Boundless Chapter 19: If Tragedy was a Song, an aliens/predator fanfic

Exasperation was something Ah'kaedh's tiny ooman provoked on the Enforcer since day one. Her qualities, her flaws, her moods - everything about her would annoy the dark Yautja (whose irritation would be directed at her, at himself, or just at the world in general).

(Truth to be told, a good portion of his annoyance esteemed from Ah'kaedh's rational side, still unable to get over how such a small creature could yield so much power over him).

Eventually, conversely, this phenomenon also started to amuse the Hunter. Pissed and delighted, all at once.

But not now, no. Not while dealing with a crisis. Not only because millions of oomans would die, but because a Bad Blood was responsible - and Ah'kaedh's failure in capturing them before this whole planetary fuckery was unleashed, surely spoke against the Enforcer.

A few hours ago his teeny tiny Lunatic agreed to be in the freaking safe house, waiting for them. More than that, Lance also agreed to use the biomask at all times and keep communication channels open.

Well, what a surprise; once they touched ground, Ah'kaedh tried to initiate communication with her.

Only to be met with silence.

"She is not responding", Ho'kan had been trying too.

They arrived at the meeting point, and while Ah'kaedh seemed to be his normal remote and stoic self, concern eating at him. And anger. Oh, he was royally pissed.

That Lunatic had done nothing as previously agreed.

"Should we go look for her?", Ho'kan asked, rightfully worried.

"Yes. Keep the channels open. Velk'n, you stay here in case she comes back. I will cover south and west".

Ah'kaedh's looked as collected as one would expect (since his requests had been blatantly disregarded), when in truth his cold rage was about to burst his chest open.

"No need", Velk'n said. "On my right, walking in our direction".

They were all cloaked, standing on the rooftop to have a better view of the area.

Velk'n zoomed in on the figure, since there was something funny in her movements. The hunter switched to thermal vision; there was something strange showing in her heat signature.

"There's something…", both Yautjas could hear the concern in Velk'n's voice. "Something coiling in her chest".

XXX

The Girl had noted on a map all places where the rape-murder case victims had been seen for the last time, and where their bodies had been dropped.

Setg'n'kah was now leading the hunters into the place where the last corpse had been found in order to look for any traces of the Bad Bloods. They needed to start looking somewhere, and that seemed a good starting point.

The Yautja arrived late afternoon, and with the population asked to stay home, it became easier to move around. All hunters cloaked, yes, but more than invisibility was needed in order to keep themselves incognito within ooman's cities.

XXX

Entrusted with Pike's trade point surveillance, Kivar and another Hunter went about it using drones.

And since they were doing it from the safety of Kivar's vessel, they were also tasked to keep the Yautjas' ships away from oomans' eyes.

The Ah'kaedh's female alerted for the possibility of oomans starting evacuation efforts, which meant a massive traffic increase in the area.

The gargantuan off-planet station oomans called Spacebridge was also concern. The activity around it was already considerable, but in case of an evacuation, it would become hella intense.

"Kivar", the hunter sitting by his side called, already projecting what he was seeing on his own panel into the large screen in the common room.

"Our estimates were quite on point".

The ooman cesspool named Pike was bursting with activity, that was noticed right from the start. However, what was in front of Kivar now left him divided between delight and concern.

It was the eggs room; the nursery. Its floor littered with hundreds over hundreds of corpses, in different stages of decomposition.

"The fresh ones…" Kivar pointed to a wall, where they could see dead bodies still attached to the walls, "… probably captured off site".

"I agree. And the hive is well guarded, there should be around 700 workers inside."

And judging the apparent maturity of the Queen (her extended and engorged abdomen had already developed a cream color, and it was currently twice her size), part of the horde of Kiande Amedha should be scouting the immediations, looking for hosts.

"Let's finish surveying this hellhole, and see if the Bad Blood scum kickstarted more hives".

"If there are another 2 places with as many creatures…"

Kivar just nodded. As both knew so well what that meant.

The enforcer dove back into work.

XXX

Getting over shame was not easy; in the few occasions apologies were needed, Ah'kaedh prefered to say those in person. So why would it be different with his Girl?

(The Enforcer's personality was not the easiest, as he was well aware of that).

But after watching Lance's breakdown, Ah'kaedh didn't have much of a choice, really. The couple (couple?) had spoken on 4 different opportunities in the past 35 hours. The Enforcer attempted to convey apologies for his behavior on two, but Lance cut him short.

"I don't want to talk about any of that right now. Please? I just need you here".

"It will take some time, but we are on our way".

The Girl chuckled, her voice still trembling due to her crying, "That's not how I meant it".

Arriving and not being able to contact Lance froze the blood on his veins. While his racional side knew she was quite capable, everything else screamed 'fragile'.

Suffice to say, upon hearing the words 'something', 'coiling' and 'chest', all in the same phase, Ah'kaedh got this close to losing his goddamn mind.

To the point he didn't even listen to whatever Velk'n said next; objectively Ah'kaedh knew there was sound, and words, but nothing said was actually registered by his brain.

And now the centuries old, cold, stark, somewhat sadic enforcer was a purring mess.

(Such extreme mood swing gave Velk'n some whiplash, which in turn drove the Yautja away from the pair, following Ho'kan to the basement, grossed out).

Not that Ah'kaedh had noticed any of it while holding Lance in his arms, pressing her gently against his chest. As for the Girl, she was blissfully allowing herself to experience some purr haze.

(Also, she had no idea how and when Ah'kaedh had gotten them inside the house, but who cares?)

"You irresponsible, irresponsible female…", the Enforcer growled into her hair, more complaining than scolding.

Ah'kaedh couldn't force himself to be harsh. Not now. Not after confirming it was not a freaking chestburster growing inside her ribcage.

"I'm sorry", Lance nuzzled his neck, so relieved by his presence she started to cry all over again.

"Will you ever listen?", the question was more directed at himself than his Lunatic.

XXX

It took Velk'n fucking hours to break into the gorverment mainframe, and access the surveillance system.

(Now that he was using the conversion software, acquired from Ah'kaedh's ship mainframe, his work became far easier).

Oomas' kept cameras around the city mainly to oversee traffic (and its infractions), but some public places were also being watched for criminal activity. Meaning; there was a facial recognition system, which they could use.

The AÍ discarded any non-ooman facial features automatically, but they could look for the rape-murder cases victims, and analyze their capture (if captured on camera).

"It will take at least 4 hours for our AI integrating the all oomans' surveillance and security system AI. The rest of the data is being uploaded to Kivar's ship for analysis".

(They needed to hack into the system, without shutting it down).

"Right", Lance nodded, feeling clueless. That was Breacher's job.

(Adapting to a life without people you depended on for years could not, and would not, be easy).

"You now have access to the system through the gauntlet".

"Could you add it to the human terminal? I can't read your language".

The hunter sighed, full of predatory irritation. Velk'n just point to the computer she had insisted on carrying (with good reason).

"Thank you. If I make any changes, will they be reflected on the government's mainframe?"

"Yes", Velk'n was using all his patience on her.

"Did you crack the authorization and signature's system? We need it to force some changes to go through without raising any suspicions… too soon".

You see, Haze used to tell Lance 'if you are going to escalate things, be sure no one can be louder than you'.

And that was exactly what the little Black Ops agent planned on doing. By quite literally fucking the system.

Somewhere out there, two Hunters were collecting a handful of oomans. Quite soon Thedus's government most important figures would be no more.

XXX

That night, news channels informed the citizens that the orders to stay at home had been. The crisis had been averted, and people should go back to work, to school, to their normal

Or so that's what relayed Thedus' government spokesman. Who spoke to the press as rigid as a robot.

The poor guy did well if you take into account how completely terrified he felt.

XXX

There was a time humans needed heavy, large, simple devices to communicate. Those terminals would access a network, and at first only two telephones could connect at the same time.

But that was hundreds of years ago.

Also hundreds of years ago came the invention of mobiles. A classic device in this day and time. Cheap, multifunctional. Designs changed across the centuries, but all mobile phones still carried 4 features; long distance calls, internet access, capture photos, record video and sound.

A mobile device sat in the nightstand. Recording a video for the last 20 minutes or so.

"Governor, sir, would you mind sharing why the Xenomorphs' threat was not yet dealt with?" Lance's toothy smile betrayed all the hatred she felt at that moment.

"We, we… the army is deciding what is the best approach", came the whined answer.

The semi-battered man was in his pajamas, sprawled on his bedroom floor, bleeding from a handful of places.

"The army already knows the best approach. Bomb the place", she retorted.

"Such measures will have a terrible impact in the planet's delicate ecosystem", said the politician, very conscious of the mobile device. When you bullshit people on a daily basis, it becomes muscle memory. You just do it.

(One issue with beating up your victim is they will say anything to make it stop. And Lance knew it. She just didn't care).

"Oh, you will use terraformation environmental crap on me? The ecosystem is already fucked up and you know that. How anyone would think it would be worth risking millions of inhabitants on this planet over it?"

"We are trying to think ahead, we…"

'We'. As in, we the government. Yeah, right.

"Enough with your bullshit. What do you have on the General?"

"What?", the man was actually surprised by the question.

"What dirty do you have on the General? The USCM General on the fucking Colonial Marine's base here in Thedus".

Thedus' governor color faded into a sickly shade of white.

"Come on, love", Lance crossed her arms, "You must have something on him. Or someone has something on both of you. Something big. Big enough for him to go against all protocols and risk martial court. And for you not be pressing him personally to bomb Pike already. If you collaborate with me, I will even send you to wait for interrogation beside the sweet Cecily Evans".

If the guy's skin could become grey, oh boy, it surely would.

"You don't remember me, do you? I understand, miss Evans is such a bright, entracing personality. Everyone else pales around her. But I do remember you. And I must say, you felt quite at home at her functions. That woman had such an… eclectic guest list".

"I- I don't know anything. We… the army is sending a whole company there to-tomorrow".

Finally , she thought. The politician finally understood what was happening and how screwed he was.

"Oh, so your solution is deploying 200 soldiers for a place with more than 1,000 Xenomorphs? What are you trying to do, good sir? Fill up their nursery?", Lance's light tone was nothing more than her usual reaction to pressure; dark humor.

(But seriously, 200 soldiers? What a joke).

The governor lost control over his vocal cords, stuttering. And tried to invoke the name of Jesus Christ, unsuccessfully.

The man threw up in his own lap, just to turn to his left, hurling loudly, puking some more on the floor. Lance sighed, disgusted by far more than the man's stomach contents.

Realization was still seizing his guts when the Agent decided to take a couple of steps back. The Girl allowed him time to contemplate the tragedy of Thedus. He deserved to experience despair. It belonged to him.

The man, lost in his own anguish, missed the sharp clicking sound of Lance cocking her pistol.

Despair was the very last thing Thedus' Governor ever felt.

XXX

It took some time, but the Yautjas found footage of the day the Bad Blood's raided the Genovese's building.

(The analysis of more than 1,600 hours of video recording was no joke).

Kivar watched the invasion, over and over, focused attention. Hating every second of it.

But he had to be sure. The Yautjas taken by the disgraced hunters? Both alive.

And boy, that small fact could (and would) change it all.

XXX

"Setg'n'kah, did you find anything?", Ah'kaedh asked on their open channel, watching Lance working from a distance.

(The video features of the transmission were deactivated).

"Yes, but as predicted, it will take days to locate the Bad Blood scum", the enforcer sour mood was clearly reflected in his voice.

"With Velk'n's help, we just confirmed a possible location for Nax", Ah'kaedh relayed.

"The Bad Bloods are priority"

"We might be able to smoke them out. Tomorrow night. Let's meet halfway between the cities in say… 6 hours?"

"Very well", the other enforcer hissed. "Send a location for the meeting point".

(Leaving the trackers on their masks active was not an option right now).

XXX

Lance was quietly talking with Lar'jar, away from the two Enforcers.

Setg'n'kah was taking a look at the holographic projection of the map.

"Wildlife reserve? That thing?"

"Oomans like to cage wild beasts. What can I say?", Ah'kaedh felt somewhat embittered by it, for so many reasons.

You see, it's not that the concept of a wildlife reserve eluded the hunters.

Yautja would never confine wild fauna, let alone cram them up in a place that had so little space. Most animals, on most inhabited planets, roamed by large territories.

Anything akin to a ooman zoo just sounded perniciously cruel.

"Do you have explosives with you?"

"Yes"

"Potence?"

"Medium", Setg'n'kah was not a fan of where this conversation was heading.

Hitting hard and fast also meant they would be loud and leave a huge mess behind.

Within the large domes, there were some smaller buildings. Ah'kaedh tapped on his wrist gauntlet, holographically projecting the (public) blueprints.

"Should be enough to wreck a ooman building".

Setg'n'kah took a moment evaluating the blueprint project in front of him. And nodded.

"More than enough".

XXX

"Kivar", Velk'n appeared on the main screen in the commanding deck. Ah'kaedh and Setg'n'kah by his side.

"Velk'n".

"I will need the mainframe AI's help", straight to the point.

"What for?"

"Another system hack".

"The footage of the oomans' surveillance system has anything for us?", Ah'kaedh asked.

"Not yet. We found the recordings of 6 supposed victims. There's nothing suspicious on video", Kivar hissed, frustrated.

"I don't think we will find anything on the public surveillance system".

"Why?"

Ah'kaedh crossed his arms in front of his chest, pondering. And turned to Setg'n'kah;

"Have you ever ambushed a ooman on the streets?"

You see, Kivar was mostly indifferent towards oomans as species. Setg'n'kah hunted them. The former just gritted his teeth.

"I usually ambush them…", Setg'n'kah trailed off, aware at once of what Ah'kaedh was implying. The enforcer shook his head, frustrated at himself.

If you were hunting for worthy prey, there were some obvious places to lure and entrap them. However, Rot'gar was not after Trophies. He needed to pick up those and not damage them too much.

(That would come later).

"They all disappeared during night hours", Setg'n'kah winced, snapping his mandibles.

"And lived alone", Ah'kaedh completed.

As Lance reported previously, portions of data about those cases had been pulled from the police system. Nothing in the reports suggested those Girls had been abducted at home, but…

Why would they trust the oomans' reports in the first place? If they had already scrubbed any evidence of Yautjas presence around the cause of death…

XXX

Using every ounce of willpower possible, Lar'jar was putting some real effort to try and not succumb to rage.

In the background, the hunters led by Setg'n'kah were venting their frustration on the reserve's personnel.

(Since they were being loud and messy, why not go all the way?)

But the Medic could not join them. With the years, once every blue moon Lar'jar would ponder if his decision to become a Medic was the best path toward.

Now was not one of this moments, but Paya, how the Medic envied the Yautjas wreaking havoc in that hellhole.

Worse yet, what they had found enraged the dark Yautja so deeply that his hands were somewhat shaking due to the effort to contain his ire.

He was old. Mature, disciplined, seasoned. And the Medic could remember just a handful of times he had been so profoundly disgusted. Wrath pushing against his brain, threatening to turn his vision into a black blur.

XXX

"Ah'kaedh, we need your ooman back on the ship", Setg'n'kah didn't bother with greetings or protocols. Now was not the time.

"What for?"

"We found a female. A Yautja female. And Lar'jar… we had to sedate your brother".

There was no easy way to explain it. Not when Setg'n'kah himself was also struggling to contain his rage.

Ah'kaedh snarled (wrath was, no doubt, a contagious disease). But he had to keep his cool.

"I will contact you back".

XXX

"Ah'kaedh, I can't leave".

"We need you back in Kivar's vessel".

"I heard you. But this is my people. Millions of human beings".

What would he say? That helping a female would surely enhance her standing when he inevitably had to face his Clan's council?

That her race disgusted him? That he cared for none but one ooman?

XXX

Chaos. While most people believe chaotic situations are like natural disasters, the wise know better.

When mayhem forces itself through order, on most cases there was an opening. A fissure.

Order works like a dam; holding back the full force of this wild, predatory, dangerous universe.

Too much rain could make it overflow, but a crack in the wrong place could provoke a disaster of disproportionate dimensions, with far reaching consequences.

The wave of chaos would wash away everything, starting with the 3 million humans lives currently inhabiting Thedus.

The cracks on Order's Dam? Human corruption. On all levels. And how could it not be? Especially when there was no way to determine the main responsibles.

You see, it could be Rot'gar. And his psychopathic lack of respect for living things. But…

How the Bad Bloods ended up here? In their search for sex, for sex slaves. None of this would be happening if there were no sex slaves, just to begin with.

Could be the Genovese's fault then. Traditional mafia family, centuries upon centuries making money in the underground.

But would such criminals be able to keep such operations if the government had actually taken action? The blackmarket fuckery was no secret to the authorities. Oh, well.

Maybe the taxpayers deserved the blame. Electing shitty, incompetent politicians. You see, there was no way to blame the fuckers if they were elected to their offices. The citizens voted for them. Because they were famous. Because they said the right things.

Putting faith in their words, ignoring their actions. Voters had such a shitty memory…

Hell, for all Lance knew, it was her fault. Indulging in pleasure while her duty laid forgotten in a corner of her mind.

Human corruption. Human negligence.

Human society.

8 colonies lost to Xenomorphs in the last 100 years. The 9th shouldn't be a surprise.

You see, Lance could not figure out which thread to pull in order to undo the fabric covering up the underworld activities on Thedus. Bright as she was, the answer was just beyond her.

(In any case, the time to force the authorities into dealing with those criminals had passed. Besides, Xenomorphs had already taken care of the lion's share in their place).

But alas! The Girl knew how to put an end to one specific cycle.

There was no way to avoid the government cover up. Nor a solution to prevent the blackmarket's business in other colonies.

But…

Lance could make this tragedy into something the Allied Americas regimen could not easily disguise as a pandemic. And in the process, hurt the high society enough to make them rage against the government.

(Plebeians deaths were meaningless. As a society, humans were so used to them. People's outrage would not last. People would forget, thinking nothing like that would happen in their own planet. But the aristocrats? The apex predators of human society would never forgive and surely not forget).

Lance could (and would) choose where the true injury of this tragedy should sit. Thedus cataclysm would not be a wound well hidden under the beautiful clothing of masterfully weaved lies, hurting away from the public eye.

No.

Fer-de-Lance would shank the Allied Americas regimen in the face. And ensure the resulting gash would fester.

XXX

"We leave tomorrow, 11am local time", Ah'kaedh informed both Kivar and Setg'n'kah. Both Enforcers were now sitting on Kivar's command deck.

"The female needs medical attention", Setg'n'kah pointed.

"Put her on stasis", Ah'kaedh retorted.

"What are you playing at, Ah'kaedh? Has that creature made you forget your people?", Kivar roared, quite done with the ooman antics.

"Let's not forget the ooman predicted the Kiande Amedha hive would be bombarded and we yet to see the oomans move a finger", Setg'n'kah reminded the dark Enforcer.

"We will kickstart the evacuation", Ah'kaedh was not negotiating. He was informing.

"Why would we?", asked Setg'n'kah.

(As in, why oomans should receive any help from the Yautja).

"What are the chances of Rot'gar attempting to escape infiltrating in a ooman vessel?".

"Why would he? The Hive is part of his plan", retorted Kivar.

"Do you think they will risk their necks for how long? I can't picture that Bad Blood sitting tight and trying to fight the infestation", pressed Lar'jar's younger brother.

"Are you suggesting that the evacuation will scare him into fleeing?", it was not really a question.

(Ah'kaedh had agreed to help Lance, but he didn't share her goals).

"Rot'gar is not stupid. He knows we need to keep our presence hidden, and once the ooman's start to depart, what options will that scum have?"

Silence. Kivar and Setg'n'kah were considering the implications of Ah'kaedh's words.

Pursuing Rot'gar on the planet was bound to be complicated. For once, the Yautjas could not expose themselves to the oomans, while the criminals probably had no issues doing so (since, you know, they were even doing business with them). Then there was this monstrous planetary crisis due to the infestation of the Kiande Amedha.

Forcing the Bad Bloods towards onboarding an alien ship, to avoid the very lethal problem of their own creation, became an attractive option.

"In any case, they should have at least a Queen egg to spare". Ah'kaedh's suggestion was not very subtle.

"The prisoners", Kivar hissed. "Those hunters were alive".

That was a possibility all 3 of them were well aware of.

Setg'n'kah took a deep, oh so very deep, breath.

"If Rot'gar…went to such extremes, we will be bound to exterminate such a colony".

"Yes, and I would rather deal with one issue at a time", the Dark Yautja pointed out.

"Kivar?"

"I'm thinking", the enforcer said. Kivar was an asshole, yes. But definitely not an idiot.

"We should gather more hunting packs", Setg'n'kah offered.

While the Bad Bloods was exclusively the enforcers' problem, many hunters would not pass up the opportunity to hunt abominations. If there were any.

"We will need to confirm the presence of abominations. But I will send a heads up communication to my Clanship", Kivar growled. "We might need some months to prepare".

Setg'n'kah nodded.

"I will see you two in some hours. The channel will remain open".

"Ah'kaedh", Kivar made a gesture for him to wait, tapping his wrist gauntlet. "You should know I found a second colony. I just sent the coordinates to your wrist gauntlet".

Ah'kaedh just nodded.

"Good luck enforcer", said Setg'n'kah before ending the call.

XXX

[present day, 7am]

The Girl was standing in a puddle of blood, like it was nothing.

(Combat-medicking will do that to you).

There were 5 men dead around her, only two lacking heads and spines.

But soon enough all corpses would be relieved of their craniums. Ho'kan was doing his best to retrieve his trophies without damaging them, you see, so the Kid was taking his sweet time.

However, there was a man (still) alive. Older, harsh eyes, calloused hands. A broken arm, unarmed. Restrained, kneeling on the floor.

Lance held a human tablet in front of his face, showing him the Hive's footage, acquired by Kivar.

"Why should I believe in you. You allied yourself with aliens", the man spat, actually spat, in the girls direction.

The base's General was having none of Lance's (supposed) bullshit.

"Sir, look, I don't need to prove anything. You already know there is a Xenomorph's hive. I'm just letting you know how bad you fucked up by not bombing the place. I would hate for you to die without knowing how much of a scumbag you are".

"Look at you, you piece of shit, betraying your…"

Fer-de-Lance punched him. Hard enough to break his nose.

"Ow! Fuck!", she waved her hand frantically, attempting to get rid of the pain.

Ho'kan started to click his mandibles like a maniac. What a precious moment.

(The man was trying to bane the excruciating pain on his face).

"Sir, next time you dare to question my loyalty, you better have the moral high ground", Lance snarled, triggered by the audacity of that motherfucker.

"You are alive because we don't have time to hack into 3 different systems so I can evacuate the children", she completed.

"You fucking cunt, are you insane?"

As in, why are you telling me this?

"No, sir. But as I said, I expect your collaboration. I'm also evacuating the military families living on base. Your wife and the two grandchildren you are raising will be boarded."

The General became deadly quiet. What was that on his face? Fear?

"And we both know that if you fuck what I'm trying to do, per protocol, no one will be able to leave the base nor use the militar spaceport until further investigation. And you know you won't be here to use your rank, circumvent the rules, and guide them to safety, don't you?".

"You monster", the man's voice was trembling with outrage, fear, anger… but that was all he could really. Spit venom.

"The monster keeping worse threats by the door, sir. Now, if you don't mind…"

The Girl tapped her wrist gauntlet.

"Velk'n?"

"Are you ready?"

The man could not understand what was being said by the alien in the holographic image floating above Lance's arm. The Girl was using the translator earpiece to facilitate her conversation with the Predators.

"Yes, we will be using the terminal in the room I'm in".

"Alright, give me a minute to patch it into our mainframe".

"Please, ping me once you finish", and she ended the transmission.

"Sir, as I explained, this action is already authorized and implemented as a last minute drill by the Governor's office. It's already on official government channels. I promise you… your family won't be able to leave this planet in time. And by time I mean in the next couple of days".

"What do you want?"

"You to sign off on the governor's plan. I have already input on the system the plans for similar action on the base. All personnel will be evacuated, alongside the military families. This place will look like a ghost town before noon".

"You will leave people here unprotected?"

You see, Lance couldn't simply evacuate the children. Shove them inside a spaceship to fend for themselves.

They needed people to get them into the spaceships, in the first place. And to care for them.

The Director Plan of the planet dictated priority if an evacuation was ever to take place. Let's just say that the aristocracy was all included, one way or another (and the families of high ranked officers).

Change the director's plan was not possible. But Lance could schedule a drill. You see, on proto-colonies, settlers were drilled monthly. Colonies should keep an annual drill scheduled, but taxpayers hated them.

Truth to be told, who wants to even be reminded that someday the apocalypse can descend upon your home?

Drills became theoretical classes; facilitate by school teachers, community centers, provided by companies (yes, that's right. The Government, quite smartly, delegated the responsibility to third parties).

Since the government used a pandemic red alert as a first measure to keep the Hive from rapidly growing (while they did whatever they were doing), Lance implemented an extraordinary evacuation drill. For the schools and daycares.

85% of the police, EMTs and Firefighters force would be allocated for this "exercise". The largest Thedus' maternity was included, for the last (which would be evacuated by the Army. Unlike police officers, soldiers would carry their orders no matter what).

Suffice to say, Lance needed the army to sign this off as well. The military was responsible for the evacuation; they had the spaceships. But more than that, they had personnel. Medics, nurses, pilots, cryo engineers, all types of technicians. And they were disciplined. To a fault.

"No, I will be giving the children a chance to escape, safe and sound. I won't be able to get all of them out, that's true. But the ones who do get out will need support, people taking care of them."

Lance helped the man to his feet.

"And quite frankly, the planet's population will benefit. The government of Thedus and Allied Americas won't be able to hide such scandal. They won't have a choice but to take serious action".

A humanitarian crisis. Tragedy of gargantuan proportions.

That no one would hide or paint as something else.

"This is criminal. You are a sociopath!"

"Sir, you are projecting. You are the criminal. I'm the person who tipped the army some days ago. You, that piece of shit elected as governor… you failed. You failed this planet. And you know what? I don't even want to know your reasons".

She pushed the guy over the computer, and placed his face against the iris scanner. And waited. Once Velk'n blipped her gauntlet, to let her know he was ready, she started the authorization process.

Everytime the man tried to fight her, Lance hurt him. More than necessary, but boy, it was surely less than he deserved.

"Stop this nonsense. At least fucking think about your grandchildren".

That would be safe and sound. With their grandmother. Away from Xenomorphs.

The General pride wanted to keep fighting. You'd see, he would be dishonored. He would be known as the General who tucked tail and abandoned the sinking ship.

But the alternative? Chestbusters. For each member of his family.

Deep down the General knew how bad he had fucked up. Especially after being reminded that they had been warned about the creatures.

Once the voice recognition system required him to repeat the orders Lance had input on the system, he did so, without a fuss.

Next up, the protocols to liberate the base weaponry.

"Did you really think I would not bomb that place, sir?"

The man swallowed hard. Regret creeping into his mind, his heart, his soul. Had he carried his duty…

(If only…)

Lance gestured for Ho'kan to come closer.

The Kid stalked to Lance's side, moving like a jungle cat, towering above both.

"Velk'n, you should have all the controls now", she advised the Yautja, who had been listening to everything.

After a moment, Velk'n answered.

"I have the controls. We are good to go".

Lance glanced over the old man, positioning herself in front of him.

"That was decent of you, General".

"Go fuck yourself, you murderous cunt", he roared.

The Girl smiled, and nodded to the Predator. Straightening her back, Lance saluted the old General, army style.

"Thank you, sir, for your service".

XXX

Ah'kaedh was listening when Lance's cry of disgust came through the open channel.

"What the fuck! Ho'kan!"

"Everything is ok with you two?", the Enforcer asked, just to be sure.

"I accidentally sprayed her with ooman's blood", the Kid was laughing again. At the very least, he sounded apologetic.

XXX

[present day 10:39am]

Standing outside the auxiliary ship, Lance's eyes were glued on the sky above. She had asked for a moment alone.

The last military spaceship had just left the army spaceport. The take-off effort was so powerful and violent, the sound could be heard a couple of miles away.

"Funny. Feels like full circle", she whispered to herself, her father in her mind. The one she barely knew and could remember almost anything about.

(Oh, but she loved the stories and recollections shared by her uncle).

Lance's father had perished during deployment, but once she joined the black ops, the knowledge of where and how finally came to light.

The 7th lost colony. Her dad was part of the effort to contain the Xenomorphs spread.

A year later, her mom lost custody of her. The loss and bad coping mechanisms made her unfitting for parenting.

Who knows? Somewhere up there a bunch of little girls had just been thrown into the unknown. Maybe one of them would someday become a black ops agent.

The immune response of human society against its own fuckery.

Maybe.

"It's time", Velk'n stepped by her side.

"Yeah, I know".

He tapped his wrist gauntlet, and a blip on hers let Lance know she had the controls.

"I would do it, but protocol says we should not interfere".

"It's my idea, my people. You will need to show me how to do it, though", she shrugged. Not being able to read the language made it necessary for her to memorize every new function.

"But thank you", Lance said, truly grateful. It was not everyday someone offered to push the cataclysm button in your place.

(Velk'n was not bad. Xenophobic but not bad).

Since you know, deploying the missiles that would bomb a ooman colony, and certainly kill thousands (the second Hive was close enough to the poor Residential Cubicles communities. The blast would wipe them all), was surely not the easiest.

But Lance's little Black Ops heart knew it was for the best. The bombing, that is. It would give the colony a real chance.

"You have some minutes, but we need to depart on schedule".

"Thank you, Velk'n. Really", she smiled. And closed her eyes.

XXX

If tragedy was a song, it would start with fear.

Can you imagine? The terror? It would go like this; first your kids are taken. It's an evacuation exercise, they say.

You are frightened, but hey! Wasn't it a good thing? After a pandemic scare?

(The government is taking care of everything, please don't panic!)

The police, the army and the firefighters. They take the children. In their cars, in their rigs.

And then the first starship departs.

Most people would not notice, since the base was some miles away from the city.

But some people do. Posts, fotos, vídeos; they go viral in the matter of minutes on social media.

(Do not panic, this is military business. The children will be back before the school day ends).

Another spaceship departs. Now people are looking for dropship tickets. Calling the cops, calling their lawyers.

Some march to the government building.

(Please, don't panic).

Now it's 10:44am. And an explosion goes off. Enough to be heard many miles away.

And people can see the blast. And feel the tremors.

And people die.