I'm clearly spoiling you. Here is the next chapter.

There will be no new chapters next week though. I will go to Italy for a vacation in the alps.

Yeyinde pt. 7

The dead planet laid foreboding underneath them. Yeyinde felt pearls of sweat on her forehead, under the mask. She checked her weapons for the fifteenth time. Wrist blades, check, spear gun, check, net gun, check, combi-stick, check, smart disc, check, shuriken, check, arm blades, check and- she glanced at the wrist console panel and swallowed against her dry throat -the self destruct devise. All preparations were made. For the first time of her life she was dressed up in armor, body mesh and all. She even wore a custom made helmet that K'han had given her as a good-luck present.

She glanced around at the other un-blooded, soon to be blooded or die trying, yautja; some of them she recognized, Duh-kwe'h only to mention one. He looked hard-set with his focus solely on the black planet beneath them. It would be favorable to have a companion once they landed and Yeyinde felt confidence in Duh-kwe'h's skill, she didn't even hold a grudge toward him even though he had beaten her black and blue in the past. He must have sensed that she was watching him because he turned to look at her. His face was expressionless even though he hadn't put on his mask yet. After what felt like ages he came over to her. Yeyinde cocked her head to the side, unsure about what she should say. Fortunately he made the first move.

"I heard that you beat Kwo-hn and Kul'vir in a duel", he said and stared at her. For a while she feared that he was angry with her because of it but his face showed no evident signs of aggression.

"Yes", she answered stiffly, unsure about what he was getting at.

"It was about time", he said gruffly and sat down beside her. "I would've loved to see it."

"Thanks", she said perplexed. "I guess."

"Mahwa wasn't fair to you", he muttered and Yeyinde guessed that was as close as he ever would get to an apology for all the broken bones he had made her suffer trough. "I suppose K'han must be a brilliant trainer since you're already ready for your first hunt."

"Mahwa's unfairness has made me stronger", she said and marveled over how she succeeded to keep the old hatred out of her voice. The dark past seemed to be behind her. "K'han was a very good teacher, I'm very grateful for the effort he put into me and my education."

"That's good", Duh-kwe'h said.

An uncomfortable silence steeled between them. Yeyinde guessed that the moment when they would be dropped on the seemingly deserted planet approached.

"So", she said and pretended to be occupied with her sat-com. "I guess you're as new with this kind of thing as me."

He muttered an audible response and Yeyinde licked her lips nervously, unsure about how she should put forward the idea of teaming up without sounding as if she needed protection.

"Wouldn't it be favorable to move in as a team as opposed to move in alone?" she asked and almost bit her tongue in regret.

"Yes", he replied and she blinked at him in surprise. "It would be more favorable."

"Good", she said and laughed nervously. "I guess."

He nodded and then the uncomfortable silence settled in again. Yeyinde was almost relieved when the alarm went off. It was time for them to get into their shuttles. She gave Duh-kwe'h a nod and then she got into hers. It was warm in there and very narrow, she could hardly move about and wondered how in the whole world a fully grown yautja could fit inside. She closed her eyes and listened to the beeping countdown.

'Three, two, one-'

She felt a surge in the pit of her stomach and then she was free falling at high speed down toward the black planet.

"Dear Paya", she said and crossed her fingers. "Please let me live through this."

The impact when the shuttle hit the ground was hard and Yeyinde almost lost her breath. For a while she just sat there, listening to the sound of her own heart beating hard against her ribcage. Now there was no turning back. She would kill hard meats or get killed. There was no other option. With a sigh she pushed the button to the door and got out. The black desert landscape that faced her spoke of horrid death and ice cold loneliness. It was as if nothing lived on this planet's surface even though she knew that there must be life out there somewhere or otherwise the hard meats wouldn't have any hosts. She suppressed a shiver when she was hit by a cold wind and she felt ever so grateful for the body mesh, she probably would've frozen to death without it. She looked around for the other yautja and saw a small group of them as they moved away over a black hill. She wondered where Duh-kwe'h had landed and looked for his heat signature with the infrared vision and found it behind the next hill. She picked up her combi-stick and started running soon meeting up with Duh-kwe'h that apparently had waited for her. She sighed with relief.

"Where are we headed?" she asked.

He switched on his sat-com that sowed a three-dimensional picture of the nearest area. He pointed at what looked like a building or a spaceship perhaps and Yeyinde nodded. Chances were good that the hard meat had set up their nest in that building.

"Let's go then", she muttered and together they started running.

When they had made their way over the nearest sand dune Yeyinde got a first look at their target. It was indeed a space ship but it wasn't of yautja making. It was smaller and looked as if it was meant to hold cargo. Yeyinde licked her lips and the realization that she was headed for the Kainde Amedha's nest. Further along she saw the other young hunters, they were three in total.

"Our main objective is to destroy that ship, isn't it?"

"If everything else fails", Duh-kwe'h said. "We must take trophies first."

He really wasn't one for small talks; that was for sure. Yeyinde nodded and started to head down from the sand dune. She wanted this over and done with as soon as possible. From the corner of her eye she noticed that Duh-kwe'h followed her. It felt good to have him watch her back. She was just about to turn her focus back to the space ship when she caught a movement from the corner of her eye. It might just have been her imagination but she switched her visual frequency to the specifically tuned EM Field Detector mode used to track xenomorphs just to be on the safe side. Something definitely moved on the other side of that sand dune. She stopped and pointed in that direction so that Duh-kwe'h would become aware of it. He stopped right beside her. Suddenly Yeyinde heard what sounded like a bird and turned; Duh-kwe'h was faster though – he ran past her toward the sand dune behind them. He was eager and if he had any fear of the Kainde Amedha, it was not apparent. Yeyinde stood still for a while before what was happening caught up with her, and then she hurled herself after her comrade.

At first it was just one that came running toward them from behind the dune. It was the most hideous and terrifying thing that Yeyinde had ever seen. It had a skeletal, biomechanical appearance and was colored in a muted shade of black. It had an elongated, cylindrical skull and six legs. It looked a bit like an ant. Yeyinde wondered briefly how the host had looked but then she got other things on her mind as more aliens came running toward them. She was three meters behind Duh-kwe'h when he jabbed the staff point trough the jaws of the first bug, he twisted the sharp blade and dug a hole through the top of the skull, quickly withdrawing it so that he wouldn't get the acid blood on him. Two more bugs succeeded to reach him before Yeyinde did so; and she saw how they angled in from the sides. Duh-kwe'h spun, swung completely around, cut them through their midsections in one strike. He howled in victory but there was no time to celebrate. Yeyinde had reached him now and stood prepared as six more hard meats came running. She steeled herself. She had to make it, had to prove herself worthy. There was no more time to think, they were upon them.

Yeyinde spun. The hellish creature reached for her, she whipped her arm around, tried to impale it with her combi-stick as Duh-kwe'h had done but the point of her staff glided of the creature's hard skin. The nightmare bug towered over her, shrieking. Slime dripped from its metallic jaws. Its huge mouth opened, exposed a set of inner teeth, razor sharp. Yeyinde recognized death when she saw it.

She stumbled backward as the inner jaws snapped forward and smacked into her chest. Something ripped. White hot pain seared her skin, blood flowed. She ground her teeth, this couldn't be it. She couldn't die here. The dark warrior had to wait. She tightened her arm muscles and extended the longer arm blades and with a battle cry she cut of the hideous little mouth that had caused her pain. The creature snarled and stumbled backward, its acid blood spilling all over. Yeyinde hissed as it fell upon her armor. She got up from the ground and twirled her combi-stick, this time she was prepared for the bug's thick skin. She ran forward, rolled, ran, fell and then thrust the razor-sharp tip of her combi-stick into the venerable mid-section of the hard meat. Acid blood sprayed all over and the bug fell screaming to the ground. She had killed her first Kainde Amedha. Joy filled her but there was no point in dwelling on her victory because there were still five bugs left.

As the first two rushed to attack her, she side-stepped and thrust the combi-stick out. The closest one caught it in the mid-section; it screamed and collapsed on the ground. The second rammed its head directly into the durable blade; the top of its head sliced neatly from its body, the acid blood fountained and Yeyinde had to jump back so that she wouldn't get hit. Her armor was messed up as it was and she really didn't want any of the stuff on her bare skin.

Duh-kwe'h threw his shuriken to her left, the sound razor-sharp as it flew through the air. Two of the running bugs fell. Four of five down. Duh-kwe'h stepped in to take out the last one and Yeyinde stayed back, shuriken ready just in case. The last hard meat seemed not to see its fallen siblings. The creature ran straight at the young yautja, shrieking. Duh-kwe'h jumped to the side as the bug neared, spear held to the other side-

Except the hard meat matched his move.

And hit him, running full speed.

Yeyinde aimed past Duh-kwe'h and threw her shuriken. It missed. She didn't dare to throw it again less she missed the hard meat again but hit Duh-kwe'h. She caught her shuriken as it came flying back just as she heard Duh-kwe'h roar in pain as the hard meat drove its inner jaws into his shoulder. Yeyinde had no time to think. She hurled herself forward and tackled the hard meat of Duh-kwe'h's chest. She extended her arm blades and drove them into the bug's head. It convulsed underneath her and she threw herself of it, feeling the pain from the acid blood on her hands.

Panting heavily she turned to look at Duh-kwe'h that had regained his feet, looking almost as tired as she felt. But they had made it. They had slayed their first Kainde Amedha. She had to make a quick count of the scores. She had killed four and Duh-kwe'h had killed five.

She hissed as she became aware of the blood that flowed from her wound. It wasn't deep but it hurt like hell. She fetched her medikit from her belt and applied some blue healing gel on her wound. She snarled at the stinging sensation. From the corner of her eye she noted that Duh-kwe'h tended to his own wound, they didn't seem too serious either.

Yeyinde looked at the fallen Kainde Amedha. How many of them made good trophies? The one that had almost killed her was probably the best choice and she couldn't bring all of their skulls. She nodded to herself and walked over to the dead hard meat with her arm blades extended. She had never prepared a trophy before but felt confident that either her Zah'zai or Vraa'hn would show her when- if- she got back onboard on the mother ship. She crouched down and cut of the hard meats neck in a swift movement. She was grateful for the fact that both the arm blades and the wrist blades nowadays was made out of the same material as the combi-stick. Acid-proof. She had heard stories of hunters that had their blades destroyed by the acid blood. The head fell to the ground with a thump; yellowish, acid blood spraying over the black sand with a hissing noise. She got up from the ground, placing the acquired trophy on her back as she did so. Then she realized that she had forgotten the most important thing. She got back down and cut of a finger from the dead enemy.

I'll have to mark myself as a worthy hunter.

She took of her mask and held her breath; she didn't dare to risk breathing since the air could be toxic. As hastily as possible she drew her Zah'zai's mark on her mask a circle with a jagged lightning bolt running straight through it. That done she did the same on her own forehead; it hurt badly but she had no time to dwell, she needed to get the mast back on again before she breathed by mistake. When the mask was back on again she drew a deep breath of relief. She had made it.

She turned around and looked at Duh-kwe'h. He had collected two heads and seemed to be done with his marking. Both of them turned their heads upwards to the black sky and roared their victory. She was un-blooded no more. She was a blooded hunter.

The hardest part lay before them though. They needed to destroy the Kainde Amedha's nest. The empty ghost ship lay before them, foreboding. Yeyinde swallowed against her dry throat. Their best bets were on getting in there and activate their bombs. She looked at Duh-kwe'h.

"We need to contact the others", he clicked. "See if they have made it inside."

"Can you do that?" she asked.

"Yes", he said and pressed a few buttons on his wrist console panel.

They waited for a while. The minutes seemed to crawl by.

"Oc'djy is dead", he said after a while. "Kanh'ka is wounded but Gr'aal is fine, we decided to meet up with them in sector six."

"What happened?" she asked.

"Many hard meats", Duh-kwe'h said and started running. Yeyinde followed him.

When they reached the base of the ship a ghostly, pale moon had raised on the black night sky. Yeyinde shuddered. The whole atmosphere was heavy with death. They had passed a few dead hard meats on their way down to the ship and she guessed that the other yautja had been unlucky enough to run into a whole pack of them. They found the two remaining yautja. Yeyinde noted how Kanh'ka was covered in blood; he seemed a bit unsteady as well.

"What's the plan?" Duh-kwe'h asked when they approached.

"The queen has gathered her young ones around her, she senses that a threat is close by", Gr'aal said. "We have no burners; our only chance is to blow up the ship."

Duh-kwe'h nodded. "If we can get into the center of the ship we'll also be able to destroy the egg-chamber."

"Good plan."

Gr'aal gesticulated for them to follow him. They crept into the open space in front of the shield wall as quietly as possible. As they neared the main loading entrance of the strange ship Yeyinde noticed that the middle steel entry was halfway open. Yeyinde hoped that whatever waited for them on the other side wouldn't attack until they had planted their bombs. A vain thought of course. They reached the bottom of the ramp and Yeyinde looked up into the black interior and felt grateful for her mask. Without it she would've been blind. The metal door was raised horizontally, exactly the right height to let the hard meats come and go. She took a first tentative step onto the ramp. From somewhere inside she heard a low hiss. The darkness stirred. The shadows shifted. She could hear the clatter of alien movement, and then silence. Gr'aal had raised his combi-stick and everyone else followed suit. It was better to be prepared. They walked into the pitch black darkness and Yeyinde could hear how her heart hammered against her chest.

She looked at the walls; there was alien spoor all over the place; an odd, wet metal smell. From the ceiling and the walls hung what looked like flesh, green blood and some unidentified body parts. They pressed forward, her adrenaline was pumping. It was hot inside of the ship compared to the blistering cold outside.

Yeyinde scanned the long, dark corridor through the eyes of the mask; the alien spittle secretion could provide camouflage fir hiding bugs. But she saw nothing.

They crept forward. It seemed like an eternity before they would reach the center.

At the end of the corridor there was another door, it was open.

Yeyinde could hear the Kainde Amedha as the skittered somewhere beyond. She saw that the other hunters had to crouch down to get through the portal. She herself had no such problem though. The ceiling on the other side was lower. It would be a problem for the huge yautja to fight in a narrow space like that. They moved forward in the thick darkness.

As they neared the end of the second hallway, Yeyinde heard another alien chatter, close. It came from above them.

Three aliens dropped from the ceiling. They must've been keeping perfectly still for them not to notice them with their specifically tuned EM Field Detectors. The ugly creatures ran toward them, shrieking as they did so. The first fell by Kanh'ka's combi-stick and Duh-kwe'h got the second with his. Both of the hard meats fell to the floor, convulsing as they did so. The third one was headed straight for Yeyinde. She turned and got it with her wrist blades, a slashing jab to the bug's throat.

They started moving again. Pretty soon they reached a stairwell that led upward. Chances were good that they pretty soon would be in the heart of the ship, where the egg-chamber probably was. Gr'aal was first out to start and climb the stairs. Duh-kwe'h followed him and Yeyinde was close behind him. She could hear Kanh'ka's footsteps behind her. It felt good that someone had her back. They came to an abrupt halt as a bug dropped down in front of Gr'aal. It hissed and showed its lethal teeth. It seemed they had to keep an eye on the ceiling. The creature jumped but was to slow; Gr'aal got it out of balance with his combi-stick and impaled it with his arm blades. It shrieked in agony before it went limp. Gr'aal withdrew his arm blades with a sharp sound. The pressed onward again and soon found themselves on the second level and found themselves staring at what seemed to be the egg chamber. Yeyinde breathed a sigh of relief. They had made it. But where were the hard meats? And more importantly, where was the queen?

She felt cold terror only by thinking of that monster. She really had no desire to run into one. Not without a burner. Not without at least fifteen more hunters by her side.

Gr'aal took of his right wrist console and pushed a few buttons. Yeyinde snapped out of her thoughts and did the same, queen or no queen; they needed to destroy this ship.

They threw their bombs to the floor. Now they had just about four minutes to get out or else they were fucked as well.

Now there was no time for sneaking. They ran.

And ran.

The few bugs that came at them were disposed off in a sloppy way. None of them cared if they left wounded half dead hard meats behind. They would be dead soon enough anyway.

Yeyinde felt a huge relief when they reached the exit.

Her relief was short-lived though as she heard a shriek from behind. Kanh'ka had fallen. Something huge, terribly huge, had him impaled on a scorpion-like tail. Green blood flowed from his mouth and his body convulsed. Yeyinde couldn't believe her eyes. The monster that had materialized from the darkness couldn't be a drone. It was far too huge. It made a fully grown yautja look like a suckling. Yeyinde felt how her mouth went dry. What she was looking at was-

"A queen!" she screamed.

There was no time.

She threw her shuriken at the monster without slowing down. Behind them a huge explosion was heard. She was thrown forward and so was the queen.

'Please let me make it', she though and then she hit the ground hard.

The heat washed over them and somewhere in the smoke and dust she could hear how the queen screamed. She could see a dark figure further along and then two more. Gr'aal and Duh-kwe'h had regained their feet and was now attacking the queen. If they felt any fear they sure as hell didn't show it.

Yeyinde got up on her feet. Feeling badly shaken and the sound from the explosion rang in her head. She felt sore all over.

'No time to think about your wounds', she thought and ground her teeth. 'We have to kill that monster if we want to make it out alive.'

She heard a shriek of agony and saw how Duh-kwe'h was impaled by the queen's tail. He was thrown away and landed several meters away. He did not move.

Yeyinde had no time to make sure if he was alive or not. She released her wrist blades and ran toward the queen. Fear was deadly. She would not fear death or hurt. If she feared, if she hesitated, she would die and that was that. K'han had told her not to fear the battle. She had to heed his advice.

She succeeded to cut one of the queen's legs. The huge monster staggered a bit and that was all the hesitation that Gr'aal needed. The young and obviously skilled hunter leapt forward, rolled, flipped, rolled, retreated and then leapt high in the air and threw his combi-stick at the queen's head. It went straight through and the huge monster cried out in pain. Yeyinde rolled away to avoid her death throes. She succeeded but Gr'aal was hit by the tail. It threw him off and he fell to the ground in what seemed to be a painful manner. Yeyinde could hear him grunt. He was alive.

She got up on shaky legs.

They had killed a queen.

They had killed a queen without burners.

What a glorious day.

She went over to Duh-kwe'h and bent down to look at his injuries. They were severe but he was still alive. Perhaps if they got help from the mother ship he would make it. She pushed a few buttons on her left wrist console.

Pick us up, she typed. Hunter seriously wounded, mission complete. She hesitated for a while before she with a smile, added. Killed queen.

'Zah'zai and Yau-th will be proud', she thought and for some reason that filled her with more happiness than the thought of being alive did.