Chapter 14: The past and the legends
Ka'jeal sat down in the chair in from of the computer and spun it to look at Vaughn. Vaughn held up the other mask. "This guy and me weren't exactly the best of friends. He ambushed me when I went to check out... well when I went to check something. He probably would have killed me too if it wasn't for me being all... you know, artificial" Ka'jeal seemed confused for a moment, then seemed to understand. Vaughn continued: "well hell I wouldn't have even been able to survive if not for that weird... acceleration... yeah, I like that." "Acceleration?" "Yeah I... uh... its kinda hard to explain, all of a sudden everything was just slowed you know? Like time had slowed down around me, like I was floating, and everyone else had just stopped." The predator spoke with excitement. "Yes...yes! Ooman! That is just like the legends... the greatest Yautja legends tell of warriors that could command time it! They could move like the wind and strike faster than one could form a thought..." Vaughn stopped him. "Yautja?" "Yes ooman, we are the Yautja."
Vaughn was surprised to have a name to give to these aliens, but he liked that he could. "Go on" "yes, these warriors were said to be unbeatable in combat." "So... How did they get that way?" "By way of the gods of course. The gods gave them a gift, some of their own bones, and when the warriors took the bones into themselves, they became invincible!" Vaughn was stunned. He remembered something that looked like bones, tiny and white, they could have even been finger bones. He remembered them from his surgery. They were lying there on the table as they operated on him, and they had put them inside of him. "And some say that one day the greatest of all warriors will be invited into the lair of the gods, and he shall become one of them." Ka'jeal looked at Vaughn with an almost childlike curiosity. "How could you have obtained the speed of the gods?" Vaughn took a deep breath and a long sigh. "Well, how about once upon a time? It was a large planet. It was temperate and fairly docile, the soil was rich and the air was clean. It was perfect for a colony. Food could be grown, the people could prosper. But they hadn't counted on the wildlife being... somewhat intrusive. Well I'm not sure exactly what went down, but by the time we got there, there weren't many colonists left... we... had to put them down... in case they were...um...hosts..." Ka'jeal interrupted him. "Hosts?" Vaughn struggled to say the words. "Yeah...um...the bugs they... they would lay their... young inside of you... Then eventually it would burst out... There was no way to stop it besides killing the host... it was the most awful thing I..." Ka'jeal's eye's widened and he uttered something in his own language. "What?" Vaughn wasn't sure what to say. Ka'jeal looked up and said: "the hard skins..." "well... we called them bugs, the higher ups called them xenos..." "Yes...Vaughn, all Yautja know of the hard skins, but continue..." "ok... well they had been overrun by... the hard skins... and when we got there the only ones left were the infected and the dieing...
Well soon after we made our first couple sweeps we found them, all in this one cave. We all stood at the mouth of the cave and unloaded every shot we had. We were there for what seemed like forever. If we would have turned and ran they would have swarmed us, but they did anyway when we started to run out of ammo, and lose men one by one. One by one they were pulled into the darkness, kicking and screaming. Eventually I was empty too, and they got me. One pounced on me and I felt the teeth and claws. There wasn't much after that; I don't remember anything... the guys that were left told me that the bugs just kind of left. And that I was left laying in the mouth of the cave in pieces. My captain tried to leave me there... we didn't really get along... but anyway, they rebuilt me with an experimental surgery. Added in some alien tech that they didn't know how to use, then when they couldn't figure me out they ditched me. Eventually I got send to the boon docks of space and I was happy there to tell you the truth... then well, you know what happened next. After I got attacked, something in me just snapped, it felt like some block in my system had... dissolved or something... it happened again when I got here and couldn't breathe." Ka'jeal stood and walked towards the door. "This is good to know Vaughn... it will make you a much more formidable opponent for the games." He then walked out into the hall, and before walking off said "I will be back in the morning, your training starts then."
Vaughn sat silent as the door slid shut. He put one hand on his stomach and could almost feel the deep pain that he had felt the last two times he had tried to use the acceleration. "Don't get your hopes up buddy, I been having some trouble performing lately, but Im sure that happens to a lot of guys." Vaughn took off the torn tunic and lay back onto the hammock. He was asleep in minutes.