Author's Note: Happy New Year's everybody! I seriously was up all night writing this update for you, I hope it will make up for the recent lack of activity.

Warning: Violence

Disclaimer: Ya'll will cover me if I get sued right?

IMPORTANT NOTICE DO NOT IGNORE: I am aware that in recent chapters some of the dialouge has been cramped together sortoflikethis. I do not know how that happened, and I assure if it happens again that I will contact about the problem because there is nothing wrong with my original files. So please do not say anything if you notice it.

Haven

The ride back to the mother ship was full of teasing about the name of the little girl Lex was carrying. They finally ruled out the name "Time", and continued to harass one another even as they docked. It was all in good fun, but those who were not the parents were less than amused by the time the bickering finally stopped. They exited out to make sure Lex made it to the medbay safely, but almost as soon as they were out of the launch bay they knew something was wrong.

They had expected the ship to be virtually empty upon their arrival, and in fact it was. A few hunting parties had already returned, and the ship was not devoid of all life...but something made hair across Lex's body stand on end and her whole body tense. Scar and the others froze and glanced at each other worriedly. Clearly whatever had Lex on edge was not just her imagination. The boys sniffed at the air and started to snarl.

Something was wrong.

Silently they spread across the launch bay, searching the corners, behind crates and pods for whatever caused their unease. They made they way toward an exit and into a hall, where the feeling of impending danger seemed to intensify, and in a short while was explained. The body of a young warrior, marked as long as they were, Lex even recognized him from the hunt for the Deathworm, was lay strewn across the floor. His chest was open as if something had burst from it.

Even Lex snarled in shock at this discovery. How could this have happened? There was a sudden scream behind them and a monstrosity of a creature leaped out at them, all fans and claws. Lex Fired at it instinctively with her cannon, Dodge launched a net which entangled it while it was trying to escape another way. Scar brought his spear down on it, cleaving its head clean from its shoulders and ceasing its struggling. As he pulled his spear out of the mess in melted in acidic gore.

It was Kainde Amedha. A hard meat.

But it bore the mandibles and tendrils of the Yautja. A hybrid, an abomination. How had this happened!

Lex supposed they had been lucky that they had been on such high guard and in a group. Had that thing had caught them while they were not on their toes, and alone, none of them would have stood a chance.

"Lehx" Strike motioned for her to come closer, "Stay between us." He growled.

She would have argued, but thought of the child she was carrying. She needed to stay safe, and the safest place she could be was in the center of the group. Now aware that the danger they all sensed was real, the group went into hunting mode, switching their gear into vision that would pick up any sign of movement, and heightening their equipment to hear the faintest sound. It the distance Lex heard the wail of a Queen alien. It wasn't a triumphant roar of one that was wrecking havoc. It was the sound of a Queen locked in a cage somewhere, unable to help. Somehow Lex had a feeling she knew percisly what was happening, but how?

"Xeira." Lex murmured. "Lex get down to the science division."

"But...The medbay?" Tool looked around nervously, Strike stood at his friend's side placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Another roar sounded, closer, full of rage. Lex looked around at her mate, her friends, her guardians. "I think that just proved my theory." She said, "The other Queen, you know, the Bitch we fought together?" She look straight at Scar who nodded, remembering exactly what she meant. "I think she's gotten out somehow...Or was let loose. The Medbay isn't safe, no where is I bet. Except perhaps the science division."

"Why do you think that?" Burn asked.

Scar answered for her, knowing exactly what she was thinking, "If you were a prisoner, suddenly set free, would you return to where you were held captive?" He asked not expecting an answer.

The group slowly nodded.

"That's our best bet for a safe place to build a fort and hide until we have a plan." Lex said, and placed a hand over her abdomen "And for me to keep the pup safe." She added, as if they needed reminding.

Getting Lex to safety was their first priority.

"Move quickly, but keep your guard up." Lex wasn't listening enough to know who said it, but what she did know was that was all they could do right now. Xeira screamed again, almost as if begging to be let out so she could do something, anything except wait for the ship to be overrun with her enemy's offspring. Thankfully there were so few on the ship to begin with, they didn't see any full grown 'Prealiens' as Lex called them in her mind. They did have to dispatch of more than a few face-huggers as they continued across the ship into the lower decks. As they neared the armory, Burn suggested that they stop to grab a few more weapons, some that were a bit more resistant to the acidic blood of their adversary.

Lex wanted to oppose at first, thinking of her child and the need to get to safety fast, but counted down their available weapons. Most of their artillery was melted and of no use if they ran into another of the Predaliens. This was their only hope, and so reluctantly Lex agreed to the minor detour. They formed a circle around her and continued through the halls and stairways, daring not risking getting stuck in an elevator. They reached the armory with no further delay.

And as luck would have it, they were not the only ones who had the idea to replenish their supplies.

"Javelin!" Lex cried with relief when she saw the elders, plus several other Yautja of varying rank gathered in the armory. The elder rushed to meet her, sweeping her into the protective embrace most males reserved for their offspring.

"What has happened?" Scar asked, hoping that someone knew why the Kainde Amedha were running amok.

Crusade shrugged, "As far as we can tell the Hard Meat broke loose, or was deliberately released. We are forming a squad to go down to the science division and unleash Xeira."

"Our plan was to go to the science division too." Strike said, "But why are you planning to let Xeira out?"

Javelin answered, "Providing that Xeira is cooperative, we hope that she will be able to track the other Queen's nest down so we can destroy it. And the Bitch herself." He looked to the newly arrived group. "And your purpose of going down there...?"

"I need to get somewhere safe." Lex replied, putting a protective arm around herself as if she though she could protect her child with just skin and bone. She explained that the other queen was unlikely to return to the place of her prison, or allow her children down there if she could help it.

"We also thought we could make a stronghold there." Tool added, "It would be safe and well protected so we could plan our next move.

The elders nodded, "A fine plan." They agreed.

The large group set about grabbing every weapon they could carry without being too heavy, they couldn't be too loud either or else they would give their position away to any near by Kainde Amedha. Lex stayed at the center of the group once again, but this time the group was about fifteen men strong, and close to their goal with rare attacks and never anything big. Lex thought maybe that first Predalien her original group had encountered was the only one. She was proven wrong by the attack of two others.

One shrieked and fled, presumably to get reinforcements while the other stayed to try and slow them down from reaching their goal. Javelin rushed the remaining Predalien with a feint to the left and a shruriken launched from his belt that Crusade caught and threw back, ripping the creature twice across the skull. Wrath joined the part with his sons in tow, encircling it and jabbing three spears into it in a triangle, tapping it and allowing for Lex to shoot it with her cannon. The skull erupted and everyone dashed away to avoid the acid blood. Burn unfortunately was not fast enough to escape, and had to fling his shoulder guard across the room before it melted through to his skin.

The other Predalien was no where to be seen. The group looked at each other, all of them thinking the same thing. The two were sentries, guarding the horde, meaning the nest must be nearby. Wrath beckoned five of the Yautja including his two sons to join him on a quest to search out the nest, and report back to the science division when it was uncovered for a full assault while the rest of them planned out the attack. The group split, and Lex continued down with the remaining Yautja to the science division where Xeira was waiting.

The old queen had gone quite sometime ago, probably certain that nothing was coming to free her as someone or something had allowed the other queen out of her prison. She was barely visible when the doors to the containment lab opened and she lifted her head, snapping out her double jaws to taste the air and identify the intruders. She practically leaped to her feet when she recognized Javelin's musk. The Queen seemed to have forgotten that she was mad at him in favor of the fact that they were surrounded by a common enemy, and any time, the other queen could decide it was time to go back down and destroy everything not of her line.

As Javelin made up with Xeira, the remaining warriors gathered together, to discuss the plan, normally it would take a full tribe to take down a Queen, but they did not have that many in number, even if the group searching for the nest returned with no casualties, there was still no chance that they would be able to take out the queen on their own.

Unless of course Xeira had enough fight in her to take on the other Queen herself, while they eliminated her brood.

It wasn't much of a plan, but it would have to do, they had nothing else to work with except to destroy their whole ship and them with it, which would serve as their last resort. Lex touched her abdomen again, praying it would not have to come to that. Just as she was about to remove her hand Scar covered hers with his. Though they were both still wearing their masks, it was just the same as looking each other in the eyes.

The doors opened, all six of the scouts had returned, though not in perfect shape. One Yautja had several fingers missing, another had his whole hand gone. Dodge and Burn carried each other , limping and bleeding with deep gashes spilling luminescent blood across their chests. Wrath, came behind them, one of his eyes was gorge out, and he had several claw marks across his armor, some of them penetrating down to his body. His helmet had been abandoned somewhere which would explain how he was able to loose an eye.

"Found the nest." He grumbled as he shut to door behind them. "Its two stories up, just past the forge."

"We...We..." One other the Yautja Lex couldn't name stuttered, "We tried to put them to the torch. The place is burning as we speak, but we didn't get out before two snuck up on us."

"And there was someone else there too." Another added "Another Yautja. He attacked us too. We couldn't identify him, probably went mad in the panic."

"What's the plan?" Wrath asked.

Crusade glanced at Javelin and Xeira. Javelin nodded once, and Crusade instructed the newcomers to what little they had of an attack strategy. Wrath shook his head, clearly he was disappointed with their lack of options, but with how few they were themselves, this was indeed the best they could do.

"How long do you want to wait before we attack?" Wrath asked at last.

Dodge approached his father, "We should get everyone's wounds taken care of before we even think of leaving." He said, "And that could leave us here for sometime."

"Meanwhile the other queen is up there laying more eggs for us to worry about." Lex mused.

Dodge nodded, "Unfortunately ."

"What do you suggest?" Javelin asked looking at the head elder.

Crusade was silent for several moments, everyone held their breath in anticipation for what the elder would say. Finally Crusade looked back at them. "We'll have to wait...And take what comes when it comes."

The Yautja pounded their fists on to their chests in a sort of salute, and gather in small groups tending to the wounds of the returned group and making small talk before they went in for battle. There was no telling if any of them would make out alive.

Author's end note: Hate to leave you on a cliff hanger, but I'm tired, it 5:04 am as I'm writing this and I haven't gone to be at all. So enjoy, savor this update while you can because I still don't know when I will update again. Thank for reading! -passes out-