found himself staring into Jason's blazing eyes.
"One day you psychopathic, four eyed bastard, your power won't save you from me! And when it doesn't, count on me being there!"
Dr. Jensen was not impressed and he stared at the enraged Captain, "You don't scare me brute. You're like any other soldier in the army, all talk and no brains. Throw enough money at you and you're like putty in my hands."
Jason's eyes grew in pain as he stared at the scientist, then he threw him to the floor. Dr. Jensen's glasses flew right off his face as he hit the ground with a painful thud. Jason panted and headed for the exit, the scientist wasn't worth relieving his anger; besides there were surveillance cameras in the room. Before Jason disappeared around the corner, he suddenly heard the scientist's voice.
"Coward!"
Jason stopped for a moment, trembling with rage, then he quickly gathered his senses and continued to the waiting ATV outside. He punched a button to open the outer doors and he stomped out into the already warm, early morning air. A slight wind blew through the thick canopy of the tall trees, causing the dark green and yellow leaves to sway from side to side. Beyond the tops of the trees, the sun continued to slowly rise, creating sheets of gold, orange and light blue across the alien sky. But Jason did not take the time to admire the planet's beauty. He made his way to one of the three heavy armoured ATVs, and stepped inside to see ten of his team buckled into their seats, some of them wriggling with impatience. The Captain pressed the side of his helmet to activate the communicator as he stepped into the machine and sat down. The soldiers remained silent as he entered, but they wiggled in their seats with impatience.
"Head for location six–five–three, near grid nine, driver. Use caution and keep the motion detectors high! Let's make it hot Marines!"
The whole team shouted loud and long though the communication as the ATV's engines started. Jason smiled slightly at the whooping from the other soldiers, but it didn't lift the furry he had inside and only a bit of the pain in his eyes remained. He sat back and felt the large machine bump over the uneven ground as it plowed through the jungle.
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Nearly a two hours had passed by the time Jason's team came within three hundred metres from the location of the cave. The drivers guided their ATVs silently through the foliage, fanning out to form a wide arc, then they stopped and waited for the all clear. One of the soldiers in Jason's vehicle was looking over a computer screen, scanning the area. The Captain come up behind him.
"Anything?"
The soldier shook his head, "nothing sir, not even the wildlife are active."
That didn't surprise Jason in the least, but he was still uneasy. He radioed the ATV located on the right.
"Squad one, move out, keep the formation tight and proceed with caution. Ready your tasers and nets."
They radioed their answer and the first squadron filed out into the jungle, darting back and forth, reading the area with their motion detectors and keeping silent as they climbed over moss covered rocks and rotten logs. Jason watched their red bleeps on the screen, then used his communicator again.
"Squad two, move out and secure the perimeter. You will be back up."
The second team, including Cameron, piled out silently from the far ATV and made a large border around area. Still, nothing other than the soldiers activated the scanners. For fifteen minutes they waited until the leader of the first team radioed in with his report.
"Captain, we have a visual on the nest entrance. There is evidence of the Royal Guard being there, but we detect no activity."
Jason lowered his eyebrows in thought, "Keep the area secure and document everything. If we don't get the bug, this entrance could provide us an advantage in the future."
"Yes, sir."
The Captain watched the red dots on the screen settle into the area around the cave while the perimeter team held their positions. Jason and his team waited for a half an hour to see if something would tip the detectors off. But nothing did. Finally, Jason decided to radio Cameron.
"Cam, you see anything?"
Cameron whispered into the microphone, "Nothing, not a goddamn thing."
Jason groaned and felt his stomach tighten into a nervous knot, something was terribly wrong. Jason rubbed his worried forehead and was about to pull his team out when an alarm blared.
"Holy shit!" the soldier at the computer shouted. He tapped a combination of buttons and the computer screen was suddenly surround with green bleeps.
"It's the bugs! They're all around us!"
"What the hell!" Jason gaped at the screen. It was a trap! A goddamn trap! How did they know how to set up a trap like this! Jason's eyes widened when he suddenly thought of something; the Queen! Somehow, she had figured out that the humans were watching them. The Queen actually used the scientist's own greed against him, to send out the kidnappers of her children. How did she get so goddamn smart! The Captain yelled into the communicator.
"Red alert, red alert! Xenos are closing in on our positions! Shoot all drones, repeat shoot all drones!"
He turned to his team and cocked his pulse rifle, "Party time, Marines!"
The last ten whooped as the door slid open and they charged out of the machine. Jason saw the automated guns on the ATV begin to activate as the drivers plowed through the jungle to get into the middle of the battle. The Captain joined the perimeter team and prepared himself for the bugs to come, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Barbaric screeching echoed all around the jungle, and became louder and louder until it sounded like the soldiers were surrounded by a swarm of invisible bees. Suddenly, a marine from the perimeter group shrieked and began to fire as a bug leaped on top of him from a tree. As if on cue, the rest streamed in, galloping with incredible speed towards the rest of the team. Screams from both alien and human mingled with rapid pulse fire as the marines let their weapons loose.
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From high in the canopy of the trees, two cloaked hunters watched and listened as the battle between human and Xenomorphs began. Ptar'mus and Jin had been waiting for this kind of opportunity to chose suitable prey to hunt. Ptar'mus used his unique hearing and smell to distinguish honourable prey from dishonourable; those that sounded strong, gave off a distinct odour of fearlessness. As he listened, he heard one ooman that pleased him greatly. The amplified hearing on his mask allowed him to pick up the sound waves of an ooman male, who was tall but not very muscular and from the slight delay when he pulled the trigger on his pulse rifle, it sounded like he had a damaged arm. But even with his deformity, he was a strong fighter. Ptar'mus caught the sounds of his friend's eager clicking, before he went off in a different direction through the trees. Obviously he had selected his prey and the blind hunter carefully climbed down the tree, towards his selected prey.
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Cameron leaped out of the way just before a charging Xeno could pounce on him, hissing and shrieking. He aimed, made one shot and watched in satisfaction as the black armoured bug blew in half, its acid blood sizzling as it came in contact with the ground. Without warning, Cameron heard the sound of ripping metal and he turned to see several Xenomorphs swarm over one of the ATVs, clawing and whipping their scorpion tails to try and penetrate the armour. Cameron ran for the ATV, dodging bugs and marines as he did, ignoring their mingled screams. He pushed himself to go faster when he saw the guns being ripped from their holders. If the machine lost it's weapons, there would be no way to fend off the horde and the drivers inside would be trapped. He brought up his pulse rifle to fire at the drones, when suddenly, he ran into something and was thrown off his feet. Cameron grunted as he fell on his back and looked up in complete shock when he realised he had slammed into nothing but air; until he saw a faint, wavy form of a large body. The bald man's eyes widened and he pointed his gun, not knowing if the thing in front of him was a ghost or a real form, but he wasn't able to let off a shot when the thing in front of him kicked the weapon from his hands. He felt an invisible hand grab his ankle and flip him up into the air. Cameron somersaulted in the air, arms and legs failing until he landed on the ground and tumbled into the bushes along the out skirts of the battle. The marine looked up with confusion and panic as he watched the humanoid's clocking device flicker to reveal his true form; Ptar'mus. Cameron sprang to his feet, pulled out his hand gun and shot several rounds, but Ptar'mus leapt up into the air and flipped over the marine before any of the bullets could touch him.
"What the hell are you!" Cameron yelled as he shot at the humanoid again.
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Bright, crimson blood pooled to the ground from the mutilated bodies of the soldiers, some of them having their flesh stripped from their bones, while others had missing limbs. The foul smell of the Xenomorph's acid blood mixed with the coppery scent of human blood reached the Captain's nostrils, but he was use to the smell and carnage. Jason had just taken down five bugs with his rifle and took a moment to quickly scan his team. He didn't know how long they could last, drones still came by the many and more than half of them had been killed, while the rest were fighting to the point of exhaustion. He blasted another bug that was trying to sneak up and impale him from behind, then turned and saw that two of the ATVs had been torn to pieces. Both the windows were washed red with the drivers' blood as they tried to make a last stand with the attacking drones. The final land machine was coming close to being over run and the auto guns of the vehicle could only hold off so long. He radioed his team.
"Abort mission! Abort mission! All units pull back and get to the last ATV, repeat pull back and get to the last ATV!"
The troops that were left replied immediately as they blasted through the carnage. Jason watched the retreating team and realised Cameron was not with them. The Captain felt the knot in his stomach tighten again, something terrible had happened! He ran back to find his friend and called out his name. Through the earsplitting roars of the drones, he caught one scream that was unboundedly Cameron's; and that scream, meant he was in horrible pain. Jason felt as if he had run into a brick wall, when he beheld a sickening sight. He saw Cameron dangling four feet in the air, with two bloody blades sticking through his midsection. A very large humanlike creature was holding Cameron high above his head, while yellow, florescent blood flowed through a bullet wound on his other arm, but it didn't appear to notice it. Ptar'mus threw the ooman hard to the ground and watched warm blood pool from his wound and mouth. Cameron's eyes had already darkened over as the blind hunter reached down and took him by the head. Jason just watched in stunned silence and was totally unprepared to what happened next. The tall, muscular alien took Cameron's head, gave a quick twist and pulled it right off his shoulders, as if her were a doll. Blood sprayed everywhere as Ptar'mus raised his trophy and roared his victory.
Jason refused to believe what he had seen. Cameron couldn't be dead! This alien didn't rip off his head, it had to be someone else! But the captain knew he had witnessed was real. This son of a bitch took his friend's life and God help him if he was gonna stand there and do nothing! A dangerous mix of pain and anger coursed through Jason's heated veins as he roared and pulled the trigger of his rifle. Ptar'mus heard the yell from the enraged human and ducked out of the way before he could be showered with bullets. The blind male cloaked himself and took to the trees. Jason's eyes flared in agony, then suddenly went blurry. He knew a few synthetic nerves had blown but he didn't care. The Captain crashed through the bushes and shot wildly in every direction.
"Where are you murdering bastard! Come out and fight!"
He heard a loud howl behind him and turned to see eight Xenomorphs charge at him. The marine was about to shoot, when suddenly several balls of blue hit each one and blasted them into oblivion. Jason turned around and squinted his eyes, barely seeing the shimmer of air that appeared right in front of him. There he was! The Captain raised his weapon again, but an unseen punch from Jin connected with the human's jaw. Jason lost the grip of his weapon as he did a three–sixty in the air before hitting the ground. He ignored the taste of blood in his mouth and quickly recovered, kicking out with his leg to where he thought the alien was. Jin had just lowered his cloak when the ooman swept his feet out from under him. The Yautja flew back and landed on the ground with a grunting hiss. Jason took the moment to bring out the taser from his belt and stab down at the visible humanoid. Jin rolled out of the way before he could be hit by the electrical end and he jumped to his feet. From a tall tree above the fighters, Ptatr'mus watched the battle with his hearing, ignoring his bleeding arm and already having his crimson covered trophy attached to his belt.
Jason rammed the tip so deep into the ground, he couldn't pull it out and he suddenly found Jin's large, taloned hand wrap tightly around his neck. With immense strength, the male warrior lifted the Captain into the air and fisted his free hand so his long wrist blades sprang out. Jason gasped and struggled in the alien's grip, but he was not going to go down that easily. He pushed on the back of his heel and a six inch, serrated blade came shooting out of the tip of his boot. With a hard kick, Jason jammed the blade up into the soft part between the ribs of the humanoid, seconds before the wrist blades hit him. Jin lost the air from his lungs, feeling the blade stab right under his chest plate and through the middle of his heart. Ptar'mus barked in shock when he caught the sound of the blade sliding into his friend's chest and the grunt that came from his throat. The sightless warrior turned up the hearing in his mask and he seemed to have stopped breathing when he heard Jin's heart begin to spasm. Jason twisted his foot for the final blow and Jin roared out in torment as he fell back, releasing his grip on the marine. With the agility of a cat, the Captain pulled out the blade and landed on his feet. Ptar'mus now smelled his friend's blood and he stood up on the branch, roaring out loud in pure rage and sadness.
Jason grabbed a knife from his chest holder to finish off the alien that took his friend's life, when he heard the roar and looked up to see the atmosphere vibrate as something huge jumped from the trees, to the ground. The second alien lowered it's cloaking shield and it was only then did Jason recognised the bleeding arm and most importantly, the bloody skull of Cameron.
"You! You were the son of a bitch who murdered my friend!"
He was ignored as Ptar'mus took off his and Jin's mask, allowing them both to see each other's faces. The marine squinted to focus his vision, then cringed.
"Holy shit, you are one are one ugly mother fu—"
The last syllables were drowned out by the bellow produced by the fallen warrior when he tried to move. Jin looked up to Ptar'mus with dying eyes and tried to speak through a mouthful of blood.
"Ki...ki...kill ooman...s–swe–ear—"
Ptar'mus nodded as he slumped lower on his knees and placed a tender hand on his companion's forehead. The smell of his Jin's blood was overwhelming and it sickened his stomach.
"I swear on my honour my friend, I will kill that ooman. May the Black Warrior send your soul to salvation."
Ptar'mus caught the sound of his friend's last sigh and the final beat of his torn heart, as his spirt left him. The blind male shot up to his full height, flared his mandibles and gave another long roar of anguish that shook the forest. He turned his blank eyes to the marine, allowing his anger to boil in his veins and crouched into a fighting position. Ptar'mus was not going to let this ooman fighter think he won with a cheap shot! Jason just stood in shock for a moment, wondering what was going on, until his mind suddenly placed it all together. He gave a grin, keeping his eyes narrowed so they could stay relatively focussed.
"That's right ass face! I killed your friend and you killed mine. I'd say we were square but then we wouldn't have this grand finale!"
Ptar'mus hissed and growled a challenge at the Captain, not even feeling the pain in his arm. Jason held his knife out in defence, waiting for the creature in front of him to make the first move, when he noticed the blankness in the alien's eyes. The Captain stared at them, feeling something very familiar about the way they looked, until he gasped in realisation.
"Oh my God! You're blind ain't yah? You can't see a goddamn thing, can yah?"
Ptar'mus only understood a few words from the ooman, but still remained in a challenging stance.
"Fight...ooman!" the alien hissed in a rough English.
Jason was taken aback that the alien spoke his language, but he shook it off and he decided to make the first move, by throwing his knife at the Predator's head.
"Catch!"
The Captain was very surprised to see the creature duck out of the way of the blade. Ptar'mus snarled at the ooman and he charged at him with his wrist blades drawn. Jason yelped and dodged out of the way, feeling the wind of the blades as they narrowly missed him. He had to stop this fight, neither of them had the conditions for an all out battle of revenge; besides that, he had to lead his team back to the safety of the base.
"Wait! Stop!" cried the Captain as he leapt out of the way from another swing.
Ptar'mus swiped again and again, desperately wanting to tear the ooman apart, but be became more frustrated when he kept parrying from his blows. The ooman wasn't even bothering to put up a fight, even though moments ago he had made the first move.
"I said stop, dammit!" Jason shouted.
But the Predator refused to halt his attacks and he didn't appear to slow down any time soon, even as his wound continued to lose blood. Jason made one final attempt to stop the onslaught. He stood in front of a thick tree and at the last moment, jumped to one side before Ptar'mus could thrust his blades into his stomach. The wrist blades drove deep into the wood and the blind male roared and barked as he struggled to pull them out. Ptar'mus faced the male to defend himself, but was shocked to see the ooman standing in one spot, not even making an attempt to attack. For what seemed like a long time, the two of them stared at each other. The Predator blinked his sightless eyes in confusion, wondering what was going through the ooman's mind. He straightened himself when he heard the ooman speak.
"Looks like you're better fighter than I thought, spaceman. I wanna see you fight to your full potential! There's no honour in winning a fight against a blind, wounded warrior."
Ptar'mus cocked his head curiously, what was this ooman getting at? The blind male suddenly heard a long swish and he tensed, thinking it was an attack, but realised that the ooman had only waved his arm. Ptar'mus listened carefully as the ooman pointed to himself, then to him, and back up in the direction he had pointed to earlier. He repeated the action a few more times, until the blind male finally understood. The ooman male was trying to show him something. Jason watched in satisfaction as the creature turned his head to where he had been pointing, proving his theory; if the blind creature's ears were sharp enough for him to dodge a moving blade, then he could certainly hear over exaggerated arm motions and possibly use them as a form of communication.
Ptar'mus strained his ears to pick up identifiable sounds to get an understanding of what the ooman wanted to show him. A wind blew through the canopy of trees and Ptar'mus sensed there was a very large gap between two of them. He could smell something fresh and wet come through that gap and he recognised it as wet grass. The blind male figured there was a large clearing beyond the trees. Jason observed the Predator carefully and saw that he fully understood his message.
"If you can find your self to that field, a hundred and fifty metres from here, then meet me there tomorrow morning at sunrise. You, me, one on one. Bring witnesses, but don't plan any surprises! My men will have a few of their own if you ass uglies pull somthin'!"
Ptar'mus comprehended enough of what the ooman had said and nodded. Like him, the male Yautja wanted a challenging fight to avenge his friend's death; and if this ooman wanted a fight he was going to get it. Ptar'mus growled and gave a mighty heave as he yanked his wrist blades clear from the tree. The Captain did not lower his guard as he watched the alien scoop up his mask and bowed to him. Jason didn't expect such a gesture from the alien, but nonetheless, he made a quick bow back, thinking maybe that was his way of signing agreements. The blind Yautja lowered himself to his knees, hoisted the dead body of his friend onto his shoulders and disappeared into the forest.
Jason sighed, and suddenly felt totally exhausted. He dearly prayed that thing would show tomorrow, because if not, Jason would hunt that murder down until one of them was dead! The Captain turned and slowly went to the decapitated body his friend. The sickening odour of rotting flesh flowed through the atmosphere, while tiny, black and yellow bugs began to eat at the body. But Jason did not turn away or vomit, he simply slumped to his knees and felt his eyes grow even more blurry with tears. Letting out a chocked sob, he almost had to will himself to call the last ATV to pick him up.
There we go, another chapter done. Thanks again for your patience and remember to review!