Kate detached a compartment from her damaged suit and placed it on the cold ground. It immediately turned into a metal dish with a fire coming from the center. Kate took a knife and sliced her hand leaking blood into the bowl. The bright green blood quickly burned up. The Nobleman was next slicing his hand with no result. The Prince then took the knife.
"What if...?"
Lex and the Thing circled each other both armed with blades. "Tell me more about these Engineers," Lex stalled.
"I only know what Kate knows," the Thing said.
"Do you ever think about the pain and suffering you cause to other beings?" Lex asked.
"There is no alternative. I was designed to feed."
"You can destroy yourself and the rest of your species. Then you would never be a threat to anyone."
"I cannot self terminate. All life must work to preserve itself."
"No, you have a choice. You can end your hunger now," Lex pressed.
The Thing gave Lex an odd look. "You are pregnant and yet I know from Kate's memories that you do not want it. You have a moral preference not to kill it. Perhaps you are afraid of the Prince."
Lex said nothing as they continued to circle. "I can relieve you of it. You can go back to your Prince and tell him you lost it at my hands."
"No...I can't," Lex objected.
"That child of yours will grow up and kill humans as prey. Your child will be a murderer or a breeder of murderers."
"Maybe not. Things change," Lex challenged.
"You could end their race with yourself. You could allow yourself to be infected and then you could infect their entire race at Yautja Prime. You could end this race of hunters and killers. I could hide myself in your fetus so it wouldn't show up on the blood test. You would not even notice the change as it is happening. We can help each other," the Thing said.
Lex found the offer tempting but also vile at the same time. This could be her one and only chance to destroy the Yautja race. "There are Yautja all across the galaxy. It would not kill them all," Lex pointed out.
"It would be a serious blow. The Engineers can then finish off the rest."
"The Engineers and the Yautja are at war?"
"They have been at war for thousands of years ever since the Yautja developed spacecraft. The Engineer is their greatest prey."
While keeping an eye on the Thing, Lex considered the proposition.
The Prince's royal green blood burned in the fire turning black instantly. "What if it had been positive?" the Prince asked.
"It would have been an honor to remove your head and burn your body my Prince," Nobleman answered.
The Prince nodded as he put his gloves back on. "Shall we go?"
The three readied their weapons and went down the tunnel towards Lex and the Thing.
"I've given it some thought and I...," Lex began.
The Prince fired his net gun pinning the Thing to the wall. The net became smaller preventing the Thing from moving. The Prince then activated his weapon causing the metal netting to become red hot. The Thing screamed in pain as the netting burned her. Kate stared blankly as the human version of herself was tortured. Her mask hid her expression underneath.
The Thing erupted into claws and teeth finally snapping the metal netting. Nobleman and Kate fired plasma cannons at the Thing as ran down the halls with a horrific scream of pain. Kate then turned to Lex and fired a net gun pinning her to the wall. "Just a pre-caution," Kate told her.
The three then ran down the hall.
The Thing found a basement filled with a number of Earth animals. There were wild cats, bears, wolves, dogs, bird of prey, and boar. The Thing quickly spread its tentacles to each of the animals becoming one with them. Once the three entered the basement, the Thing has morphed to giant proportions. The beast was now three times their height with multiple limbs. On the floor and on the walls were smaller Thing creatures. Some were animal claws while others were heads that had sprouted limbs. The three fired their plasma cannons at anything that moved.
Meanwhile, Lex was tied up unable to moved. She extended her blades which painfully sliced into her thighs and rubbed them against the netting. Down the hall she could hear the familiar sound of plasma cannons going off. Finally, she snapped off the netting and went over to the smashed computer. If she didn't transmit to that ship what was happening it could infect Yautja Prime. Lex looked over the smashed controls and exposed wiring. Conflicted, she started working on the wiring.
Kate withdrew from fighting the Thing as her armor was cracked open from her fight with Lex. The Prince and the Nobleman fought the Thing with their blades as their plasma cannons had overheated. The Thing desperately clawed at their armor trying to find any hole to which to infect them. The Prince sliced at the Thing with a sword while Nobleman used a long spear.
Lex worked on the wiring using clumsy Yautja fingers she wasn't used to. Once she was done, she rebooted the computer. Once the computer became operational, she could direct the computer with her eyes through her mask interface. The Captain of the incoming ship appeared on screen with an annoyed expression. "Do not land any warriors onto the surface of the planet," Lex told him.
"On who's authority?" the Captain asked.
"I am Princess Alexa of Woods," Lex told him.
The Captain chuckled. "I received a transmission from the Prince for transport. Where is he now?"
"He is predisposed at the moment," Lex said dryly. "I sent that transmission. You will follow my orders Captain," Lex said determined.
The Captain seemed unconvinced. "You will do as I say or my mate will make an example of you," Lex threatened.
The Thing held the Prince up into the air with one of its arms to send him into its mouth. The jaws were filled with shark like teeth and multiple tongue tentacles. The Prince detached a compartment filled with blue vials and threw them into its mouth. The vials cracked open leaking the contents inside the Things mouth. The Thing's flesh immediately began to dissolve. The Prince was let go and quickly took off some of his burning armor. The Thing made a horrific scream as it quickly dissolved into nothingness.
The Captain continued to mock Lex until suddenly he stopped. Lex turned around and saw the Prince, Nobleman, and Kate walking towards her.
"Begin quarantine procedures," the Prince ordered.
The Prince then quickly sliced Lex's arm with his disc blade. Lex hissed in pain but did not fight him. The disc blade hissed as it burned the blood to ash.
"We move to the surface and then we destroy the facility from orbit. We will use a radiation fission weapon to kill any life in the area," the Prince said to the three.
"What of my research?" Kate asked limping along.
"The Empire will set up a new facility. Do not worry. This research is very valuable in our fight against organic weaponry," the Prince assured her.
Lex felt exhausted mentally and physically as they reached the surface. They waited in the snow for a small craft to land near them. The Yautja warriors had their plasma cannons on them as they tested each one. Once they were satisfied, the three of them left in the craft to the ship in orbit.
Once on board, Kate turned to the Prince. "I want some time with my mate, and I do not wish to be disturbed," she requested.
"Granted," the Prince said waiving her off.
The Prince entered the bridge and greeted the Captain. "She said that? How amusing," the Prince joked with the Captain.
"Where are we headed Sir?" the Captain asked.
"We shall go to Yautja Prime. I will have words with the King," the Prince ordered.
The Prince then left the bridge towards his own personal quarters. Lex sat on the floor staring off into space. "I should have told you that humans were involved in these experiments," he said almost apologetically.
Lex merely stared at him. "I had thought that maybe your connection to them had been severed with this child growing within you," he added.
"Teach me not to care," Lex said softly.
The Prince poured himself a goblet and took a sip as he considered the request. "Every conflict humans have ever had is in our video database. We use it to study our prey's advancing weapons. I can show you every act of violence and brutality humans have to offer," the Prince said.
"And it's not just the males but the females too," the Prince chuckled. "I can show you as much as it is required for you to hate the humans. When you are finished you will wish death upon them all."
"When can we start?"
Author's Note: Sorry for the wait. My files on this chapter were deleted and I have been busy on writing original fiction. I am thinking of advancing the story in the future towards the Alien timeline, so any suggestions for the present day would be nice.