Author's Note: Sooo. Here we are. Second to last chapter. Are you ready for this? We hope so. It will be epic hard core awesome. ALSO! Contest! Your mission is to find WORDS in the breaks. You all should know the rules by now.
You must find! A full sentence that has been hidden within. The words will be in all capital letters, and the message is complimentary. The first one to message us with the sentence wins a gift one shot! The words will all be in order already, so you just need to find them. ALSO! There is a bonus word. It is random, if you aren't in our region and don't know our slang/sayings. It will come after the sentence. Whoever finds it also gets a gift one shot. No, you can't get credit for both. We want two winners.
Disclaimer: We own NOTHING. BLAH
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Chapter 18: This Idea Looked Better On Paper
Panting, Marie glared carefully into any and all dark corners of the corridor, including the ceiling. The bodies of Xenomorphs littered the ground before her. Swiping an arm across her sweat soaked forehead, Marie checked in on her partners.
Overall, she, Evie, Jedi and Sketchers hadn't done too badly for themselves. They were low on bullets, but otherwise unscathed. The four had held the main corridor from the Xeno drones while the alien warriors had moved on in pursuit of the queen.
Growling, Marie shouldered her gun. "All right, people! We should move ahead to catch up with the main group, per orders. We've got a bit of a lull now, so we should turn and run while we can. If THIS doesn't prove to them what we can do, nothing will. Now, let's move!"
Charging off, Marie followed the blinking lights on her wrist communicator. Before they had moved out, she and the others had been given some rudimentary equipment from the warriors. Wrist guards to find their way, some basic spears, wrist blades for her. Her favorite thing was something that Martello must have been working on in secret.
He had taken the basic warrior helmet and had taken most of the metal off of it, so it looked more like goggles than anything else. It allowed them the same range of vision as the warriors, which was invaluable in spotting the drones in the tunnels.
The humans had heard some of the alien warriors complaining about the fact that they got weapons, but Elder Pimp had countered that the warriors had had about the same on their first blooding hunt, and to keep their traps shut. Marie and the others deeply appreciated the fact that the Elder was so firmly on their side. It was a priceless asset.
The four ran through the dark, close tunnels. The stench of blood, carnage and death clung to everything around. They kept their eyes on the move, peering for any sign of their prey. But nothing dropped from the ceiling, darted out from a crevice, or charged at them screaming. It was odd. Marie didn't like it.
They charged into the main cavern, having caught up sooner than they had thought, or wanted. There was the main team, wrangling the Queen as best they could, with drones pouring in from everywhere. One warrior had gotten his spear through the Queen's tail. The other warriors were trying to avoid the flailing limbs and talons, attempting to stab through her limbs. So far, it wasn't working well. The warriors in charge of keeping the drones at bay were struggling. The tide was overwhelming.
Nodding to each other, the humans charged off in two teams, Evie and Marie and Jedi with Sketchers. They went to the main areas where the drones were coming, firing into the massive wall of black bodies.
Soon enough, their bullets were gone and they moved on to their warrior weapons. Though not as well trained in their use as the warrior aliens, all the humans were good enough at improvising that they avoided any major injuries from the Xenos.
A sudden screech raised the hair on their arms. Checking back, the human teams saw that the spear that had been stuck through the Queen's tail had gotten lodged in between some rocks, effectively trapping the gigantic beast for the moment. The warriors were moving in and Elder Pimp dove in, slamming his weapon down through the Queen's right foreleg, making the beast scream again.
Gritting their teeth against the ear splitting noise, the humans went back to work with their warrior partners, hacking at the beasts charging them in an attempt to get to their beloved queen. The humans shrugged, turning back to the endless sea of monsters.
On and on they came and everyone could feel the wear on their muscles, tiring with the effort of killing. Xenomorph blood oozed through the cavern, carving its way through the rocks. The pattern of killing was easy, one person shooting, one reloading. When the bullets were gone, their blades danced in the darkness, slaughtering the hordes before them.
But, the steady system broke down when Sketchers howled in pain, stumbling away from the wall of Xenos, leg sizzling with the burn of splattered alien blood. Jedi shouted and darted over, trying to keep both their areas clear as he dragged Sketchers out of immediate danger.
Jedi looked up, calling across the battle field. "EVIE! MARIE! MAN
DOWN! MAN DOWN!"
Marie and Evie looked up and over, then waved to some of the warriors nearby. A few stepped in to fill the gap they left as the women charged over, darting past corpses of both alien species and around the blasts from the warrior guns.
Reaching Jedi and Sketchers, both girls knelt down. Jedi was holding Sketchers' wrists, keeping the flailing and screaming man from trying to wrap his hands around the wound. The acid sizzled, still eating away at the flesh and muscle.
Marie pulled out the blade Martello had given her and tore through his pant leg, getting most of the acid away. Then, as Evie prepped some sort of warrior medicine, Marie doused his wound in water, trying to flush out more of the acid. The sizzling slowed, but Sketchers screamed again, then passed out.
Evie knelt next to him and steadied her hand. Swiftly, she slid the needle under the skin left on his leg and shot a bright orange substance into him. Sketchers woke up long enough to feel the pain of the injection, scream one last time, and pass out once more.
Carefully, Evie began wrapping his leg in linens as Jedi looked on. Clearing his throat, he tapped Evie's shoulder. "Hey. What was that orange stuff you gave him? What does it do?"
Evie shrugged and finished her bandage work. "Dunno. It's what those guys use when they aren't TOO seriously hurt. Hopefully it won't kill him. Not much else we could do but try."
Jedi nodded, pale. Evie patted his hand. "It's gonna be okay, Jedi.
He'll be okay."
"If you say so."
Before Evie could respond to him, Marie waved at them and pointed towards the queen. The drones were still being held at bay, despite the dwindling numbers of warriors. But, the queen had yet to be neutralized. Which was an unfortunate turn of events for the warrior they had dubbed Loser, for his unpleasantness.
He struggled in the hand of the queen, trying to bring his blades up. The queen was pulling him close, opening her outer mouth, clearly preparing to puncture through his helmet and brain, ending him permanently.
Without thinking, Evie charged forward towards one of the dead warriors, pushing up the body to aim the burner towards the queen. Fumbling about, she hit something and shot out a blast. The glowing orb shot through the upper arm of the hand holding Loser, and he fell to the ground as the queen flailed back, screeching in pain, arm splattering blood all about.
Loser scrambled away, darting from the blood rain falling. Evie stumbled back, the humans taking cover under a rock over hang. All the warriors were moving quickly, avoiding the queen's thrashing. The drones continued charging forward and it was almost too late to stem the tide once more.
But, in the midst of the chaos, one warrior charged forward, moving about the blood, slipping under the queen's guard, thrusting upwards, impaling her on his spear.
She screamed and the warrior pulled back, stabbing up again and again, moving fast enough to avoid the blood oozing from her. Marie peered forward, trying to see who it was. But, there was still too much chaos to really see anything from her vantage point.
Finally the queen gasped, hissing, stumbling forward, trying for a last attack. The warriors scattered and she fell, wheezing, then laying still. The drones stilled, the tide freezing. Then, they began screaming. Some ran, fleeing into the caverns. Others charged, attacking blindly the warriors and the humans. Still others simply stood there, dazed, not understanding their queen was gone. All were easy prey for the warriors.
Soon, the Xenos that hadn't been slaughtered had scattered and the cavern was empty and silent. The warriors gathered around the body of the queen gazing down at the beast, then to the Elder Pimp. The Elder was standing next to Anchor, who was clutching his blood-covered spear.
The humans walked forward, Jedi holding Sketchers' body over his shoulder. They stood at the outskirts, peering through gaps in the warriors' ranks. The Elder was speaking and Marie did her best to translate for the others.
"Well, it turns out that Anchor was the one who dealt the killing blow. The Elder is complimenting him. Oh! Now he's totally burning on Loser over there. He wasn't supposed to be near the queen. He was on perimeter duty. Snap! I don't know what all those words mean, but they most certainly aren't complimentary."
Suddenly, the warriors split apart and the Elder was staring straight at the four humans. He pointed at them and waved, clearly urging them forward. Gulping, Marie led the way, followed by Evie and Jedi with Sketchers taking up the rear.
They stood before the Elder and he stared at them intently. He spoke a few words, then turned to one of the Xenomorph bodies and plucked off a finger. The acid oozed and hissed, and Marie winced a bit. But, she took off her goggles and brushed back her hair, laying bare her forehead. Evie and Jedi followed suit, Jedi standing Sketchers up as best he could.
The Elder stepped forward and began drawing on Marie's forehead. She dug her nails into her palms, desperately trying not to flinch or cry out. The mark was a straight line down, with a slanted line across it, and a small dot opposite the top of the slanted line.
The Elder moved on to Evie and Marie caught the look on Jedi's face. He clearly didn't understand what was going on and he REALLY didn't want this to happen. She shrugged at him and gave a half smile as the Elder turned to him next.
He took it bravely, still holding Sketchers. The Elder quirked his head, contemplating the unconscious man. Then, he reached out and quickly made the mark on Sketcher's forehead. The man twitched, grunting in pain, but staying unconscious.
The Elder stepped back, looked up and let out an ear shattering roar. The other warriors joined in as well. With another shrug, the humans began screaming along with, feeling the primal glee of having survived the killing grounds.
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Marie was feeling good. Her forehead hurt a bit, but it would fade eventually. Now, she and Evie and Jedi and Sketchers had SOME defense against the others. They would have to take them all head on now.
She and the others had been sent ahead to get Sketchers back and resting. Marie, Evie, Jedi, Sketchers, Martello, Ninja, Anchor and Bravo had made the initial return team, killing whatever bugs they could find on their trip back. All in all, it was a very laid back journey.
Martello was close her, chattering away, telling her all the things he'd liked about her battles with the drones. Marie laughed and gently pushed him. "Now, you're just trying to butter me up!"
Martello quirked his head, but gave a small rumbling laugh. Marie made a mental note to explain what buttering her up meant. He'd be confused until then. She and Martello carried on, amusing themselves, when Ninja gave a sharp noise.
The warriors seemed to almost cringe and the humans were confused. What could make THESE guys nervous? Looking up ahead, their eyes widened and they let out a collective gasp of horror.
Standing at the entrance to the main cavern were seven of the HUGEST warriors they had EVER seen. The seven seemed perfectly calm, but they were DEFINITELY waiting for them. One of the huge ones started forward, barking out a few words and Anchor and Bravo, who were at the fore, split, revealing the humans at the center.
Marie nudged Martello, whispering to him. "What the hell ARE they? They're even bigger than YOU! I was just getting used to you!"
Martello rumbled back in a tone of voice she'd never heard out of him before.
"FEMALES."
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The humans were not happy. Evie and Marie were sitting on the floor, thinking of ways to get away from the caverns. Ninja and Martello were with them, talking to each other, arguing back and forth about the same thing. Jedi and Sketchers simply watched the others, completely lost and confused as to what had just occurred.
When they had arrived at the main cavern, the humans and the two warriors had been placed under a sort of house arrest in their small sleeping caves. Two of the warriors, the NOT so huge ones, the males, guarded the entrance. No one went in or out.
Marie was nervous. Evie was almost hyperventilating; she kept drumming her fingers about, nervously watching the entrance. "What's going to happen to us?"
Marie shrugged, biting off part of a fingernail. "No idea. Maybe they'll be nice and just kill us instead of making us suffer horribly before."
Evie paused her drumming fingers long enough to glare viciously at Marie, then continued her stress reducing rhythm.
All of the people present jumped as Anchor and Bravo wormed their way into the already crowded area. What was usually just a cozy main room was now terribly cramped with four large warriors and four humans.
The two new comers nodded, then sat on the floor. Martello shifted a bit, allowing them more room, which brought him closer to Marie. Marie looked up, smiled a little, then went back to chewing on a nail.
Bravo began to talk. It was a bit of a struggle, but with Martello's help, Marie and Evie were able to communicate most of what Bravo said. The warriors, particularly Martello, Ninja, and Elder Pimp, were in BIG trouble.
Loser had called in the females of their race, telling them about what was going on with the humans. The women, who were the leaders, CLEARLY didn't approve. And, if the relations with the humans didn't stop, and some other demands of theirs met, then all of the warriors, including Anchor and Bravo, would be labeled as criminals, and would be killed.
After Bravo's concise report, all present were silent. Even Evie had stopped tapping her fingers. Marie looked up at Martello, almost wishing she could tell what he was thinking behind his mask. The silence continued, no one knowing what to say.
Bravo shifted, grumbling a little bit. He broke the silence by telling all present that the Elder was in with the females, trying to work things out.
Marie snorted derisively. "From what I can tell, those ladies aren't going to give an inch. They've got all of you cowed, no offense. They're like your evil robot overlords or something."
Evie steepled her fingers, eyes shut. "Well, we're probably doomed. I doubt even these marks will save us from them. And here we thought we'd finally gotten at least a LITTLE respect around this place."
After that statement, a guard poked his head in, gesturing to Martello and Ninja. The two stood and carefully maneuvered their way around everyone to get to the entrance. Before going out, both warriors turned to Evie and Marie.
Without any fanfare or words, both warriors each gave a thumbs up to the girls, before turning and stepping out to face the females. Marie and Evie blinked a bit, then smiled and giggled at the antics of their two warriors.
Bravo heaved a rumbling sigh like sound, crossing his arms. Marie leaned forward, frowning. "We HAVE to get out of here."
Jedi stretched his legs, sighing. "But what CAN we do? No way we can take on everyone out there."
Bravo spoke quickly, saying he and Anchor could make a big enough distraction that the humans could escape, including the Elder's women. Then, later, when the dust had settled, the warriors would come looking for them.
Marie and Evie contemplated this. Slowly, they nodded. It could definitely work. The cave systems were confusing enough that they could easily get away while people were looking for them.
Marie smiled. "All in favor? Say aye!"
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Marie groaned, smacking at the hand that was gently shaking her shoulder. A rumbling laugh later and she was squinting with one eye at the large blur in front of her. Grumbling, she put on her glasses and yawned. Martello sat back on his heels, watching her.
Martello and Ninja had been gone for so long that they had all decided to sleep until the two came back. Better to rest while they could. Marie yawned again, stretching, scratching her head. Martello reached out and tugged on a chunk of hair that was being uncooperative, laying it flat against her head.
Smiling, Marie finished rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "So, Martello. While you two were gone, we all came up with a plan!"
Martello rumbled and spoke. "No. Elder has plan."
Marie frowned. "Well, I guess we could hear his plan. It's always good to have options. I'll go wake the boys up, since Ninja is getting Evie."
Indeed, Ninja was crouched near Evie, clearly hesitating in whether he should shake her awake or not. He was obviously still not comfortable touching her. It would have been amusing, if not for the current situation.
Marie stood to get the other warriors and male humans going when Martello gently grabbed her hand. She stopped and looked at the still crouching warrior. He contemplated her hand, turning it this way and that, carefully running his fingers over her calloused palms. Abruptly, he let go.
Quirking her head, Marie turned and left, mildly confused. Martello stood, slightly hunched in the small cavern and watched her slip out of sight.
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Everyone was gathered together. Four humans, four warriors, all very worried. Marie and Evie had articulated their plan to Martello and Ninja, and were waiting to hear what the Elder had thought up.
Martello looked at Ninja, then launched into a description of the Elder's plan. "We make distraction. All run out. Take ship and leave."
Evie quirked her head. "So, by all of us, that's us humans, the Elder's girls, you two, the Elder, and those other warriors that want to come?"
Martello nodded. Marie frowned. "But, won't they just hunt you down? Once they know you're all gone?"
Jedi shrugged. "Won't they hunt them down when they come to find us later?"
Evie fussed with something on the front of her shirt. "Well… Then, maybe… Maybe we shouldn't meet up again?"
After her statement, there was dead silence. Then, Ninja growled, clearly cursing in the warrior tongue. Marie quirked an eyebrow. "I don't think he approves of that idea. Also, new word! Add it to the dictionary."
Martello shrugged. "Only if catching us."
Marie quirked an eyebrow. "So, only if they catch us? Fair enough, but you're giving up EVERYTHING. Do you even realize what you're doing? What you'll lose?"
Martello nodded. "Is fine."
Crossing her arms, Marie glowered. "I don't think it is. You'll lose EVERYTHING. Your family, your honor, your home, all those things that were important to you! Don't you realize what you have?"
"Not liking it."
"You don't like it?"
"Yes. Not like."
Marie stared at him, flabbergasted, sputtering. "You! You don't even! We lost EVERYTHING! That's why it was all right for us to go with you! We had nothing tying us down! But, but you! You! You're willing to just… Give it up? Your family? Your culture? Your home? Your life? What I wouldn't give to have all that back! Even if I didn't like it all the time."
Everyone had listened intently to Marie's miniature tirade. The humans understood. Most of the warriors didn't understand half of what she'd said. Martello gazed at her.
Marie hung her head. "You can't just… Give it up."
Martello watched her carefully before speaking. "Need leave, to save other Oomans."
He had caught everyone's attention. Sketcher's gaped. "WHAT?"
Martello nodded. "Females say we start taking Oomans. Leave on other places to grow more Oomans."
Marie's brow furrowed. "So, wait. Ya'll are going to round up all the humans you can find. Then, put them on a different planet, away from the Xenos, to repopulate? Like some creepy game preserve? Or a zoo? The fuck? Hell no! We're fine here!"
Martello shrugged. "Is what they do soon."
Jedi scowled. "We can't let that happen! We're not toys for them!"
Evie sighed. "Well, we kind of are. How can we fight all of them? And how many humans will we REALLY get to fight them? These guys will give us a safe place, away from the Xenos. A lot will probably grateful. What's a few of their own every once in awhile to get away from here?"
Marie waved her arms about, calling for order as the discussing escalated. "Calm down, all of ya! Look, we can't worry about that now. Seriously. We can't do ANYTHING from here. Our first goal is to escape. Period. We worry about everything else later, okay? Now, we need to choose. I'm pretty certain that those warrior chicks WON'T let us live. Just saying."
As everyone calmed down and thought, Marie settled back down. "Now, first things first, who wants to leave? And do we know if the Elder is leaving?"
Martello nodded. "He no leave his females."
Nodding, Marie continued. "Okay, so we'll have the Elder on our side. So, who wants to leave?"
Along with Marie's raised hand was Evie, Jedi, Sketchers, Martello, Ninja, Bravo, and, surprisingly, Anchor. Nodding, Marie faced the warriors. "All right. Are you SURE you want to leave? I can't make your choices for you. If this is what you want, it's not right of me to say no, not after all you guys have done for us. So? Positive?"
The warriors all simply nodded their heads in assent. Marie sighed, rubbing her temples. "Okay. Right, so, we really need to talk with the Elder. He's got his chicks. And who knows? We may have more coming with us than we thought. Who knows how many other warriors don't like it here or prefer the Elder."
Staring about at all assembled, Marie smiled, rubbing her hands together. "So. Who wants to get us our weapons and gear, and who wants to be the distraction?"
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A laser flew through the air, blasting a chunk out of the rock near Evie's head. She gave a startled yelp, then ran even faster. Marie was towards the head of the group, cursing vehemently. Martello and Ninja were in the lead, taking them through the tunnels to an exit that was rarely used.
Evie and Marie had on the modified goggles, watching for any Xenos waiting to take them down. Marie panted a bit. "It WOULD be our luck to be stalked by the freaking HUGE warrior bitches AND have to worry about the Bugs. Seriously. We don't deserve this."
Evie nodded, gulping for air. The four had split at the main cavern entrance, slipping into different side tunnels, charging for the surface. They'd lost Bravo somewhere along the way. He had mentioned something about getting some of the females off their tails and that he'd contact them later.
They burst into the open air and kept charging forward. Only Martello and Ninja knew where the small shuttle was. Soon, the shuttle would meet up with the larger ship that the Elder was "Borrowing". There had been more deserters than previously thought, and a larger ship had been required.
Evie sighed. "I hope we get there soon. I want to meet up with the others. And where are we going to live? Wasn't there some talk about colonizing a planet and bringing rescued humans there?"
Another blast and a roar and Marie grunted. "We'll worry about the details right now. My main goal right now is to get the fuck AWAY. That chick has MUCH better aim than Ninja!"
Evie nodded and the two pushed faster, trying to catch up more with Ninja and Martello. Martello waved an arm, pointing towards a clearing. He tapped some buttons on his wrist pad and a small ship wobbled into view, the invisibility dropping from it.
The hatch began opening and Ninja charged ahead, leaping in, scrambling to the pilot's seat. Martello waited by the entrance, firing back at their pursuers as Marie and Evie made it to the door and darted into the shuttle.
It began lifting off and Martello stepped onto it, still firing, keeping any shots from hitting the ship. They lifted higher and higher and Marie and Evie gaped as they saw a MONSTROUS ship doing the same thing a long ways off.
Suddenly, the shots stopped and Martello stepped further in as the shuttle hatch shut. He went to the front and sat copilot, readying the shuttle defenses and weapons. At least, Marie hoped that's what he was doing. The females wouldn't give up THAT easily.
As they watched the ground drop away, Marie and Evie held each others' hands. They went above the clouds, losing sight of the country that they had lived in and loved. Their home. Further up, into the atmosphere they flew.
They reached space. It was unbelievably dark and empty. The earth glowed beneath them, deceptively peaceful looking from this distance. The large ship was waiting for them to dock, before they vanished into space, ready to hide until they could regroup and plan.
The shuttle docked and Martello and Ninja waved to them, ushering them out of the small, cramped space. Taking one last, long look, Marie squeezed Evie's hand. Evie smiled, wiping a few tears away.
Squaring their shoulders, they both marched out of the ship and into the turmoil of the Elder's shuttle. There was too much to do to waste time on sadness.
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End Author's Note: WEEEE DID IT! This is the actual end of plot in this story. The next chapter is epilogue. So. Sorry this took FOREVER. Scheduling conflicts, tests and papers, and the rediscovering of DBZ was detrimental.
Hopefully, it was worth the wait.
Also, go read PocketSeven's fic, Glinda's Fall! He based it off of chapter 5 of Misfit Tails, the oneshot we wrote for him! With the Guardian of Walmart! It's great! We've reviewed and you should too! ^_^
So, good luck on the contest! And we'll see you for the last installment! Mwah!