{Well all...This is is! The final chapter of this story. I hope that it has been a good read for
everyone and that it brought a few smiles, tears and joy to a few of you! Read on and enjoy!}
Chapter 19: A Monster or a King?
Despite his large size, Amun was far from slow and could easily catch up to the fleeing vehicles that were attempting to escape the compound. He caught up to everyone of them and sent them flying through the air with his tail or claws, knowing that not a soul would survive. One after another, Amun destroyed anything that moved, filling his blood lust that had been created only minuets ago by the people who had decided to piss him off.
He went from building to building, ripping people from windows and doorways. Crushing them with his hands or cutting them apart with various parts of his body. He did not care, Amun was so bloody drunk he did not know what he was doing.
He destroyed everything, as they had destroyed his life, killed his love and then taken his family from him. Memories of talking with Jolene, playing with Rowena and Scarlett before he helped they turn to Praetorians, making love to Emilia for the first time in the only way they could. With each physical thing that he torn to pieces within the compound, the memories of his daughters bodies flashed before him like wildfire. Their bodies upon the ground and their blood eating away at the vegetation would now be the bodies of the humans of this place of horror. He would make them pay for what they had done.
As he began to rip one of the building apart, he was met with small rifle fire in his back and turned to face the new threat. But before he could move to attack, they were taken out by another Xeno from the side, one that he could not have missed. It was his first born Bobby! Just then, Amun looked up to see a army of his daughters flooding over the outer wall, not a single defence to stop them. He watched as they all began to find targets and made their way to take them out.
He looked down to see his first born approaching, her face covered in the blood of the man she had just killed. He hated the sight of his daughter covered in the liquid, it just reminded him that she was not a mindless killer. However, they had pushed him too far this time. Amun wanted, no needed them to pay, for what they had done was monstrous. So he would give them a monster.
"Father, I am sorry, he was about to hurt you. I did not want to harm him." She said as she curled around his leg.
"It is alright my daughter, you were protecting someone you loved from harm. I feel we must do more of that now, for our families sake."As he spoke to his daughter he felt the mental tough of Emilia and looked just in time to see her crawl over the outer wall. She called out to him.
"AMUN! AMUN YOU ARE ALIVE!" She yelled as she ran to him, making sure not to step upon any of her daughters who were now skillfully hunting on the compound. As she ran towards him Amun noticed something coming towards her from a window behind. He knew it was a rocket and took off from one foot, catching Emilia in his arms and twisting her around. The rocket impacted his upper back, scorching his exoskeleton but not breaking it.
He quickly let Emilia go and spun towards the building it had come from. The poor soldier who had fired the rocket had little chance to survive the angry king's rage. Amun's clawed hand burst through the concrete and glass, wrapped around the man and pulled him from the building. Amun brought him close to his face and heard the man whimper, but did nothing more. Until a few second later where Amun tossed the man to the ground where three of his daughters had been waiting. Amun looked away at what happened to the man next, but felt no guilt.
Once the man was dead, a squad of his daughters began to make their way into the building he had pulled the man from. As he turned and walked away, he could hear the screams and small arms fire begin from behind him. He walked back towards his Queen who was waiting for him. Amun pulled her close into his embrace and purred loudly. He felt her tail wrap tightly around him as she nuzzled her face into his neck. The two royal Xeno's stayed there for a while, enjoying their contact as their daughters lead the slaughter of every human left at the compound.
It was all over a few hours later, but Amun had Bobby, Ashley and Jenna take some of their sisters and sweep every last inch of the lab, just to be sure. Amun wanted to be sure his family was safe. Amun watched as Emilia tended to her daughter's wounds, which there was very few of. Suddenly he was reminded of Abby. He made his way back to the ware house roof and looked inside. He was pleased to see that she had not moved from her protective stop over the other two Xeno drones. He made his way down from the roof and joined his daughter.
"Father, they are waking up. I think they are scared." Abby explained once he had joined them. He looked into the pod where the two drones had curled up tightly to one another. Amun let out a low purr in attempts to show them that he would not harm them. As he looked down at the scared drones, he noticed the layers upon layers of scares that covered their exoskeletons. He could only imagine the horrors that had been done to them over their time in the lab.
Sadness over took him as he looked at the two. He mentally reached out to the two and sent as much good feelings to them that he could. He was not sure if they had even felt it, or if they even could being from another Queen. But he would try anyway.
"Abby, let's get them out of the pod, they need to warm up a bit more."
"Yes Father." Abby crawled her way into the pod where she gently lifted one of the drones with little resistance, to where Amun took over and gathered them in his large hands. He reached down and took the second one as Abby helped them to stand. When he had both of the drones in his tender care, he waited for his daughter to crawl onto his back before making his way out of the ware house.
With the two sleepy Xeno's in his hands, and his daughter now upon his crown, he went to find his Queen. As he made his way through the compound he was glad to see that all of his daughters were alive and well. Some had minor injuries, but all one hundred were accounted for. A few more of his daughters joined him on his search for Emilia. When Amun finally found her she was looking into the window of a building with anticipation that surprised Amun. As he approached, she turned to look upon him before refocusing on the window.
"What is it my queen?" He asked, but she did not take her gaze from the window. He watched in silence.
"What is Mother waiting for?" Abby asked as she watched from her perch. Amun shrugged and waited, wanting to see what was so important. It was not until heard the screams that he had an idea about what was going on. Amun looked into the building as well and watched as three of his daughters came into view, dragging a man along with them. Amun kept silent.
As the man was forcefully taken to the window where the Alien Queen was waiting, he felt the disapproval from Abby who also watched. Amun did nothing to stop hid queen, he knew that she needed this to finally come to peace with some part of herself. As the man finally came to the window, Emilia reached in with her only larger clawed hand, grabbed the man and pulled him out. She brought him to her face and growled loudly.
"Please, please have mercy. I'm just a scientist!" Amun felt her anger peak at his comment. She slowly opened her jaw to expose her second mouth. She thrusted it forward and engulfed the man's head within its teeth. Biting down, she then crushed his skull completely, blood flowing from her mouth. The image sent a shiver down Amun's spin. Emilia then dropped the limp body to the ground and turned to face her king.
" He...he was one of the scientist that suggested they take my arm. To make me more compliant." Amun did not say anything because he knew it would not make a difference. And at this point, he was just as guilty as she was. He had let his rage take over and did exactly what he had not wanted to do. So who was he to judge.
"Emilia...we need to talk." Amun attempted to change the subject. As he talked, he held the two waking drones out to her. She looked to them and then back to Amun.
"They...they are not ours. Where are they from?" She asked as she looked curiously at the two. Amun gestured for her to take them which she did, caring for them as if they had been hers.
"Do you remember Jolene?" Emilia's head snapped up from the smaller Xeno's, he felt the confusion flow from her. "These people did something...something horrible. They used...they took Jolene's blood and added it to a Xenomorph to create a queen." Amun felt the shock from her.
"They what?!" She exclaimed, not believing it as well.
"I know, I did not believe them either but she...knew things that only Jolene would have known. I know that she is not Jolene but...she was...is..." Amun struggled to find his words with all the emotions that were running through his mind. His head drooped to the ground, but was quickly brought back up by a set of small arms. Emilia held his face in her hands and softly purred.
"It is alright my king, this must be rather confusion for you. I would be torn as well. We will figure this out later. Come, let us leave this place." Amun let out a long sigh before he let his queen lead him away from this nightmare.
Later, when Amun and his family had found a nice place to rest within the mountains, he finally relaxed his soar body. He placed his body down into a nice cool river that they had found and let the water run over his ebony black skeleton, cooling every inch of it. He let out a long sigh and just enjoyed the moment. Short lived as it was.
His attention was grabbed by the playful banter of his daughters who were now fighting within the water in front of him. He watched as Heather and Clara chased after a runner, Kimberly, who they had no chance of catching. It brought a smile to his face to see his daughter so happy. It had not been two days since they all marched away from the facility where he had been captured.
As the three ran off, he heard the loud footsteps of Emilia approaching from the side. He turned to see her with a few of her daughters at her feet, as well as their two guests in her arms. She sat down beside him and placed the two drones upon his back, they had no problem finding room to curl up and sun bath on.
"Are they getting along well?" Amun asked his Queen as she watched the now resting Xeno's upon his back. A few more of his daughters moved to join the two, finding the best spots to gather the sun. Amun had asked because they two drones from the other queen had not said a word since they had been taken from the pod.
"They seem to be doing well. They are getting along with everyone, I already caught them playing with Deedra and Vanessa. So I would say things are ok, but they still have yet to say a single word to anyone. They might not know how." She explained as she kept an eye on the two. She let out a long sigh that Amun noticed and knew something was on her mind.
"What is it?" He asked. Emilia did not respond immediately but looked up and the mountains that surrounded them.
"Was it really her?" The question had not come as a shock for he knew that they would have to talk about this sooner or later. And now they had all the time in the world.
"Not exactly. She had her memories, her scent and her emotions...but it was not my Jolene. They only way I can explain it is like using a clay that you have used for years to make a pot that you have never attempted before. You know how it feels and how it will move, but the shape is foreign and strange to your fingers." Emilia did a slow nod knowing what he meant.
"Will...will you go after her?" This question had surprised him, he never thought she would ask him something like that. He felt the hesitation and fear in her voice even without her emotions within his mind.
"I do not know. I cannot leave her to be used as an experiment, just as I could not leave you. On the other hand I have a new family and cannot leave them. I am torn between the past I knew and the future before me."
"Whatever you choose, we will be here with you no matter what." She said to him as she nuzzled her crown against his. "For now, what should we do? What's the plan?" Amun took in a deep breath and looked up towards a large, rocky mountain that was in front of him.
"I think I'll do that one next." Emilia followed his gaze to the mountain. Placing her only hand upon his crown she purred.
"Let us do that." He and Emilia began to walk towards the mountains once again, their new family following close behind, when suddenly a voice called out to them.
"Father! Father! Who is Scarlett and Rowena?" Amun turned to see who had asked the question and was surprised to see Dana approaching with speed. He was also a bit shocked that she had known their names. Dana had been from the new batch of Xeno's and had never meet the two preatorians. She stopped in front of her father and patiently looked up at him.
"They were our royal guards Dana, they helped to save your Mother and Bobby when the company attacked our first hive. Why do you ask?"
"Cause they are here with a human, someone called a mountain man." Shock took over Amun. His head snapped up and started looking around for the friend that he had forgotten about. It was not until he noticed his daughters parting to making a path for someone that he saw the pheromones of a human.
"You know, I do like to visit on better terms big fella. But I figured there was no better time to come. I also have some that belong to you I think." Amun and Emilia watched as Keith approached them. However both the royal Xeno's attention was not upon the man, but on the two Pretorians that were escorting him through the sea of aliens. It was Emilia who spoke first, Amun was still frozen in place.
"Sc-scarlette? Rowena...is...is this real?" She said through sadness.
"Hello Mother, yes it is. We are alive, thanks to Keith." Scarlett explained as they walked closer. Once they were close enough, the two larger alien took off towards their parents, leaping into their arms. Amun reached out and caught Rowena as she flew through the air and brought her close and held his daughter tight. Emilia caught Scarlett and did the same.
"My guards, my daughters! I cannot...I am so happy!" Amun exclaimed in happiness as he held his daughter. " I had thought you dead when I could not feel you after the attack! How? What happened?" He asked as he nuzzled Rowena.
"Well, once me and Scarlett forced the attack into the forest where we could fight back, we began to drive the humans back and it looked like we had them on the run. Me and Scarlett ordered everyone who was still left back to protect the hive entrance while we made sure they would never return. We had not realized how far we had gone when there was a loud noise and fire from behind us." Rowena explained as she embraced her father the best she could. That was when Scarlett cut in.
"It was then that they turned on us. All of a sudden they came after us as if they wanted to take us away. We had to run and we were both injured in the process. We did manage to hide in a small cave. I cannot remember how long we had stayed there but it felt like forever. That was when Keith found us and knew we were in trouble. We knew it was him after you had told us about him so we knew we would be safe. He helped us heal father." Amun looked down to the old man that was smiling up at him. He kept Rowena in one hand as he reached down to write in the dirt with his other.
"THANK YOU."
"Not to worry big fella. I know you love your daughters very much. What man would I be to leave such lovely ladies in a time of need. It was my pleasure to get them back to health. Now, if you would like, I think I have somewhere in mind to keep you all while you sort things out."
"LEAD THE WAY MOUNTAIN MAN."
"Onward then." Was all Keith said as he turned and made his way towards the mountains. The two royals look at one another and shrugged. Rowena gestured to be let down so Amun placed her on the ground. She then made her way to walk beside Keith as he started his journey. Scarlett did not want to leave Emilia so she stayed within her embrace.
Amun smiled and started to follow the man, not knowing what would happen next.
To Be Continued...