Lex woke up with a start as alarms sounded through the ship. Getting to her feet she entered the bridge and found out what was happening. The ship was descending into the atmosphere of another planet. Lex stared wide-eyed as she saw another alien planet for the first time.
She looked at the controls but didn't understand them; she assumed it was on auto-pilot the whole time. The ship proceeded to land in what could be described as a desert environment. The ship perched on a landing pad and then its engines shut off automatically. The doors of the ship opened allowing Lex to leave. Lex was uncertain as to what to do. She had never been to another planet before. What if the air was toxic?
Looking at the window a group of Yautja gathered around the ship. None of them wore masks. Lex decided to risk it and went outside to meet the group. As she exited the ship; she did, in fact, find the air breathable. Immediately, she was given a barrage of clicks from the Yautja as she exited the ship. She could sense confusion and anxiety in their tone but couldn't make out any real sentences.
A half dozen warriors approached her with wrist blades extended and spears ready. They surrounded her and then clicked at her. Lex shrugged her shoulders in a very human expression as they clicked at her. The Yautja warriors looked at each other and then decided to detain her. Two went inside the ship and found Wolf's body.
Lex watched as the two Yautja warriors brought Wolf's body to plain view. The crowd clicked furiously as they saw the body but allowed the warriors to take the body into the city nearby. The crowd respectfully created a path for the two warriors to carry the body away.
The remaining warriors then glared at Lex and clicked at her. "I didn't do it," Lex said lamely in English.
The Yautja warriors brought Lex into the city and then detained her in a cell. The bars were strong enough to keep her locked up. Lex considered her miserable existence as she sat in the cell. Was she blamed for Wolf's death? What would happen to her now? The prison guards rarely clicked at her and when they did she could barely understand them.
After several hours, the jail cell became unlocked. Lex was taken to another room and sat down in a chair. An elder Yautja seemed to prepare a weapon of sort and came near to her. Lex immediately began to struggle, but the other warriors kept her down. The elder took the weapon of sort and then punctured her skull. Lex felt an intense pain in her forehead, but she realized she wasn't dying.
The elder then started clicking at her and she immediately began understanding what he was saying. "Do you understand me now?" he asked.
"Yes," Lex clicked.
"A universal translator has been installed inside your brain. It will allow you to understand us until you can learn on your own," the elder told her.
Lex nodded in response. The elder stared at her; he was not familiar with human expressions. "I am sending you to a doctor for examination," he said and then dismissed her.
Lex was brought to a hospital of sorts by several armed guards. Inside the facility, injured Yautja warriors were carried through the halls on metal platforms. As she went through the halls, she saw some Yautja that looked severely injured, some had lost limbs, and others looked a different color than they should be. There were several elder looking Yautja that seemed to be the physicians. On occasion, she would see one of the elders inject a substance into an injured Yautja.
Lex was summoned into a room; a lone guard kept watch over her while the others stood outside. The doctor was an elder but one wouldn't notice by his dress. Like the others, he was well equipped with various instruments.
"I require blood from you to determine your genetic history," the doctor said taking a sample.
Lex winced as green blood was taken from her arm. The doctor then turned away from Lex and entered the sample into a computer. The computer showed different red combinations that made up the Yautja language. Despite the universal translator, she couldn't determine it. The doctor waited as the computer showed her genetic structure.
The doctor seemed to peer at the screen for a long time and then furiously worked on the computer. Lex noticed that the same result was resurfacing on the computer screen. The doctor turned to Lex and then at the screen. Finally, he walked up to Lex and looked her over.
"Strip," was all he said.
Lex simply stared at him. "Do you understand me? Take off your garments," he ordered.
Lex looked at the guard in the room; he didn't make a sound. Lex relented; she was half-naked anyway as it was. She unhooked her metallic bra that protected her breasts from attack. Putting it aside she then stripped the rest of her garments and threw them aside. The doctor inspected her body and then cupped her breasts as if determining their firmness. Lex would have been embarrassed if not for the strangeness of the situation. The doctor then touched her mandibles on both sides of her face.
"Open your mouth," he ordered.
Lex complied opening her mouth to its fullest extent. Her mandibles became extended outward as she did this. The doctor looked into her and examined her teeth and jaw structure. Satisfied he turned back to the computer screen. Lex looked around the room uncomfortably. In a sense, she was in an alien skin, like a Halloween costume. On the other hand, she was completely naked in front of this guard. If the guard had any enjoyment from her torment he didn't show it.
The doctor then inputted information on the computer through a touch screen. His fingers were quick as he formed symbols on the screen and sent it to another facility. When he was finished he turned back to Lex.
"You are to be sent to the tribunal," the doctor informed her.
"What for?" Lex demanded in guttural English.
"Your transformation was not authorized by the High Council. As a human, you are the prey and have no rights to life," the doctor told her.
"The tribunal will decide your fate," the doctor concluded.
"Can I least have some clothes?" Lex asked annoyed.
The doctor nodded and reach for a compartment next to his equipment. It was a white two-piece garment. One garment wrapped around the hips like a belt and acted like a cape or skirt down the legs. The other crisscrossed over her shoulders and covered her breasts. The doctor then locked a collar around her neck that resembled a necklace.
"For monitoring purposes," he told her.
Lex was led by the guards to a transport vehicle outside the hospital and forced inside it. The transport vehicle hovered above the ground and its front resembled an animal skull. The top of the transport looked like a spine that curved the vehicle upward. Once she was inside, she could not help but think that the transport was a living organism.
The transport sped across the desert environment toward another building. It was a large pyramid among smaller pyramids around it. The pyramid was made of a black jade material and reached heights surpassing the largest pyramids on Earth. The guards led Lex toward the pyramid and then proceeded to lead her into a large circular room.
The room held seats on all sides with a large podium towards the end of the room. There was a circular floor cleared of seats. As Lex looked over the room she found that it resembled a court-room of a sort. The guards sat her down and then went back towards the doors to guard the entrances.
Soon, more Yautja entered the room. They were all unmasked but heavily armed with plasma cannons, wrist blades, and other various weapons on their belts. Most looked like elders but some were warriors; none were female. A large elder Yautja took to the podium and stared down at Lex; he was the acting judge. Within a few moments, the room was filled with Yautja males looking down on her.
Suddenly, a hand grasped her shoulder. Lex jumped and spun around. An elder Yautja appeared before her and stared down at her. Lex looked up at the elder fearfully wondering what he would do.
"I am to represent you during these proceedings," he told her.
Lex felt relieved, at least she was going to receive some help. As she looked towards the other side of the room, she saw another Yautja who was apparently her prosecutor.
"Begin the memory extraction," the Judge ordered.
Lex was pulled away from her seat and placed in a seat next to the Judge's podium. A helmet, of a sort, was placed on her head covering her eyes. There was a hum as the helmet became activated. Lex suddenly saw images of everything she had seen in the last few days. Once the machine was done reading all of her recent memories, it deactivated. The helmet was taken off her head and then she was led back to her seat.
In the center of the floor, a red holographic projection appeared life-size. The Yautja Judge and the audience began to view Lex's memories of what had occurred. There were some random clicking around the room as events took place in the projection. The projection showed only previews of her memories, as it would take days to review all of her memories. The tribunal was only interested in the relevant information.
When the projection finished, the lights went back on. "Are you satisfied with the review?" the Judge asked both the defense and prosecution. They both nodded their approval.
The Judge then turned to Lex. "Human: you were transported by a Yautja ship on the southernmost continent on the planet you call Earth after a successful hunt of the Xenomorphs. This should have not occurred. I do not agree that they should have killed you as you proved your abilities by killing one Xenomorph and assisting in the killing of the Xenomorph Queen. However, you should have been left behind on Earth to survive on your own," the Judge said.
"I would have frozen to death!" Lex protested.
The Judge gave Lex an annoyed look for interrupting him; other warriors and elders also clicked in disapproval. "A true warrior would have found a way to survive but, in any case, it was not a decision that should have been made. Despite this, we do not hold it against you," the judge told her.
"The transformation of one species to a Yautja is extremely rare and not taken lightly. Only three known species are able to survive the procedure but humans are the most tolerant of the genetic changes. We assume you gave a powerful impression to the captain or he would not have given you the procedure," the Judge continued.
"But the decision to genetically change a prey to a predator is to be made by this Council and not by a single captain," the Judge said sternly.
There were clicks of approval by all involved in the room. "Now that she is genetically a Yautja she must receive the same rights as any citizen of the empire," the Elder for the Defense spoke up.
"For having a Yautja genetic structure the accused is granted a category 1 rank," the Judge allowed.
The Elder for the Defense seemed satisfied with this ruling. "The charges we seek…," the Prosecutor spoke up.
"Yes, the charges are as followed: The accused faces the charge of exposing herself to human prey, improperly disposing of Xenomorph bodies, assaulting a fellow Yautja warrior which led to his death, and allowing the human prey to confiscate our weapon technology," the Judge listed off.
"How does the accused plead?" the Judge asked.
"Innocent!" Lex pressed to the Elder to the Defense.
"Innocent by reason of ignorance," the Elder for the Defense answered.
"What is your argument?" the Judge asked the Elder for the Defense.
"The accused cannot be expected to know the traditions, laws, and customs of our society. She was never taught this by the captain on board nor could she appreciate the consequences of her actions," the Elder for the Defense reasoned.
"She was taught our laws concerning the risk of exposing ourselves to prey and disposing of dead bodies by the captain before he died," the Prosecutor pointed out.
"It is true, however, the instruction was not nearly complete. The accused made a good faith effort to stay concealed and dispose of as many bodies as she could with a limited supply of acidic chemicals. The only thing she is guilty of is being stupid and ignorant," the Elder for the Defense replied.
The Judge considered the arguments and then the evidence he had just seen. "I agree. The charges against the accused concerning the exposing of evidence have been dismissed. The fault for these infractions lies with the captain who is deceased," the Judge said.
"There are other charges. She attacked the warrior Wolf in order to save a pack of humans," the Prosecutor argued.
"She still had a strong connection to her former kind. It was completely understandable to defend them against Wolf. In the end, she killed the Hybrid and brought back Wolf's body to us," the Defense pointed out.
"If not for her interference Wolf would still be alive," the Prosecutor pressed.
"Without her assistance, it is doubtful he would have been able to survive against the Hybrid," the Defense shot back.
"Enough. The initial attack on Wolf is canceled out by her later assistance against the Hybrid. Her attachment to humans is also understandable and an unavoidable consequence of not properly training the accused. The charge is dismissed," the Judge ruled.
There was a murmuring among the crowd as the Judge ruled. "Lastly, she allowed our technology to be confiscated by the humans. This is expressively forbidden in the codes," the Prosecutor said angrily.
"Codes of which the accused knows nothing about. I request that the Court consider reparations instead of punishment," the Defense asked.
"What kinds of reparations?" the Judge asked.
"I request that she be sent back to Earth to find the weapon and bring it back to us," the Defense suggested.
"If she is allowed to come back to Earth, she will allow the humans to confiscate more of our technology," the Prosecutor objected.
"Then she should be supervised. Among all the Yautja in this room, she knows the most about Earth and how to best secure the weapon," the Defense offered.
"She will have to take the warrior's test," the Prosecutor stalled.
"She has already achieved that with the kill of the Xenomorph," the Defense said.
"The kill, although honorable, does not qualify her as a warrior," the Prosecutor reminded the Defense.
"Agreed, she must complete the trials," the Judge allowed.
The Judge then turned to Lex. "I am giving you a few choices that will define your future from now on. Since your genetic change is permanent and irreversible you will become one of us. As such, you must prove yourself in one of two ways: You may face several trials that will put your skills to test and then you will lead a squad to reacquire the weapon you lost. Or you may be transported to the homeworld where you will be established as a breeder," the Judge told her.
"What does he mean by a breeder?" Lex whispered to the Defense.
"You will mate and produce offspring the rest of your life," the Defense told her.
Lex gave him a stunned look. "I am going to go with the first option," Lex said in poor Yautja.
The Judge gave her a look of impatience with her. "In addition, you will learn our language and customs," the Judge said irritably.
"I request that the acquitted be subjected to the trials immediately," the Prosecutor said zealously.
The Judge gave the Prosecution a look of irritation and then activated a hologram of a planet. The hologram was considerably detailed in features and was red in color. There were oceans and what seemed like forests covering the planet.
"Your trial shall be in the Scorpion system," the Judge announced.
There was a positive commotion from the announcement among the crowd present. Lex looked up at the Elder in confusion. "The Scorpion system is known for lethal wild game," the Elder said vaguely.
"You will hunt with a group of youths and when you have completed the kill, you will hunt on your own. If you survive and manage to complete a kill, you will have passed the trials," the Judge told her.
"You will be granted every resource given to any other warrior," the Judge added.