Author's Note: I'd like to give a quick thank you to those few souls who have been with me on this fic from the days it was a six hundred word stub. We've come a long way, the plot has twisted and turned, even completely rewritten itself a time of two. This chapter feels very much like a waypoint, an obstacle overcome as well as an opportunity to test a new style to represent the increasing closeness of Alec and Piusnex's lives.
"I can still remember the pain of it." Piusnex began quietly, hugging the quiet bundle in her arms, the human wincing slightly, the praetorian glad beyond words when the Queen appeared not the notice the gentle sound, "Waking up after the yautja attack. It was as if I'd into water at the very verge of freezing, so painful it was almost numbing. I'd been expertly immobilised by the human, I was right in the very core of his sanctum, his lair."
She paused, giving the Queen time to absorb the information and perhaps even question it.
"Why would the human save you?" She pondered aloud, mulling over the facts in her head and unable to reach any logical conclusion.
"I honestly haven't the slightest inkling even after all this time." Piusnex admitted with amusement, "But as I was saying, as I lay there, upon the cold metal slab, alone in the darkness, something spoke to me, but it spoke nonsense. It was only much later I would realise that it was the human, trying to communicate through its machines, at the time it sounded like a praetorian driven past the point of madness." She chuckled wryly, the memory a fond one when viewed through the rosy lens of time. "Of course now I know what was actually going on. He was simply trying to reassure me."
"Who is 'he'?" The Queen demanded suspiciously.
"The human. He'd trained one of his machines to speak the language of the Hive, trained it badly I'll admit, but it improved over time."
"It spoke to you?" The Queen asked aghast, "Then why have they never done so before?"
Piusnex gave the xenomorph equivalent of a knowing smile, baring her teeth more prominently, "I'd imagine because no human or xenomorph have survived in each other's presence long enough for even a minute lexicon to evolve."
Her mother appeared to give this due thought, an unusual occurrence, before replying thoughtfully, "I'd certainly class that as a definite possibility."
"Before I finally escaped he'd even begun trying to speak Hive himself, though he isn't very good at it." Even as she said it the praetorian knew she'd slipped up.
"Isn't. The human still lives?" The Queen inquired sharply, far more perceptive than her daughter would have wished.
"Let me finish Mother." Piusnex ordered, surprisingly assertive and even more surprisingly the Queen listened, however begrudgingly, "I believe I was describing my first day in captivity before I digressed, it's just that I've learnt so much about them, the things they can do with machines, you wouldn't believe some of it."
"I fail to see the importance." The Queen declared imperiously, "The humans are dead, it does not matter even if they could fly. They are dead and shall remain so."
"Or not." said a quiet voice from Chrome's arms.
The praetorian froze, guilt, fear and shock competing for dominance of her expression.
"What is that? Show me." The Queen demanded.
A gentle hand placed itself on Piusnex's arm. "It is ok." Her human assured her, "this was-" He paused, vocabulary not quite sufficient to express the concept succinctly, "-going to happen in time."
She paused but realised her human was right, the time for secrecy was past and perhaps it was for the best that her human had revealed himself on his own terms. Gently she gave him a reassuring squeeze, wanting him to know that no matter what happened next she would support him in it before setting him down on his feet.
As the extent of her daughter's treachery became clear the Queen was almost incandescant in her rage. Yet as she prepared to launch a near nuclear tirade of vitriol and fury she was interrupted, pre-emptively, by a calm, determined and cheerful voice albeit rendered near incoherent from the thick accent. "Mother I know-"
Piusnex tapped him gently upon the shoulder, leaning down to whisper urgently in his ear.
"Regrets, my error. My Queen I know you have no reason to trust me, but I mean no death to you. Knowing the praetorian has altered my living." He said falteringly, forced to dredge his memory for the correct words. "I friend her. Close friend, save her life. Mean lot to me. Please don't kill me."
It was not a particularly eloquent speech but it came from the heart and the Queen appeared to be genuinely considering his words; or perhaps was simply too stunned to react by the existance of a human who could speak her language.
Finally, after sever tense, silent minutes, the Queen pronounced her judgement.
"I will give you a chance. Don't waste it." She declared with begrudging imperiousness, doing her best to seem regal yet wise and contemplative in the face of her unexpected audience. Ironically it was a wasted effort when considering that Alec's knowledge of xenomorph body language and intonation was specifically keyed to Chrome's. Perhaps he might have been able to venture a guess as to the body language of another praetorian, especially considering that, unlike drones, runners and warriors, praetorians incorporated the bare minimum of host DNA and thus shared remarkably similar physiologies.
In many ways this adaptive mechanism was the primary reason for xenomorph success across the galaxy, whatever planet they arrived on the drones would adapt almost perfectly to the environment by expressing features present in the dominant species.
This extreme physical morphology however meant that the body language varied from caste to caste as well as from planet to planet, and thus there was no possible way for Alec to correctly interpret the Queen's regal pose.
"I won't." The human replied calmly, almost radiating peace and serenity in his scent. He didn't fear the aliens; not anymore.
The Queen ignored this entirely, dismissing the small creature from her mind, instead focusing upon her errant daughter, "If you want this human to live then I'm making it your responsibility. It is now your property, you are responsible for keeping it sheltered, fed and watered, if it harms the hive I'm holding you responsible."
"Understood." Piusnex said warmly, grateful beyond her ability to express.
"While you're here I have a job for you. There's a batch of ravagers about to hatch, I need a praetorian to lead them, as the eldest you're the only one with the experience and level head needed to lead them."
"That's a risky play." Piusnex observed coolly, "We've only ever had the one ravager before and we had to put it down."
"I know, that's another reason I want you to lead. You've killed one before, you can do it again."
"Very well. I'll need drones. And warriors." She said calmly, treating the scenario as an exercise in tactics.
"Why?"
"Ravagers are slow, lumbering. Drones could overwhelm them using swarm tactics, having drones of my own to lead will prevent this." The praetorian reasoned, "You clearly want this strike force to wreak destruction upon the enemy hive. A mixed force has the best chance of success."
"With a force that strong you might as well ask for a full assault." The Queen growled, unimpressed thus far.
"That was something else I was going to suggest, twenty drones and two of the other praetorians perform a full frontal assault on the hive whilst we enter through a secondary entrance with the intention of killing their Queen."
"You do realise you've changed the entire objective of this mission and committed a fifth of the hive in a single stroke?"
"Of course Mother. But this way we can win the war in a single surgical strike rather than just causing massive casualties in a suicide mission." Piusnex effused enthusiastically.
"It's risky. I don't like it." The Queen complained.
"But will you allow it?"
There was a very long pause before finally the Queen appeared to reach a decision.
"Yes. But on one condition; the human goes with you."
"No!" She gasped, "It's too dangerous, he'll be killed."
"It's the only way this happens." The Queen stated firmly, utterly implacable on this point. "I won't have it wandering the hive unsupervised, and it's not like it hasn't proven it can defend itself."
"But this is different Mother. This is a war, not day to day survival." The praetorian complained, terrified that her human would be killed.
"Do you trust it?"
"I trust him." Piusnex declared with absolute certainty, emphasising the gender-specific pronoun ever so slightly.
"Then give it one of the human projectile weapons and armour."
"I really can't persuade you otherwise?" The praetorian tried one final time, aware giving the human armour was a token gesture at best. A drone's claws would tear through it as if it were less than paper.
"No. As I said, this is your chance to prove the worth of you and your human." The Queen said pointedly.
"Very well Mother. I will comply." Chrome conceded graciously, her human sticking close to her as she left the room.
Alec hadn't understood most of what have been said, the conversation too quick and his lexicon too limited, but clearly he was being given a chance, with some sort of task involved.
To finally be at peace with the hive... it would be a truly life-changing achievement for him.
'That had certainly been an unexpected development.' The Queen thought to herself.
Of course her daughter was right about the attack at least, she'd always had a skilled tactical outlook.
The human changed things drastically, the Queen decided in calm hindsight. A highly valuable resource if exploited properly, and thus Piusnex became even more valuable herself as the only one able to hold the metaphorical leash. She didn't even pretend to understand the relationship between the two but it didn't matter. What mattered was how best to exploit it.
Piusnex had earned herself an extended lease of life.
Author's Note: Finally we have plot progression once more.