A few weeks later, the Yautja found Mr. Church on the golf course with some golfing buddies from the CIA. He had just given Barney a job to deal with a dictator on some island in the Gulf of Mexico called Vilena. Blue plasma blasts hit two of his associates splattering blood on Church's white shirt. Before he could comprehend what had happened, an invisible blade went through his chest. He was pulled off the ground and then dropped.
Lex watched from the ship, as a hologram projector showed the target killed. She was reminded yet again that Mr. Church had caused numerous coups and assassinations throughout his career. Lex still felt sick and considered her crew members murderers.
The ship then headed south to Vilena where it could monitor the activities on the island. Using heat signatures, there was an unusual amount of heat being generated on the top floor of the palace.
"They're candles," Lex said to them in an attempt to be helpful.
Four Yautja warriors including Lex descended down to the ground while cloaked. One took a position in the forest trees overseeing everything. Another one went into the tunnel system, and another went into the palace itself. Lex kept her distance and kept her eyes on any suspicious movement outside.
Inside the palace, Barney had been captured. He was in all black and was being strangled by a rope by a much larger man. There were a number of other soldiers and an American present. The Yautja immediately attacked slicing into the back of the large bald man's skull. Barney fell to the ground released. The Yautja took his blade out of the man's head and threw a spear that sliced through one of the soldiers.
Immediately the room was filled with gunfire, as the panicked soldiers attempted to kill the invisible assailant. A plasma burst caused one of the soldiers to explode. "What the fuck is this?" the American asked rhetorically.
The Yautja kicked the American aside and began firing on the soldiers. Lee, Toll, and Yin from Barney's team also intervened slashing and shooting some of the soldiers. The Yautja then concentrated on the American. With his blade, he slashed his throat open.
Lee and Toll took an injured Barney out of the tunnel system while Yin stayed behind. The Yautja considered Yin who was only armed with his fists. He decloaked revealing himself and then advanced on Yin.
The much smaller man did some kick and punch combos on the alien, but was quickly punched to the ground. Getting back up in the instant, Yin kicked the Yautja in the leg. When that didn't work, he tried to punch the Yautja in the gut. Despite his moves, none were having any effect on the Yautja. The Yautja then grabbed Yin by the throat and pinned him against the wall.
"Take this," Yin said defiantly. He unpinned a grenade causing an explosion that killed Yin and severely injured the Yautja. The Yautja fell to the ground stunned with green blood everywhere.
The other Yautja became aware that one of their teammates was down. Caesar went down into the tunnel to check up on Yin. Seeing the dead bodies, and a disabled Yautja on the ground, he armed his automatic shotgun. The Yautja struggled to get back on his feet and then decloaked.
"Ugly…," Caesar remarked, and then began firing wildly into the tunnel. The Yautja was hit several times blasting holes through him. Caesar wanted to take another look, but he had a mission to do.
The Yautja in the trees motioned for Lex to deal with the situation in the tunnel. She complied hoping it would be better than seeing what the Yautja was going to do outside. Working her way around the soldiers, Lex felt uneasy like she would be detected at any time. She went towards the entrance of the tunnel moving past Barney and his team without being detected. Inside the tunnel, she could see explosives lining the walls. Alarmed, she decided to move out of the tunnel system towards the palace.
Meanwhile, the dictator was making a speech to his troops. The Yautja in the trees was listening with interest. When the dictator was done, a blue plasma burst went through his back blasting a hole through his chest. The dictator fell off the balcony to the ground below. The Yautja then quickly slaughtered the soldiers inside the palace, but the American ex-CIA agent had escaped with the dictator's daughter.
Immediately the dictator's army began firing on the palace towards the entrance of the tunnel system where Barney's team was located. The Yautja in the trees targeted the human soldiers and began firing rapid shots at the army. The surprised troops were being hit from behind. Blue plasma bursts sliced off limbs, heads, and blasted through chests. Another burst caused explosions in the nearby vehicles.
Lex met up with the Yautja in the palace. "There are explosives everywhere," she told him.
The Yautja activated a hologram showing a 3D image of the palace. "Move here," he pointed on the model.
The palace suddenly exploded from the inside. The palace roared fire in every opening and then started to crumble. The Yautja in the trees stopped firing, as he assessed the situation. Lex with the other Yautja raced out of the palace, as it was crumbling apart. The fire roared through the tunnels burning the dead Yautja to nothing.
The Yautja in the trees stopped firing, as the troops were retreating. Barney's team advanced in the opening throwing grenades and shooting some of the troops that stayed behind. The Yautja targeted the towers overlooking the perimeter. Plasma bursts caused each one of them to explode.
Lex and the other Yautja went through the carnage. The Yautja seemed interested in the fight, but Lex was trying to find the captured woman. She found her with the ex-CIA agent moving towards a helicopter. Using her targeting computer in her mask, she targeted the helicopter. A plasma burst hit the helicopter causing it to explode.
Lex followed the ex-CIA agent and the woman to a nearby bridge. Barney was also racing towards her. The ex-CIA agent had a pistol to the woman's head. Barney lowered his weapon and was promptly shot. Lex fired sending a plasma beam that sliced through his shoulder, and neck. The stunned ex-CIA agent fell to the ground dead.
The woman ran over to Barney with Lee running onto the bridge. Lex watched as the team began to gather together. Leaping from the tree she was hiding, she dropped down next to Lee. "Run away," she said to him.
"Who said that?" Lee asked suspiciously.
"You done talking with your friend," Barney asked sarcastically.
"Someone said something," Lee looked around.
Barney gave him a dismissive look. A plasma shot suddenly went through the air towards Lee. Lex threw Lee off the bridge before he could be hit. The bridge was hit and caught fire. Lee fell to the ground stunned.
"What the fuck?" Barney wondered.
Lex aimed and fired near Lee's location blasting the ground. Lee ran quickly to get cover. "Get out of here!" he shouted to Barney.
The other Yautja paused, as Lex continued to fire on them. He wouldn't engage while I was hunting. Lex purposefully missed Lee and Barney, as they retreated away. When they were out of view, the Yautja decloaked next to her.
"Poor aim," he said disappointedly and then walked calmly across the bridge.
The team gathered in the ruins of the palace. "We have problems. There is something out there," Lee told the group.
"What are you talking about?" Caesar asked.
"I don't know. I felt an invisible hand throw me off a bridge and blue streaks of light," Lee detailed.
"I saw the same blue streaks. They came from the trees," Toll agreed.
"Let's get to the plane," Barney ordered.
"I can't leave. This is my country," the woman named Sandra objected.
"You're not safe here. Wait for things to cool down," Barney told her.
The team made their way through the city towards their plane. The Yautja followed them, as they moved through the streets. Once they got to the dock where their plane was located, blue streaks of light hit the plane. It exploded sending pieces everywhere.
"We're being followed," Barney concluded.
"What the fuck was that?" Caesar expressed alarm.
"Let's get cover," Barney told the group.
The Yautja followed the team with infra-red, as they attempted to hide. "So, what are we dealing with?" Lee asked.
"We can't see them, and they're using some kind of energy weapon. There may be more than one of them," Barney judged.
"But why?" Caesar asked.
"There is a legend we know of. The forest comes alive and takes victims. I heard my father talk about it years ago," Sandra said helpfully.
"So, how do we kill a forest?" Lee asked rhetorically.
"What is our ammo count?" Barney asked.
The four checked their ammunition. "We need to get out of the city, and get it to follow us," Barney said.
"Don't we have a tactical advantage in the city?" Lee objected.
"We're endangering the lives of everyone in the city. It's after us," Barney said.
Lee sighed but did not further object. "Get us another plane," Barney ordered Sandra.
The team made its way around the city avoiding the remaining troops that had survived the attack on the palace. The Yautja would occasionally pick off a troop here and there, as they followed the team.
The team and the Yautja entered the forest. Using their masks, the Yautja could see the humans as they moved clumsily through the forest. The leading Yautja motioned for Lex and the other Yautja to stop.
"We camp here," he said.
"Not sporting to kill them in the dark?" Lex asked bitterly.
"Yes," he replied.
The leading Yautja activated his hologram on his wrist pinpointing his location on the island. He could see the topography of the map; they were going up in elevation up the side of the mountain. He then deactivated the hologram, so he wouldn't be spotted.
"Sleep," he ordered the other two, and then went up to a high tree branch to sleep.
Early the next morning, the leading Yautja woke Lex up. "We hunt now," he told her.
Even with her new body, Lex felt the familiar sensation of being sleep deprived. She got to her feet and walked with the other two into the forest. "Only use equivalent level of force," the leading Yautja reminded them.
The other Yautja clicked as if chuckling at Lex. "Do your kind mourn? Your comrade died last night," Lex asked.
The leading Yautja turned to her, but she could not see his expression with the mask over his face. "In the next life, we become immortal. In the next life, we hunt the greatest game in the universe for all eternity. He is in a better place," the Yautja told her.
Lex realized the Yautja religion wasn't too different from that of humans. She wondered if all Yautja believed the same way. "Does your kind love?" she continued.
The two Yautja looked at each other, and then back at Lex as if suspicious of her. The leading Yautja showed a red hologram of a female Yautja and two smaller Yautja. Lex immediately identified the family unit. The other Yautja touched the leader's shoulder as if congratulating him.
"We mate for life," he said, and then pounded his chest.
Lex sensed the stinging rebuke against human culture but then realized that Yautja probably didn't live too long. The three cloaked and continued their pursuit of the humans.
The four-team members held their weapons in different directions, so they could have overlapping fire. "I wish Royce were here," Toll mused.
"He was never really reliable," Lee criticized.
"He's an independent kind of guy," Barney agreed.
"I never trusted him," Lee said.
"We could use an extra hand though," Caesar said, as he looked into the trees.
The three Yautja got closer to the humans, but suddenly the leader motioned for them to stop. Using different kinds of visions, he identified some tripwires. He motioned for the three to go up the trees. Lex used her clawed hands to climb up the tree and looked down towards the ground. With her vision, she could see four heat signatures.
"Kill the one with the strongest weapon," the leader told Lex.
She hesitated to comply and then targeted Caesar. With her mind, she moved the red triangle off to the side. The blue burst went through the air exploding a tree trunk next to Caesar's shoulder. The other two Yautja clicked irritably at her miss. Caesar regained his senses and began firing in random directions. Barney, Lee, and Toll all fired as well. Lex could see hot objects in the air fly towards her.
The two Yautja retreated from the gunfire, as the bullets blasted up the trees where they were. Caesar used his exploding shotgun shells into the forest creating a small forest fire. The fire separated the two parties. With the flames in their way, the Yautja couldn't see temperature differences.
The two Yautja fired continuous plasma bursts into the fire. The team retreated as trees burst apart, as the blasts hit them. Caesar was the last leave, as the team retreated. The leader fired on him blasting Caesar's weapon apart.
The two Yautja then turned to Lex. The leader grabbed Lex by the throat and pinned her against a tree. The leader was a good six inches taller than her and considerably stronger. The other Yautja simply stood by. "You will take a trophy," he ordered her.
He then let her go collapsing her to the ground. He motioned for the three to walk around the fire towards the team.
Meanwhile, the team stopped to rest a mile away from the firefight. Caesar was still tensed up from his hand wound. Toll was working on bandaging Caesar's right hand. "How bad is it?" Barney asked.
"I'll be fine," Caesar assured him.
"Take this," Barney said giving him a pistol.
"What do we know about the enemy?" Lee considered.
"They're kicking our ass," Caesar said irritably.
"Besides that," Lee said.
"They have invisibility. They have energy type weapons, and they managed to not trip our wires. We're dealing with an intelligent enemy," Barney observed.
"What are they? US Black Ops?" Toll wondered.
"No, there were only three of them judging by the shots," Barney said.
"They're hunting us," Lee suggested.
"I have an idea," Barney said looking at Caesar.
The Yautja paused once they heard "Help!" ring out through the forest. Using heat signatures, they were able to determine the location. The leader motioned for his colleague to investigate.
The Yautja walked slowly towards Caesar avoiding any potential traps. The Yautja looked around but saw no one except Caesar. "Help!" Caesar yelled while sitting next to a tree trunk.
The Yautja took a spear and aimed it at Caesar's chest. Caesar peered into the forest and saw a disturbance in the air. He raised his pistol at it, but it was too late. The Yautja threw his spear into his heart killing him instantly. Lee, Barney, and Toll immediately fired on the Yautja's location from three overlapping directions. The Yautja screeched, as he was hit several times.
The leader fired on the three remaining humans scattering them. The injured Yautja was on the ground leaking green blood. The leader dropped down to assist. "Keep watch," he ordered Lex.
The leader then took out a medical compartment and gave the Yautja a shot in his wounds. The Yautja roared in pain, as the injection stopped the bleeding. The Leader then confronted Lex, as she stared at Caesar's dead body.
"These humans kill other humans. Since yesterday they killed many humans. If they are killed, more humans will live," the Leader said to her.
"That's not justice to me," Lex objected.
"It is not justice. It is preserving the species," the Leader explained.
"The human race is not in danger of becoming extinct," Lex argued.
"If you will not hunt, you will be a given a different profession," the Leader reminded her.
"I understand," Lex told him.
"Stay behind with him. I will be back at nightfall," he said, and then disappeared into the forest.
Lex looked after the injured Yautja. Despite being shot several times, he seemed to be holding out. The Yautja body was healing quickly from the gunshot wounds. "Bring me the body," the Yautja ordered her.
Lex reluctantly complied taking the spear out of the trunk of the tree and bringing the dead body over to him. "Learn," he said to her.
Lex became horrified, as the Yautja took out some cutting tools. He sliced up to down across the face from the forehead to the chin. He then delicately peeled the skin and muscle off the bone on either side. Once he was done pulling the skin away from the face, he took out pincers. He placed the pincers around the eyes and plucked them out.
"Watch," the Yautja ordered her.
He then cut around the scalp, and to up the back of the head. He finally rid the skull of skin, but it was soaked in blood. Lex could only see what was happening in infrarad. Otherwise, she would have been sickened. Taking a hose, he placed it over the skull and poured gas over it. When he had finished, the skull was perfectly clean.
Lex could now see the skull in very dark coloring because it was now dead. "What is next?" Lex asked nervously.
The Yautja pointed to the skull and then pointed to the body.
Lex would have thrown up and shaken violently in revulsion if she had human eyes. But as it was, she was scanning what was occurring with infra-red. The Yautja relied mainly on feel and imagery software in his mask to make perfect cuts. After an hour of carefully working on the body, the skin was entirely removed from the corpse.
"Hang the body up high," he ordered her.
Lex was about to refuse, but the injured Yautja was in no shape to climb up trees. She reluctantly took the bloody body and climbed up the tree. She then hung the body upside down from a tree branch, and then came back then. The Yautja nodded approvingly but was not overly amused as Lex flicked the blood off her skin in revulsion.
The Yautja then placed the upper half of the human skull on his belt. "You will have a collection too, one day," he said.
"I would rather not," Lex replied.
He chuckled amused. "We learned it from you."
"At least we outgrew our savagery. What's your excuse?" Lex retorted.
He chuckled some more and rested next to the tree trunk. Lex kept watching while the Leader continued his hunt.
The Leader walked casually on the forest floor in cloak. He looked around for any clues, as to where the humans had gone. Suddenly, he was hit to the shoulder, and thrown down to the ground. The Leader immediately decloaked and threw the human off him. Toll got on top of the Yautja and began punching him in the mask. The Yautja head-butted him off stunning Toll briefly.
Barney and Lee entered the scene with weapons ready. "Wait, it's mine," Toll said to them.
The Leader got back to his feet and gave a challenging roar. Toll took out a long knife, and the Yautja likewise extended his blades. "Why don't you shoot it?" Lee shouted at him.
"No, he's a hunter. If I don't go for my gun, he won't either," Toll said confidently.
The Yautja seemed to confirm Toll's analysis and declined to use his plasma cannon. Toll rushed the Yautja, and the two clashed with their blades. "This is bullshit," Lee said to Barney.
Barney merely shrugged and kept his weapon ready. As the fight continued, Toll was getting tired. The powerful Yautja threw him against a tree stunning him. "I'm going in. I have a clear shot," Lee said.
Lee fired on the Yautja, and immediately the Leader cloaked himself. Lee and Barney kept it up spraying the area with bullets. The Leader was hit a few times and decloaked. Lee and Barney advanced on the creature with more automatic weapon fire. The Leader fell to the ground and stopped moving.
Out of ammunition, Lee took out a pistol and aimed for the Yautja's head. "Think it might be bulletproof?" Barney asked.
"One way to find out," Lee replied
A beam of light suddenly hit near Lee's foot spraying dirt into the air. Lee fell to the ground from the impact. Another beam hit near Barney forcing him to take cover. A number of beams sliced through the air without any real aim. Toll got back on his feet and moved suddenly toward Lee to push him down to the ground. The beam hit Toll to the chest blasting open his chest. His heart and lungs exploded, Toll fell to the ground instantly dead.
Lee and Barney quickly retreated into the forest. Lex decloaked, and dropped down to where the fight had occurred. She stared at Toll's dead body and realized with some horror that she had accidentally killed a human being again. The Leader struggled to get back to his feet while still bleeding from his injuries. Lex attempted to assist him, but he growled at her.
"Fine. Let's see how far you can walk with bullets in your leg," Lex said frustrated.
The Yautja attempted to move a few steps before falling to his knees. Lex again assisted him up, and this time he accepted. Lex cloaked them both and dragged the Leader to where the other Yautja was. Throwing them both down next to each other, Lex wondered what to do.
"They cannot escape," the Leader told Lex.
"If you had just shot them instead of wrestling with one of them, then they wouldn't have," Lex argued.
"It is permissible for me to kill them, but not you?" the Leader asked rhetorically.
"You're a monster. I was born a human being!" she shouted at him.
The Leader stayed silent for a moment. "If they are not killed, we will all die by other Yautjas."
"Maybe we all should," Lex replied angrily.
"The killing will continue with or without us in the hunt. But if you live, you can influence others to your thinking," the Leader said.
Lex considered the Leader's argument and could see the bigger picture. "Fine. I'll do it, but with my own methods."
Lex stalked off into the forest and then cloaked herself. The two Yautja chuckled to themselves at the Leader's persuasion.
Using her inhuman speed, Lex quickly gained lost ground. She found them together, as they went up towards the mountain. Lex targeted and fired on one of the humans. Lee's left arm suddenly got blasted off. He cried out in pain but kept his concentration. Still cloaked, Lex fired again nearly hitting Barney.
"Fight me!" Lee shouted raising his remaining fist.
Lex ignored the disabled Lee, and began firing on Barney, so as to keep the two away from each other. Lee took out a grenade and threw it towards Lex. She fired on the grenade in midair causing it to explode. Lee was hit with several pieces of shrapnel. Barney threw grenades as well, but Lex shot them out of the air.
Lex then fired on Lee blasting his right leg off. He fell to the ground crying out in pain. Lex then ignored Lee and went after Barney. She figured she didn't actually kill Lee if he bled out later. She had wounded him, but surely she didn't actually kill him. That was her reasoning, as she walked past Lee.
Barney went up higher in elevation hoping to use it to his advantage. Lex's mask gave her all the carbon dioxide she needed, as she went higher. Barney's veins surfaced all over his body, as his sixty-year-old frame labored the climb. He took cover among some rocks and fired on Lex. The bullets whizzed by her, but one sliced through a pipe connecting her mask.
Lex quickly realized her problem. She was running out of air and couldn't breathe. She quickly took the mask off hurting her vision, but at least she could breathe. She fell to the ground, as her lungs desperately tried to get the carbon dioxide she needed. The air was too thin, and her enormous body couldn't handle it. She was going to pass out if she didn't air.
Taking his spent rifle, Barney hit Lex to the head hard. She fell to the ground stunned and felt the worst headache of her life. Barney flung the rifle down on her, but she extended her blades and sliced it in half. Lex then kicked Barney away while slowly getting back to her feet.
"So, that's what you look like huh?" Barney asked rhetorically.
Lex kept her distance from him, as she tried to regain her breath. "You're smaller than the others. You're female," Barney judged.
"Nothing personal. You have to die," Lex told him.
"And why's that?" Barney asked irked. "Why did all of my men have to die?"
"You're the best humanity has to offer. By killing you, human lives will be saved," Lex said.
"No, because of us people live free. If not for us, dictators would kill, maim, torture, and imprison their own people," Barney argued.
Lex's brain was having difficulty processing. She wanted to agree with Barney but for some reason, he had to die. "Tell you what. Let me live, and I won't tell anyone. I'll give you whatever you want," Barney offered.
Lex considered the proposal. It seemed like a reasonable idea. She really didn't want to kill him anyway. Her carbon dioxide starved brain was losing resolve. Suddenly the Leader decloaked next to Lex and advanced on Barney.
Barney raised his fists against the Leader and smacked him hard to his mask. The Yautja punched Barney to the face nearly knocking him out. Lex watched in amazement, as the two fought it out. The Leader had the advantage with his mask, but he was also still hurt. Barney punched at the Leader's wounds making the fight nearly equal. After a few moments, Barney was tired and torn up from the Leader's blades.
With Barney subdued, the Leader withdrew giving Lex the kill. "My mask," Lex said to him in an attempt to excuse herself.
The Leader came over to her mask and worked on its machinery so the other pipes would compensate for the cut pipe. He then gave her the mask. Lex put the mask over her face, and started breathing normally again; her sight also improved dramatically. The Leader then pointed to Barney.
Lex targeted Barney and charged the plasma cannon. After a short pause, she fired at close range causing Barney's body to explode completely. The Leader gave her a look, and then back at the body. No skull could be collected from the mess. "We go back," he ordered her.
As they strolled back, Lex saw Lee's hung up body completely skinned. "He was not dead when I found him," the Leader told her.
Lex felt despair, guilt, but some relief that she didn't actually kill him. The Leader and Lex went back to their fallen comrade and initiated a pick-up. There was a bright light, and then they were back onboard the ship.
With their injuries not life-threatening, they stood at attention before the Elder. The Elder was not pleased one of them had died in the tunnel system inside the palace. "It is shameful that an inexperienced female lived, and a male warrior was killed," he said.
"His death was honorable. He killed many humans," the Leader said defensively.
"But no trophies to take back," the Elder reminded him. "What do you bring?"
The younger Yautja displayed the skull of Caesar. The Leader and Lex had nothing to show. "Why is this?" the Eldest asked of them.
"Elder, the female has violated our laws. She used disproportionate force on an unarmed human accidentally killing him. She then wounded a human, and left him to die; I finished the kill, but I would not collect his skill due to the dishonor. The female then completely annihilated the last human, so no trophy could be collected," the Leader reported.
"Do you deny any of this?" the Elder asked Lex.
"No. I guess not," Lex replied.
The Leader curled his mandibles at her in disgust. "She should be made to be a breeder."
The younger Yautja chuckled at that. "No, she shall learn our ways. You three were born Yautja and were trained since birth to kill. And yet, one of you is dead, and you bring back only one trophy," the Elder rebuked.
"Our performance was hindered by the female," the Leader argued.
"There will be more opportunities. Your request has been granted for the preserve," the Eldest replied.
"Preserve?" Lex asked confused.
"There is a moon in another system that was made to replicate your jungles. It is ideal for the hunt of men," the Eldest explained.
"Why just men?" Lex asked.
"We hunt other game as well. But man is the most clever of all game. It was one of the reasons why you were accepted," the Eldest said.
"Being a breeder can't be too bad. I'm sure it has its benefits," Lex began to babble.
"No, you will learn," the Elder insisted. "We have collected all of the humans for this cycle, except one. You will go to Earth, and find the last subject," the Eldest ordered her.
A computer screen showed the profiles of those who were to be hunted. Lex immediately recognized the first one; it was Royce. The others were a female sniper from Israel, a Muslim freedom fighter in Sierra Leon, a Mexican cartel enforcer, the FBI's most wanted, a soldier from Chechnya, and a member of the Yakuza Japanese mafia. They were the worst of the worst of human society.
Lex considered the humans and felt pity for some of them. "Find a human that compliments this group," the Eldest ordered.
The sound of the tattoo pen on the man's back made it difficult for Tool to hear the intruder come in. After Tool was done, and his client gone the intruder advanced on him. Tool laid back in his chair and waited for the intruder to decloak. The Yautja appeared before him with blades ready.
"Of all the people, I didn't think it would be you," Tool mused.
The Yautja considered his surroundings and hesitated to make a move. Tool stayed in his chair and took out a cigar. "Mind if I smoke?" he asked.
The Yautja didn't answer but advanced closer to him. "Just do what you've come to do," Tool told the Yautja as he smoked a few puffs. There was a flash of light, and that was it.