Slayer's Vengeance Chapter 34, an aliens/predator fanfic

GOOD GOD, I've got to stop writing this at night. The lack of sleep is driving me mad!

But anyway, i have now finished the latest chapter and at long last, Alaric and co have finally reached home. there will be a reunions and introductions made as the Archangels and the dwarves of the Karak hope for a good first impression. And... well, for all you guys who want a bit of action, i have included a little lemon (Oh God, i feel ashamed, lol). A slice rather then a whole lemon considering it's context. Think of it as practice for the main one ahead. And if you guys want a one shot let me know in a PM and i'll write another. In fact, i have been doing one in the Divine Divinity universe inspired by Omegas Prime's fic Dragon's heart. Give it a read if you're a fan of the games.

Also on the note of stories, I have a new story in the works for my page. Part of a series on expanding the Slayer's Vengeance universe. And it is called Alien Insurrection. In it, it will focus on the group who caused the Infestation of Earth, The Xeno Extremists, as they try to infest an agricultural colony in the Frontier. And it will be up to a determined squad of Colonial Militia to stop them. There will be suspense, horror, humour and rocking visceral action as men who are fighting for their homes battle those who would see it all swept away by a swarm of xenomorphs. So, please show you support and become a patron for exclusive perks and bonuses and be sure to spread the word. If i can get a good following, the more patrons the better, I'll be able to write full time and be able to crank out more legends of the SV universe for your reading enjoyment.

In the meantime, sit back and enjoy the latest chapter of Slayer's Vengeance.

Updated 2/4/2017- i went through and fixed up the bloody chapter's glaring mistakes. oh the joy of late night writing!

Chapter 34- Home

On Lai'kairis, things had now reached a critical and possibly terminal stage in the search for the initiates.

Kal'deris' petition to form an expedition to the ice planet had ended in failure. Though not for the want of trying. While he did have the support of key members of the Council, the high priestess especially for her familial loss, it was eventually overruled by a majority vote against it due to lack of evidence. Hy'dorlas was openly vocal in denying Kal'deris' proposition in stating that the laws expressly prohibited travel to that planet, which could not be violated by any means.

Not the first time that the Law had inadvertently interfered with anything.

The fact that Kal'deris had received the information from a Trade Confederation smuggler, the only person in his opinion to had contributed anything useful, had not helped his case. In fact, Hy'dorlas started making accusations to inflate the issues further, with a hefty amount of corruption coming into play. Kal'deris was quick to remind them all of the Rules of the Trade, which he had bothered to study during his younger years. In particular, the Rule of Truth.

'False information can lead to dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction can lead to problems with clientele'.

And those of the Trade Confederation never tell a lie because of that rule. Even Hy'dorlas grudgingly had to admit that was true. But for the most enigmatic of Confed members, truth can be subjective depending on the point of view.

What's more, on his way to the council chamber Kal'deris had been hearing vocal rumours and hushed whispers about Ja'anya and an altercation during the midday meal. Something that Hy'dorlas had been loudly stating during the plea. And all the while, the pompous elder was making his disgust evident. Kald'eris had to keep an impartial view, despite his blood rising.

The debate, which had lasted well into the night, ended when nearly all the remainging search parties returned bearing no news of the initiates. And, much to the High Priestess' emotional objections, the search was officially called off. Hy'dorlas left the council chamber with his usual smug expression of getting his way. It took all of Kal'deris' restraint not to tear it from his face.

Kal'deris spent the night in a silent rage. Not even throwing his smart disks at it's target was having any effect of calming him this time. In fact, his target board had been reduced into kindling from the persistent and punishing blows it was being subjected to. But contrary to most would think, he was dreading more the moment when he had to inform Zel'tyr that her son had essentially been left for dead. And he had been on the receiving end of one of her scoldings to know better. Especially when he and Kra'vyn returned from a particularity hard night out. Suffice to say, it made the resulting hangover seem mild by comparison.

After much fuming and plotting, Kalderis began making plans to leave Lai'kairis to resume the search by himself. And he was not going to let anyone stop him, be it the other elders or even the Gods themselves.

Suiting up in his ornamented armour, lightly armoured aside from his hands as maximum mobility was a concern for Disk Masters, Kal'deris gave word for a ship to be ready to launch in ten minutes. His explanation was that he was going down to the planet for some stress relief. He made certain that only his most loyal hunters were to crew it for it's true purpose.

Despite the risk to himself and the grave consequences if he was to be caught, he wasn't going to let his best friend's son be consigned to an entry on an obituary at the catacombs.

But before he could gather his gear, his array of smart-disks and a trusty combi-stick, there was a loud series of knocks coming from his doors. Growling under his breath, he paced up to the massive wooden edifices and hauled one door open. He was about to unleash a pent up tirade when his eyes and mandibles widened in surprise.

"Your eminence." He meekly greeted, his rant dying in his throat as he bowed his head.

The High Priestess was on the other side and she was looking furious to put it lightly. She was still clad in her ceremonial robes, which did much to highlight her refined and more mature features, and her bejewelled headdress intertwined with her ash grey dreadlocks like the tree roots of the Mother Goddess herself. Her eyes were a penetrating shade of azure that would likely gave her the power to see right into someone's soul if she wanted.

And she was quite vocal about the meeting the moment he shut the door after letting her in.

"Those sanctimonious fools!" she ranted, pacing up to his desk. "All talk and inaction!"

"Ly'wen, calm down." he urged, following her.

She spun round on her heels sharply, her dreadlocks whipping around with a loud jingle of jewellery, fixing him with a piercing glare with her azure eyes that made him pause mid step. He felt certain that she would put a curse on him if he said the wrong thing to her.

"Calm down!?" she asked, her temper flaring. "How can I calm down when Ly'enta is lost in the void?!"

Kal'deris' own temper was now being stoked, his fear of a cursing eroding as the fires within rose.

"You think the fact is lost on me? Of all people?" he questioned. "My ward is lost with your granddaughter. And don't get me started on the families of his friends."

She was in agreement with that reminder, having had them coming to her temple and praying for hours straight, but it did little discourage her own opinion on the main reason why the appeal failed in the first place.

"The fact is YOU had a dealing with the Trade Confederation that essentially spelt it's downfall." she pointed out. "The mere mention of the name swung it to Hy'dorles' favour."

Kal'deris walked up to her, stopping just a few inches from her.

"And tell me, your eminence, how much information did we have before then?" he asked, walking to his desk. "Fuck all! That's how much we had." he pointed out as he walked behind it. "Pardon my language."

"And the smuggler?" "How is it that he only asked for you of all people?"

Kal'deris leant on his desk as he rapped his talons on the hard wood. It was true that the smuggler had only informed him with this information.

"To be honest, I did not expect to see him again in my lifetime." he admitted. "Not after the reaction from his send off."

Ly'wen could sense that there was a familiarness to his answer.

"An old friend?" she asked.

Kal'deris shook his head. The truth was something closer.

"A maternal cousin actually. Second cousin to be exact." he corrected. "We knew each other during our pup years. Last time we met was when he was leaving for the Confederation before I became Elder. I recognise him, his markings, anywhere. A recessive pattern in my family." he sighed. "Because of that, being the odd one out, he was always something of an outcast so he took it in stride and joined Confed. He was disowned the moment he stepped aboard that ship. His father would have loved to seen his head on a spike, were it not for Confed's protection."

The High Priestess raised a brow.

"So it was more then just a business matter then you claimed?" she concluded.

Kal'deris could only nod. But that was more then enough confirmation that the smuggler's visit was also a familial obligation. And on that train of thought, he thought about someone closer.

"Sometimes I wish my grandfather was still here." he lamented. "They wouldn't dare argue with him. Even Hy'dorles kept his mouth shut when he was around."

"If they won't form a rescue party, I'll just have to go myself!" Ly'wen declared. "And Gods help anyone who gets in my way!"

Taking her implied threat of retribution with a grain of salt, as the gods had yet to intervene on their behalf for anything, Kal'deris rapped his fingers on the desk as he brought up the other issue about the missing initiates. The non yautja issue. If he could be called that any more.

"I hate to say it, but things had not been going well ever since that ooman showed up." Kal'deris admitted.

He sat down on the cushions and opened a drawer in his desk. He pulled out a ceramic bottle and two small glasses. He pulled the cork out with a notable pop before pouring the contents, an amber liquid into the two glasses.

"The berserker?" Ly'wen asked, as the sound of pouring beverage filled the room.

The alcohol was a form of mead fermented from the honey produced by the giant bees on the planet. And it was one of Kal'deris' preferred beverages for it's sweetness. And often one of the few things that calmed his nerves. However, mead was considered a feminine drink by some of the more hardcore hunters, and hardly fitting for an Elder. But Kal'deris preferred keeping a clearer head. He rather not have a headache on the morning of a hunt, having learned the hard way in his younger years.

In fact, the last time he was drunk was with Kra'vyn and the scolding they got from Zel'tyr the next morning made the hangover a pleasant buzzing of the head by comparison. To this day, he still could not remember how he and Kra'vyn were found hanging on the rafters clutching a human traffic cone in each hand.

Kal'deris offered one glass to the high priestess, who promptly shook her head in refusal. Kal'deris simply knocked his drink back in one gulp before placing her glass on his desk.

"I honestly don't know how Ja'anya ran into him. And survived." he said, placing the glass back onto the desk. "First, it was an altercation at dinner the first night he was here. Then it was Alaric nearly killing Vyl'kar during his rite of entry and then him handing our hunters to the infirmary on a near daily basis. And now this whole debacle." Kal'deris recollected. "There has been notable resentment brewing among the populace."

Ly'wen merely clicked her mandibles in response. She had been aware of this treatment towards the human in the weeks leading up to this debacle. She had heard the hushed whispers when disgruntled yautja visited the temple.

"And also a... influence on the younger generation." She added. "Just today, I've seen roving bands of pups, running around in blue paint and whacking each other senseless with sticks. Some of them tried to run up walls and nearly broke their necks!"

Kal'deris nodded in agreement. Some of the older yautja had been objection to this influence that Alaric was having on the younger generation.

"And now I'm hearing rumours about Ja'anya." Kal'deris added, rapping his fingers on the desk. "Saying that she and the ooman are... well, you probably heard yourself by now."

"If you can call a lot of foul words 'saying'." Ly'wen commented. "Still, there had not been such a relationship on Lai'kairis since... ever."

Purists on Lai'kairis take great care into ensuring that their blood was not... contaminated. But this is often frowned upon when mentioned in public, especially in the Grand Archives. Such thinking relates to an era of which blood purity obsession had gotten to such an extent that many clans simply became too closely related to thrive. And with such things, the Ptolemaic dynasty of Pharaohs being a good example, unpleasant genetic defects and mental problems crept in and that pretty much sealed the fate of many clans.

"It unsettles me." Kal'deris said, shaking his head.

"Unsettling or disturbing?" Ly'wen elaborated.

Kal'derris held his tongue at that question. The revelations that he had learned when Sy'arwen had analysed Alaric's genetic make up were still fresh in his mind. He still had her reports in a drawer in his desk. He had not informed any of the other elders about it and he had no intentions of doing so. But, he had to wonder how long it would be kept a secret if any of the other elders decided to poke about.

The fact that Alaric had so much... unknown DNA was frightening.

His intercom at that moment gave off a loud series of bleeps. Kal'deris grumbled as he reached for Ly'wen's glass for another shot. However, a slap on the wrist from the High Priestess discouraged him as she took the glass and downed it herself.

Kal'deris grumbled louder as he pressed the button.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Elder Kal'deris, report to the main dock." a yautja on the line requested.

Kal'deris rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath as the Ly'wen placed her empty glass on the desk with a loud clatter.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We have guests." the operator relayed. "They asked for you."

Kal'deris at that moment felt as if the Confed coin in its pouch had gotten heavier all of a sudden, as if the gold had transmuted to lead. Did they want him to pay his debt right now? And if so, what would they want? Resources? Manpower? Or something far more... restricted?

The glare that he was getting from the High Priestess was adding more pressure on him for his dealings with that smuggler. Even if he was family. Disowned family to say the least.

"Is the ship bearing three rings?" he asked hesitantly.

"No Elder, no three ringed emblem on the ship." the operator explained. "But it does have a crest on it."

Kal'deris did not know whether to be relieved or apprehensive. But then, he never heard of a ship bearing a crest.

"A crest?" he asked.

"Yes. A crest curving upwards like a birds and jewelled eyes on the bow." the operator described. "But, Elder, this ship is bigger then anything on record."

"Define big? Is it a mothership class or a battleship?" Kal'deris questioned.

Almost on cue, Ly'wen looked out of the large window behind Ka'deris and her azure eyes widened and her mandibles stretched out when the light of the sun outside was suddenly blotted out. Kal'deris frown at the sudden lack of light in his office.

"Elder, look outside your window." she said, pointing a talon outside.

Kal'deris turned around to the window and his eyes went wide. He could see what all the fuss was about now. In the distance, he could make out a gigantic angular shape in front of the sun, evoking a peculiar eclipse.

"I see it." Kal'deris confirmed. "Have you given it clearance to dock?"

"Column Docks. Main bay. Seventh level." the operator reported.

"Have an arbitrator detachment sent down immediately." Kal'deris ordered. "I'm on my way."

He hanged up the line and got up from the cushions. Kal'deris rushed past Ly'wen and picked up his bandoleer of smartdisks before slipping them on over his chest.

"It seems your prayers may be answered." he praised.

An hour earlier.

Out on the boundaries of Lai'kairis's home system, the last search party was returning. A small light frigate, larger then the typical scout ships that yautja use for their hunts, drifted through the void on low sub-light power. The bridge crew were busy going through their findings on their last sorties for the search before calling back.

The captain in his command throne oversaw the final reports from his seat terminal. And much like the other ships that participated in the search, there was no sign of the initiates' shuttle or even the initiates themselves. And as far he was certain, they were just wasting their time now. And he was certain that resources being used in this endeavour were more needed elsewhere.

Black yautja raiders were a serious and more frequent concern then missing initiates, regardless how heartless it may sound. The Yautja were pragmatic and serious by nature, rarely given to joke unless it suited them.

Gesturing with a hand, the comms officer on the bridge opened up a channel back to Lai'kairis.

"Lai'kairis control, this is the Hawk's Claw." the captain called out. "Lai'kairis, please respond."

A moment passed before the signal was connected.

"Hawk's Claw, this is Lai'kairis control." a traffic controller on the other end greeted. "Report."

"We have finished our sweep. No sign of the missing initiates." the captain reported. "Anything on your end?"

"The Council has voted for the search to be called off. A memorial service is due to be held at the temple atrium" "You are clear to return."

"Confirmed. We're coming home." "Are we clear to dock at the hemisphere?

He was answered by sharp static. The captain frowned at the sudden interruption as the comms officer worked to re-establish the connection.

"Control?" the comms officer asked, checking his readouts and interface and adjusting the wavelengths. "Control, are you receiving?"

"What is it?" the captain asked.

"Sir, we can't pick anything up." the comms officer reported, still twisting dials. "Something is interfering our transmissions."

"Killers?"

"There have been no Black Yautja raiders for the last few months. Besides, if they're in the home system we would know about it."

The sensor's operator then noticed something on his terminal's readouts. He rapidly pressed buttons as he focused his instruments to determining what he was detecting. On his screen he could make out a faint flashing blip.

"Sir, we got something." he called out.

The captain swivelled in his seat to his subordinate's terminal.

"What is it?" he questioned.

The operator pressed more buttons, focussing his terminal's screen on the location of the blip.

"I don't know. It's an energy reading of some sort." the officer informed, highlighting its position. "It's faint, but it's there."

"Another ship?" the captain asked.

The sensor's officer began cross-referencing the signal.

"I can't tell. What do you make of it?" he asked.

The captain brought up a projection from his seat so he could see for himself. Other screens blipped up bringing up charts of all known forms of power sources that starship from all races use. But this power source did not conform to any type of generator in use. And it appeared to be too refined to be an experimental device.

"Intriguing." the captain said.

"Never seen a signature like this." the sensors officer confirmed his lack of explanation. "Not any form of power I know of."

"Do we have visual?" the captain asked.

The sensors officer punched in a few buttons and he frowned when the location was projected on his screen.

"It's position is right in front of us?" he said, confused apprehension filling him.

The captain looked out of the bridge's canopy and was not surprised when he saw nothing but endless void dotted with stars. He then made the action of leaning out of his chair and looking around for a better vantage. He then shook his head in disapproval.

"I think you've been out too long. There's nothing out there." he said, waving his hand at the emptiness in front of them.

"Sir there is a signal." the officer insisted before a sharp series of bleeps drew his attention."Wait, there's something."

The operator's eyes widened as the faint blip became brighter and brighter. And the readouts were growling like a wildfire. Within seconds, all the readings were going off scale.

"It's going off the scale!" he exclaimed before his screen overloaded and shut down.

In fact, everyone's terminals were starting to overload and even the captain's command thrones was starting to emit concerning buzzing and sparks from it's control pads.

"Look!" The captain shouted, pointing a finger dead ahead of them.

In the distance, several kilometres in front of the frigate was a glowing ball of light. It hovered in place for a moment before it expanded into a massive disk of light, hundreds of meters in diameter, wreathed in what looked like flame that travelled in both directions.

It was what came out of the disk that was the surprise as it began to move backwards. As it moved, a dark shape could be seen within it's glowing confines. And the shape glowed brighter as it came closer.

A massive spire of sculpted metal emerged seamlessly from the disk, followed by a massive prow decorated with a pair of jewelled ports like eyes and a curving crest pointing up like that of some avian creature. As the disk moved backwards, more metal was shown. Metal decorated with geometrical patterns and lined with massive guns with rectangular barrels on the top and bottom. Massive stout angular wings emerged, lined with turrets with circular barrels and riddled with racks of missiles and torpedoes.

While this was supposed to invoke a sense of awe to those who would be watching, those in it's path had a sense of fear and self preservation. Against being smashed against it's hull like a bug to a windscreen.

"Evade!" the captain yelled.

The frigate's crew scrambled with their controls to get their craft out of the emerging ship's trajectory, a cacophony of panicked shouting and cursing. The frigate's thrusters flared as the craft surged across the massive ship's prow, almost dashing itself on it's hull and darting past one massive jewelled eye. The smaller ship blasted way from the monolithic ship's hull, getting a sizable distance away that allowed them to see the vessel in it's entirety off its port bow once they turned around.

Overall, this ship was two kilometres on length and half kilometre high. Far bigger then any Yautja warship and packing more firepower then even the largest mothership that any yautja clan had. The turrets in question were as big as the frigate itself. Also adding to it's awe was the inclusion of large geometrical faces of a grim disposition, pillars of an ancient ascetic and also a curious array of standing stones.

"Look at the size of that ship!" the helmsman shouted in shock.

The captain looked equally stunned and horrified at the same time. But he had the fortitude to ensure he did not soil himself.

"That's not any ship I've ever seen." the captain pointed out. "Too angular. And those guns are bigger then this ship!"

A flashing light appeared on the comms officer's interface. Who or what ever was on that ship was clearly trying to make contact with them. This showed that the crew of that ship were at least civilised. If they were barbaric they maybe would have attacked without warning once they emerged from that ball of light.

"Sir, we're being hailed." the comms officer reported.

The captain sat up in his chair, his aura of authority returning. If this was a first contact scenario, then first impression were key.

"Open a link." the captain commanded.

The comms officer nodded before punching in some buttons and opening a direct line with the mystery ship.

On the bridge's central holographic display, an image was projected that was no doubt from the bridge of that gigantic ship. Being projected was an intimidating armoured figure sitting in a massive stone and metal throne, almost like it was fused to it. It's helmet, bearing an intimidating faceplate from which a pair of bright blue eyes stared at the yautja, a large crest of hair-like material adorning the helmet almost like the crest on the ship's bow. A silver metallic hawk was resting on it's shoulder, complementing the crimson red cloak on the figure's shoulders. Standing behind the throne was a line of six armoured figures, standing in line and wearing fully enclosed helmets with equally intimidating respirators.

From the look of these unidentified humanoids, they were not the kind of targets that pirates would dare be in the same system with. If the size of the guns on the ship was an obvious indicator, they could engage a whole fleet of pirates and come out on top..

The yautja captain at that moment decided to open communications. Let this ship know that it was intruding on their territory.

"Unidentified vessel." he greeted. "You are trespassing into space governed by Lai'kairis. State your species and purpose."

The armoured crew of the ship just stood there in silence, not even moving an inch. The silver hawk shifted on it's perch on the crested figure's cloaked shoulder as it tilted it's head in perceived thought. The figure itself rapped it fingers on the armrest. In intrigue or annoyance, none could tell. But the intimidating helmet gave the impression of disdain.

"Identify yourself. Who are you?" the captain demanded. "What is your species and purpose?"

Now they were treading a fine line. Either their question would be answered in a civilised manner or, if if they were acknowledged as a threat, they would be blown to dust from any of that ship's turrets.

The armoured figure in the throne simply gestured with a hand in response. At that point, a short humanoid with a long white beard, clad in a combination of priestly robes and ornate armour and bearing a geometrical staff with an anvil head, walked into view. He looked like an abnormally short human and was more broader then a human with large hands. He bowed his head as he stopped in front of the armoured figure.

"Vessal of Lai'kairis. This is the Khazdryn vessel: The Karak." the stunted priest greeted in fluent yautjan which was something of a surprise to the frigate's crew."Lai'kairis, I believe our lord had picked up some castaways of yours." he proposed, tapping the staff's pommel on the stone deck loudly.

On that cue, Kra'vyx and his friends came on screen and which Kra'vyx gave a little wave. And suffice to say, the crew of the frigate were gobsmacked at the sight of the initiates who had only just minutes before been declared dead.

"Miss us?" Kra'vyx asked.

The captain snapped out of his stunned stupor while his crew were still trying to get their heads around this sudden and positively ludicrous turn of events.

"It's the missing initiates!" the captain exclaimed loudly, forgetting protocol. "They're alive?!"

"Indeed." the bearded humanoid agreed. "And they have much to discuss."

The holoscreen blipped out after the arrangements had been made and now the frigate was leading the Karak back to Lai'kairis. Like a small tug boat hauling a massive cruise liner into harbour. The slow crawl back to Lai'kairis did provide those on the bridge some time to debate their next move. That of first impressions.

To Kra'vyx and his friends that couldn't come soon enough. And the initiate was also taking this moment to settle a score.

"I was right." Kra'vyx praised, before jabbing a finger into Fel'tak's shoulder. "They were completely flabbergasted. I win the bet!"

"So what, I wasn't being serious!" Fel'tak argued.

Mal'fax walked up to them, snapping his fingers to get their attention.

"Enough of the banter." he scolded. "we got our trophies to tend to. Don't want them to be shabbier then they already are."

The Archangels on the other hand were at a loss as to what transpired, owing to a lack of linguistic understanding. The dwarves on the other hand had understood what was going on as the yautja frigate led the way. And they made that clear when they took their helmets off.

"We didn't understand anything." Hicks pointed out. "Just a bout of articulated sounds and clicking."

Alaric pulled off his helmet and rested it on his lap as Aegis hopped up onto his lap and pointed his wing at Hicks and shook his head in a gesture of that spoke of the marine's lack of knowledge. Almost like he was criticising him.

"What did they say?" Andrzej asked Varlin.

Varlin pivoted in his seat to the captain, casually stuffing more tobacco into his pipe.

"Aside from the shock of finding these young hunters alive on our ship, we're being brought to Lai'kairis." Varlin clarified, bring the pipe to his mouth and lighting a match. "We'll be arriving within the hour."

Andrzej mumbled in polish at the amount of time it would take to reach their destination. And not in the manner of boredom but rather preparation.

"Not much time to prepare." he concluded.

"Oh come on. This isn't the prom." Sergei assured. "I'm ready as is."

"Linguistics." Hicks clarified.

"Alaric, roughly, how long did it take you to learn the language?"

Alaric juggled his helmet in his hands as he thought back to when he was found by Ja'anya and brought back to her ship. And also the time they spent on the week long journey back to Lai'kairis, with him learning the language and the basic customs.

"Took me a week of constant practice to get the most basic phrases right." Alaric answered. "Pronunciation is important. You wouldn't want to inadvertently insult some of them."

"Well, we don't have a week for a crash course in yautjan." Hicks said. "Even for me."

"We can deal with that." Varlin said, snapping his fingers loudly. "We've just the thing."

A young dwarf, clad in engineer smocks, immediately came running onto the bridge with an ornate stone box, skidding to a stop in front of the thane. He handed Varlin the box and then briskly ran out of the bridge without saying a word, his boots thumping on the stone decking with the usual Khazdryn grace.

Alaric looked over his throne as he watched the dwarf dash out of the bridge as the Archangels gathered around.

"How long has he been waiting out there?" Alaric asked.

"Punctuality is a desired trait in our culture." Kazrik hinted. "And Krags is very punctual."

"I had Krags working on these after stowing your trophy." Varlin explained, unlocking the latches on the box with a notable stony click. "Something of a hearing aid in a manner of speaking."

The stone lid was released and it sprang up, hitting the dwarf's pipe from his teeth. The cherished object went flying through the Archangels, the soldiers dodging the smoking aid as it clattered on the deck. Varlin muttered indignantly as he rubbed his mouth and the twinging of oral nerves flared in his brain. Aegis hopped off Alaric's thrones and swooped down to retrieve the pipe. Varlin held out a hand and Aegis dropped it in his return arc before returning to his perch.

"Thank you." Varlin praised humbly.

"What are those?" Andrzej asked.

Varlin stowed his pipe in his beard holster, preventing a possible broken tooth in the future, before turning the box around so it faced the humans.

"Translator implants." Varlin revealed, picking one out and holding it in his thick fingers for everyone to see.

The translator implant visually resembled something in size akin to a comm bead but was made out of some kind of composite rather then plastic and metal. It was roughly an inch in length, decorated with intricate lines and patterns and was deemed to be mostly metal in composition. But what kind of metal, be it element or alloy, was unknown.

"Here, take one each." Varlin offered, holding the box out.

Each of the Archangels picked out a translator each, holding it in armoured fingers and getting a closer look at them. They could see that these were definitely more sturdy them human made implants. Sergei even bounced his on the stone deck, surprised to see that there was not even a hairline crack in it's casing.

But, they noticed that Alaric did not pick one up, nor did Varlin offer him one.

"You're not having one?" Andzrej asked.

Alaric held up his helmet in response.

"My helmet has it's own translator unit." he said, tapping where his ears would be. "And I have been speaking the language for the last few months."

The Archangels were now at a loss as to what the next step was. If this was an implant that would mean they would have to be operated on to link it up. And how long would that take?

"And how do we use these?"Sarah asked. "Do we need to be cut open?"

Muffled giggling could be hear from some dwarves at the mention of surgery. Loud and almost psychotic laughing was heard from Treval down below that echoed around the bridge. This was silenced by an equally loud impact of hand against head, though some disgruntled muttering was heard.

"Thank you, Bardin." Kazrik thanked.

This reaction from the dwarves was confirmation to the humans that surgery was not required to use these implants.

"So, judging by the laughing, no surgery is required?" Andrzej flatly surmised.

"Stick it in your ear and it'll do the rest." Varlin said, gesturing the action of putting the implant into his ear canal.

And as if on cue, long thin mechanical tendrils snaked out from the receptacle, writhing through the air like the roots of a sentient plant. And a much predicted reaction of revulsion was seen on the humans' faces. The kind of revulsion that came from seeing a parasitic worm doing a defensive display by spewing forth sickly tendrils. That sinking feeling at the bottom of their guts.

At that point their mild enthusiasm crumbled.

"Are you serious?" Karl asked.

Varlin blinked at the subtle refusal.

"What's the matter? They're only little." Varlin assured.

"Better then a fish in your ear." Alaric joked.

The Archangels lowered their translators at the mention of that joke. It was clear that Alaric had a habit of cracking one liners at his squad's expense. Likely as revenge for the pranks that they pull on him when ever he tried to get some sleep.

The antiquing he got on the ice planet was still flashing in his mind. In fact, he was sure he still had plaster dust in his hair.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" Sergei said, mildly annoyed. "Where do you find these references, up your ass?"

Alaric didn't answer that question as he playfully juggled his helmet. He had a habit of looking up old programs and movies whenever he was not on a mission. Documentaries and comedies being prominent.

"Considering where we're going, any advantage will be welcome." Andrzej reminded. "Even at the risk of mental disfigurement."

"I better still be literate after this." Karl warned. "I don't fancy overcoming dyslexia a second time."

"Oh by my beard, just stick em in already!" Travel shouted from below.

The Archangels took a breath as they steeled themselves for what they were about to do. As they lifted their hands and were about to equip the implants, Kazrik tapped his staff on the deck to get their attention. Karl and Sergei exclaimed in their native tongues as their apprehension climaxed from the tapping. The rest just rubbed their eyes and muttered.

"Just a word of caution." Kazrik warned. "Resisting will only make the process longer. And uncomfortable."

Sergei merely pointed to his chest and the bandages beneath his armour in reminder to his previous bout with the Primarch's kin. Alaric on the other hand felt a little hot under the collar.

The Archangels held the translators up to their chosen ear and gingerly started to insert them into the ear canal. But as they did, they got a sudden jolting shock as the translators suddenly shot down their ears with an audible click. Each of them felt it attach to their ear drums and the sickening feeling of clogged hearing was felt filling up their heads as they clasped their ears out of reflex. And then they felt a sharp stinging sensation as the tendrils writhing into their skulls, feeling each individual strand adhering to their brains.

It was not pleasant and universally it was painful to say the least as the humans collapsed into the decking, curling up into the foetal position as the translators attached themselves to their heads. This was enough to make Kra'vyx and his friends to back off and huddle at Alaric's throne as if they were about to birth some chestbursters.

"Don't fight it." Kazrik urged.

Unfortunately, survival instincts kicking in, that was what the Archangels were doing as they scrabbled at their ears, vainly trying to pull the implants out before just holding their heads. And Alaric himself was having flashbacks to when his armour bonded to him. Along with a phantasmal itch as the memory of ungodly tightness resurfaced.

"It's clawing into my brain!" Sarah shouted. "My brain!"

Karl was rolling around on his back like a wayward pebble being pushed about by a river, holding his head and his teeth clenched together. Sergei had his face into the deck and looked like he was trying to push even further into the stone decking as his boots slid on the stone deck.

Hicks was weathering it more as he forced himself to his knees and did his best to ignore the probing in his head. Now he was getting an idea of what other xeno-zip afflicted people go through. Whether by withdrawal or, like him, born from usage during pregnancy.

Mac was simply silent as his face scrunched up from the intense discomfort. Inwardly, he was thinking whether or not he should cut a whole in his head to relieve the pressure.

"Ublyudok der'mo!" Sergei cursed as he felt the tendrils snaking into his head as he fell into a heap.

The rest of his squad paused with the migraine inducing intrusions when they heard the snipers curse-fuelled straining when they realised that they actually understood his speech as if he was speaking in plain english. While they had a passing knowledge of each other's native tongues, this was a vast step forward.

And what's more, the pain was dying out as quickly as it flared up the moment they stopped their writhing. Something that was not possible with even OSIRIS made implants.

"What a second... I understood that." Hicks said in surprise.

Nods came from the rest of the squad as they got to their knees.

"Yeah, 'motherfucking shit' was what I heard." Karl confirmed. "Was going to say something vulgar like that myself."

The Archangel's picked themselves up from the decking, checking their ears for any blood or even brain matter that may have seeped out. Aside from an increase in sweat and tears, they were perfectly fine and nothing was damaged or out of place. Although a feeling of a full buzzing head would take some time in dissipating.

Kra'vyx walked up to Alaric.

"Are they alright?" he whispered, not knowing if the Archangels were going mad earlier from their reactions.

Alaric turned to him and nodded.

"It's okay, they were just adjusting to the implants." he assured.

Nothing compared to what I've been through, he thought with a hidden shudder.

"Thane, can you say something in Khazdryn." Andrzej asked, wanting to get a second opinion from a non human tongue.

"Certainly." Varlin complied, clearing his throat before saying a phrase in Khazdryn.

While to the naked ear it sounded like a coarse rumbling of the throat and vocal cords, with a hint of Germanic roots, they could understand what the thane was saying.

Can you hear me?

The Archangels began to laugh at the new-found abilities they all now had. Weeks, months or even years of linguistic training were now rendered obsolete in the span of a few pain riddled moments.

"That's amazing!" Sergei praised. "I'm hearing gibberish and it's coming out as plain english."

He then noticed that Varlin was giving him a glare at the mention of calling his native tongue Gibberish.

"Sorry, 'Khazdryn'." he corrected with an approving nod from Varlin.

The medic was intrigued as to how these implants could work so soon after implantation. Normally under conventional means, it would take hours or days before the body accepted the implant which would then be activated.

"But how is this working." Sarah asked. "Implants would take days to fully function."

"Days?" Traval yelled from below. "Lazy construction and programming!"

"Yes, our technology is still a significant step up from theirs. Even in this day and age." Jari added.

"Now, now." Kazrik interjected. "Humans are still young with much to learn. And if they mastered space travel in the two millennia without us, they're smarter then you give them credit for."

Varlin pressed a button his armrest, opening a channel to the dwarf that made them.

"Krags, please explain how the implants work." he asked.

"What?... Oh right." Krags said, evidently preoccupied with something else on the other side.

The sound of something heavy was placed down with an audible thud over the line that made the speakers buzz loudly before Krag's cleared his throat.

"Basically, the implant grafts to your eardrum and canal, forming a secondary membrane over it like an artificial eardrum." Krags explained over the line. "Then it wires itself to the speech and hearing parts of the brain and translates the language directly in your mind. Given enough time, you can learn even the most articulate of tongues, even if you cannot speak it yourself."

"Does this affect reading too?" Andrzej asked.

"While you may see unfamiliar script, the implants will translate symbols and such to give you meanings and comparisons." Krags added. "How it is then translated depends on your style of reading."

"So is this permanent?" Sarah asked, wary of any side effects that these implant may cause. "It can't be removed?"

"Well, it can be removed if you so wish, manling." Krags confirmed before he came to the negatives. "But you'll have to deal with deafness until your eardrums readjust. And then there's the sicken feeling of emptiness in your head..."

"That'll do, Krags." Varlin interrupted as Krags mumbled indignantly over the line. "Get our lord's trophy ready for Lai'kairis."

"At once, Thane." Krags obeyed and the line ceased.

Karl shook his head as he still felt a persistent buzzing between his ears. It felt like he had a whole beehive up there and someone was whacking it with a stick to stir up the swarm.

"My head is still ringing." he complained.

After nearly forty minutes of travel, and getting everything prepared for the big introductions, they were nearly at their destination. As they reached the planet from which the colony ship orbited as a surrogate moon, they could just get a glimpse of Lai'karis from above the rim of that world. The frigate up guiding them gave out a message of welcome before flaring off towards the colony ship to give them a heads up about the new visitors.

"Thane, Lai'kairis is coming into visual range." Jari called out.

"Bring it up on screen." Varlin ordered.

A new screen blipped up on the canopy and those on the bridge got their first look at Lai'kairis as the view zoomed in and it continued to rise as they closer. The initiates rushed to the railing to get their first glimpse of home since departing on their botched hunt. The archangels walked up too to get their first look on this yautja clan ship.

Lai'kairis was just as magnificent as Alaric remembered. But being on the Karak's bridge, which allowed him a much greater field of view then in Ja'anya's ship, allowed him to take in much more of Lai'kairis structure and the marvel of engineering that it was.

In fact, Gateway station was not like an escape pod as he first expressed. It was like a gnat in comparison now. In fact, now that they could get a clear view, Lai'kairys was slightly larger then Earth's moon. The main structure of Lai'kairis was two vast hemispheres, dotted with towers and spires and each hemisphere was connected by one large central column and eight smaller ones set like points in a compass. The large column was the Column Docks while the eight smaller columns were in fact elevators to allow travel between hemispheres.

Suffice to say, the Archangels were gobsmacked from the sheer size of Lai'kairis.

"I take it from the silence and the near stupefied drooling that you guys are impressed." Alaric asked. "I know I was."

Out of the squad, only Hicks was drooling and he hurriedly wiped his mouth when he realised he was making a show. He then began to wipe his boot with a bit of unintentional spit and polish with his sleeve. There rest of the squad were quick to bring up comments and questions about the city among the stars.

"That is just... mind blowing." Mac said. "A city in the stars!"

Throughout all their engagements with the yautja, the largest ship they ever came across was a Black Yautja mothership during a bloody counter attack in the Frontier during a raid. And the Karak had easily beaten that vessel in size and firepower.

"I didn't think hunters had such... ships like this." Andrzej admitted.

"Well, you won't." "Mal'fax said, his speech translated into perfect english. "Lai'kairis is the only one of it's kind."

"Really?" Hicks asked. "No other yautja have attempted to replicate this?"

"Some, but those are nowhere near as perfect or as big." Mal'fax explained. "None have ever came close to beating Lai'kairis. The technology just isn't available any more."

"Damn straight!" Fel'tak added with a hint of pride.

Kazrik walked up to the railing, holding his staff and arms out in a gesture of praise. The praise that came from seeing a grand undertaking succeed after all.

"Lai'kairis: The Sanctuary City. The greatest creation of Kai'rys the Builder." Kazrik described before looking to Mal'fax. "That was the name of the designer, was it not?" he asked the initiate.

The initiates were surprised that Kazrik knew the name of the creator and founding father of Lai'kairis. They way the dwarf spoke about him suggested that he may have been more familiar then he let on.

"How do you know about him?" Mal'fax questioned.

"Oh, the Khazdryn knew all about him. Quite the visionary he was among your people, despite his humble beginnings." Varlin revealed. "It's good to see that the Architects' teachings had not gone to waste after their passing. He was their successor, you know."

But, by the silence he was getting and the puzzled frowning, it appeared that the initiates were more confused then elated by the name.

"Architects?" Kra'vyx asked. "What are Architects?"

"I've never heard of Architects before." Ly'enta asked.

"Ne neither." Fel'tak added.

The answers of unfamiliarity provoked a strange reaction from the dwarves.

Varlin held a hand to his face in what was pained exasperation at the initiates apparent and complete lack of knowledge of these Architects. Kazrik bowed his head as he held his staff close in a funerary manner, speaking softly in Khazdryn. The dwarves on the bridge bowed their heads.

"By my beard, not them!" Varlin cursed softly. "Did the Xel'khala wipe out knowledge of them too?"

The initiates were concerned from this reaction. They were wondering if they had unintentionally hit a sensitive issue from their innocent question.

Alaric was feeling a pang of sadness in his heart. No doubt coming from what the Xel'khala had done to Gri'nyr's kin. How they wiped out all knowledge of them until they were nothing but a half forgotten tale that parents used to frighten children into obedience. Only in this case, there was nothing.

The Archangels, while not knowing anything about this extinct race, could feel that the dwarves may had been familiar with them. Could possibly have been close relations. And were intrigued by the air of reverence that the Thane and Stonefather had given these Architects.

"I'm sorry, did we say something wrong?" Ly'enta asked.

The dwarves changed the subject immediately as they resumed their work. Evidently, they did not want to talk about it. Maybe it was a question best left unanswered until the time comes.

"Lets just check that everything is ready." Varlin said, puffing his pipe and reaching for his control pad.

Down in the darkness of the Karak's hold, two dwarves were busy making sure that the Primarch's body was still secured in it's berth. Ready for the big reveal on their arrival. Armed with simple torches, they checked all the straps that bound it's severed limbs and appendages tightly and monitored all the runic stone wards that had been placed on it's body at strategic points by Stonefather Kazrik himself. These wards, intended to contain aethyric power like the wards used at the prison, were done mostly as a psychological measure then a practicable one. Superstition holds that evil spirits tended to linger near their mortal shells, waiting for an unsuspecting victim. One they would rather not want haunting the Karak.

The rest of the hold's cargo containers had been stacked up at the sides, effectively creating a surrogate containment wall for the Primarch's remains. Not that such a thing was needed for the hollow husk that it now was.

Both dwarves were of the same mind as they worked on the Primarch's internment. That of being reluctant to be close to the thing's remains. Even though Alaric had killed the living daylights out of it with as much lightning that the storm had to give, they were still nervous. Every now and then, they would cautiously step back every now and then at the slightest sound they would pause, just to make sure that nothing was moving.

Both dwarves were almost at the end of their shift as they convened.

"Everything good on your end, Grimgi?" the first dwarf asked, walking up to the Primarch's head..

"Yeah, Orgni." the second answered, looking at the ward that was fixed to the Primarch's forehead. "All limbs are set and the wards are still glowing. Still surprises me how we managed to get the bloody thing on board."

Orgni came into view, his boots thumping with an echo of the usual khazdryn grace.

"Good. Means we can go back up deck." he praised as he looked up at the Primarch's grinning skull. "Even when these things are dead, they still give me the creeps."

He gave a Primarch's cranium a solid kick, provoking a rumbling echo to erupt from it's cavernous insides.

"Got a nice echo though." Grimgi admitted. "Fancy they'll use it as a glorified drum for the party?"

Orgni hefted his torch and began to beat a rhythmic tune out on the massive cranium before he gave a nod.

"Yeah, and no doubt Treval will make a nice racket out of it." he predicted. "We're lucky if he's too drunk to sing."

Orgni then sighed as he licked his parched lips while Grimgi chortled at the sound of a drunken Treval embarrassing himself through some absurd means. One notable incident involved him somehow hanging from his beard from the ceiling. How he managed that feat, no one has yet figured out.

"Speaking of which, I'm thirsty." Orgni said, before pointing a thumb towards the cargo elevator. "Fancy an ale? I got a keg by the lift."

"Yeah, get us one will you." Grimgi asked, pulling out a cloth from a chest pocket. "Gotta polish your scuff out or the thane will have my beard."

Orgni grunted in confirmation as he walked off, shining his torch along the path as his college resumed his work. Grimgi knelt down, bringing up the cloth and rubbing the spot he had kicked furiously. He paused for a moment before spitting on the cloth and rubbing again. After a minute of spit and polishing, Grimgi brought the cranium back to it's original shine. He shone his light on the polished patch and was surprised when he could make out his reflection.

And he couldn't resist getting a closer look.

"Not bad if I do say so myself." he commended with pride, stroking his beard.

But, as if to snap him out of his self gratification, Grimgi paused when he heard a soft high pitched energised whine filling his immediate vicinity before it ceased abruptly. And the dim light that was bathing him died out suddenly with a slight buzz of fading power.

"What the?" he said, looking up.

He saw that the ward stone above him had for some reason stopped working.

"By my beard, what's wrong with this?" Grimgi pondered, giving the ward a prod with a finger.

He shone his torch onto the stone for a better look. And he saw that the ward had not just stopped, it looked as if it had shorted out like a fuse that had been subjected to an overload of power. And when the dwarf looked at the ward closer he could make out a detail that was out of place.

The runes seemed... smouldered. Burnt out.

An unnerving sense of dread began to make his beard cringe. Especially since his torchlight was suddenly dimmed. And out of the corner of his eye, he saw something looming above him.

Grimgi looked up and his eyes went wide as he saw a dark wispy form looming over him. And before he could so much as even blink, he was yanked from his feet and his torch fell to the stone deck with a loud clatter. He let out out a muffled grunt before he vanished into the darkness.

Orgni raised his head from the keg at the sound of metal impacting stone, twisting the tap to prevent spillage from the two tankards he was holding in one hand. He kept his head up for a few moments as he processed what he had just heard before he shrugged and resumed his attention on the tankard he was filling. He just assumed that Grimgi dropped something or if the dwarf had knocked something out of place. Not the first time that happened with that dwarf, who on occasion only had to look at something for it to fall.

The dwarf finished filling up both tankards of the staple of Khazdryn diet, getting a nice foaming head on both, and held them up in a gesture of celebration.

"Grimgi, here's your ale!" Orgni called out.

There was no answer. No shout or even the sound of boots on stone. To a dwarf, this was a sign of something amiss. No dwarf in his right mind would refuse an ale if it was free.

"Grimgi?" he called again.

Still no answer. So Orgni walked back to where his colleague would still be, with both tankards clenched in one hand and his torch shining in the other.

"If you don't want your ale, I'll gladly have it!" he warned. "I love second helpings!"

Orgni was expecting Grimgi to come rushing out from the shadows for his tankard, but there was still no answer. Coming around the bend on the container wall, He saw Grimgi sitting down by the Primarchs head, his head bowed down as if he was dozing off. Orgni tuttered at the sight.

"Aww, was polishing the bastard's skull too tiring for you?" Orgni said, mockingly.

Grimgi did not even so much as raise his head or make some comeback at that joke. He just continued to sit there on the floor with his head down. Finally, Orgni lost his patience.

"Grimgi, this is not the place to be joking around." he scolded as he walked over, his boots thumping on the stone deck.

Approaching his presumably bone-idle colleague, Orgni reached out a hand and gave Grimgi a rough tug on the shoulder. Much to his shock, Grimgi just rolled onto his back with a loud thud. Orgni's eyes widened and the tankards dropped from limp hands, spilling the ale across his boots.

Grimgi's eyes were lambent. The characteristic trait of those who become Hollow. And in his case, his eyes had a purple glow.

"Grimgi!" he gasped.

From the corner of his eye, Orgni thought he saw a dark shape dart past him. He spun round looking for the shadow but his torch could find nothing. Again the dark shape darted from the edge of his vision and again he found nothing.

Then he started to hear faint whispers. Slapping his ears shut, he realised that they were coming from inside his head. And that was not a good sign.

"Not good!" he shuddered as the whispers got louder. "Not good at all!"

Orgni pulled up his comm unit from his belt and switched it on but before he could issue a call for help, the shadow struck. The dwarf was wrenched from his feet, his torch clattering onto the deck and sparking from the impact. His comm unit clattered loudly on the stone deck, static erupting from it's speaker with each bounce. Orgni fought against the shadow, madly swiping at it but finding nothing solid to hit before he was engulfed with a final grunt of frenzied defiance that echoed throughout the whole cargo hold.

The comm unit continued to emit static until it suddenly cleared up as the other side picked up the call.

"Orgni, is the Primarch still stowed?" Krags asked over the line. "Orgni, please respond."

A faint purple haze enveloped the comm unit and it levitated into the air. It hovered over to the inert ward.

"Yes it is." Orgni's voice could be heard from the darkness in a neutral tone.

"Good." Krags complimented. "We're coming in to dock. Get ready."

"It will be done." Orgni replied.

The comm unit switched off before the haze consumed it in a gout of purple flame, leaving nothing but fine ash to spill to the ground.

Orgni fell from the shadow, landing face down on top of Grimgi's hollow body. He was motionless, eyes lambent like his colleague as the shadow began to receded back within the Primarch's husk. Then in haunting unison ,both dwarves picked themselves up from the stone deck and walked off to some dark corner of the hold where now one would notice them. Approaching a large cargo container, Orgni pulled it open before the hollow dwarves walked in and sealed it shut, locking themselves within and out of sight.

A faint purple glow then emanated deep from within the Primarch's husk as the ward resumed power and the sound of movement within could be heard as something buried within began to stir.

Present time

In the darkness of her bedroom, Ja'anya was laying in her bed, sheets at her waist, her hands on her navel and just staring up into the ceiling with her newly repaired hawk pendant nestled on her chest. Given the stressful day that she just had, and her nightmares from the night before, she was having difficulty in sleeping. She spent hours trying laying in bed, rolling over and burying her head under her pillow, but her mind was too active to drift into subconscious thought. And she had a great many things to think about.

Ja'anya thought about what tomorrow was going to bring. How was she going to cope now that her little secret was out? If today was any indicator, she was going to have a living hell on hand once the more puritan yautja got her scent.

She rubbed her eyes and groaned at the thought of what could very well be the rest of her life. That of constant resentment of her very presence. Her human loving presence. A social pariah for another word. A lesser standing then those who are merely fascinated by humanity.

She had her mother, who supported her affections towards Alaric, and she had her friends who accepted her choice of a potential mate. But, how would Elder Kal'deris, her guardian since her father's death, react to it?

Had he already heard the rumours?

Rolling to her left, Ja'anya looked to the spot where Alaric would be sleeping. She imagined him sleeping by her side, his eyes shut and at peace from his normally active, and historically traumatic, life. And she would be cuddled up close to him, face buried in his neck and his arm around her waist holding her close.

She reached over and grabbed the pillow Alaric's head would be resting upon and brought it close to her face. She pressed it to her mouth then inhaled deeply to try and get his scent from the fabric. Unfortunately, the passage of time had reduced the scent from a strong musk to a barely notable whiff. She growled lowly in frustration but she kept it close anyway as some was better then none.

Holding it tight to her, like a toy to a small child, she concentrated her thoughts into trying to sleep. Thinking back to their last night together. How Alaric held her close to him and how he kissed her to seal the promise he made. The promise that he would return, along with her brother and his friends, to her. And after that, she had hoped that they would become life-mates.

The her thoughts drifted to what that would bring. What she wished they had done before he departed.

Ja'anya then felt that enticing tingle between her legs as her body began to respond to these thoughts. And it intensified when the pillow corner lightly brushed against her sensitive regions when she fidgeted in her current position. But rather then feeling ashamed of this, rather in her stressed state, she felt mildly relieved.

Ja'anya curled up around the pillow, imagining it to be Alaric holding her in his embrace. And in this intimate position, shutting her eyes and just letting her mind wander, she began to dream. She began to have a familiar and oh-so tantalising dream. And, to her delight, the nightmares had not resurfaced.

Yet.

Ja'anya was laying in bed with Alaric,holding each other close and basking in their nude glory. Around them, were the trophies that they had been collecting over the years they were together. Skulls of xenomorphs, razor wyrms and other prestigious kills that they would make. Alaric was gently running his hand over her abdomen, provoking a long and satisfied purr rumbling from her chest as she caressed his muscular chest. Alaric lowered his head and she rose hers before they met in a kiss. She held him closer to her as he cupped her cheek, their tongues fighting for dominance as he brought her up upon him.

Ja'anya, her restraint crumbling after so many nights dreaming of this moment and throwing caution to the wind, began to gyrate her hips against the pillow corner. A low purr was forming in her throat as the sensation of friction against her private parts sent signals of euphoria to her brain and her toes clenched. And the dream fast forwarded in her mind.

She was laying on her back, her dreadlocks spread around her as Alaric rested between her open legs. His head in her womanhood and licking her sensitive flesh, holding her close around the waist. What humans called 'Foreplay', essentially partners getting each other ready for mating. Her chest was heaving as her breath caught several times as spikes of purest ecstasy shot up her spine. Her hands on his head keeping him there.

A hand reached down between her legs as her primal desires were overcoming her restraint. Ja'anya was now a puppet of her lust. She dragged one finger from the bottom to the top of her slit, simulating Alaric's tongue as her dream intensified from the feeling. She then added another finger, then another as her rubbing began to speed up.

She cooed loudly as Alaric slowly pushed forward into her, filling her needy slit with his member and taking her maidenhood. Claiming her as his. Alaric caught her mouth in a kiss, muffling her moans with his lips and tongue as she held him close to her. When she adjusted to him, he began to move his hips back and forth as the pleasurable action of making love began.

Ja'anya was now beginning to thrust her fingers in and out of her slit, giving off a low rumbling purr intermingled with rapid breaths. She held tighter onto the pillar and continued to move her hips as she began to speed her ministrations up.

Ja'anya was now riding on Alaric, her hands on his chest and his hands on her waist. She bounced up and down, her cleavage following her movements in a hypnotic display. Alaric guided her up and down his length, his own breathing low and his ruby eyes transfixed on her. Ja'anya looked down at him, a smile forming on his face. A smile filled her face as she bent down over him, hands on each side of his head and their faces an inch apart. Then the pace quickened as her bucking and his thrusting intensified as their climax was about to erupt from them.

So close, Ja'anya thought as she was about to reach the peak.

Then the intercom buzzed loudly, jolting Ja'anya from her erotic and intimate thoughts with a startle, her climax suddenly fading away into but a mild tingle. The intercom buzzed again after a few seconds as she raised her head, taking deep breaths as her blood slowed. The buzz came again, this time with more urgency. Ja'anya grumbled as she heaved herself up, rubbing her eyes and setting the now damp pillow aside. The smell of her arousal filled up the room with its almost vanilla-like smell. And she could smell it on her fingers when she gingerly removed them from between her legs.

Ja'anya inwardly scolded herself for making such a mess as she could smell herself permeating the air with her musk. She was lucky that there wasn't a male anywhere near her otherwise things would get very messy. In more ways then one.

The intercom buzzed again, the droning lasting longer then the previous buzzing.

Getting up, Ja'anya walked over to the intercom while feeling stickiness between her thighs. She growled lowly as she approached the intercom.

"Ja'anya?" Quel'lyr's voice was heard.

She pressed the button.

"What?" she asked. "I was trying to sleep."

That was a lie. Well, expect for relieving stress in order to get to sleep.

"Ja'anya, there has been a development." Quel'lyr said, interest in her voice.

Ja'anya raised a hand to her eye, pausing when she realised it was her 'playing' hand. She sighed indignantly as she lowered it.

"A development?" she asked, before she had a nasty thought. "Is the mob at the door?" she asked sardonically.

"It's a ship." Quel'lyr answered.

Ja'anya blinked at the answer.

"A ship?" she asked.

"Biggest ship ever seen on record."Quel'lyr clarified. "Ja'anya, I don;t know how this had happened but your brother is on board."

Ja'anya blinked as her sleep deprived head processed the news before her eyes widened.

"Kra'vyx?!" she asked. "He's alive?!"

"That's what I've been told." Quel'lyr relayed. "But that ship is what's causing the most stir. Nothing like it has ever been seen before."

Ja'anya heart began to race at the possibilities that were now blooming in her mind. If Kra'vyx was alive, then that meant Alaric may be fine too. Maybe her nightmares were unfounded after all.

"But I think you should know, there is a symbol on it." Quel'lyr advised.

"A symbol?" Ja'anya asked, rubbing her face as an itch surfaced on her brow.

She grumbled into her hand as she inadvertently smeared her own essence on her face and the smell was filling up her senses. She muttered inwardly at the feeling of unintended stickiness on her face.

"An up pointed arrow with a chevron." Quel'lyr described.

Ja'anya's head shot up from her hands at the description with a barely audible schlick.

An up pointed arrow with a chevron? She thought. That's Alaric's rune!"

"What?" she asked.

"That's what they're saying."Quel'lyr said. "Listen, did you want to go see it? Give your brother a warm welcome back?"

Ja'anya would have immediately rushed out the door and down to the docks. But, she was not that eager to go out in the nude. She did not need any more reasons for ridicule then what she already got.

Then she suddenly realised that her... session was still smelling strong on her. Clinging to her inner thighs and, embarrassingly, on her face. She was lucky that Quel'lyr wasn't able to smell her through the door. And if any males outside caught her scent on the docks, it could start a riot.

"Just give me a few minutes." Ja'anya quickly said. "I need to freshen up."

Ja'anya ran into the bathroom and spent the next few minutes scrubbing herself down. Getting rid of the evidence as it were. Not the kind of thing she wanted her friend or anyone else finding out. Releasing steam by herself as it were.

When Ja'anya came out of her bedroom, dressed in a long knee length tunic and parted skirt with sandals and the shieldhawk pendant around her neck. Quel'lyr was sitting on the cushions waiting for her, still in her casual clothing with the addition of a long linen cloack lined with shimmering fur. Seeing her friend come out, she got up and walked up to her. Quel'lyr was about to say something when she paused. Sniffing the air, she purred in an interested and possibly aroused manner. Ja'anya on the other hand held her head in her hands when she remembered about the sheets on her bed. Her pheromones had saturated them from her intense dream of Alaric.

"Ja'anya, were you..."Quel'lyr asked, with a smirk.

"Don't you dare." Ja'anya warned with a growl, pointing a taloned finger to her friend's throat.

Quel'lyr playfully backed off with her hands raised in submission.

The Karak and it's frigate escort approached the Column Docks, the engines rumbling as the ship reached the main dock of the seventh level docks. One of the the largest that could accommodate it's immense size of which the largest motherships was a fraction bigger. The Karak's manoeuvring thrusters flared as the ship slowly pivoted into the correct angle before the main thrusters flared once more.

This required intense concentration on the crews part, demanding perfect unison to avoid a catastrophic impact.

The Column Docks is the main berthing facility for all the largest ships to Lai'kairis, ranging up to the largest motherships. Situated in the central column that connected the north and south hemispheres of Lai'kairis, the docks were a hundred kilometres in circumference to accommodate many a vessel. Smaller vessels would normally dock in the hangers located in the hemispheres, which was convenient for temporary visitors and quick departures.

The frigate manoeuvred to the dock that had been flagged for the Karak and sailed in. The Karak fired it's thrusters as it adjusted it's approach and slowly hovered into the dock as it's manoeuvring thrusters maintained a steady course. Passing through the environmental energy field, the mighty ship sailed through as it's phase shields caused a rippling effect throughout the whole field. The gate crew in their berths watched hesitantly and with held breaths as the Karak came within just feet of colliding with the gate edges.

Inside this level of the Column Docks, it was relatively empty with only a single mothership and a dozen or so cruisers at berth. The frigate was the smallest vessel for the time being.

The Karak hovered into the main bay at the centre, the largest that was available for it at such short notice. The Karak slowed it's speed until it hovered in place as it's landing struts lowered and expanded. The ship then slowly landed on the indented landing pad as magnetic clamp arms extended out and fixed to the Karak's hull for stability and weight distribution. As the weight of the Karak rested on the pad there was an audible metallic groan coming from the load bearing pillars beneath as they adjusted to the ships weight, more pillars slid out of hidden ports to add to the structural integrity of the pad.

Finally, the Karak was berthed and the engine thrusters powered down into a standby state, leaving a bright glow as an indicator for readiness. Gusts of steam shot out from the cooling ports, like a horse would steam after a hard fought race, obscuring the Karak's immediate surrounds. On the docks, yautja began to approach to get a look of these strange newcomers to their clan ship.

On the bridge, Jari and his copilots released their sticks and sat back in their seats as the engine readouts lowered into an idle state. On the canopy screens, everyone on the bridge could see that quite a sizeable group of yautja were gathering around the Karak. Mostly made up of crews and passengers from arriving or near departing ships and dock hands who were maintaining the docks and the berthed ships.

Alaric and the Archangels were still on the bridge, taking in the great expanse of the Column Docks while Kra'vyx and his friends had since went back to the mess hall to retrieve their trophies and no doubt do some last minute polishing. Varlin was in his chair and Kazrik was standing next to Alaric's throne as Aegis adjusted his perch on top.

"Nicely done, helmsman." Varlin praised, blowing out a neat smoke ring.

"That opening was tighter then a virgin Sidhe." Jari compared with a lewd comment.

He immediately got looks of disapproval for that vulgar comparison. His beard drooped when he saw Stonefather Kazrik tapping his staff on the deck. The Archangels and initiates on the other hand had a rough idea that the helmsman said something inappropriate.

"Sorry, that's my father speaking." he apologised, nervously tugging his beard. "I never actually... oh, never mind."

"Just don't let Lysandros hear you say that." Kazrik warned.

"If he heard that, I would be dead before I even blinked!" Treval shouted from below.

The Archangels walked up to the railing for a better look at the docks and were thoroughly impressed with the sheer size. So much so that they started making comparisons which what humanity had built.

"You could fit all of Gateway Station in here and still have room." Mac said.

"Hell, you could probably fit Tannhauser gate in here." Hicks added. "Although it think that's stretching it a bit."

Gateway Station is the main space station of the Sol System, named due to it being the final departure point before travel to the Core Systems. Tannhauser Gate on the other hand is a much larger space installation, built into a large mined out asteroid, that marks the boundary between the Outer Rim Territories and the expanses of the Frontier.

The Archangels were beginning to wonder on the amount of resources, technological development and manpower needed to build Lai'kairis. And, if that was sustained, how long did it take to build?

Years?

Centuries?

Andrzej at this point stopped focusing on the surroundings and was now looking down at the huge crowd that had been growing outside. To the port side of the Karak.

"Quite a crowd we drew here." Andrzej pointed out with a finger to the docks. "Never seen so many hunters at once."

Most hunting parties faced by humanity comprised of no more then a dozen yautja. Larger concentrations were rare outside full scale raids but never in the hundreds.

"Look at that, there's a welcoming party among the mob." Sergei added. "Some shiny hunters up front."

A screen projected up on the canopy for everyone to see and zooming in, there were indeed hunters in shining armour.

There were a sizeable number of yautja in shining armour, around two dozen of them, who had taken positions in front of the crowd,. Like police at a rally, they were keeping the crowd away from the Karak in case anything unexpected and dangerous happened or if some famous celebrity was about to disembark and was going to get stampeded by fanatical fans.

In this case, with the prize that was going to be shown, they might as well have celebrity status.

Alaric and the initiates recognised this caste of yautja.

"Those are Arbitrators." Alaric explained to the Archangels. "Law enforcement and full time warriors. And as a word of warning, they take their duties very seriously so don't fuck around with them."

"I can see that."Karl confirmed from the way an arbitrator hurled an interloper by the throat back into the crowd like he was a sack of rice.

Hicks looked at each in turn before he nodded. He then starting typing into his new data pad, one of several that he had been issued in his duffel bag. By the time they're finished with their mission, he was going to have more information logged down then humanity ever had over the centuries. Myths and legends discounted of course.

"Well, no good sitting around. It's time to introduce ourselves." Varlin said, pressing on his intercom. "Entourage, report to the cargo hold. We're coming down."

Alaric dismounted his throne, the whole apparatus lowering down and his armour shifting as he disengaged his connection. Aegis hopped off his shoulder and hovered in the air, wings flapping as he pulled off his shield from it's rack and attached to it's port. The arm bands shifted over his armoured arm and the rune on the shield face glowed as the phase-shields came online. Then he retrieved his great axe, Spellbreaker, and holstered it on his back's magnetic holster with a solid clang.

"Well, let's hope your introductions were better then mine." Alaric hoped out loud to his squad. "Just don't be surprised if you get examined. It's only grab to the neck."

"Considering we got a battleship bigger then any of theirs, I think we'll be fine." Andrzej assured.

"And we got over a thousand dwarves on our side." Karl added. "Packing more railguns then anything this side of the galaxy."

The responses that the rest of the squad was giving indicated that morale was up as it were. It was good to think about the positives then the negatives, despite how extreme they could be. Here they were, a squad of the best soldiers humanity had to offer on a mission of historical importance. Establishing a working diplomatic relation with the Yautja race. Or at least one notable clan of the Yautja.

The Karak, while a completely unexpected boon given the events on the ice planet, was a deciding factor to lean the coming events to their favour. It would help to insure that none of the more xenophobic purists would get any ideas of causing trouble. Not if they want over a thousand dwarves out for blood.

Varlin left his seat, pulling his pipe out from his mouth and blowing another smoke ring that lingered around his head.

"Jari, kill the engines." he commanded, waving the smoke ring away. "Divert power to standing stations and keep the defences running."

"Aye, thane." Jari obeyed, as he pulled a few levers and the rumbling of the idle engines ceased.

Alaric hefted his helmet up and donned it, the iris lenses flashing into life as it sealed over his head.

"Well, guys." he said, taking a deep breath. "This is it. Welcome to Lai'kairis."

And with that, he and the Archangels departed from the bridge, followed by Varlin and Kazrik and Aegis landing on Alaric's shoulder. The Archangels donned their helmets and banter began to permeate the air between them. Banter on how first impressions were going to be.

Time to introduce themselves to their hopefully gracious hosts.

Upon reaching the Column Docks from the express elevators, Ja'anya pushed her way through the crowd as Quel'lyr led the way. Owing to her smaller size, she had difficulty in keeping up with her friend visually but she was able to navigate her way past the onlookers by exploiting the gaps between legs. Though, by using this method, she did almost got stepped on several times.

And thankfully, her scent was back to it's neutral state so she had no fear of aroused males hounding her.

Finally getting to the front of the crowd and being let through by the line of arbitrators holding the crowd back, she was surprised when she saw that her mother, the High Priestess and Elder Kal'deris were standing at the fore. And she was also surprised to find both were in their armour, giving her the impression they they had each decided to continue the search for her Alaric and her brother with the Council's consent. Kal'deris was in his light Diskmaster armour and Zel'tyr was in her traditional Spear Strider armour. Segmented plate armour on her upper torso, her legs up to her mid thighs and entire arms supplemented with long ribbons of intertwined cordage on the forearms, and robes made from from an almost silk-like material. The ribbons were designed to ensnare weaponry and also for restraining prey.

But before she could ask what was going on and why there was such a large crowd, she noticed the sight before her. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the sight of the two kilometre long ship docked before her. Seeing it in person was far more impressive then hearing about it. And she could see all the intricate decorations that had been carved or engraved on the hull. The most striking to her were the geometrical faces of bearded humanoids.

She felt, as did everyone who saw them, as if she as being watched.

And on top of what was undoubtedly the bridge of the ship was the symbol that Quel'lyr told her about. A curved up pointed arrow with an angular chevron.

"Ja'anya!" Zel'tyr shouted over the commotion, waving to her daughter.

Ja'anya snapped out of her stupor after Quel'lyr patted her on the head and nudged her off. Ja'anya walked up to her mother as Kal'deris turned to them.

"Mother, what is going on?" Ja'anya asked. "Is it true Kra'vyx is on that ship?"

"That's what we believe." Kal'deris said, his arms crossed. "The frigate captain was quite adamant about that."

He then looked to the ship. Needless to say, being up close to the ship was intimidating to say the least.

"But we have other things to consider." he added with apprehension in his voice "For one, we don't know the race that owns that ship."

"Race?" Ja'anya asked. "What race?"

"Well, from what we're told, the shorter hairy oomanoids call themselves 'Kaz-drin' or something or other." Kal'deris explained, "But the ooman sized ones are wearing armour that we've never seen before. Not any make we've ever seen with other races. Especially the leader."

"Their leader?" Zel'tyr asked. "Who is he? And how did they find my son?"

"I don't know, he was silent during their conversation." Kal'deris said with a shrug. "Two Kaz-drin called Kaz-rik and Var-lin made the arrangements." he then "But and this is very strange, and almost more then a coincidence, is that they found them on an ice planet."

"An ice planet?" Ja'anya asked.

"One which was restricted." Ly'wen spoke up.

Ja'anya looked up at her mother at the mention of a restricted world. Under normal circumstances, restricted worlds were those which was utterly inimical to life. Zel'tyr knew that the planet in question was no doubt the one that she and Kal'deris was going to. The one that Hy'dorles had thwarted Kal'deris' appeal to the council about.

Speaking of which.

"What is the meaning of this!?" came a loud demand from the crowd.

It was the Loremaster in person. This ageing yautja looked as every bit as pompous as he ever was, he wore robes that were highly ornamented and adorned with ceremonial gold plating which had yautja script engraved around the edged. At his belt was a large leather tome, no doubt a historical volume of some kind. He also wore a headdress which had scriptures inlined with enamel.

He was not pleased to say the least with the sudden docking of an alien ship.

"Elder Hy'dorles." Kal'deris greeted.

Hy'dorles did not bother to even greet Zel'tyr and Ja'anya was he paced up towards Kal'deris. Though he did give a curt nod to the High Priestess out of decorum.

"Kal'deris, why is there an alien ship on Lai'kairis?!" He demanded, pointing a talon at the ship. "Did you forget what we were talking about with the Council?"

"I am well aware of what the verdict was." Kal'deris said, firmly. "But things had undoubtedly changed."

"NOT the orders of the Council!" Hy'dorles clarified, his tone unchanging and volume not softening. "I find you here in full armour like you were about to commit mutiny."

"You call searching for my son mutiny?" Zel'tyr questioned with a faint growl

"The laws are clear. That world is off limits to you, to me, to anyone!" Hy'dorles shouted as her.

He was interrupted by the sound of a long droning horn coming from the ship. The sound that usually preceded the opening of exterior airlocks.

"Maybe, you should ask them that yourself." Kal'deris suggested gesturing to the ship. "You shouting seems to have caught their attention."

The side hatch of the Karak opened with a loud hiss of pressurised gas, horizontal halves opening and forming a ramp and canopy. The assembled yautja saw only darkness beyond the door. Darkness that almost seemed to absorb the light of the docks.

Hy'dorles' rant immediately died in his through when he saw the void that was within the vast ship.

"As I thought." Kal'deris said from the Loremaster's apparent refusal.

A faint hovering light was seen within the darkness, followed by a shrill avian call. The light became brighter until a shining metallic hawk came soaring out from the darkness, gliding in a wide arc over the crowd. It glided over them for a few seconds, looking down upon the watching yautja before flying back to the ship as another entity emerged from the darkness.

A human sized figure, male from the size and clad in shining glowing armour and a magnificent crimson cloak covering his shoulder and most of his body. It was a futuristic hoplite donning the intimidating corinthian helmet, armed with a large shield in the left hand and a long ornate geometrical spear in the right, came walking down the ramp. His boots rapped loudly on the deck as he left the ramp and walked out towards the crowd. The silver hawk landed on his right shoulder as he stopped ten metres from them.

While Kal'deris and Zel'tyr seemed moderately taken aback by the figure, Ja'anya on the other hand noticed something about the hoplite. The lenses on the helmet had circular disks that acted like irises. And they seemed to be focusing on her.

And what is more, the shield bore a distinctive and oddly familiar symbol. The same that matched the crest on the ship's bridge as Quel'lyr described.

An up pointed arrow with a chevron in the middle.

"That's the leader." Kal'deris pointed. "Have to say, he looks more imposing in the flesh."

"And he does look Hellenic." Zel'tyr added. "What race do you think he is?"

Hy'dorles resumed his tirade at an inopportune moment.

"I don't care what race he is, he is not welcome here!" he stated with barely contained revulsion.

But for Ja'anya, she was not intimidated by the sight. Something in her heart told her that this was not some alien creature, clad in armour of a bygone ere. But someone closer.

Then, as if she was under some mysterious trance, she slowly walked forwards as if to get a better look. As she took a few steps, Kal'deris quickly stepped ahead of her and stopped her from going any further. While she did stop, she saw something else about the hoplite. The decoration on his helmet, which were silver flames tinged blue and weeping from the eyes.

"Ja'anya, don't." he warned.

Ja'anya wasn't paying attention to him, transfixed as she were by the hoplite's unexplained familiarity. The hoplite in question looked as if he was hiding something. Ja'anya could sense it. She could feel it welling up in her heart. Especially when she saw something attached to his thighs.

Two identical axes.

From where he stood, Alaric decided to proceed with the next step.

Time for the big reveal, Alaric thought. I hope she doesn't kill me.

Alaric clasped his spear in his shield hand and proceeded to remove his helm, the crest swaying as his hands made contact. He pressed the clasp on his neck and the seal released with a quiet hiss.

This action caused everyone to tense up with anticipation and a dead silence fell upon the docks. At the moment when they would see if figure was a human or some race that had only just came onto the galactic spectrum.

Clasping the helmet by a cheek piece, Alaric slowly removed the helm, the crest waving through the air and the rest of his heavily ornamented hair flowing with freedom down his back jingling like a wind chime. Pulling it clear off, it's lenses fading out, he carried his helm under his arm as he stood firm.

Zel'tyr and Kal'deris blinked at the sight of a human. The human who had been brought into their lives by Ja'anya.

Ja'anya's violet eyes widened to the brink when she saw the man she loved, the man she fantasised making love to her only minutes before, standing before her. And this was not a dream, or hallucinations from lack of sleep, as she rubbed her eyes and when she lowered her hands. Alaric was still there as her fingers began to slightly quiver.

This was real.

Alaric, holding back a smile which crept out a slight smirk, bowed his head slightly.

"Hey, Ja'anya." he called out.

Ja'anya, tears of joy welling up in her eyes and hearing his voice once more, couldn't hold it back any more. She tore past Kal'deris, knocking the elder to the side almost on his knees, and ran as fast as she could towards Alaric. Alaric let his helm, spear and shield drop to the ground with a loud dense clatter of ancient alloy and held his arms out just as Ja'anya was within jumping distance. Ja'anya jumped into Alaric's arms with a loud thump and he caught her, wrapping his arms around her and cradling her head. The momentum of her leap made them spin around and with the flowing of Alaric's cloak and long hair, added a somewhat romantic flair.

Like a knight returning to his princess.

Ja'anya was hugging tightly him for all her worth, never wanting to lose him again. Then, maybe intentionally on Alaric's part, they both lost their balance and Alaric landed on his back with a resounding clang that echoed throughout the dock. The silver hawk hovered over them, watching with what could be overdue satisfaction in it's diamond eyes.

"You came back!" Ja'anya whispered, her happiness barely contained. "You came back!"

Alaric held her head close to his mouth as he whispered to her.

"I promised, didn't I?" Alaric whispered back. "And I never forgot it."

Ja'anya pulled her head back and before Alaric could say anything else, she caught his lips in a desperate and much overdue kiss. Alaric knew this was not the place for it given the crowd watching them but, shrugging at the futility of hiding it any more, responded to her affections and let her take the reins.

Kal'deris, his brows raised in stunned shock from this level of affection, was about to make his way over to them but Zel'tyr clasped his shoulder and maternally shook her head.

"Kal'deris, leave her be." she softly pleaded.

Kal'deris turned to her. His suspicions had now been vindicated.

"You knew?" she realised "The rumours are fact?"

"Leave her be." Zel'tyr simply repeated.

Hy'dorles on the other hand looked as if he was going to be sick. But before he could say anything, Zel'tyr nodded to Quel'lyr who ushered Hy'dorles back before he did anything questionable. Kal'deris on the other hand had his mind in a bend as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing.

Ja'anya IS in love with that 'ooman', he thought with a high level of concern. She doesn't know!

Alaric and Ja'anya by now had broken their kiss, mainly due to lack of oxygen despite Ja'anya holding as long as she could. Their foreheads touched as she held her shieldhawk pendant to him.

"I never took this off." she revealed, holding the silver and bronze effigy to him. "And it kept you safe."

Alaric looked at the pendant, seeing it glint in the light before he smirked.

"Oh, I don't know." Alaric said, winking to Aegis hovering over them. "I have one of my own now." he said,

Aegis fluttered down down, landing next to him and cocking his head at Ja'anya. She sat up on Alaric's waist looking at the hawk as Alaric himself sat up. Holding out a hand, Aegis jumped on and Ja'anya got a closer look at the shieldhawk as Alaric brought him up to her.

"This is Aegis." Alaric introduced. "My guide and close friend."

Ja'anya looked at the silver hawk before looking at her pendant in comparison. It was almost as if they were one and the same. She held out a hand towards the hawk and Aegis hopped closer as Ja'anya laid her hand on his shield-crested head. She was surprised at how smooth and silky his metallic feathers were. And Aegis shut his eyes and tilted his head when he felt her talon scratch him behind his head.

Ja'anya giggled when she heard Aegis give of a small trill of delight and a wing rapidly twitched.

"He's beautiful." she admired as she pulled her hand back.

Aegis bowed his head in what looked like embarrassment. His plumage slowly brightened as if he was blushing. Ja'anya then looked to Alaric as another question came fother

"Where's Kra'vyx?" she asked, placing her hands on his armoured chest. "Is he alright? Is he alive?"

Alaric simply cocked his head towards the Karak.

"Oh he's perfectly fine." he assured. "You can ask him yourself."

Alaric stood up, holding Ja'anya to him as he held a hand to his mouth and turned to the Karak. Aegis jumped onto his shoulder and perched there.

"You can come out everyone!" he called out, waving a hand. "Show them your prizes!"

On cue, the welcome party made their way out from the darkness. Kra'vyx and his friends came down first, each of them banged and bruised, clad in scavenged and improvised armour and, to the surprise of all, they had their massive xenomorph head trophies balanced on their shoulders as they strode down the ramp with the aura of victorious hunters. Despite them looking like dregs from the bottom of a slum. Behind them came the six human-sized beings in geometrical armour with intimidating respirators and each with a unique sword sheathed on their backs, walking down the ramp in perfect unison as if on parade, their not out of tune. Behind them came the two Khazdryn leaders. Stonefather Kazrik with his staff rapping on the ramp and onto the deck and Thane Varlin Ironbeard smoking his pipe and leaving a smoke trail behind him. And accompanying them was also the Spartans Lysandros and his grandson Cyrus in full armour and spears out. And both looked wary of their surroundings, searching for any sign of an ambush as they strode down the ramp.

"Sister!" Kra'vyx greeted, holding up his trophy as he neared the end of the ramp. "Look at at this!"

He then immediately tripped over at the end of the ramp and fell flat on his bruised face. But, through sheer determination, he still had his trophy held up. Ja'anya held a hand over her face at the sight of her brother's mishap. But she was not embarrassed, but she was chuckling. As was Fel'tak who held his charred skull trophy on his shoulder. Mal'fax and Ly'enta paused to help their friend up, who simply shook his head and carried on without saying another word.

Zel'tyr at that point came running over at the sight of her son. Her victorious though badly bruised son.

"Kra'vyx, what in the hell did you do to yourself out there?" she asked, rubbing his face. "You're a mess!"

"Mother, I'm fine." Kra'vyx protested, holding up his trophy. "If anything I fell stronger then ever! I mean, look at my trophy!"

Zel'tyr looked at her son's trophy and her eyes scanned over it. She was taken aback by the sheer size of it. This was far bigger then any xenomorph she was accustomed to hunting or even on her first hunt. If anything it was the same size as a praetorian.

And the idea that her son had slew one of the xenomorph queen's personal guard on his first hunt filled her with a sense of pride.

"You slew a royal guard?" Zel'tyr asked before pride filled up her heart. 'I am immensely proud of you, my son!"

Kra'vyx looked at his trophy.

"Royal guard? Nah, this is just a warrior." he admitted. "Royal guards are way bigger then this and they can breath fire!"

The High Priestess approached her granddaughter.

"The gods truly watched over you, granddaughter." she praised.

"The gods?" she said, before looking at Alaric with clear admiration in her eyes, "You should be thanking Alaric. He kept us safe." she looked back at her grandmother. "He saved me from becoming one of them." she added.

As the reunions were taking place, with the dwarves and spartans watching from the sidelines, Kal'deris took this moment to add his own. He approached Alaric, who still had Ja'anya in his arms and he made a formal show of authority.

"Well, Alaric." Kal'deris said, before composing himself. "It seems I may have been a bit harsh on you."

That's an understatement, Alaric thought.

"But, in this drastic series of events, it satisfies me to say... Thank you for ensuring Kra'vyx and his friends' safe return." Kal'deris thanked.

Alaric simply shook his head, his hair jingling with the motion.

"There's nothing to thank, Elder." Alaric said, holding Ja'anya closer to him. "I was simply holding a promise."

Ja'anya nuzzled his shoulder with a barely audible purr. Kal'deris inwardly fought back the feeling of danger that he felt for her, before he turned his attention to the armoured figures still standing at attention.

"And who are these 'companions' that are with you?" Kal'deris asked, gesturing to them.

"Who are they Alaric?" Ja'anya asked. "Are they ooman?"

"Even better." Alaric said as he turned to the line of armoured figures. "Ja'anya, I present to you my old squad, The Archangels." Alaric introduced. "It's thanks to them that we survived the initial adventure at all."

As one, the Archangels removed their helmets and provoked quite a stir from the crowed. More humans on Lai'kairis. The sound of surprise, shock and a few bouts of questions filled the air.

The Archangels responded with a bit of banter themselves at the reception.

'God, it's hot here." Sergei said, pulling at his collar for comfort.

It was true that the Yautja prefer a hotter climate then most humans would find perfect, typically like that of the Amazon rainforest during the summer. And being cooped up in full armour in such an environment was agonising to say the least. Especially if they had just came from a frozen planet.

"Compared to that ice hole back there, this is a welcome change." Sarah reminded. "Still, it's only the humidity that makes it bad.

"The way they're reacting it's like we're the first humans they've ever seen." Hicks commented, pulling out his data pad and switching it to camera function.

"I think they're more used to severed heads then whole humans in their ships." Mac postulated as the Scribe began to record.

Hy'dorles' fuming surged back to the fray at the sight of more humans in Lai'akiris.

"More oomans?!" Hy'dorles exclaimed from the crowd. "This whole ship had gone mad to let primitives on board!"

Varlin's beard cringed at the sound of the word, Khazdryn pride offended by the comparison. So much so that he walked in front of the Archangels, provoking more murmurs from the crowd as the arbitrators formed a skirmish line. Like a fight was about to ensure.

"Excuse me, we can understand what you're saying, you y'know!" Varlin protested in yautjan. "And we Khazdryn don't take kindly to being insulted!"

Hy'dorles shut his mouth when he realised that the humans and the short humans could understand what he was saying, even so far as to speak the language. So far, because of him, first impressions were not running as smoothly as could be done.

"Now if you be so kind to shut up for one minute, we'll be happy to argue once we've finished introductions." Varlin requested before puffing on his pipe to end the tirade.

The outburst worked as silence filled the docks. Evidently, the crowd and the xenophobic elder took this subtle show of force well. Varlin nodded as he blew a smoke ring and gestured to Andrzej to proceed.

"Thank you, thane." Andrzej said, taking the lead.

Andrzej walked up to Kal'deris, as Alaric and Ja'anya stood to the side, holding his helmet under his left arm and offered the elder a sharp formal salute with his right. His squad stood to attention and saluted as well, steeping in tune with perfect timing.

Nothing less for the most elite squad of OSIRIS.

Kal'deris was impressed with the timing.

"Elder Kal'deris. Archangels Captain Andrzej Kabowski, Special Operations Divisions captain of OSIRIS. And chosen representative of the United Earth Federation." he introduced, bring his hand down and offering it to Kal'deris. "A pleasure to meet you."

Kal'deris looked at the captain as the Archangels stood at ease and then to his extended hand. He then looked at Zel'tyr for her opinion on this. All she did was gesture him to accept the human's greeting. He looked back to Andrzej's hand before taking it in his own. Andrzej then gave him a good handshake of which the bemused elder took a moment before he answered back with one of his own.

"History in the making." Hicks said to the squad with excitement, catching everything on his datapad.

Kal'deris released his hand, processing the fact that he just shook hands with someone that he would have no doubt be hunting if things had been different. And Andzrej was thinking the same thing, as the last time a yautja got it's hands on him was trying to tear his throat out.

"Well, this is... something I'm not accustomed to." he said in his native tongue, wondering what to do next.

"I can vouch for that." Andrzej agreed in english. "Not something I thought I would do either."

Kal'deris blinked in surprise by how quick Andrzej responded. It was like he had a complete understanding of the yautja language. But how was that possible if this was the first time the human came to a clan ship?

"You understand what I am saying?" Kal'deris asked, with surprise that bordered on shock. "How can you understand me?"

"Translators." Andrzej revealed, pointing to his augmented ear. "The Khazdryn provided them for all of us."

"So don't think you can insult us without us knowing it." Karl called out.

Varlin walked up with Stonefather Kazrik and they stood either side of Andrzej for their introduction.

"Elder Kal'deris, I am Thane Varlin Ironbeard. Captain of this fine vessel: The Karak." Varlin introduced with a fist to his chest. "And proud member of the Khazdryn of Karak Khazdra."

Kal'deris nodded back as Kazrik stepped forward to greet the elder.

"And I am Stonefather Kazrik." Kazrik greeted with a bow from his crowned head. "Representative of Khazdryk, Ancestral Father of the Khazdryn."

Ly'wen stepped over at the mention of another divine representative. One of a different pantheon to hers. And that made her curious.

"Another member of the faith?" she questioned as intrigue crept on her face. "What a momentous occasion!"

She then grabbed Kazrik by his armoured shoulders and, with surprising strength, dragged him off his feet to the side to talk about matters of divine nature. Kazrik tidied himself as a barrage of questions assaulted him, such as who his chosen god was and what his position was. Kazrik, in a rare moment from his usual wise state, was at a loss of how to proceed.

But while all these introductions were happening, of which Lysandros and Cryrus stepped up to Kal'deris by Varlin's word and offered only a curt nod, Ja'anya had a burning question in her mind and her heart. It was the reason why Alaric had gone on this hunt in the fist place.

"But... Alaric, where's your trophy?" Ja'anya asked. "You do have a trophy... Don't you?"

Alaric could not help but cracked a grin at the question before he looked to Kra'vyx. Kra'vyx nodded with much of the same level of humour from his sister's question.

"Yes... about that." he started, before he looked back at the Karak. "Well, its a bit difficult to move, you see."

"But if it's the same as Kra'vyx's..." Ja'anya started before she was interrupted.

"Nope. Nope, it's nothing like that." Karl said, walking over. "For one thing, it makes those heads look like pebbles."

Ja'anya looked at Karl with surprise on her face. For one thing, she had never seen a human with such a massive red beard before and such piercing eyes glaring from beneath. He looked almost like a tall version of a dwarf but not as broad.

"Karl, get back here." Hicks called out. "You can see that Alaric's girlfriend is shy." he joked.

Karl simply bowed his head and walked off back to his squad who even now had broken ranks and were busy conversing. No doubt with introductions going well, they were debating on what would happen next.

"Karl can be a bit forthright at times." Alaric explained. "What he means is that my trophy requires mechanical assistance."

Ja'anya growled lowly, hinting that she may have to beat the norwegian back next time he intruded on their space. And more so when Hicks presumed their relationship a joke, which to their soon to be surprise is anything but. Alaric simply held her close and her growl softened into a purr as she felt his armoured hand rub her arm. Aegis shifted on Alaric's shoulder as he lowered his head to her and gave her a soft peck on her crested head. She clicked her mandibles from that touch of affection.

Alaric looked up to Varlin who was still with Kal'deris and giving him a lengthy speech all about the Karak. Kal'deris, despite trying to keep up, was obviously starting to lose interest much to Varlin's disappointment. Kazrik on the other hand was slowly becoming more open with the High Priestess, beginning to discuss higher learning.

Lysandros and Cyrus on the other hand were still standing on guard, keeping their eyes out for any sign of a ambush or any other trickery. Being spartans, they were unaccustomed to these moments of peace, outside of rigorous training or performing athletic exercises. That was not to say that spartans were incapable of relaxing, rather they just would not let their guard down until they were absolutely sure there was no threat.

From the yautja of Lai'kairis or otherwise.

Kra'vyx was with his mother as she was continuing to fret over her son, much to his protests as his friends watched with amusement.

Alaric decided that the time was now.

"Varlin, it's time for the big reveal." Alaric called out.

Varlin nodded as he bowed his head to Kal'deris and walked towards the Karak, trailing a smoke trail behind him as took his pipe from his mouth.

"You lot might want to brace yourselves for this." Varlin warned everyone, turning his back towards the Karak and giving a loud whistle. "It's the sight of a lifetime!" he called out.

A loud droning blast was heard echoing throughout the docks as the assembled yautja looked up as the Karak's hold opened, it's doors splitting into halves and then quarters. And everyone in the docks gasped collectively when they saw Alaric's trophy that was slowly drifting into the light. It was the Primarch's corpse, neatly stacked and arranged. The motorised platform rumbled down the ramp, the sound of smooth running metal treads pressing to the stone as the platform levelled out. a detachment of dwarf engineers, led by Krags, followed to ensure a smooth delivery. some even ran off in front of the platform to kick out any debris in the way.

Ja'anya was flabbergasted at the sight of Alaric's trophy. It was bigger then anything that she could imagine to hunt. it was so big that it made a xenomorph queen-mother look like a lowly drone. Zel'tyr was easily as stunned while Kra'vyx simply nodded at the sight of Alaric's trophy. Kal'deris

"You might want to step back." Alaric called out as the sound of a vehicle horned erupted from within the Karak's hold.

The platform rumbled out as everyone moved along as the Primarch was trundled out, showing off more of the Primarch's remains. most impressive of which was the remains of six wings. Once it was fully out of the Karak and was fully on the dock, the platform stopped and the dwarves inside the cab lowered the platform onto the deck. There was a audible groan from the dock as the added weight caused some of the more wary yautja to suddenly back off.

One however rushed over to the dead gargantuan xenomorph.

"What is that?!" Hy'dorles exclaimed. "What is this thing?!"

Kra'vyx, handing his mother his trophy approached the elder, his face scrunched up into a barely suppressed grin as he proceeded to tell the Elder the truth of this corpse. A truth that he had been fanatically denying for many many years.

"This is a literal beast of legend." Kra'vyx said, his excitement getting the best of him and making sure everyone could hear him. "This is a Primarch. One of the god-prey!"

Talk began to erupt from the crowd. This pile of bones is the remains of one of the most legendary creatures in the galaxy? One which had swept the Yautja race into their period of regression in the Dark Times?

Hy'dorles looked up at the corpse, thinking of some way to deny it. There was no way that a beast told only in old legends could be real, despite his eyes showing otherwise.

"This can't be real." he denied. "The Primarch's never existed, no evidence of them existing has ever been found! They're just tales made up to frighten unruly pups!"

Kra'vys walked up to a massive arm and began to beat his fist against it. The sound of drumming was heard as his fist struck the bony exoskeleton.

"Sounds and feels real to me." he clarified, walking back to the elder and pushing him towards the corpse. "Go on, have a feel." he dared. "It won't bite back."

Hy'dorles however, shoved Kra'vyx back and stepped back from the Primarch. His flushed face looked as if he was about to have a panic attack from this history changing occasion. Everything he believed in was crumbling down before him.

"You are all insane!" he shouted. "This is nothing but a dishonourable trick by these outsiders!"

Kal'deris at that point, having enough of the Loremaster's outbursts ruining the occasion, snapped his fingers and three arbitrators came walking up.

"Elder Hy'dorles, you are to remain behind the line." One arbitrator ordered. "This is your first and last warning."

"How dare you!" Hy'dorles protested as the other two arbitrators grabbed him by the shoulders. "I am one of the Council!"

"And you are proving to be more of a problem then an aid." Kal'deris pointed out. "You can rant about this at the next meeting, not before." he looked to the first arbitrator. "Arbitrator, can you please confirm whether or not this is real so we can put this matter behind us." he asked.

The arbitrator held up his gauntlet and an array of scanners extended out. Standard issue forensic and environment scanners that should prove adequate for this task. That was answer enough.

"Your are all insane!" Hy'dorles shouted as he was dragged away. "You won't get away with these lies! I'll find the truth!"

The Arbitrator shook his head at the Loremaster's rant as he approached the Primarch and held his hand over it's arm. Beams projected from the array as they scanned the biological composition of the Primarch's corpse. They would find out if it was a real god among xenomorphs or just some fossil of interest.

Alaric looked to Ja'anya as the Arbitrator worked, scanning various areas on the Primarch, and saw that she was still staring at his trophy with a slack jaw and wide eyes. He took this moment to hug her closer and it snapped her out of her stupor when she felt his ornamented hair brush against her cheek.

"Impressed?" he asked her, cracking a grin.

Ja'anya looked at him and he could see in her eyes that more questions were forming in her mind.

"How the hell did you get something that big?" Ja'anya asked, pointing the the Primarch's gargantuan skull. "And more so, how did you kill it?"

Alaric simply patted Spellbreaker on his back with a knowing wink. Varlin walked up at that point, smoking his pipe as he approached them and his beard curling into a grin.

"That is a story that is yet to be told, lassie." Varlin said. "And what a tale is it!"