IM BACK BITCHES! DID YOU MISS ME!? I hope you guys haven't moved on from this story because I sure as hell haven't. I ain't resting till this story has been told! So if you please, strap in for some thrills, chills as the Voyage of the Asclepheus continues!

ENJOY!

Asclepheus chapter 26

Secrets unveiled

The cold water ran through the shower head, its icy cold spray would be painful to anyone but the occupant of the shower cubicle. On one knee, was Eli. Dried blue blood ran freely off his body as he let the cold water free his scaly skin that composed his hide.

Eli sighed as the cold water ran down his still sore muscles. The tender pain running through all his newly regenerated tissue. The Kamad's missing hand had recently regenerated back, his new hand was tough with hardened dark blue scabs which would need to be shed soon, like the skin of a snake.

Eli was of reptilian descent after all. And it didn't come without its own little pains in the neck.

The ice-cold water served as a mild reminder of home. Kamads loved the cold, and even the simple act of letting ice cold water run down their bodies could remind them of their arctic home world.

It was a reminder Eli needed at a time like this. He needed to be thinking straight, but he had just lost his closest friend, his mind full of rage and pain. He needed a reminder of home to put his mind at ease.

But as the Kamad let the cold water run down his body, his mind couldn't be further from home.

His mind pondered the one question rattling away in his mind over and over again.

What in the name of Eleran was the Asclepheus?

Eli just knew that the ship was familiar somehow? But from where?

What about it was familiar?

Had he seen a ship like it in person before?

Had he read about it from ancient history?

Had he been told stories about a ship like it?

The Kamad was 1485 years old, young for his species, but in his lifetime, he had already seen and done more than any human to have ever lived. But he could not put his finger on what this ship was. It was familiar…but at the same time, unfamiliar. Eli needed more info on this ship. Whatever it was, it was valuable to the Black Yautja.

And that didn't exactly put him at ease.

Then again, what else was new?

It wasn't long until Eli had finished and gotten redressed. It was a good thing his bio-armour and his other articles of clothing were self-cleaning, the nanites that maintained his armour were a god-send.

After all, his people mastered nano-technology over the course of a million years, almost everything Kamad-made involved nanites in some way or form.

After putting his weapon belt back on and feeling his armour plates shift and encapsulate his form like a second armoured skin, Eli felt a lot more like his old self. He was still sore in a few places, as his regeneration took a lot longer than usual.

Then again, all the regeneration abilities in the world wouldn't fill the wound Rezeal had left.

Eli looked at his newly regenerated hand and squeezed it tightly. The last words of warning from his friend echoed in his ears.

'Blair…He brought the xenomorphs…on board. Don't let him get off this ship…alive'

Eli always knew there was something off about Blair.

The look on everyone's faces when he told them still remained fresh in his head.

*FLASHBACK*

Eli stood with his back to the wall, his arms crossed. His hand hadn't fully regenerated just yet so it was a fingerless stump of flesh. He looked back and forth between Norma, Erik and Sha'ra, gauging their reactions to the news he had just given him.

The rest of the Myrmidons and Yautja had gathered as well.

Sasha, Hanzo and Baako stood by their leader, remaining strong despite the deaths of Vlad and Ramirez and the disappearance of the rookie. The Yautja, even after losing half their number felt it necessary to be in on the information the others had to share.

Besides, they were all in shit creek right now, whether they liked it or not.

The news didn't seem that surprising to the Myrmidons. The Xenomorphs had to come from somewhere, and the culprits behind outbreaks were usually caused by Humans.

The Yautja didn't trust Blair to begin with at all, so the news that he had betrayed his own species was hardly a shock.

Sha'ra seemed unaffected, all things considered she didn't know Blair and wasn't too surprised to hear he was a traitor.

The real reactions came from Erik and Norma.

Erik sat leaning forward with his hands clasped in his lap. His helmet lay on the table next to him, his expression looked like he was still processing things.

Norma however, took it the hardest. Blair was a colleague she trusted and, in some regards, looked up to. She had spent three years on the same ship as him, and to find he was the one that brought the Xenomorphs on board in the first place was a terrible shock.

"How…How did Rezeal know?" Erik asked, looking up at Eli. The Kamad Prince could tell that what he had told Erik was still processing.

"I told Rezeal to keep a close eye on the fucker while we went into the Hive. Looks like I was right to do so" Eli practically growled.

"How in Paya's name could he have gotten them on the ship? Where the hell would he even get them?" Sha'ra asked.

"Theta squad" Erik squeezed his eyes shut in anger, his teeth gritted and his fists clenching.

All heads turned to Erik.

"Someone had to smuggle them on board. Green had to have birthed the Queen after being brought here, there is no other way a Queen of that size could get on board with no one knowing" Erik continued.

"They were used like Incubators" Norma almost gasped with a look of horror on her face.

"And Blair brought them on board" Eli growled.

"A high-ranking researcher like Blair probably has a lot of pull on what does and doesn't get transported onto the ship" Erik replied.

"That just begs the question…where did he get them?" Eli asked.

The room was filled with silence for a few moments, Sha'a and Erik caught deep in thought about where Blair could have possibly got his hands on Xenomorph face huggers, along with three missing Myrmidons.

"Well…there are only two ways that Blair could have gotten his hands on Facehuggers…and only one person that could have been responsible for the disappearance of Theta squad" Hanzo replied calmly.

"Weyland?" Norma asked, as if already knowing the answer.

"Who else could it be? That bastard's company has been the leading cause of outbreaks, no matter what the media says" Erik grit his teeth.

The subject of the Weyland-Yutani company and their fixation with the Xenomorphs, was common knowledge after the testimonies of Ellen Ripley and Dwayne Hicks upon their return from Hadley's Hope. The company went into a decline and almost went bankrupt when the CEO, Charles Bishop Weyland committed suicide.

But when Weyland's son, Christopher Weyland took control of the company, he was very successful at cleaning the company's name up and bringing it back into the limelight. However, rumours still spread that the Weyland-Yutani corporation was still experimenting with Xenomorphs in the outer colonies, smuggling eggs and starting outbreaks.

There were even rumours that the Corporation had connections with the Brotherhood of Flesh, the Xenomorph Fanatics that worshiped the creatures like gods.

Erik had plenty run-ins with Company hands and hired mercs that worked for Weyland. But no matter how hard the Myrmidon Corps tried, they could never get the evidence they needed to prove anything.

Eli, Sha'ra and most of the Yautja however were almost completely lost. Sha'ra's knowledge of Humans and their culture was extremely basic to say the least, and Eli only vaguely recognised the name 'Weyland' from the data upload he partook in on the way to the Asclepheus.

However, many of the aliens didn't want to delve too deeply into the situation, over their time on the Asclepheus both Eli and Sha'ra trusted their counterparts.

"I wish I could say that was the only problem. Our paths lie in three different directions. On one hand we must escape the Asclepheus, on another we must find Sophie…and on another we can't allow Blair to escape the ship" Eli interjected.

"We can't allow the Black Yautja control of this ship Eli. It has to be destroyed" Zen'Tau interrupted the Prince.

"Be that as it may, we still don't know what this ship is!" Eli replied with an annoyed huff.

"I fail to see what the nature of ship has to do with destroying it or not" Sasha replied.

"Because depending on this ship's true purpose, your explosives may or may not do the job you expect them to" Eli replied.

Silence hit the room. Both the Yautja and Myrmidons had been sent to this ship with the express purpose of destroying the Asclepheus by detonating the Energy Core. And now here was Eli, someone with knowledge of Alien spacecrafts far beyond their own, and he had just turned what was a simple mission into a riskier trial with unknown stakes.

Eli knew many different types of Starships and the purposes they were made for. For all they knew the explosives the Myrmidons and Yautja would use could prove to be useless or too effective. A thermos-nuclear explosion taking place in the heart of the wrong sort of energy core would easily obliterate the ship, along with most planets in orbit of the surrounding solar system.

Eli did not want that possibility.

"We have no way of knowing what the Asclepheus is. All the records in the ship's available data banks were corrupted beyond recognition and whatever parts of the ship weren't replaced resemble nothing we've seen before" Norma explained.

"Nothing You've seen before, true. But I know my ships…and something about the Asclepheus is familiar to me" Eli revealed.

"Wait…are you saying you could identify the Asclepheus?" Erik asked.

"I would have to see a part of the ship was unaltered. A part of the ship that hasn't been tampered by human engineers in anyway" Eli replied.

"Well…the only parts of the ship like that are the Energy core and the Drive core" Norma replied.

"Why are those unaltered?" Baako asked with a raised brow.

"The structure of the rooms housing the cores worked in tandem with their design. The Drive and Energy Cores would cease to work if even a single wall panel was stripped off. Whoever made the ship wanted those rooms untouched" Norma replied.

"Then how do you control the energy output or make alterations to the Drive Core? You can't be seriously saying that you left the energy core and drive core completely exposed since you found the ship" Yeyinde interjected.

"The way the cores work is very complicated. Since we couldn't alter the rooms we had to think outside the box. Both Cores seemed to work without prompting, constantly operating despite how long they had been on. In order to tap into that energy, we had to syphon both cores through a filtering system for it to be distributed to the rest of the ship. Whenever we need to operate on the core, Captain grey or Captain Azerov would input the main control codes to operate the syphons" Norma explained.

Sasha's eyes widened at the name of the second captain. Her last name was Azerov and her sister was a capt….oh shit. The other Myrmidons exchanged glances with the Russian Myrmidon, catching on what was going through her mind.

"Who else knows the codes? Besides the Captains?" Eli asked.

"Any of the high-ranking researchers. Myself, Dr Isenberg, Blair…and Sophie" Norma's face paled.

"Hang on…Sophie is your assistant, how the hell would she know them?" Sasha asked.

"You obviously haven't seen how much of a blabbermouth Norma is" Erik smirked, Eli nodding in agreement.

"So, our safest bet is the Drive Core or the Energy Core" Baako replied.

"The Energy Core is nearest to our position right now. It shouldn't take much longer for us to reach it considering the schematics" Sha'ra informed the others. She had spent plenty of time to familiarize herself with the ship schematics.

"Then that's where we'll go" Erik said, standing up and putting his helmet under his arm.

"But what about Sophie? Blair? The Rookie?" Norma asked, not even knowing Michael's name after hearing the Myrmidons refer to him as such so many times.

"I for one don't feel confident that we can fight hundreds of Black Yautja from their fortified position just to try and rescue someone who probably isn't going to be alive for much longer" Sasha replied with her arms crossed.

Erik was about to interject, to tell Sasha that they shouldn't abandon their kidnapped friend. But that's when…

"Thousands actually" Zen'Tau interjected.

All eyes turned to the Elder.

"Three Black Yautja Warships of that size, can carry thousands of troops. And Ma'Zax is known for having some of the most blood hungry hunters in the universe under his command. Fighting them head on with inferior numbers isn't just suicide, its idiotic to a staggering degree" Zen'Tau replied.

"They won't kill her. They need her alive to give them the codes. And Sophie is a smart girl, she won't give up the only thing that is keeping her alive" Eli said.

"That won't keep her safe for long. The longer she keeps the codes from them the more they will see torture as a viable option to make her talk" Sha'ra replied.

"That puts us on a timer then. I say our next move is heading towards the Energy Core, if Eli can identify the rest of ship by examining it then it will help us plan out our next move. Are there any objections?" Erik suggested, waiting for a response from everyone else.

Zen'Tau looked to the Dark Blades, whom nodded in response. The other Yautja hunters didn't look too thrilled at the plan, but nodded their agreement all the same.

The Myrmidons didn't even need to be asked, they would follow Erik into the jaws of Hades if he asked them to. Eli didn't have any objections, even with the loss of Rezeal he had to keep things together for his newly made allies.

Norma didn't like the idea of leaving Sophie behind, but in reality, she knew that wasn't what they were doing. Zen'Tau was right about charging headfirst into the Black Yautja to be suicide, so a more tactical and well thought out approach would work better in this situation.

She but on a brave face and nodded.

"Well then…we should head out as fast as we can, we meet back here in 0100 hours, be prepared to move by then" Erik ordered. Everyone nodded and got to preparing for a trek.

*FLASHBACK END*

Eli couldn't help but smirk to himself as he peeled off the dried scabs from his hand, revealing his newly regenerated chalk white skin.

Over the course of the few weeks he had been on this ship he had created a bond with creatures that were once thought below his species. He trusted Erik and the Myrmidons with his life, he trusted Sha'ra and most of all he trusted the strange one of a kind creature known as Norma Rockwell.

Eli took a long deep breath as he sheathed both his Katanas, set his bio-armour to produce more throwing knives and sheathed his own curved swabbie dagger.

The Kamad cracked his neck back and forth before he set off out the door, ready to look forward, but first he had to visit Rezeal, he was not going to leave his friend's body behind.


Sophie's eyes fluttered open, consciousness returning to her. She tried to move her arms and legs but they wouldn't budge an inch. Her sight was blurry and foggy, blinking a few times her vision sharpened.

She wished it hadn't.

There, standing right before her was the grotesque face of the Black Yautja that had taken her in the first place. His face was like those of Yautja travelling with her friends, but it was longer, snouted and his dreadlocks hung behind his head rather than splaying out.

The Black Yautja growled, clicked and let out a long line of grunts and what Sophie could only guess were supposed to be words.

Sophie couldn't move, but a quick glance around and she found that she had been bound and put on the back of one of the horse-like creatures the Black Yautja rode. All around her were other hell-steeds, without their riders.

They must have been in the midst of taking a break.

Sophie's eyes widened in horror as the creature seemed to be salivating as it looked at her. It let out a series of sniffs and seemed to grin before grabbing the back of her head and yanking it back. The long serpentine tongue of the Black Yautja snaked out of its mouth and dragged across Sophie's cheek.

Sophie felt the fear welling up inside her as the Black Yautja's hot, foul breath filled her nostrils.

"LIN'THIEW!" came a very familiar voice. The Black Yautja turned his head so fast he almost hit Sophie with his dreadlocks.

Sophie instantly recognised this new Black Yautja. His cybernetic arm gave it away.

It was Tra'Kan.

Tra'Kan growled a few words in Black Yautja to Lin'Thiew who begrudgingly shook his head, huffed and stepped away, leaving Sophie's field of view.

That left Sophie with Tra'Kan.

"Long time no see…is that the Ooman saying?" Tra'Kan smirked as he strolled over to Sophie.

"I apologize for my friend…he is very hungry you see, and a pink skinned little morsel like you looks very appetizing in many ways" Tra'Kan grinned as he leaned forward, a mere inch away from her.

"W-What the hell do you want with me?" Sophie stuttered in fear.

"Straight to the point, how Ooman" Tra'Kan chuckled.

"All you have to know is that we need you alive and able to talk…so don't get cocky. Lord Ma'Zax only needs your mouth and your mind…everything else is disposable, remember that" Tra'Kan growled.

Sophie dreaded what her fate was. Lying there, helpless in the midst of these monsters.

It was then that another Black Yautja came into view, or more accurately a white Yautja as his skin was pale as Eli's.

"Oh, come now Tra'Kan…be a bit more civil to our guest" Qul'Tan smiled as he walked over to his fellow Yautja and their Human captive.

"You want a turn with her? Perhaps you can get whatever Lord Ma'Zax wants out of her and save me the trouble when we return?" Tra'Kan chuckled lowly.

"I'll give it a crack. But I must say, torture and interrogation are more acclimated to your skill set" Qul'Tan smiled.

"…Whatever you say" Tra'Kan shook his head before walking away, leaving Sophie with the Albino.

"Well, well, well…I've seen a lot of creatures in my lifetime…Kainde Amedha, River Ghosts, Kamads and things no one else has seen…but it's been a long time since I've been this close to a live Ooman" Qul'Tan said as he stepped closer to Sophie, grabbed her face and began inspecting her,

Sophie noticed how short Qul'Tan was compared to the other Black Yautja, but that didn't stop him from seeming any less intimidating. He was lean, carried himself with a deadly confidence and his pale white skin looked unnatural and haunting like a ghost.

"What do you want with me?" Sophie's voice trembled.

"Oh, we need you for complete access to the ship. It's a tricky piece of tech, way before our time and very complicated with how you Oomans have altered it. But luckily, we have managed to access a number of the ship's security files…we have a list of all the Oomans on board that would have access to the codes we need…once we bring you back to Master Ma'Zax, we can deal with all those technicalities" Qul'Tan explained with a smile.

Sophie didn't know what to think. This Black Yautja was fluent in English, his voice and the way he spoke told her just how calm and calculating he was. He didn't seem all that Psychotic like Tra'Kan and the one that took her, but his calmness was unnerving and made her think there was a bit of madness hidden underneath.

If she wanted to have any hope of surviving this, she had to try and understand her Captives' motives.

Right now, it was information. But she couldn't afford to crack, if she gave them what they wanted so easily…what use would they have for her? Then again, she couldn't make them angry, she had to give them something when the time was right.

Oh, why the hell didn't she stay home?


The Kamad Prince stood, frozen outside the room with his hand on the frame. His eyes wide open and a look of horror plastered all over his face.

Everyone else stood behind Eli, watching from a distance.

The Myrmidons, the Yautja and Norma had already prepared for the journey and all that was left was for Eli to retrieve Rezeal's body.

What he didn't expect to find, was Rezeal with a gaping hole in his torso and the floor stained with his blood and entrails.

Eli's knees shook before he shook his head. This was no time for weakness, he steadied himself and slowly walked into the room. The sound of flesh and blood squelching underneath his boots wanted to make him roar out in anger.

His best friend had been through enough without this…desecration.

Once he was near Rezeal's body, Eli leaned over the table and slowly reached into the cavity that was most of Rezeal's chest.

"Eli, are you ready ye…" Erik walked into the room, in full armour with his pulse rifle at the ready. But when he saw the sight before him, his words were caught in his throat.

Sha'ra and Norma quickly followed and an audible gasp was heard from the Hybrid when she saw the floor glowing blue with Kamad blood.

Eli retracted his hand from Rezeal's chest cavity, holding what looked like viscera between his armoured fingers.

"Jesus Christ" Erik whispered, lowering his rifle as he stepped further in.

"He had one inside him" Eli said almost emotionlessly.

"Had what inside him?" Norma asked.

Eli turned and showed the three the gooey Xenomorph slime he had pulled from Rezeal's chest.

"What do you think?"

One sniff was all Norma needed to recognise that smell. She had lost the smell due to all the Kamad blood decorating the room. But once Eli drew attention to it, the odour of Xenomorph was unforgettable.

"But…How?" Norma's voice shivered.

"Rez was gone for a while…and these…fuckers, now how to cover their tracks when it suits them" Eli replied as his hand turned into a fist.

"This is bad…really bad" Erik said as he looked up, prompting the others to look up.

When all parties looked up they saw a huge hole had been torn through the ceiling, exposed bits of wiring and pipes could be seen as well as Xenomorph residue dripping from the hole. Whatever had made that hole was big, strong and obviously didn't care if it was followed.

"We have to go…now" Sha'ra replied with a fearful glance back at Eli.

"Usually Kainde Amedha young simply scurry off or go into the nearest air vent…whatever came out of Rezeal was big and strong enough to tear that hole in the ceiling…and it's still growing" Sha'ra explained to everyone waiting outside of the room.

"Agreed" Eli finally spoke as he began typing controls into Rezeal's gauntlet computer. With a flash of movement, Rezeal's armour quickly began to reform over the gaping hole in his chest.

"You aren't bothered about whatever the fuck did that?" Sasha asked, pointing her shotgun at the ceiling.

"Sha'ra is right, the thing that came out of Rezeal isn't any regular Xenomorph. If we linger too long it will catch our scent and hunt us down like cattle" Eli replied as he quickly gathered Rezeal into his arms after sealing the body bag he was contained in.

The body bags that the Myrmidons were adjustable to great lengths, you never know when you might need to retrieve the remains of a new species of xenomorph for study after all.

Eli quickly threw the body bag over his shoulder and started walking with a purpose.

"We have to move now" Eli borderline ordered.

"Won't hear any complaints here" Sasha agreed, shouldering her shotgun.

Erik and Sha'ra were the last to leave the room. Unlike Norma, they had been around Xenomorphs plenty of times, they knew what they were capable of. So, when they stared at that gaping hole in the ceiling, a shiver crawled up their spines.

As did a single thought.

A Newborn did this.

And if a Newborn did this, what would it be capable of when it was fully grown?

As if this ship wasn't hell before, now it had a demon on the loose.


"Why can't we rest again?"

"If we stop, we'll be wasting time. We have to catch up with the others if we are going to have a chance of getting off this ship" Grey replied with hurry in his voice.

"Wouldn't it be smarter to stay in the vents? My father's hunters will easily find us if we walk out in the open" Na'Yal replied with a fearful tone.

"It's a risk we'll have to take if we want to abandon ship, the vents are safer but the halls are quicker" Azarov replied with a slightly irritated tone.

The two captains and their Black Yautja companion had been walking for what seemed like forever. To say that the Asclepheus was a large ship was a gross understatement, like saying the distance between the Earth and Pluto was a little skip.

The Asclepheus was the largest ship recorded in human history. Larger than any other ship seen, Yautja, Black Yautja or otherwise. So, traversing its insides on foot was an arduous task. Using the human implemented Tram system was also a bad move, using it while the Black Yautja had control of the ship would be like ringing the dinner bell.

"The one thing we have going for us is that Ma'Zax has no idea where the hell we are or where we are going" Azarov looked to Na'Yal who was nervously fidgeting with his fingers.

Grey and Azarov had to admit that Na'Yal was an odd ball. The way he spoke, stood and acted was very unlike what one would expect from a Yautja of any kind. He was very timid, cautious and constantly on edge.

"He has control over the camera systems, that's how he was able to know about the presence of the Myrmidons on the ship. If he sees us it won't take long for him to send a party to hunt us down" Na'Yal replied.

"I know my ship better than they do, if we trigger a motion cam we'll just have to go back into the vents and there aren't any cams in the vents" Grey replied.

"But my feet are killing me" Na'Yal moaned.

"Then do something to take your mind off it. Christ, I never thought a Yautja could actually bitch this much" Azarov replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Take…my mind of it? How?" Na'Yal asked with a confused tone.

"I don't fucking know! How do you usually spend your free time?" Azarov asked with an annoyed tone.

"I don't…my life doesn't allow for free time. When I'm not making sure the machines are working or the hellsteeds are fed, I usually maintain whatever weaponry the Hunters leave around. If not, I'm cleaning up after them, doing menial work and whatever else they tell me to do" Na'Yal.

"…They treat you like a slave?" Grey asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, ever since I could walk…they pushed me around" Na'Yal replied sadly.

"But…why?" Azarov asked.

"Isn't it obvious? They treat him like shit because he is different, and unlike the Twins he speaks about, he can't exactly stand up for himself" Grey replied.

"Lord Ma…my father…he never wanted me, he never wanted to live with the fact that I came from him. That something weak, helpless and defenceless could come from his blood. He used to take out his frustrations on me when I was growing up, tell me how worthless I was, how I didn't deserve to be called a Yautja" Na'Yal replied, getting a little teary eyed.

Both Grey and Azarov exchanged a few glances, they were battle hardened ship captains, they had served in combat, they had taken lives. They never expected to see a Yautja, yet alone a Black Yautja act like this.

Like an abused child.

Azarov walked over to Na'Yal and put a hand on his shoulder, rubbing his tough hide with her thumb. The Black Yautja looked up at her with a startled look, not used to someone not treating him like absolute shit. The reassuring smile Azarov gave him filled him with a little bit of warmth. He couldn't remember the last time someone looked at him like that.

Like he mattered.

"Hey, chin up. We'll get out of this" Azarov smiled at him.

"When we get off of this ship, you are more than welcome to come back to earth with us" Grey replied, shouldering his gun.

"Really? But…but didn't your people have a war with…"

"That was in the past, and I am willing to bet the United systems would be willing to give you safe sanctuary. You may not be human, but then again, I am willing to bet a Black Yautja could teach us quite a few things about the cosmos" Grey grinned.

"You are, really willing to give me a new home?" Na'Yal asked.

"Sure, why the hell not?" Grey said as he continued to walk.

Na'Yal, for the first time in he didn't know how long, smiled. His mandibles turned into a tooth grin and his eyes filled with tears of joy. For the first time in the young Black Yautja's life, he had hope, he had something to strive towards. His own race hated him, treated him like filth, his own father regretted his existence. And now, here were these two Oomans he had rescued, offering him a chance at a new life, a better life.

Right now, sore feet wouldn't bring him down.

For the first time in a long time, Na'Yal, son of Ma'Zax, had hope.


Sasha Azarov was many things, she was a proud Russian, a Myrmidon, a born fighter ever since the day her mother died, but she was also a sister. Ever since finding out that her only sister had found herself aboard the ship that the demons in hell would fear, the Russian Myrmidon had been pondering if she were still alive.

Sasha knew her sister was tough for a regular human, to become a Ship captain at her age in the United Systems was no meagre feat. But here on this ship, regular humans didn't have a high life expectancy, neither did Myrmidons, Yautja, Black Yautja, Xenomorphs, or even Kamads for that matter.

The countless Asclepheus crew.

The Yautja under Zen'Tau's command.

Ramirez and Vlad.

Rezeal.

All dead aboard this ship, victims to the horrors that infected it.

This ship was death incarnate. Even if Eli didn't know what this ship was, Sasha knew it was death. Every hallway was like another pathway to the unknown, another path to death, destruction, misery and loss.

She hated thinking her little sister was somewhere on this ship, with those Black Yautja bastards looming over her if she wasn't dead already.

"Sasha?" Erik asked as he walked besides her.

Sasha looked up, the wearied expression on her face quickly replaced by the stern face Erik and the other Myrmidons were so used to seeing. It was rare for Erik to see the either of the Russians on his team seem wearied, in his mind Sasha and Vlad were the strongest willed of all of them.

Stubborn Russians and all that.

"Are you alright?" he asked, shouldering his pulse rifle.

"I'm fine Major, nothing to worry about" Sasha shrugged off the anxiety present in her body language.

"Do I have to order you to tell me what's wrong?" Erik asked with an arched brow.

"…Ugh, I'm worried ok? I haven't seen Cynthia in years, I want to think she is alive, I want to believe I'll see her again, but…Ugh!" Sasha replied with a groan. Erik could see she was distressed, but was trying to disguise it as annoyance, he knew his squad like the back of his hand after all.

"I'm worried about her. Cynthia is strong, fearless, a born leader…but she is still my little sister, just knowing she is somewhere on this ship, amongst all these fucking monsters…it scares me" Sasha confessed to Erik.

"I hadn't seen Norma in years since joining the Corps, back then she was just a pretty little science nerd, now I see her again and I find that she nearly died and is now a half Kamad Hybrid" Erik replied.

"Well…I suppose when you put it like that" Sasha chuckled.

"It's fine to show emotion you know. We may not be totally Human anymore, but we can still afford to show weakness amongst each other" Erik smiled as he put a hand on Sasha's shoulder.

Sasha smiled and nodded in response.

Erik then looked forward, seeing the hulking form of the Kamad Prince walking ahead. The broad shoulders, the large armoured tail swinging with every step to account for balance, the long white dreadlocks that rattled against armour, everything about Eli attested to his non-human nature.

And Erik could tell, something about the way hulking the Kamad was looking about the place was terribly uncharacteristic. He looked nervous, and that worried Erik.

Since meeting Eli, Erik had learnt that the Kamad was not someone who was spooked or frightened easily. Hell, the man faced down Black Yautja elites when he was near half dead, he took on hordes of Xenomorphs by himself and got drenched in their highly acidic blood multiple times while in the hive.

So, for something to be scaring this man…Erik knew whatever it was, wasn't good.

"Penny for your thoughts big man?" Erik asked as he quickly caught up with Eli.

Eli just kept looking around, taking deep sniffs of air, his eyes scanning every air vent he could see. Erik could tell by the way his eyes shifted towards his direction that he had heard him, obviously Eli was on high alert.

"What is it Erik?" Eli asked, his attention clearly on scanning the area as the group moved through the hallways.

"I just wanted to know how you were doing. Ever since finding Rezeal like that, you've seemed on edge" Erik said with a hint of concern. He hadn't known Eli for long, but already the two had formed an understanding of sorts, a 'if you watch my back, ill watch yours' sort of understanding.

"You would be on edge if you knew what was on this ship now" Eli replied.

"You mean…the thing that came out of him?" Erik asked.

"Yes…that thing" Eli replied with a pained sigh.

"I've dealt with Xenos for a long time Eli, whatever this thing is, we can handle it" Erik replied.

"No, you can't…with all due respect Erik…you have no idea what this thing is capable of" Eli replied quickly, eyes locking with Erik. The intensity in Eli's eyes spoke for themselves, he was ready to leap into action at any moment, tied tightly like a spring.

"Just what are we dealing with here?" Erik asked with a mixture of curiosity and fear. He had seen Eli in action, he had seen him manhandle Xenos like they were nothing. He had seen Eli clearly snap a Xenomorph's neck with his bare hands. So, whatever this was, to inspire this level of fear in the Kamad prince, definitely was not a garden variety Xeno.

Eli's brow furrowed, as if trying to figure out how to describe this thing to Erik. Erik knew immediately knew that this was a bad sign, when you had troubles describing something, every rarely was it anything good.

"Let me put it this way, if you hear me shout Run at the top of my lungs…fucking do it" Eli replied.

"Seriously? So bad we shouldn't even fight it?" Erik raised a brow.

"The last time I saw one of these things, it took 20 Kamad Warriors and 4 Elites all armed to the teeth to put it down. They are stronger than us, fast for their size, can regenerate much faster than we can, and they are smart as hell. They can grow to be as large and sometimes larger than Queens, they are relentless as they come, and they are capable of so much more than any other Xeno you have seen before" Eli explained with a tone that perfectly captured the seriousness of what he was describing.

"…Oh…that all?" Erik replied sarcastically.

Usually he would start worrying about the concept of fighting a new type of Xenomorph in circumstances such as these. But with everything that had happened over the past few days, Erik was beginning to feel numb to surprise. At this point, he was ready to see fucking anything.

If a Xenomorph jumped out the walls wearing a top hat and cane and started singing 'Hello my baby' he honestly wouldn't be fucking surprised.

"For all it's worth…If it shows up, I'm glad you will have my back" Eli broke Erik's stupor.

"Likewise" Erik grinned back at Eli.

"Hey! Guys…I think we've found it!" Hanzo shouted from his place ahead of the others.

Hanzo and the Dark Blade male had gone ahead of everyone else with a couple of Yautja hunters, it was best that they kept an eye out to make sure the group wasn't heading into a trap. In the event that a trap was waiting, then at the very least everyone else would get an early warning.

Eli looked to Erik and rushed ahead, Eli grabbing the hilt of his katana while Erik readied his Pulse rifle. Quickly followed by the rest of the group, all bearing their weapons, it wasn't long until the entire group were stood in front of it.

A massive sealed door, twice as tall as Eli, the entrance to the Energy core.

Everyone present had to admit that door didn't look like it was designed for or by humans. Its texture was rigid and not at all smooth, it looked more organic yet it was definitely synthetic. Eli swore he had seen textures like this before, not in the technology of his own people or the Yautja, Black or otherwise.

"Well…whoever designed the door was fucking tall" Sasha commented as she gazed up at the full height before running her hand over the texture of the door.

"Norma, can you get it open or do we have to hack it?" Erik asked.

"Don't worry, I have the codes to access it. We could do without you alerting the Black Yautja by tearing it off it's hinges" Norma walked over to the control panel and cracked her fingers.

"Not like it has hinges anyway…looks more like a sliding mechanism" Cin'Tyr commented as she tapped the door with her spear, it was certainly metallic whatever it was made of.

Sliding mechanism? Eli thought, trying to piece things together.

"I would hate to be under this thing if it came down" Yeyinde commented.

"The fucking thing would take your head off if it did" Baako replied.

"How the fuck did you learn to open this thing anyhow?" Sasha asked Norma.

"Originally the discovery team didn't, until an advanced model Android discovered the touch modules. They learned that the best way to get into the room was to bypass the original opening mechanism by cross engineering human and Yautja tech to create a Frequency that the mechanism would accept" Norma explained.

"Wait…What kind of frequency?" Eli asked.

Norma turned to look at Eli, his panicked tone alarming her and everyone else slightly. Was Eli onto something?

"A sound frequency…the Door seemed to respond to a combination of touch modules and a high frequency pitch that humans can't naturally replicate. It also didn't help that said frequency had to be played to a certain tune…" Norma's voice seemed to trail off as Eli looked up at the door in horror.

A sliding door made for creatures around his height? Made of an Organic appearing metal? Operated by a combination of touch modules and high frequency tunes that must be played naturally?

Eli immediately had a thought and quickly slammed his hands against the door. Everyone took a step back, including Norma out of sudden shock that the Kamad had snapped. That was until Eli's mandibles flared and he began sniffing like a madman, running his hands all over the door, obviously looking for something.

"Uh, Eli? What is it?" Erik asked.

"I hope to Eleran that I'm wrong" Eli replied as he continued to sniff, the armoured gauntlets retracting from his hands.

Norma took a cautious step forward and began to ask "Just what are you looking…"

*FWOOOM*

The loud noise gained the attention of everyone present, so did the green bioluminescent glow as Eli's hand ran over the old control module of the door. Everyone noticed that only someone of Eli's height could reach said module without aid, that seemed to put Eli on edge even more.

"Oh…fuck me" Eli murmured under his breath.

"The Touch Module requires a sequence of touches to the correct symbols, any mistake the door rejects any further attempts for an hour. You'll have no idea how many tries it took to find the right combination" Norma explained as Eli stared at the module.

Norma was about to go back to the implemented interface to input the codes, but she was cut off when Eli began pressing the symbols on the door, each symbol glowing green in response with an audible sound akin to that of a low hum. Eli's mandibles splayed open once he had done and his tusks arranged against his face in a way none of the group had seen before.

The Kamad then let out a long whistling tune from his mandibles, his scent glands working in conjunction to regulate the sounds he produced and alter the pitch to points were humans could not.

He sounded like he was playing a flute.

Everyone watched in awe as Eli flawlessly operated the module and produced the correct frequency tune. The door slowly rising in response to his efforts, rising and slowly revealing the interior of the room.

"Please…please be wrong" Eli whispered to himself, praying to his great ancestor in his head.

Nobody had the chance to wonder how exactly Eli knew the Frequency tune nor the touch module input as the insides of the room took their breath away.

The interior of the room was covered in the same rigid, black organic looking material that the door was made of. There in the centre of the chamber was large set of rings, all rotating in unison around what looked like a miniature blue sun, the ceiling dipped and the floor rose up in the centre of the room to meet what could only be the energy core.

The floors may have been oddly bumpy to walk on, but they seemed suitable for bipeds, the entire interior looked like the inside of an intricate skeletal system, sort of like a Xenomorph hive in some ways. Norma, Erik and the Myrmidons had no clue what kind of aliens would design a ship like this, Sha'ra, Yeyinde and some of the younger hunters would have no clue what they were looking at.

Zen'Tau definitely recognised ship interiors like this, he just couldn't put his finger on it in the moment.

"Well…place could use a bit of TLC" Erik shouldered his pulse rifle.

"And there you go Ladies and Gentlemen…the Energy core of the Asclepheus" Norma gestured to the rotating rings and the miniature blue sun.

"That's an advanced solar module…those are way beyond Ooman technology" Cin'Tyr, the female Dark Blade commented.

Harnessing the power of miniature suns was a highly advanced and very dangerous type of technology, used by most alien races to power large ships that required insane amounts of power. Yautja clanships ran on stars that supplied energy to their life millions of life support and artificial climates, Kamads used miniature suns like this one to power their warships' weapons and shield systems.

Whoever the Asclepheus belonged to, they were very advanced.

"Well big man, what's the Verdi…" Erik began but all relaxation and ease left his face when everyone looked at the Kamad Prince.

Eli's eyes were wide open in utter terror, his shaky breaking was audible and his hands were trembling like crazy. The Kamad stared at the miniature sun and its rings in absolute fear as he slowly and shakily stepped forwards.

"…S-S-Sweet Eleran…protect us" Eli sounded like he was on the verge of breaking down into a sobbing wreck.

"Eli…what's wrong?" Norma asked, walking forward cautiously.

"Why did you repair this thing? Why couldn't you just let it die?" Eli almost whispered, his eyes not leaving the core.

"Eli…what is this thing?" Erik asked, fear and tension hanging heavy in the air as he said it.

Eli's voice shook as the words left his mouth "It's…It's a void ship".

OMG CLIFFHANGERS! OMG! Yeah, I know, I'm a huge shit, but this time I promise I'll be devoting full time to getting this story done. Now this isn't the longest chapter but I wager it flowed much better, and yeah after so long waiting I bet you expected more.

Well simply put, you can't rush a good thing, and I wasn't in the mind set to rush anyway.

NOTES:

The official name I have given to the Kamad/Xenomorph is the ReaperMoph, and trust me once you see it in action you'll see why.

Now just to let you guys know, that tune Eli whistled at the door…was the 'Life' theme from the Prometheus soundtrack…yeah…pieces starting to fit together eh?

As for what a 'Void ship' is? All will be explained next time! I've decided the next chapters will be shorter than usual so I can get them out to you guys faster, so I hope you liked this chapter and are hungry for more.

AS ALWAYS, YOUR REVIEWS ARE WHAT KEEP ME GOING AND ARE WHAT KEEP THIS STORY ALIVE! REVIEW AND PLEASE MAKE EM LOOONG AND DETAILED!

NEXT TIME:

The Secrets of the Asclepheus are revealed!

Captains Grey, Azarov and their new friend Na'Yal continue to make their way across the ship.

The Reapermorph grows as does its appetite!

And much more!

THIS IS DAKKAMAN777! SEE YOU GUYS NEXT TIME!