Chapter VI
Disclaimer:
This story has been written purely for entertainment purposes, and in no way, shape, form, or fashion means to impede, or infringe upon any copyrighted material whatsoever. I do however retain credit and claim responsibility for the creation of names and character statistics of any and all characters within this publication. These characters are based on copyrighted ideas and or characters of the respective owners of said material within the entertainment industry. No money will be attributed to the author of the following publication in any form. Definitions and wording used to describe devices, and other such items are derived from other literary works involving these types of characters. This publication was created for the sole purpose of entertainment and the expansion of a concept formerly copyrighted by an individual or individuals as a group.
Ok, so here it is, the sixth chapter, and as some of you had requested, it now has more action. Be patient please there will continue to be some filler chapters from time to time, for this is not a short story as most on this site are. I have a tendency to write longer novel length fiction and to make a story this short is sort of…well…might I say, disturbing. I realize that with the long period of time I have been away from writing this I may have lost some readers, but please read and review, and I will do the same for you. If you have questions regarding translations, please see the former chapters posted they have just about all the definitions in regards to this particular version of the Aliens/Predator world I have conceived of, and new defs will be posted as they are created.
Chapter VI
All he knew was that he was being yelled at for what he thought was his duty. Being too far out of position from his standard patrol formation couldn't possibly be a serious enough infraction to warrant being embarrassed like he was at the moment. Especially if he was correct about what he thought he saw. Of course, he could have been endangering not only his life, but the lives of his fellow combatants if he were to give away their position without first alerting the others as to what he thought was moving in the trees.
It was as he was standing at attention in front of Sgt. Garvin, when again he noticed something in the trees. Something moving. Only there was no logical explanation for this, there was no wind to speak of, no other biological life signs registering on their equipment, and no member of his patrol should have been that high up in the trees. The only autonomously moving vegetation on this planet resided near the ground and not a hundred feet up in the trees.
Just as Specialist Steve Carter was about to apologize, and further explain his findings to the sarge, there was a slight glimmer of light dancing behind and to the right of where Garvin was standing. Without warning Carter quickly pushed his Sergeant out of the way in order to avoid the shot fired from the trees. Unfortunately, it was now he that was caught in the netting fired from the unknown source. To make matters worse, the netting was shrinking at an unbelievable rate cutting into his skin deeply. He could see that others in the small clearing were suffering the same fate, and that no one would be able to help him out of his current predicament.
Sergeant Garvin had taken advantage of his situation, realizing that the netting Carter was now entrapped by was originally meant for him. He rolled away purposefully towards the large base of a tree and stood against it rigidly as he scrolled through the different vision settings on his helmet, when finally he found one that seemed to help him with locating the source of mayhem his comrades were now having to endure.
A second or two went by as he raised his plasma rifle at a Yautja holding one of his men by the throat at arms length, feet dangling free in the air below him. He was about to fire when he noticed the Yautja had also noticed him, and dropped the soldier straight to the ground. The Yautja did nothing after that, just stood there and almost mockingly at that.
Sergeant Garvin hesitated in pulling the trigger. He had been in combat long enough to know that this Yautja somehow meant no harm. It was like he was playing a game. He then panned around to see the other Yautja in the area in similar scenarios. One of them was bent down in front of what appeared to be a balled up bag of netting around one of his subordinates, and just happened to sound like he was laughing, or at the very least what he perceived to be the Yautja equivalent. Yet another two were standing side-by-side and seemed to be communicating a congratulatory expression to each other, as one of them was dragging a half conscious soldier behind him. That was confirmation enough in his mind to know that these creatures were merely testing them.
Slowly he put his gun down after again making eye contact with the Yautja closest to him. Still keeping a firm grip though, he cautiously, but rather confidently stood up and paced his movements towards the Yautja gazing at him.
Suddenly, a crack was heard from the branches above his position, as he then knew there was nothing he could do but submit fully to the three Yautja that landed in a circular pattern, surrounding his position.
He raised his hands slightly in a white flag effort to appease these powerful and cunning creatures. Just then he was shocked out of his mind to see a human being clothed in what appeared to be Yautja armor, dropping from out of a nearby tree. He couldn't believe his eyes. He had heard the stories that on occasion humans had been taken by the Yautja and lived somewhat prosperous lives, or at least safe ones. But never had he seen any, not to mention one that had achieved the apparent status as this one had. Garvin had deduced that he must be the one in charge based on the elaborate carvings and designs etched into the human's armor. If that weren't enough, the others seemed to act differently in his presence. Even the one he first made eye contact with had seemed to show him some reverence, although his actions were a bit more confident, yet casual around this human. 'It must be that the human is in charge, and that one there is his next in command.' Garvin thought to himself.
Hulij-Thwei dropped from the tree to see that all the humans in the area had been subdued in some way, shape, or form. He was happy and unseen behind his mask he expressed a smile, which as of late, was only on rare occasions.
He first approached his friend Pok'de it'ktse and discussed the fact that the only human having a chance to kill a Yautja, and requiring more than one of them to truly be subdued, must be their leader based on his apparent skills in deciphering the non-threatening stance that Pok'de it'ktse had displayed by releasing one of the humans from his grasp.
After quickly discussing the matter they approached the unusual human and Hulij-Thwei did his best to remember what he could of the human language from when he was a child.
"You are leader of humans?" He asked.
Garvin was stunned. This human spoke very broken English, but it was still better than any other Yautja he had ever heard speak English based on the info discs he studied before the mission.
"Yes, I am Sergeant Garvin, and who are you?" He stated with a somewhat perturbed tone to his voice.
"Do not disrespect me." Said Hulij-Thwei as he planted himself directly in front of the sergeant's face and peered at him through his mask.
"It will not be tolerated. Do you understand?"
"I understand that we are here merely to learn to fight side-by-side in the upcoming war with the, what do you call them? Kin'chen…Kin'…"
"Kin'chen De'ok" Replied Hulij-Thwei.
"Yeah, that's them. And no offense to you or anyone here, but this doesn't look like we're fighting side-by-side right now." Continued Garvin.
"You are correct. You were also unprepared. I was trying to prepare you."
"You don't have much use for diplomacy do you?"
"No. And neither do the Kin'chen De'ok." Replied Hulij-Thwei.
"Good point. Now how about…" It was then that the conversation was cut short by the deep guttural sounds of a Yautja in pain.
Carter had managed to reach his knife in the course of the last few minutes, and somehow cut through the netting surrounding him. In the process of his escape he also deeply wounded the Yautja holding his net. It seems that this one in particular was just as unprepared as what they accused the humans of being.
The netting had caused deep gashes in his shoulders, arms and legs, but didn't seem to make much of a difference now that he was angry and most importantly free of his bindings.
The Yautja quickly turned to pound on what he perceived to be a weak human and soon found that Carter was much faster than anticipated. A personal battle between the two ensued as the other Yautja all began to watch, apparently humored by the situation.
With both combatants now bleeding, it was clear that the human was more of a match than any Yautja had previously considered. Carter was swiftly dodging most the would-be heavy blows his opponent intended to harm him with, though the few that had made contact seemed to batter him significantly. The battle went back and forth with the Yautja seeming to gain some ground ever so slightly. Despite his size and obvious prowess in battle the Yautja too had taken some damage inflicted by his small assailant. Unexpectedly, Carter had used his agility, and speed to his advantage and found a way to kick the Yautja in what was the equivalent to a human jaw. It was then that the Yautja stepped backwards several feet, from the physical shock of the blow. Things were now getting out of hand according to the two highest-ranking leaders present. This was no longer looking like it was a training session, but rather a full-blown fight to the finish.
It was both Hulij-Thwei and Garvin that barked out orders to their subordinates simultaneously to stand down. Upon this instance the two gazed upon each other as if perhaps they had something in common after all.
The Unblooded individual whom only a moment ago was engaged in combat with Carter was now approached by Hulij-Thwei for disobeying his commands. Those commands being that no Yautja was to engage in any type of physical combat whatsoever with the humans on this day.
Similarly, a few feet away Garvin was giving a tongue lashing to Carter for the second time today. It was while this occurred that the other Yautja disappointedly began to release hold of all would-be prisoners, on Pok'de it'ktse's commands.
Hulij-Thwei was quick to reprimand his subordinate for his actions and made short work of his punishment by back handing him nearly into oblivion. It was at that moment that the disobedient Yautja had learned his lesson and Hulij-Thwei felt satisfied with his disciplinary measures. To his surprise Sgt. Garvin was still screaming at the top of his lungs at Carter, much like a drill instructor would, and making him do an endless amount of pushups in front of all those present. He continued to show his disdain for Carters actions and didn't stop with the embarrassment until Carter was ready to pass out from the amount of push-ups he had already done.
Hulij-Thwei and the other Yautja present were curious about this strange form of lengthy discipline and how exactly it was supposed to accomplish anything. Yet somehow they all knew better than to interrupt the proceedings in discipline.
Pok'de it'ktse strode over to Hulij-Thwei's location a few feet away and quietly spoke so as not to disrupt the lesson in human forms of discipline.
"I find this…somewhat entertaining in a curious sort of way." Stated Pok'de it'ktse.
"Yes. I agree. Although it does bare some resemblance to the way my Yautja father trained me; not so much with the consistent yelling, but in the form of physical exhaustion through exercises."
"It bares some resemblance towards how you train as well, or have you not noticed?"
"Please. My methods are far superior." Replied Hulij-Thwei.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that. I've been watching this go on for over five t'em now, and he doesn't appear to be making it any easier on the disobedient one."
Hulij-Thwei said nothing, and merely took the time before Pok'de it'ktse would again continue, to closely study this lesson in human discipline.
"Don't forget these humans can be cunning and they are gaining more and more respect from Yautja all the time. Perhaps they are not as weak as we once thought. Not to mention, you yourself are human, and look how far you've come in Yautja society."
"I don't hate them my friend…I…just, didn't want to have to deal with the change of having to be around them I suppose. I am happy where I am in this culture, with this lifestyle, with this kind of freedom and respect. Their presence here means all that I know will change and I will one day have to face those human relatives that I have never met. That is not something I am prepared to do nor do I ever want to do."
"Then don't. It is just that simple. They've lived without you for this long, I am sure that it wouldn't hurt them to not ever meet you at all."
"That's just it though, I promised Gon'tok-de that I would one day learn more of my human relatives, and accept them as much as I had accepted the Yautja way of life even if they failed to understand me, and what's more, the Elder seems to think I should embrace my human side equally as much as the Yautja soul I possess."
"Never mentioned that to me before." Replied Pok'de it'ktse.
"Never thought I would have to."
"I almost wish you hadn't. It's made me a bit too…sensitive. Let me wipe my tears." Replied Pok'de it'ktse with the most sarcastic tone he could produce.
"You really are a bastard."
"I know, but others seem to accept me that way."
"Well…yeah…that's true. But don't test your luck."
It seemed that no sooner than their conversation was over that Garvin had approached the two of them and began to speak.
"So, I see you've released my men, thanks. Now as I was saying before, I don't care for diplomacy much either, which means I hope we'll get along on that point at least. I am curious though, you caught us, but did you catch the other humans running around your little neck of the woods?"
Hulij-Thwei and Pok'de it'ktse both looked at one another briefly and shared a good chuckle, as did the other Yautja in the area. It was then that Hulij-Thwei casually raised his arm gauntlet, and manipulated some keys on the facing with his right hand. A moment passed when he finally held out his gauntlet arm, and a small but accurate hologram of his superior officers being held captive by other Yautja appeared in the air at eye level.
Garvin noticed that the hologram only depicted the scene of the clearing where his superior officers and the drop ship were located. There was nothing to indicate that Team 1 had been discovered. This would be an opportunity to show these Yautja that as humans they were deserving of respect, not to mention it would also be an opportunity to see just how prepared the Yautja truly were. He took it upon himself to not mention the existence of Team 1 more or less for strategic purposes.
"Ok. So you took advantage of a situation under the premise of what was supposed to be a peaceful meeting. Once this mutual testing of one another's military strength thing really gets underway, I think you'll find you won't be so lucky." Stated Garvin.
"We will soon see." Replied Hulij-Thwei, as the entire group of both human and Yautja alike began the short trek towards the very clearing where Lt. Col. Cantwell and the other officers were surprised by the sudden training attack by some Unblooded Yautja.
Garvin was curious about this Hulij-Thwei character and wanted more information as to how a human could achieve such a high status amongst these unearthly hunters. The group hadn't walked far before Garvin slowly made his way closer to Hulij-Thwei's position and began asking some very vague questions.
"By the way, you never did answer my question back there."
"What question?"
"The one about your name, what is it?"
"Hulij-Thwei."
"Ok, no offense or anything but that's kinda hard to pronounce for a human…is there an English equivalent?"
"Yes. Crazy Blood." Answered Hulij-Thwei.
There was a silence between them as they continued on their way towards the human camp; all the while Garvin pondered the correct way to word the next question.
Glossary:
T'em- A unit of time almost the equivalent to one Earth minute.