A team of three Yautja warriors descended down to the moon, and made their way towards the tree. Two Na'vi were immediately beheaded with plasma bursts, and the third was stabbed through. The Yautja then decloaked and began working on the transceiver. Once they were done they activated their cloak and disappeared into the forest.
"Begin the connection," the Prince ordered.
The Yautja ship began receiving high volumes of data within a short time. A hologram of moon displayed the signatures of every life form currently plugged into Ewya. Many of the birds and ikran were transmitting with Eywa even in the air.
"The system is similar to how Earth birds use the magnetic field of the planet to migrate. If we can tweak the signal we can have the ikran flocks hit the Vong," the Prince explained.
"What is the risk?" Lex asked.
"Every bird and ikran could go crazy and fling themselves to the ground killing themselves," the Prince said as if it were nothing.
Lex gave him a look. "It is a sacrifice I am willing to make," he added.
"The Na'vi believe that praying to Eywa while connected can bring help," Lex said lamely.
"I prefer to have the goddess serve me," the Prince replied.
"Transmitting signal," the pilot said.
"Track all life forms. I want to see what they will do," the Prince ordered.
As predicted the ikran went off course towards the Vong settlements. Predators and prey alike ran through the forest towards the Vong. "Eywa has heard our prayer," the Prince clasped his hands.
"Congratulations," Nobleman said.
"Land hunters on the ground," the Prince ordered.
Shuttle crafts exited the Yautja ship and descended to the moon's surface. Once they reached the surface they used speeders to move quickly through the forest. The Prince and Nobleman watched the locations of the speeders as they moved towards the target.
"Take us into orbit," the Prince ordered.
The Yautja ship went higher into the sky and into space. The Vong ship orbiting the moon and was in a state of repair. The ship was entirely biological and was healing its hull like any other organism would. The Vong ship immediately launched fighters as the Yautja ship came nearer.
"Launch the weapon," the Prince ordered.
The Yautja ship launched dozens of missiles towards the Vong ship. Some of the fighters intentionally got in the way exploding upon impact. A few missiles managed to hit the hull, but there was no explosive impact.
"Withdraw," the Prince ordered, as the first missiles impacted.
The Yautja ship moved towards the gas giant to hide inside the clouds. The Vong ship pursued, but the two ships were now blind.
"What did those missiles do?" Lex asked.
"It is a biological weapon. The missiles contain samples from an alien life form that copies the appearance of its host. It will infect the entire ship and it will continue to have the same appearance, but it will be transformed into the alien species. The ship will cannibalize itself," the Prince explained.
Inside the Vong ship, the walls of the ship began to morph. Spikes and appendages erupted from the hull, and tentacles went through the ship. The Vong fired on the tentacles, but it was a losing battle for them. The Prince watched from the Yautja ship as the Vong ship slowed down. The Vong's ship's engines failed, and was adrift in the clouds of the gas giant. Their shields shut down allowing intense radiation from the gas giant to contaminate the ship. Even as the ship fell into the gas giant, it formed a massive jaw filled with teeth. The ship screeched, but could not be heard in the silence of space. The Yautja watched as the ship morphed into a monstrous creature, and then burned up in the atmosphere of the gas giant.
"Take us back to the moon," the Prince ordered.
The Yautja ship came back to the moon, and monitored the situation. The animal life on the moon attacked the Vong until all of their warriors were killed. The Na'vi were not aware that the Yautja had manipulated Eywa, and were in religious celebration.
"Recover our equipment. We are done here," the Prince ordered the Nobleman.
The Nobleman nodded in agreement consenting that the hunt was over.
The Prince then turned to Lex. "After your pregnancy you may come back here, and become one of the Na'vi. But if you do you will never live to see humans again. You will be compelled to worship a goddess that you know does not exist. If you choose to remain with us I can show you the wonders of the universe."
"Can you show me love? Can you show me honesty?" she asked him.
As she departed, the Prince stared at the moon from space. For defeating the Vong here he would be considered a hero of his people.
As the ship departed from the moon towards deep space, Lex realized her fate was sealed. The Prince wouldn't likely come back to this moon for a long time, and not with her as a companion. As they went through hyperspace towards their next destination, Lex approached the Prince while he was on his throne.
"How long is a Yautja pregnancy?" she asked.
"The equivalent of one Earth year. It is longer than human gestation, because of brain development and size. The infant will be born one and a half times bigger than a human infant," he said.
Lex contemplated the pain that would be involved with that kind of birth. "How much will it hurt?" she asked referring to birth.
"Have you ever given birth as a human?" he asked.
"No."
"Then I have nothing to compare to. There will be pain and there will be blood," he said. "However, unlike humans the death of the mother or child is very rare during child birth. The more children you give birth to the easy it will be," he said.
"Do females have more than one offspring per birth?" Lex asked.
"Occasionally just like humans. We will know soon whether that is the case," he answered.
"Will they look...human?" she asked.
"We do not know. It is a mystery to us. Through your body we will make a number of important discoveries in hybrid research," he said.
Lex didn't like being thought of as a test subject. "I think it is time that you met my friend's wife. She might give you some encouragement," the Prince said.
The Yautja ship emerged from hyperspace, and journeyed towards a very bright planet. As they got closer, Lex could see that the entire planet was covered in ice. The ship descended into the atmosphere, and was not affected by a blizzard storm. The screens searched the planet using infrared. Finding a heat signatures in the cold environment, the ship landed onto the thick ice.
The ship didn't bother to cloak, apparently there wasn't an alien civilization here. Everyone put on their masks, and headed towards the exit. The Prince, Nobleman, Lex, and some of the guards exited the ship, and stepped onto the ice. Lex noticed the temperature difference, but her skin seemed tough enough to stand it. She recalled how the three Yautja had walked around with minimal clothes on Antarctica.
"Lead the way," the Prince said to the Nobleman.
The group trekked through the snow until they reached a facility. There was a large communications dish, and vehicles that looked like speeders. There were a number of fuel silos as well. A figure emerged from the facility with two others. As the figure came closer, Lex could tell that she was female, and the other two were males. They likewise were wearing masks.
"Introducing the Prince of Yautja Prime," the Nobleman said to the female.
She bowed to the Prince, and extended her arms. The males went to their knees. "It is a pleasure to receive such a visitor," she said.
Lex could tell there was a slight amount of sarcasm in her voice. "This is his mate Lex of Woods," the Nobleman continued.
She chuckled at that. "Lex of Woods, you may call me Kate of Lloyd."
Lex simply stared at Kate's masked face. "Kate was the first female human to be transformed into a Yautja," the Prince told her. He then turned to Kate. "What is the status of my weapon purchase?"
"It's ready for you my Prince," she said disdainfully.
"Have your people load it into my ship," the Prince ordered.
Kate turned to her escort, and motioned for them to leave to fetch the weapon. "My primary mission here was to secure the weapon for transport, but I am also here so you two could be acquainted," the Prince said.
"I haven't encountered someone like myself before, and its been years since I have had a human as company," Kate said amused.
"How did this happen to you?" Lex asked her.
"It's a long story, and I would prefer to tell it inside," she said.
The Prince nodded. The group walked over to the facility, and went inside where the temperatures were normal. The atmosphere was the same as Yautja Prime allowing everyone to see normally. Lex took off her mask, and adapted to the new environment. Kate also took off her mask, and the two studied each other briefly. "I haven't seen another female is a long time," she remarked.
"What do you do here?" Lex asked.
"I'm a weapon developer and a paleontologist on the side. I have been doing this kind of work for decades. I helped to create this base," Kate said.
The group sat down at a metallic table as the servants placed plates of food on the table. Lex studied Kate to see if she ate like a Yautja or a human. From what she could tell, Kate acted no different than the other Yautja at the table. "We used the weapon against an enemy recently. It proved quite effective," the Prince remarked.
"Were you able to contain it?" Kate asked bored.
"Yes, it was incinerated in the atmosphere of a gas giant," the Prince said.
"What exactly is this weapon?" Lex asked.
"It is an alien organism that can be used as a weapon. The cells of the organism sample the cells of another biological entity, it then copies that cell so it can perfectly imitate it, and then when it hunts it reverts back to its original cellular design. It attacks the organism, infects the organism, takes it over completely, and then re-writes the cells of the organism it attacks," Kate explained.
"So, it can look like anyone one of us. It could look like you?" Lex asked.
"Yes, it could," Kate agreed. "We have a number of precautions in place at this facility. These braids are never undone while we are here. The style of the braids and the position of the beads is to always remain the same. If anyone here has different braids than when they arrived here we quarantine them. Also, underneath our skin are metal implants. The creature can't replicate these metal implants, and it requires surgery to implant them. We also do frequent blood tests. Our blood if electrocuted or heated won't do anything but burn. The creature's blood will become alive, and try to get away," she said.
"Every part of this creature even at the cellular level is independent of the other cells. It only becomes intelligent as a whole. It is able to imitate its host perfectly physically and mentally by using the host's memories," she added.
"What happens if someone is infected?" Lex asked.
"There is no cure. It spreads too quickly through the body. The infected person is completely destroyed usually with fire," she said calmly.
"If this weapon were to be released on a planet it would be devastating," Lex said.
"Unlike other animals that seek an equilibrium with their environment this creature does not. It will kill every life form on the planet, and then it will cannibalize themselves. The infected creatures can't even tell the difference between themselves and the uninfected," Kate said.
"What do you call it?" Lex asked.
"There is some technical designation for it, but around here we just call it the THING."