Hey everybody! Now this chapter was an interesting one to write because even though I already had it planned out to be a majorly development scene between characters (whom are now all together….mostly) I have had to spend more time rewriting bits and doing more editing than I'm usually used to because thanks to the more dedicated readers (you guys know who you are XD) have informed me of the nature of my OC species and the fact they need some goddam elbow grease!

And by elbow grease I mean development, toning down and a lot of work on them (which I agree with every single one of them) so I actually re-wrote the title (which was originally 'under the surface' to a pun for Kamads XD yeah I'm a shit)

So here we go with a chapter of Character Development and exposition for the Universe, not to mention a little reference to certain things that will appear in the spin-off, Al'Dan. Not to mention I will be playing around with the interactions between the characters a lot in this chapter, so don't expect any decapitations….yet.

So I hope I have done what I have promised….enjoy


Under the Scales

It was a very well-known fact among the galactic community that the Yautja were a solitude people that didn't venture out of their own systems for anything more than reasons that related back to hunting or to trade.

Apart from that, they usually kept to themselves.

That being said, it was easy to see why the Yautja hunting party weren't exactly mingling with the Humans or Kamads of the group. In fact, the only real interactions that were made were handled by Sha'ra, who was probably the only Yautja that had any previously friendly interactions with any of the others.

Both Ramirez and Yeyinde had been stabilized and were in manageable conditions, though neither of them would be back at 100% anytime soon due to the injuries they had suffered.

The other Myrmidons' injuries were minor, a few extra scars were nothing for battle hardened soldier like them. Needless to say, Erik was proud of his squad for standing their ground against a hunting party of Yautja.

Even though the fighting had stopped, the tension that lingered in the air could be cut with a knife. Not only were there Black Yautja in control of the ship, but there was an infestation of Xenomorphs that kept growing with every second.

It was pretty obvious to anyone of sense that the situation made previous events like that on LV426 look like a playground brawl.

Erik and Sha'ra were doing their best to keep the Myrmidons and Yautja from ripping the others' throats out at a moment's notice. At first it seemed to the Myrmidons and humans, that having two Kamads present would help the situation.

That was when they didn't know about the Kamads' reputation with the Yautja.

As Zen'Tau put it, the Kamads were "A bunch of high and mighty lizards that loved the smell of their own Cjit". It wasn't very hard to see that the Yautja hated the thought of a race higher up than them, no race would like the thought of someone higher on the food chain.

Razeal didn't take it that hard, after all he was used to being treated like crap by other races. But Eli was a prince that was used to being praised all the time, being told what other races thought of him up close would defiantly put someone down a peg.

The separation between the earthlings and the Yautja was manageable when they separated what living quarters they could between the two races. The Asclepheus had no shortage of living areas, even before its alterations it had living spaces that were big enough for even Kamads to stand up in.

The guard shifts were planned between Sha'ra and Erik as neither the Myrmidons nor the Yautja wanted to be vulnerable while the others were awake. There would always be at least one Myrmidon and one Yautja on guard duty, a very awkward moment for both parties as neither would speak to the other and chances were they wouldn't be able to understand the other if they did.

Eli seemed to have lost interest in trying to negotiate terms with the Yautja after the first few times, as every word he said was either replied by huffing, complaints or just downright disrespect. Sha'ra and Erik were better suited for the job, especially considering the Myrmidons had no loyalty to the Prince and the Yautja had next to nothing but contempt for the Kamad.

The only people that would listen to a word that came out his mouth were Rezeal, Norma, Sophie, Erik and Sha'ra, and the latter three only listened because he saved their skins. Moments like this showed that rank wasn't everything, right now, Eli was just a nine foot alien that was good with a sword.

Norma thought it best to talk to him, after all she had grown to like the Kamad, not just for the fact that she was still breathing thanks to him.

While Erik and Sha'ra spoke about a truce between their people for the time being, Norma spoke to Rezeal concerning their neutral friend. She found the black haired Kamad sitting cross legged, meditating as it looked like. Rezeal, due to his armour's design looked like the spitting image of Japanese samurai, with the minor differences of his skin tone and alien facial features.

Norma sometimes wondered about what the root of the Kamad's very Japanese styled armour and weapons came from. It was a definite fact that the Kamads had a history with the human race, it was just a question of how, and when it was.

"Uh…Rezeal?" the brown haired hybrid asked.

"…." The Kamad was silent as he kept his hand splayed out on his knees.

"Are you in there?" she asked yet again, hoping for a reaction, only to be replied with the large Kamad whispering.

"Shush…you are disturbing the air" Rezeal spoke quietly.

"What…are you doing?" Norma asked with a curious tone.

"It's a technique that all Elites learn. We sit still, unmoving, allow ourselves to become a part of the surroundings, the smells, the sounds and the movements of those around us become very useful in a fight…if practised enough…an Elite can become so in tune with his or her surroundings, that even their enemies are unaware of their presence…" Rezeal said quietly before slowly opening his red eyes and smiling at the Hybrid girl.

"…I'm afraid I'm not at that level yet. So what brings you here?" Rezeal asked with his usual friendly tone.

"I wanted to speak with Eli, where is he?" Norma asked.

"Just down the hall….he wanted some time to himself" Rezeal explained as he began to close his eyes yet again.

"Thank you, Rezeal" Norma thanked the Kamad as she began to leave.

"You are most welcome" Rezeal replied as Norma left the room.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do" Rezeal shouted after she left the room.

"That won't leave her many options" Rezeal muttered to himself with a furrowed brow.

As Norma walked through the halls to find Eli she began to hear the sound of a blade slashing through the air, the smell of sweat and adrenaline, smells that she never thought she could smell so well before. Her new enhanced senses were only getting better with time as her human genes meshed and adapted to her new Kamad genes, it was really a one of a kind experience, one that she never thought possible.

She would have to thank Eli for more than simply saving her life.

As she came around the bend she found the Kamad she was looking for. It was certainly a sight to behold to see a physically imposing man like Eli, moving as swift and fast as he did. Eli was certainly a marvel of nature to behold, the young Hybrid knew for a fact that she could learn so much from his blood inside her alone, that it could change the future of humankind.

But she had to put the scientist aside right now, she didn't want to seem like a creep by drooling at Eli's biology.

The Ashen haired Kamad was training by the looks of it, practising his one armed swordsmanship as his Katana cut through the air. His movements were as graceful as ever as ever muscle and joint seemed to work in synergy with his Katana, the old saying that a Samurai's sword was part of his soul was taken very literally by Kamads, in fact they were the ones that put the idea in the heads of ancient Samurai.

The Kamad Prince was not wearing his coat, meaning his armour was showing in all its alien glory, and the metallic spikes on the end of his dreadlocks clanked onto his armour as he showcases his athletic skills with a blade

"Uh….Eli?" Norma asked at room volume.

Eli didn't respond as he continued to flourish his Katana, resulting in the whooshing sound his blade made whenever he swung it.

"Eli!" Norma said, louder this time. Only she immediately regretted the results as she was met with the tip of Eli's Katana pointing between her eyes.

"…What…..are you doing here?" the Kamad asked. It was only now that Norma noticed the sweat pouring down the Prince's face or the light panting he was making.

"I, just wanted to check on you" Norma said, trying not to show any weakness in her new reptilian eyes. Eli's blade lowered before he replied "I don't need checking up on" the Kamad walked a few feet away before continuing to swing his blade.

Norma walked over to a nearby stack of crates where she took a seat, curling her tail away as she had learned from Rezeal to avoid uncomfortable positions.

"Really? Because I don't think that taking your aggression out on the air is healthy" Norma replied.

"What would you know about it? You've only been a Kamad for a few days, and already you are trying to tell me what's healthy and what's not" Eli grunted.

"It doesn't matter if you are a Kamad or not, it isn't healthy for anyone to isolate themselves" Norma responded, crossing her legs.

"It won't do me much good hanging around with them anyway, Yautja, Myrmidons, humans, even my own kind don't understand what it's like in my position" Eli replied as he ceased his movements.

"What position would that be?" Norma asked with genuine care.

"….Never mind" Eli replied in a whisper as he sheathed his Katana in his belt.

"No..." Norma said blatantly with what could best be described as a scowl.

Eli looked at the Hybrid with a look of shock at her out of the sudden outburst. His golden eyes were fixed on her and his eyebrows were raised, a look that Norma didn't see from him very often.

"…I don't want any of this 'lonely brooding warrior' bullshit. So sit down and tell me what's the matter" Norma ordered Eli forcefully. Eli was downright shocked at this sudden change in personality, he was so used to seeing Norma as the happy go lucky scientist that would smile and barely snapped.

But what he just saw….it honest to god reminded him of his mother. The prince simply shook off the strange feeling and chose to sit next to his Hybrid companion or else he would probably get another earful from the female.

"Just tell me what the problem is, ok?" Norma asked softly, going back to her calm demeanour.

"The position of Prince isn't an easy one among my people, Norma, Kamads don't…"

"Stop" Norma said, putting a hand to her brow in annoyance. Eli looked to the Hybrid with confusion, she did want to hear what was coming from his mind, didn't she?

"You always have to find some way to relate it back to your race. You always talk about Kamads, Elites and Royals. But I don't want to hear about the Warrior, or the Kamad or the Prince…." Norma said before putting a hand on the Kamad's broad shoulder.

"…I want to hear about Eli, you talk so much about your people and position but never yourself, so please…just tell me what's wrong" Norma spoke softly.

The Kamad understood exactly what she meant, in all the time on board the Asclepheus he rarely talked about himself, it was always about his species or his job or position in the Empire. The only time he had actually opened up to her was when he showed her the picture of his family, this once human female was trying to help him, and even now she wanted to do this not because he was a prince, or a Kamad, but because he was her friend.

"All my life I've had to deal with people treating me as something I'm not. All my life I've been brought up thinking I was going to be some great Emperor that would be destined for something great. People never wanted to get in my way because I was the prince, because for some reason they thought I was better than them, other Kamad children always kept their distance because they were intimidated by my title" Eli confessed.

"Having a powerful family can't be that bad, I mean I wish I could be a princess" Norma said, blushing as soon as she both realized the cheesy thing she just said, and realizing she was speaking to a handsome, young prince. Luckily for her, Eli didn't absorb the last bit of that sentence.

"Having a powerful family isn't all it's cracked up to be. Because of my royal blood, people never see me as a person, they see me as a crown to be respected or a symbol to be feared…or hated. The only friends I ever made before I joined the military were Rezeal and my brothers. All the other children when I approached them just bowed low and kept their voices down….it….it wasn't an ideal way to grow up…" Eli continued.

Norma would have intervened if she wasn't interested to hear the rest of Eli's thoughts. She had to admit when he first came aboard the ship she really didn't care if he was a prince or not, she acted as if it was a big deal, but at the end of the day everyone is the same underneath, flesh, bones, blood and all.

It was becoming very clear that the strong alien samurai that stepped aboard the Asclepheus had much more going on inside than Norma first thought.

"…But even when I joined the military it kept happening, soldiers and even some officers would keep addressing me as 'my lord' or 'sire' or 'your highness' as if it meant anything, as if all the arse kissing would amount to something when I finally inherit the throne from my father…I always hated the way they would bow to me, I felt like I never deserved any of the praise given to me, no matter what I did it felt like everything was being handed to me on a silver platter" Eli admitted before he laid back and put his hands behind his head.

Norma was surprised seeing Eli's body language suddenly turn so laid back once he got that off his chest. Normally Eli would always sit up straight, almost militaristic in his stance, like he was always ready to decapitate someone at a moment's notice, he looked as if he was always on edge. Rezeal was always the most laid back of the two, so seeing Eli suddenly relax was….alien.

"Other Kamads always expected the best from me, it came with my blood I suppose. But no matter how many times I try to prove myself its always 'because I'm the prince' or 'because I'm the emperor's son' it's never because I just want to be accepted as a person…not as an object to put upon a pedestal" Eli sighed as his muscly tail flickered with his words.

"Come on now, being the centre of attention can't be that bad. I wish people would pay attention to me more when I was growing up" Norma said with a smile.

"I've been the centre of attention my entire life, Norma. It's not all it's cracked up to be…" Eli said before he paused and sat back up. He looked at Norma dead in the eye, the intensity held behind those golden Reptilian eyes never failed to impress her, she could feel the years of experience held behind his eyes.

"Uhm…Eli? Why are you staring?" Norma said as she began to feel a little uncomfortable under his intense gaze.

"Do you know how to use that?" Eli asked as his tail pointed at the short sword on the back of her waist.

"Oh…Um, sure I do, I'm not an idiot" Norma grinned like a Cheshire cat, trying to hide her inexperience.

"Uh Huh….because from what Sha'ra told me….you really don't" Eli said, keeping his glare fixed on the Hybrid.

"Oh come on, Sha'ra was just playing around, I know how to use it" Norma said, trying her best to keep the charade up.

"How?" Eli asked blatantly.

"Uum….stab them with the pointy end?" Norma replied sheepishly with a grin.

"….How enlightening" Eli grinned as he rose from the crate and walked over to the centre of the room.

"It has occurred to me, Norma, that as a Kamad you have the blood of a warrior running through your viens….my blood to be exact. And being in a situation involving Black Yautja and Xenomorphs, you cannot continue to be a bystander if you hope to survive this" Eli said with a grin on his face.

"Um…do I have to?" Norma asked, not wanting to get hurt, fighting someone as experienced as Eli.

"Yes…now get up off your tail and draw your weapon" Eli said as he crossed his arms.

Norma decided it be best to get this over with and drew her short sword. Despite her inexperience with a blade she had to admit, she felt a strange urge to swing and flourish it, something she had never felt when she was a human, it was as if she could feel adrenaline building in her veins with every second she wasn't swinging the blade.

"That will be the adrenaline surge you are feeling" Eli said as he drew his Katana with his tail, keeping his arms crossed as his hulking tail showed its amazing dexterity.

"The what?"

"Kamads have way more adrenaline than Humans, that's all you need to know. Now come here and show me you're best fighting stance" Eli said sternly, his tail holding his Katana by the handle.

Norma did as the Kamad asked and stood in the only battle stance she could think of.

The way Eli put a palm to his face didn't inspire confidence.

"Ok, this is going to take some time" Eli sighed as he prepared himself for the strangest training session he had in his life.


"No Offence Major…..But fuck that noise!" Michael swore.

"I'm sorry sir, but I've got to side with the rookie on this one" Hanzo said with his eyes half wide open. The blood loss really didn't look good on him, as his face was paled and the bandaged adorned his body.

Erik was sat with the rest of his squad, 'catching up' didn't really describe the situation at hand. The day started off with Erik relaying all the information he could to his squad, the Black Yautja, the Kamads, the Xenos and even Sha'ra and Norma, it was a lot to take in for anyone.

But when Erik suggested working with the Yautja, the same aliens that had nearly killed them, most of the squad didn't take it kindly. Han and Ramirez were both on bed's, with Ramirez being unconscious and Han in a very tired state. The Spanish and Japanese Myrmidons were bandaged up with their armour and weapons at the base of their beds, with Hanzo holding his sheathed katana, as it made him feel much safer as opposed to being unarmed.

Vlad and Baako were fine all things considered, with Vlad only wearing bandages on his arm where Zen'Tau had stabbed him. Michael was leaning against the wall with his pulse rifle on hand, still the jittering Rookie as always.

Sasha was the only one not present as it was her turn for Guard duty.

"Major, you can't be serious. They shot at us first, you can't expect us to work with them" Vlad tried to reason with his superior, and his friend.

"It may be hard to realize this, Vlad. But they aren't animals, one of them saved my life" Erik continued.

"Yes, after she tried to kill you" Baako retorted.

"Sha'ra and I tried to kill each other, yes. But we saved each other's lives, I would say that makes us even" Erik retorted.

"I don't see any of them chumming it up with us, Major. They would as soon rip our spines out than look at us" Michael replied, strumming his fingers against his pulse rifle.

"That kind of thinking is what caused the war between our races in the first place. How many humans, Myrmidons and Yautja died in that war? I don't think any of those Yautja have forgotten all of their kind that died, so of course they aren't going to be easy to deal with" Erik explained.

"So, how in the fuck are we going to work with them, with that on our plate?" Baako asked.

Erik already saw that his squad had made up their minds on this matter, but he was still their commanding officer and he had the final say in every matter. Even if Erik knew that his squad were letting their personal problems get in the way of their better judgement. From a very early stage in their training, young Myrmidons were taught that they should always think their actions through and not just blindly obey orders like mindless drones.

"You guys may not see it, but I see a chance here. A chance to do something that the Myrmidon corps…no, a chance to do something that humanity has never been given the chance to do. This could be the day we make peace with the Yautja" Erik said with a hopeful enthusiasm.

The other Myrmidons were quiet, it was quite the proposition to put upon their heads, the prospect of humanity having a peaceful coexistence with another sentient species was something that the human race had dreamt of since its earliest days. A peace or even an alliance with the Yautja would be beneficial on many levels to both species, the technological benefits that the Yautja could bring to humankind, and the aid of the humans in the war against the Black Yautja would seem promising to the Yautja.

Of course there was the chance that the Yautja would never want to make an alliance with a race that had killed so many of their own, from what Sha'ra had told him, Erik knew that the Yautja were a stubborn race as many of the clans weren't the most accepting. Not to mention the human race had always had problems with upholding lasting peace's, but in the face of a common threat the human race would pull together and work as one species. Before the Yautja or Xenomorphs came into the picture, many of the earth's superpowers were at each other's throats for power over the colonial worlds, and it was like a powder keg.

But when the Xenomorphs had been revealed as a credible threat, the nations no longer looked out for their own interests and became united as a species, nowadays being from a certain nation was like being from another town, Brits, Germans, Russians, Americans, Arabians, it didn't matter the person's nationality, they were human beings first and foremost and all it took was the threat of complete annihilation to get them to put petty differences aside.

And from what Erik had learned from Sha'ra, the Yautja people didn't seem much different from humans apart from appearances. They formed family groups, they mated for life like humans, they valued honesty, bravery and sanity and Sha'ra's personality wasn't all that different from a humans. A peace between the species, no matter how unlikely, was possible. And right now was a golden time for it, it was the first time in decades that the Yautja and a group of humans had met and not completely slaughtered each other.

"It's a nice thought, Major. But I doubt that these Yautja will ever trust us enough for this" Vlad replied, his bandaged arm a reminder of the 'people' they were dealing with.

"I would rather us try and fail, rather than not try at all, Vlad. Otherwise we are simply waiting for the Yautja to cloak, come in here and slit our throats while we aren't looking" Hanzo said wearily from his bed. Erik's eyebrows raised in surprise at the Japanese Myrmidon taking his side on the matter, up until now it seemed like all his squad were against him on the idea.

"But, wait, won't those big guys, the Kamads? Won't they stop the Yautja from trying anything?" Michael asked.

"Eli and Rezeal may be strong, but Eli told me himself that they wouldn't be able to take on 20 Yautja while also trying to protect us. They aren't invincible, Rookie" Erik explained.

"….Fuck it, I'm with you, Major. Let's be peacemakers" Vlad said with a 'to hell with it' tone in his voice.

"Yeah, I don't have anything on my schedule, why not try to make peace…it would be a pretty good story for everyone back home, even if we fail" Baako laughed.

"Wait…you guys want to go through with this? I thought you were against the idea?" Erik asked, confused.

"Oh, don't get us wrong, Major. We still think it's a stupid fucking idea, but at the end of the day…we'll always follow your lead" Vlad smiled.

"Besides…it's not the first time you've led us into certain doom" Baako chuckled, remembering all the good times.

"Yeah…screw it, what's the worst that could happen?" Michael said with an optimistic tone in his voice.

"Sasha thinks you suggested it, and rips your testicles off with her bare hands" Hanzo spoke tiredly.

"….Ok, she…she wouldn't do that…would she?" Michael asked with a drop of sweat making its way down his face.

"I've seen her do worse for less" Vlad smirked, trying not to laugh as they played around with the Rookie.

"Alright, that's enough. Michael go check on Dr Blair, I haven't seen him for a while, make sure he's alright" Erik ordered the Rookie.

"Yes Sir" Michael nodded as he walked out of the room, his pulse rifle in arm as he grabbed his helmet from the top of a nearby cabinet.

Once out of the room, Erik, Vlad, Baako and a barely conscious Hanzo exchanged a moment of silence, not one of the battle hardened Myrmidons making a sound until they burst out laughing.

"Bwahahaha, did you see the look on his face?" Erik bellowed with laughter.

"He looked like he was going to shit himself!" Vlad roared with laughter.

Once the Myrmidons got their well-deserved moment of laughter, they began to quiet down, with Hanzo being the first to silence himself, the intense laughter made his ribs hurt after all. The Myrmidons, even though regular humans thought they were all business, were actually a cheery bunch when left to their own devices. Due to the black armour, isolated social status and basic human nature that said anything different is unsettling the Myrmidons were seen as monsters up close to regular humans when they first came to being.

It was completely understandable that Myrmidons would be seen as inhuman due to their enhanced physical attributes that were impossible for a human to attain without the Myrmidon Strain. Myrmidons were usually kept with their own kind when not on missions, though this didn't deter the Myrmidons from any joy as they were well looked after by the corps and were given special rights due to the personal and physical sacrifices they would be making.

"So….you actually think a peace could work?" Vlad asked as they all calmed down.

"…I have to believe it can happen, Vlad…hundreds of years ago an alliance between the nations of humanity seemed impossible, especially with all the wars we had to go through…now look at us" Erik replied to the Russian's question.

"Last I checked humanity still had its own problems…the Brotherhood being one of them" Vlad reminded his superior.

The Brotherhood in question were the Brotherhood of flesh, a religious terrorist group that worshiped the Xenomorphs like deities, and perhaps the main reason for the spread of Xenomorph infections. They perhaps the second biggest threat to humanity next to the Xenomorphs themselves, and unlike the Xenomorphs they wouldn't broadcast their presence by hiving entire colonies at a time.

"Be that as it may. I have to believe that we can have a future that won't involve another war with the Yautja" Erik tried to explain his point as well as he could.

"Does this have anything to do with your lady Yautja friend?" Hanzo asked with his eyes half open.

"You mean Sha'ra?" Erik asked.

"Yeah…her" Vlad replied.

"I don't know…kind of. We were all raised to think of the Yautja as sick, deranged animals that killed our people, but when she saved my life…and when I saw her eyes, I didn't see an animal, I saw another person looking right back at me…I have to believe that what I saw wasn't my own reflection in her eyes" Erik said, trying to hold back on flattering the Huntress in front of his men.

"You sound…fond of her, Major" Hanzo spoke wearily.

"She saved my life, I'm grateful for that" Erik tried to hide his secret admiration for the Huntress.

"I've saved your life before, but you've never sounded like you fancied me" Vlad smirked.

"Oh come on, I don't fancy her" Erik tried to brush the subject off.

"I don't know Major, I've seen worse looking humans" Baako joined in, taunting Erik.

"Not really saying much, all I have as comparisons are my sister figure, female Myrmidons and Sahsa" Erik replied. He never saw anything romantic in Norma ever since he met her, the very thought of the two of them having anything resembling a romantic relationship was unsettling to him.

Myrmidon women weren't exactly at the top of Erik's potential partner list as many female Myrmidons would suffer major facial scarring from their years in service along with lost limbs and organs, and it wasn't just females at that, all the members of Alpha squad had some kind of artificial replacements within them due to prior injuries.

Ramirez had an artificially grown liver after he took a sniper round to it.

Vlad had a cybernetic kidney after his Myrmidon strain disagreed with his original.

Sasha had a few artificial nerve placements in her forearms after a Xenomorph clawed them up on one mission, of course that only made her punches harder as she felt less.

Hanzo had a few segments of his spine artificially reinforced after a Xenomorph with a club tail broke a few of his vertebrae.

Baako had cybernetic valves attached to his heart after he had shrapnel blown into his chest by Xenomorph cultists and even Erik had artificial flesh grafts in order to replace tissue that had clawed out by Xenomorphs. At the end of the day, the Myrmidons had to have every advantage that the technology of the time could offer, Cybernetics and artificial enhancements included.

Sasha was defiantly attractive as far as Myrmidon females went, but unfortunately nothing would ever work between her and Erik, she…didn't swing that way.

"Apart from a couple of scars which aren't that big a deal….and those…uh…" Baako said, using his fingers to simulate Yaujta mandibles for which he lost the word.

"Mandibles" Erik replied.

"Yeah those, apart from the mandibles ide say she looks pretty" Baako chuckled.

"Oh yeah, she is filled out in all the right places too" Hanzo chuckled wearily.

Erik tried to brush it all off as a joke, but deep down he knew otherwise. Like it or not, as time went on he found himself liking Sha'ra more and more. The Yautja Huntress hadn't only saved his life, she changed his views on many things, for the longest time Erik's life was simply 'kill every alien in sight' and until he met Sha'ra, it was all he really ever knew.

Just thinking about the Huntress began to put thoughts into the Myrmidon's head, thoughts that would be considered a betrayal of his race, thoughts that he would never think of having. Erik hadn't had something actually worth fighting for in a long time, every Xenomorph he killed was out of revenge or justice or a sense of kill or be killed…never to protect someone he cared about.

Just as Erik pondered the nature of his feelings towards the Yautja, the other Myrmidons continued to joke about the outlandish possibilities of a human and a Yautja being together.

"Hehe, yeah she's pretty alright, just don't ask for a BJ!" Vlad laughed, his sentence suddenly striking silence from the other Myrmidons who just looked at him with raised eyebrows and troubled out faces.

"…What?" Vlad asked.

"Yeah…that…that was weird" Baako said.

"Yep, going too far" Hanzo replied.

"Oh come on, really?" Vlad asked in his own defence.

"I did not need that image in my head, thank you" the Kenyan Myrmidon replied.

Erik smirked and laughed off the fact that the situation seemed to be fixing itself, especially with his teammates defusing the subject with their own strong opinions.

"You've been spending way too much time with Sasha" Baako said.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad of a joke!" Vlad tried to reason with Baako and Hanzo.

"I don't want to visualize a Yautja biting my junk off!" Hanzo shuddered.

Erik stood up and headed towards the door, he really didn't want to stick around when Vlad blew his lid, when the Russian Myrmidon lost his temper you didn't want to be near. As the leader of Alpha squad walked towards the door he picked his pulse rifle and slung it on his back, the magnetic latch system on his back doing its job and keeping his sword and rifle attached to his back. The latch system was implemented into the Myrmidon armour in order to eliminate the need for gun holsters and belts that would be dissolved by Xeno blood.

The Major passed through the door, leaving his Hanzo and Baako still chewing out Vlad for his previous comments on a Yautja performing…certain activities. Erik cracked a wide grin and couldn't help but snicker at the sounds of his fellow Myrmidons scolding Vlad for his terrible joke.

It was the little things that kept you going after all.


"UNEXCEPTABLE!" shouted the large Elder.

"Uncle, please listen" Sha'ra tried to reason.

"No, you will listen! Those humans attacked us, I will not allow them to endanger our people further just because some Pompous Kamad tells us to!" Zen'Tau yelled as he paced back and forth across the room.

The Elder Yautja had thought it necessary to take his niece aside in order to both catch up on the situation and to make sure she didn't do something stupid involving the humans that had made their way into the picture.

"Eli is simply trying to make sure we don't end up killing each other" Sha'ra tried to defend the Kamad that had saved her and Erik's lives.

"I don't care what that Lizard's name is. All I care about now is getting you and your brother off of this godforsaken ship before it claims your lives!" Zen'Tau scolded his niece. Even if he was an elder and a veteran hunter, he was still an Uncle that loved and cherished his niece and nephew like they were his own children.

"Uncle, you must understand that what is happening on this ship is bigger than what we can understand. The Black Yautja have never done something such as this before, they want this ship for some reason and we must find out why" Sha'ra appealed to her Uncle as best she could. But deep down she knew how stubborn he could be, especially when she or Yeyinde was in danger.

"The Oomans and the Kamads can get themselves killed on this folly, but I will not sacrifice what little family I have left to the Black Yautja!" Zen'Tau shouted back.

"Uncle please…"

"I WILL NOT LOOSE YOU!" Zen'Tau bellowed at the top of his lungs, startling Sha'ra. The look in the Elder's eyes was unmistakable, it was the same look he had held in his eyes when her parents had been lost. Zen'Tau was understandably concerned, he loved his brother and sister in law, so when they were taken from him he was devastated.

But he had sworn an oath to his brother, to keep Sha'ra and Yeyinde safe, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

"I swore to both your father and myself that I would keep you from harm. I accepted a while ago that you could take care of yourself on hunts….but this is different. This ship is a death trap, filled with Black Yautja, Kainde Amedha and Paya knows what else, and I will not endager you or your brother by letting you stay" Zen'Tau finished with a click of his mandibles to emphasise his point.

"You can't treat us like children, Uncle. This is my choice to make, and when Yeyinde recovers you can bet he will feel the same" Sha'ra defended her case as best she could.

"…When your brother wakes up, I am sending you and him back to the clanship as soon as possible. I will stay with the rest of the hunting party and finish this….and that will be the end of it" Zen'Tau wasn't asking this time, he was telling.

Sha'ra knew that speaking like that hurt her Uncle, deep down beneath all the armour, scars and experience, he was a good man that loved his family. Sha'ra may as well have been his daughter, Zen'Tau was the one that raised her after all; so ordering her around like an underling against her will much have stung like the sharpest blade through the heart.

The Huntress turned towards the door, looking back she saw Zen'Tau keeping his back to her with his arms crossed behind his back. Sha'ra would have protested one last time, but decided against it, talking to her Uncle right now was going to be like arguing with a brick wall.

Sha'ra left the room without a further word, she only hoped that her Uncle would eventually see some kind of sense, if not, she was going to have to take drastic measures.


"Now, this is a breakthrough if I do say so myself" Blair commented in pure joy as he looked over the unconscious Yautja lay in front of him.

Sha'ra had trusted Norma enough to look over Yeyinde, so by extension she trusted Sophie to look after her sibling in the Hybrid's stead. As of this moment, Sophie and Blair had been looking over the male Hunter and doing their best to make sure he remained stable.

"Um…I wouldn't say stuff like that in front of him, Blair" Sophie replied, gesturing to the fully armed Dark Blade hunter that was sat in the corner of the room.

Zen'Tau however was less trusting of the humans and ordered one of the Dark Blade Brothers to watch over his nephew and make sure the humans didn't do anything….suspicious to him. The Dark Blade was sworn to honour the Elder and was doing as told, but like most aliens on board the ship, he didn't like the male human doctor at all.

"Oh Please Sophie, that lumbering jackass probably doesn't even understand what we are saying" Blair smirked, pleased with himself.

"Understand….Jackass…Part, Ooman…should watch….what…he says" the Dark Blade replied in broken English with his incredibly strong accent.

"Oh….I'm sorry" Blair apologized, hoping that the Dark Blade didn't want to take his head off anytime soon, then again the Dark Blade was sharpening his wrist blades for a reason.

"I don't think he really cares about your apologies, Blair" Sophie said with a chuckle in her voice.

"Female…is…smart….will live…longer….than male" the Dark blade hunter replied with a chuckle of his own as he finished the sentence.

As if on que, the door opened and who stepped through other than the black clad Myrmidon Major himself, Erik Reaver. His rifle slung on his shoulder and his helmet nowhere to be seen, even though Sophie had never met the Major before a day or two ago, she felt the very same kind of aura that she got from Norma, except with a stronger presence behind it.

"How is he doing?" Erik asked, gesturing to the still unconscious, Yeyinde.

"He is stable enough, not to mention his tissue is healing twice as fast as a human's" Sophie replied.

"Yeyinde…strong…all Yautja…strong" the Dark Blade spoke.

"How long do you think until he will wake up?" the Major asked, taking note of the Dark Blade's words.

"Can't say for sure, he lost a lot of blood, but by my guess….a day…a day and a half" the blonde replied, before waiting for the Dark Blade to comment on her words.

"Female…is very smart…she will…live very long" the Dark Blade replied, confirming the American's words.

Sophie smiled to herself, she never thought she could survive in the same room as a Yautja Hunter for more than a few minutes, yet alone impress him a couple of times. When she was just another biologist on the ship she could barely get anyone but Norma to be impressed by her work, yet now after hell had broken loose she was impressing a Hunter from the stars.

It was a confidence booster to say the least.

Erik looked closely at the Dark Blade and was surprised to find it was the same Hunter that Eli had decked when they had arrived just in time to stop the conflict, it was easy to tell by his black eye and cut mandible membrane. Of course this also meant it was the same hunter that had beaten Hanzo to a pulp.

"Are you the hunter that fought my teammate?" Erik asked, wanting to confirm his beliefs.

"I…Am…your Friend….was….worthy opponent" the Dark Blade replied, showing a bit of respect.

"I'm sure he would have appreciated that, but it still doesn't change the fact that you almost killed him" Erik said, keeping his finger next to the trigger of his Pulse Rifle. The Major cared for the Yautja for Sha'ra's sake, but this Yautja had nearly killed one of his closest comrades, and that didn't sit right with him.

"It….would have been…a….good death. An….honourable death" the Hunter replied with utter truth ringing through his tone. It was then that Erik realized that Hanzo would have been fine with such an end, his Samurai heritage would have agreed with the Yautja as a death at the hands of a great warrior would have put a smile on the Japanese Myrmidon's face.

Erik lowered his rifle and smirked "Yeah…it would have been…by the way I'm sorry about the…you know?" Erik said, gesturing to the black eye.

"Do not…apologize. Kamad had….strong arm. Mate…back home…loves scars" the Dark Blade chuckled gutturally. Erik couldn't help but laugh at the joke and the truth behind it, bit by bit he found himself appreciating the Yautja race for what they were, warriors with a deep routed sense of honour.

Even if they had tried to kill his teammates, he had to respect that they didn't do it out of spite or cruelty, they did it out of a sense of warrior pride. Erik was a warrior himself and understood the power one could feel when holding a blade, and the joking nature that the Dark Blade was displaying was eerily human in nature.

Yet another display of how their species weren't so different.

"Well I hope I find one that thinks the same" Erik replied, pointing to the scars adorning his face, earning another chuckle from the Dark Blade hunter and Sophie.

"I like….this Ooman! And you" The Dark Blade chuckled pointing to Sophie and Erik respectively with a smile on his mandibles, but when he looked at Blair he dropped the smile and said "This Ooman…not so much"

Erik was beginning to worry for the Doctor's safety as he kept making enemies around the groups, Norma and Sophie could bare him at least, but Eli had thrown a knife at him from what Norma said, Rezeal wasn't fond of him and now the Yautja were taking a disgust to him.

"Dr Blair, would you mind if I spoke with you alone for a moment?" Erik asked.

"Uh, well, Major, I would rather stay with the patient"

"I insist, Sophie here has it handled, and if anything goes wrong im sure that….uh…" Erik gestured to the Dark Blade as if prompting for a name.

"…Va'Tan" the Dark Blade known as Va'Tan replied.

"Va'Tan here can help if anything goes wrong" Erik finished his sentence, the Dark Blade nodded. Being an Elite of the Dark Blade clan, he understood a great deal about Yautja anatomy and could help in a critical situation if need be.

"….All right then, I'll be right back" Blair said, straightening out his lab coat before following Erik out of the room.

Erik thought it odd why the doctor had chosen to keep his lab coat with him this entire time, surely through all the things they had been through he would have ditched it for practicality's sake. Then again the doctor may have just been wearing it to remind himself of who he was, lord knows that in such a dire situation, one would try to hold onto something like that.

"Tell me, Doctor. How are holding up?" Erik asked.

"Fine under the circumstances I suppose" Blair replied, not giving a hint of subtly in what he meant.

"I suppose you wouldn't, but as one of the last remaining senior crew members I'm afraid you'll just have to keep it together until this mess has been sorted out" Erik replied as he and Blair walked down the hallway.

"I can't see how you could possibly solve this mess, Major. In my opinion this project has become completely unsalvageable, the best course of action would be to leave the ship immediately and…"

"Out of the question Doctor" Erik replied, quickly shooting down Blair's suggestion.

"But…why not?" Blair asked

"Well Dr Blair, first off my team and I have to find out why in the hell there are Xenomorphs aboard this ship and secondly I can't return to HQ without knowing why the Black Yautja are trying to take over the Asclepheus" Erik explained as calmly as he could.

"Well to be completely honest Major. I have had a few suspicions about many of the crew being linked to the Brotherhood before the ship was overrun" Blair replied.

"That may be the case…although that isn't the reason why I wanted to talk to you, Doctor" Erik said as he stopped in his tracks and faced the Doctor.

"I'm afraid you won't be very safe among the non-humans on this ship" Erik replied.

"No Offence but I didn't need you to tell me that, Major. That white haired lizard has already tried to kill me several times since it got here" Blair referred to Eli.

"Well, no offence here Dr Blair, but I have crossed blades with Eli….and trust me. If he wanted you dead….we wouldn't be having this conversation" Erik replied before he turned and began walking again.

Erik turned his head and shouted over his shoulder "Also, I would suggest you keep the racist remarks to a minimum and stay close to my men and I"

Blair could do naught but follow Erik's advice, after all with a pack of Yautja hunters who would love nothing more than to take his head and mount it on their walls, and one very aggressive Kamad prince that could do way worse if given an excuse.

The doctor would have to be extra vigilant from now on.


*With Eli and Norma

*CLANG!*CLANG!*CLANG!*

"You're really starting to get the hang of this" Eli smiled as he flourished his katana in one hand.

"I….Hope….So" Norma said between deep breaths, it had been a while since her large Kamad stores of Adrenaline had worn out from sparring with her white haired companion. Her skill with a blade was getting gradually better as her Kamad form took in more and more experience.

Kamads were born fighters, they may not be the best Physicists or Mechanics alive, but they knew how to fight, and several billion years of evolution had formed them into perfect killing machines. That being said, even Kamads would tire after fighting for too long, especially against a more experienced opponent.

"No, seriously. Even by Kamad standards you are learning fast, it must be your human side" Eli smiled as he sheathed his Katana in his belt.

"Ive always been a fast learner….I would sometimes memorize entire books, word for word when I was six" Norma laughed as he gained her breath back. She sat with her back against a wall, looking out to the vastness of space displayed in front of her.

Many of the outer hallways on the Asclepheus would give a great views of the stars for the various inhabitants. Of course it would usually only serve as a pretty thing to look at when you had the time between shifts of research, but it was comforting to many of the people on board. Norma laid her Short-sword beside her as she hugged her legs to her chest, simply watching the stars shimmer beyond the near unbreakable glass that shielded the inhabitants from the vacuum of space.

Eli took off his sword belt and joined Norma, sitting beside her on the floor, watching the stars pass by them. Even though Norma had grown considerably in both muscle mass and height comparable to that of a Myrmidon, she was still small compared to the Huge Prince. Neither of them cared of course as they had went beyond the point of shock when it came to the strange events of late.

The two sat there, Norma gaining her stamina back while Eli gazed at the stars and relaxed. The Prince couldn't remember the last time he had simply sat down and watched the long expanse that was space, that wide black canvas, sparkling and shimmering with the stars that supported systems of their own. It could sometimes be awfully daunting, being faced with the infinite abyss of possibilities, but for people like Eli and Norma, that were more than abnormal, it was a comfort and reminder of their childhoods.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Norma asked out loud. Eli turned his head to look at the Hybrid beside him as her Blue/Gold eyes gazed at the stars.

"I used to spend hours of my childhood, just staring at them. When I was a child, my father would take me fishing, and afterwards, regardless of whether we had caught anything, we would just sit and watch the stars" Norma told Eli of her childhood.

"I….I suppose it sounds quite childish to a mature prince like you" Norma chuckled to herself as she leaned back and closed her eyes.

"On the Contrary…when I was a boy, I did much the same thing" Eli replied, making Norma's eyes shot wide open.

"No…really?" Norma asked with disbelief.

"Yes, believe it or not, before I began my training and even during…I would spend hours just watching the stars from the citadel. Being able to forget all my worries or the expectations put on me and just….watch them" Eli smiled as he reminisced.

"There was always something comforting about the way they shimmer, even though they are as far as anything can be, sometimes it's like you can just…..reach out and touch them" Eli said as he reached out his hand to the glass.

"I always imagined going to those stars, visiting those planets, becoming some great explorer like Columbus or Francis Drake. Meeting alien species or discovering ancient civilizations was what I always dreamed about. When I was a little girl it always seemed much more exciting like a story book, going out into the frontier and exploring the cities on Mars and the colonies on the outer systems" Norma sighed with a smile.

"I guess that's why you probably jumped at the chance to join the crew?" Eli asked.

"You guessed right. My dad was so proud when he heard about it, he came all the way from England to Moscow just to see me off" Norma smiled with reminiscence as she remembered that day.

"You must mean a lot to him, for a father to care that much for his daughter is quite the act of compassion" Eli smiled.

"What about your father? What is he like?" Norma asked with equal curiosity.

"My father has been Emperor for about 4,000 years ever since my Grandfather stood down, he is wise, strong and a great man. Although he can be a bit judgemental at times, keeping with the old traditions, he sent me off to train with the Elites when I was 15" Eli told Norma, whose eyes widened in shock.

"15! He sent you off to military training that young!?" Norma asked.

"All the children of the Emperor are sent at that age, its tradition. The Elites are the best of the best, and an Emperor must be the greatest of them, so training must start at a very young age when we are still developing" Eli explained.

The Kamads prided themselves on the quality of their warriors, and their rulers were no different. For Eons the Kamad Emperors and kings of old were warriors that fought beside their troops. That was one tradition that wouldn't be going away anytime soon.

"I don't blame him for it, he did what he thought was right. After all, my entire family has been training like that for eons" Eli explained, delving deeper into his past.

Eli then realized what he was saying and quickly shut his mouth, a Prince, yet alone a trained Warrior shouldn't be discussing his childhood on a mission. He had been trained for hundreds of years to supress such things and always stay focused on what mattered, and right now his past of gazing at the stars did not matter.

"Do you know them all?" Norma asked.

Eli looked at the female Hybrid in surprise, wasn't she a scientist? Shouldn't she know the stars and their systems?

"You don't know the stars?" Eli asked.

"I'm a Biologist, not an astronomer" Norma smirked, Eli chuckled in response as he leaned back.

"I know the names of every star, planet and moon in the known universe, reciting them to you would only be a boring waste of time, kind of like most of the stuff that fills my head" Eli explained. Norma turned her head and saw that Eli looked like he had something to get off his chest. Norma may not have be an expert on Kamads, but she could tell if someone was troubled or not.

"I'm being unprofessional, I shouldn't be taking like this" Eli put his head in his armoured hands.

"Come on, don't be like that. You can't keep everything bottled up inside, no matter what species you are. From now on, I don't want to hear the Warrior, the Prince or the Elite…I want to hear Eli, just Eli" Norma told the white haired Kamad as she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Ever since I was a child, I've been raised to be this great leader. But I don't know anything about how to make people want to follow me, I don't know anything about making peace or diplomacy or avoiding a fight. The one thing I know best is how to kill, how to maim, how to fight and how to cleave limbs from bodies" Eli ley his heart spill out.

"Every person I come across always assumes I'm either a high and mighty noble with a stick up his arse, or some bloodthirsty monster who wants a crown on his head. How the hell does my father expect me to become an Emperor when I can't even obtain the trust of anyone on this god forsaken ship" Eli leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Rezeal trusts you, Sha'ra trusts you, Erik trusts you and I trust you. If not for you, Sophie and I would be dead and Erik and Sha'ra would be long gone" Norma reassured the Kamad.

"I may not have known you for very long, Eli. But I can tell that you are a good person, a stressed out, over dramatic person, but good nonetheless" Norma smiled.

Eli sighed as he leaned back and let his head make a thud against the metallic wall behind him. In fourteen hundred years the Kamad had never met someone like Norma, someone who could read him as easily as one reads a book and genuinely listened to everything he had to say without judging him.

He may have been a Prince, but he was far from perfect, he had his flaws and problems like anyone else. He was fearless but that meant he wouldn't run when the odds were against him, he could be cocky and foolhardy and filled with doubt when he failed at something. Many regular people wouldn't understand why he was this way, but being raised as the heir to an empire that had lasted for billions of years tended to leave you with some pretty big shoes to fill.

"Well. I'm glad you think that, Norma" Eli sighed as he felt his companion lean her head on his armoured shoulder.

"Just relax, and give it time. When the time comes, you'll know what to do" Norma whispered as she closed her eyes and began to get comfortable. The Prince smiled, knowing that he and Norma had gotten just a little closer, he leaned back and got comfortable as well, watching the stars pass them by.

Perhaps coming to this ship wasn't such a bad idea after all.


Meanwhile on a whole other end of the ship, a pair of scaly reptilian fingers scrapped across a glowing red surface on the floor. The fingers were raised to the face of the owner and a loud sniffing filled the air as the Black Yautja took in the scent of the strange blood.

The Black Yautja, known better as Yul'Tran the Tracker took in the scent before holding his hand out for his Hell Hounds to take a sniff. Each of the hounds taking long and strong sniffs before they went about trying to find a trail.

"Well?" Tra'Kan asked from the saddle of his hell steed.

"The scent is waning, a day or two old. Smells, Female, Ooman….Kamad?" Yul'Tran announced with a raised brow.

"What?" Qul'Tan, the youngest of the Pale Twins asked.

"The scent is both Ooman….and Kamad, strange….as if the blood is mingled" Yul'Tran replied.

"Any ideas? You are the Kamad experts after all" Tra'Kan asked Qul'Tan.

"Kamad blood has healing qualities, but I've never seen Kamad Blood mutate another before. You mentioned a Female Ooman that you killed?" Qul'Tan asked back.

"I pierced her heart with my wrist blades before that Kamad…..Oh that son of a whore!" Tra'Kan cursed out loud.

"The Bastard must have injected his blood into her at the last second" Mh'Jax replied, his grip on his mace tightening.

"Oomans are strange creatures, their blood is very….Unique" Lin'Theiw chipped in, his experience in the matter of blood was much more intimate that the others.

"So, now we have a Hybrid on our hands now" Qul'Tan stated.

"A filthy Half-Breed" Mh'Jax growled.

Tra'zan growled before he clicked his mandibles and dragged a thumb against his throat, signifying that he was eager to take some trophies, one of which would be a female half breed. Qul'Tan knew his brother was always eager to do some decapitating and many of the elites had hunted besides the Twins enough to understand Tra'Zen's actions.

Suddenly the Hell hounds began barking and growling as they had found the trail they were looking for. Yul'Tran smirked before he hopped back onto his Hell Steed and whistled loudly for his hell hounds to follow the scent they had found.

The hounds began salivating as they ran down the halls at full speed.

The Black Yautja Elites spurred their steeds as they began galloping at full speed, tracking their quarry across the gargantuan landscape that was the Asclepheus. Tra'Kan in particular was eager at claiming both the heads of the Kamad Prince and the Half Breed, created by his own hand ironically enough.

It would have been funny, had it not been so insulting, that even at the loss of his arm, Tra'Kan hadn't managed to kill the Ooman female.

Now he had sworn an oath to himself.

To kill that Half Breed bitch and to make the Prince watch as he did it.

It was as if the Ship had a sense of humour with the Ironic events that had led to now.


Well ladies and Gents, it took me a while but I hope it was worth it. The ideas I put forward during this chapter have been circling my head for quite some time, the 'Brotherhood of Flesh' of course being the main one, inspired by the Xeno Extremists in Jago Dakari's 'Slayers Vengeance' (a big inspiration of mine, check him out, he's awesome)

Of course it may seem like right now a lot of these ideas and additions to the world may not be doing much, but I add these things for two reasons:

1. I love fleshing out worlds of my own, and the devil is in the details. People in the real world right now have a lot of awful beliefs, terrorist groups do terrible things in the names of their gods and extremist upbringings, and so having an organisation like the Brotherhood makes sense, as the Xenomorphs are shown like gods in their own rights.

2. They WILL be appearing in later installations of the series (Yes, that is right people, The Asclepheus won't end when this story does, I have plans for sequels, spin offs and Prequels of all sorts) one of which is 'Al'Dan the Pale Hunter' which WILL feature the Brotherhood in the very near future (Al'Dan Readers get hyped)

I also hope that I succeeded in fleshing out Eli in this chapter as I originally pictured him in my head as sort of an Aragorn character, a Prince that holds of weight of his people on his shoulders while being racked with self-doubt.

If I failed in doing so, or need to go further, then please throw me some ideas on how to develop him further. I want you guys to have an impact upon this story as well, and that doesn't mean bitch about my characters in the comments instead of giving any good advice (yeah I'm looking at the 'Guest' who said that I should ditch Eli and make only Erik the main character.

Yes I appreciate that you are enjoying the story and that you like Erik, but Eli, Erik, Sha'ra and Norma are the main characters and I'm not giving any of them the shaft to please one reader. And if you don't like something, fine, but at least give me some advice or some real constructive criticism in response, otherwise why bother Commenting?

Well, now that I have that out of the way, please don't feel discouraged on commenting, let me know what you liked, what you want to see, or give advice on how to improve the story.

Next Chapter: 2 Mouths of Madness

Dakkaman777 signing out