Meeting the Hive
Marcus, the Praetorian Xenomorph, led them to a huge antechamber. It was covered with thick Xenomorph webbing. Xenomorphs were all over the place, climbing the walls, nursing chestbursters, and socializing with other Xenomorphs. Suddenly, all the heads turned towards him. Marcus groaned telepathically. The onlookers included infant chestbursters, small drones, Warriors, large Warriors, a few Predaliens, and even a few Queens. But one Xenomorph towered over the rest: a gigantic, grey, chained Xenomorph Queen, illuminated by some fires, making the Queen look yellowish. It stared at them, and an ancient voice issued from the walls.
"Who dares, even thinks, about violating the sanctity of my hive?"
Miranda had no answer to that. "Well, General Vaktovich sent us to, well, kill you, because he fears your hive may escape while being held captive."
"SEE?" the Queen thundered. "DESTROY THEM!"
"No comment." Dyson said. And he ran. Yelling over his shoulder, he said "There's no way you can beat a bazillion Xenomorphs! Run for it!
Miranda, Shaddix, Grid, and Wolf were suddenly surrounded by snarling Xenomorphs. Marcus sighed. "I wish you'd have freed our hive. We're much more intelligent, you know". And he pounced.
Luckily, Sniper saved the day. Appearing out of nowhere, he pulled a large hunting rifle and jabbed Marcus in the chest. A Warrior Xenomorph attacked. Sniper shot a tranquilizer dart at the monster, which struck it in the face. Miranda yelled "STOP!" The Xenomorph waves kept coming. They were now surrounded by Xenomorphs. Sniper growled. "We're screwed."
A screeching war cry sounded, and Dyson leapt into action, punching and kicking Xenomorphs, sending them tumbling. Marcus leaped at him, but Grid punched the Praetorian in the face. Marcus flew five feet and rolled to a stop. He got up, and charged.
Meanwhile, Shaddix and Grid were separated from the group. They attacked Xenomorphs furiously, but they were being driven to a wall. As for Dyson, Wolf, and Miranda, they were fending off Marcus and some Xenomorphs. Sniper stood on a ruined pillar, putting Xenomorphs to sleep with tranquilizer darts. Then, they heard a low-pitched roar. A Queen had separated itself from its egg sack, and charged, tossing lower-caste Xenos out of the way, screeching as she went. She swung her two primary arms at Miranda, who was caught and tossed. "Ouch!" Miranda screamed. The two secondary arms picked up some sharp rock slabs and started to stab at the Queen. She roared, and caught Dyson in the chest with her left primary hand. She started to open her mouth, but Shaddix jumped on the Queen's large head crest, and started slicing with his disc. She roared, flung her head, and Shaddix was tossed all the way at the feet of another, smaller Queen, which started to tear its egg sack off. Shaddix scrambled to his feet, avoiding marauding lesser Xenomorphs to join the battle against the fighting Queen. The huge Queen roared encouragement at the Xenomorphs and screeched at the combatants.
Meanwhile, the fighting Queen was getting the advantage. Spewing fire-acid at the fighters, it was quickly tiring them down. Shaddix's helmet caught on fire. " YOWZA!" He ran around, screaming like an idiot. The fighting Queen snapped her tail, and Grid was sent flying through the air. Sniper appeared out of the shadows, right on the Queen's head, but the Queen grabbed Sniper. Sniper shot a tranquilizer dart, but it simply bounced off the Queen's head. It growled, and prepared to eat Sniper. Suddenly, bright lights shined down on the vast antechamber. Raw meat was dropped down, steak, sausage, ham, and others. Xenomorphs hungrily began consuming some, while most of the meat was brought before the Queens and the huge Queen. The fighting queen set down Sniper to feast on a pig carcass. Sniper sighed. "So what? Are you gonna fight as soon as you're done eating?" The Queen turned around, blood on her mouth. " Well, the Matriarch-" gesturing to the huge Queen, " will accept your offer, as long as you don't try to kill me, Zeta-" gesturing to the small Queen, "Bahlaks, or the Matriarch." The whole team walked to the Matriarch, dodging the lights. Finally, they disappeared.
The ancient Xenomorph turned its head towards the team, and groaned. " Are you sure you want to free me? I may kill you, or the rest of the Hive." Miranda scoffed. "Don't delude yourself with visions of power. And, Xenomorphs have been human allies before. Your Queen Mother, ruler of the Xenomorph Empire, allied with a Predator and a human before." The Matriarch snarled. " That Queen Mother is dead. She was Kazmir the Great, expanded the Xenomorph Empire's control over the galaxy 55-B67, and reformed our governmental system. Nevertheless, Kazmir was killed in a skirmish against human soldiers. That is truly saddening. To ally yourself with a human, and die because of humans? However, we have not chosen a new Queen Mother. For 50 years, we have debated the succession, with either me, Acheron the Victorious, Kazmir's daughter Marlachek, or Hruthon of BG-386 as Queen Mother." Miranda raised her hand. " Yes, I know, ever since the explosion of the Farlak Orb, Xenomorphs have become intelligent, reorganized their dominion, and are an official political entity, controlling millions of worlds. But, I do not need to hear about Xenomorph politics. Too boring." The Matriarch snarled. "Fine. Let us get to the point. The deal: My freedom, in exchange for me not killing you." Miranda scoffed, again. " That's hardly a fair deal! Kazmir the Great would never do such a thing!" The Matriarch roared. " Though it is true that during her reign, Kazmir the Great allied the Xenomorph Empire with the humans, before she allied herself with the human Caryn, Kazmir attempted to kill her! This proved that Kazmir allied herself with the Caryn because the human threatened to kill Kazmir's successor, Marlachek the Wise, so Kazmir allied the Xenomorph Empire out of protection! IF the alliance was not, Xenomorph Prime, our sacred homeworld, would be invaded, and Kazmir killed!"
Miranda smirked. " Ha! This proves that the Xenomorph Empire was weak! They had to agree to a treaty, otherwise humans would raze the capital of your empire, Xenoopolis, to the ground!" The Matriarch sighed, then responded " Fine, what is your bargain?" Miranda twirled her fingers, and said " Ok, your freedom in exchange for rampaging this facility. And, no getting killed." The Matriarch smiled, at least how Xenomorphs smile. A bare, toothy grin spread across the Matriarch's face. " That, we can do." "Oh, and one more thing. How does the Xenomorph Empire expand? And is there any, you know, any tributary states, or anything?"
The Matriarch burped, then responded. "In the old days, there was mindless expansion. Eggs would get on ships, facehuggers would hatch, and there you go. Under the reign of Wotan the Magnificent, the Farlak Orb exploded. We were suddenly… more intelligent. We carefully infested ships, and spread the empire. There are no vassal states, as we have no need for goods. All we need is sufficient meat. We do not require hosts, as now, we just lay an egg, and a chestbursters comes out. Does that answer your question?" "Well, as a matter of fact, it does."
"Let's go!" Dyson, who had been listening, tossed a disc at the chain. Grid threw his staff, which bounced off another chain. It collapsed. Wolf threw two at the leg chains, and Shaddix finished it off with another disc to the chest chain. The Matriarch ripped herself free from her gigantic egg sack, and stretched her arms. All four of them. "Finally, I am free! Now, let us destroy this building!" Xenomorphs screeched and headed for the stairs. Dyson sighed. "Well, I guess, lets go!" And they went.