Dallas shouldered the roof door open, banging it against the wall hard. A'luet went first, his biomask lighting up various parts of the roof as torrential rain pounded down on them.
"Move!"
The humans ran forward, Kelly taking the lead with her assault rifle, her eye pressed against the night vision scope. "I don't see anything!"
Jessie glanced at him though he ignored her as he spotted movement. He extended his combi-stick, its soft snnnick catching the attention of the others.
"Should we be worried?" Dallas asked.
"Always be worried." A'luet replied.
They ventured forward, jumping down off the large duct pipes, A'luet first. He turned when they were moving too slow and was unexpectedly met with the waiting arms of the child, Molly.
The unexpectedness surprised his limbs into a frozen state of 'I-don't-know-what-to-do.' There was no fear in her eyes as she waited for him help her down.
"Come on A'luet." Dallas had her steadied on the enormous duct pipe.
He reached out, trying to hide the hesitation; her small hands grasped his forearms as he set her down.
Across the way the helicopter sat, waiting.
Only a few steps had been taken when a screech cut through the rain, elongated metallic heads appearing at all angles.
"Oh shit."
"Move!"
Kelly ran for an overhang with chain link, skidding to a stop when an alien appeared at the end of it, gnashing its teeth while it growled, no longer amused with its evasive prey. She backed into Ricky and found very quickly the opposite side they entered was also cut off by a sister alien.
She spun on her heel and open fired, peppering the first alien's face not caring how many bullets she wasted into the thing. The second alien hoisted itself up on the ceiling, using the bars for momentum, getting all the while closer.
Dallas gallantly shoved his brother closer to Kelly and away from the danger making a beeline for them, yanking the caster out of Ricky's hands.
"Give me that. Watch Molly."
A'luet growled and used his combi-stick to block the near fatal blow to Dallas as the man fiddled with the caster, trying to get it to work.
"Where's the trigger on this thing?"
So focused, Dallas missed the tail lash out again.
A'luet pinned the deadly appendage against the chain link before shoving the man away from the threat, Dallas hit the fence with an oof and barely had time to recover before the predator yanked him back again all while simultaneously parrying with the alien. He slapped into the fence again, his finger accidentally brushing the sensitive trigger. A white burst of power shot out the end of the caster, melting the fence.
Dallas froze, surprised by the sudden shot. "What….?" He pointed the barrel up, looking down through the muzzle. More squeals and growls erupted as A'luet cleaved the head off his opponent.
"What are you waiting for? Go!"
"Come on!"
Kelly went through the chain link, firing at more xenomorphs. She looked back. "Where's A'luet?"
"Kelly, look out!" Dallas fired the caster, sinking the white plasma burst into the head of a charging kainde amedha.
A lithe shadow soared over them, a thin but muscular predator spun and came down with his deadly spear, the sharp end stabbing through a xenomorph head. He didn't stop moving, slinging the dead carcass off his weapon he turned and slammed the long handle into another alien stunning and ending it with a powerful frontal kick, sending it back the way it came into a roof generator, sparks shot out.
He followed the humans as they took advantage of his distraction, there were five humans and then there were four.
A'luet halted, Dallas had wiped out on a pipe and crawled behind a duct.
"Go! I'll get him!" There was brief hesitation before Kelly led the kids to the waiting helicopter. "Dallas!" He turned the corner only to see nothing. "-the hell?" Then he spotted a figure, a human male, being chased by a lone xenomorph.
…
Dallas lost the kainde amedha as P'sy called it after a few twists and turns. The caster had jammed or something, only half of the little symbols A'luet pointed out showing on the screen.
"C'mon." He grit his teeth, shaking it did no good he knew that but he did it anyway.
Across the way he could see Kelly and the kids make it to the helicopter but not A'luet. Was he coming back for him?
Since teaming up with the two predators he found himself psycho-analyzing them both. Though unabashed to be volatile, the clearly older predator had values.
Morals.
A wise and strangely noble creature.
With no explanation confirming it, Dallas knew the predators' presence was the direct result of the freakish metallic aliens running amok all over town. Did they purposely come to Earth, Colorado specifically, to help them?
Or were they the reason for the outbreak?
For reasons he didn't even know, he couldn't see the two being the causation for the outbreak; they showed too much disgust at the presence of the metallic monsters.
His thoughts turned to A'luet.
The younger predator had an air about him, like he grew up too fast. Wise beyond his years even though Dallas could tell he wasn't much older than Ricky and was more driven emotionally rather than stone-cold logically like P'sy.
He glanced down at the weapon, another symbol appeared, the stupid gun taking its sweet ass time powering up it appeared. "Seriously?"
The sheets of rain intensified, pouring down on his head harder and gooey.
Gooey….
Slowly he looked up at the snarling face of his pursuer he thought he lost.
"Wow."
The final symbol appeared on the caster's screen.
"You're about to have a shit day man." The xenomorph's jaws opened as it screeched, its inner mouth appearing. "Fuck you." He pulled the trigger, the alien's head imploding in a shower of translucent puke green gore.
The closeness of the shot blinded him as he dove away from the blood A'luet had mentioned was acidic. As if on cue, a burning sensation cut through his long sleeve. He swatted at it, feeling the burning transfer to his hand.
"Son of a bitch!"
He dragged his hand and elbow on the roof gravel, the rain water diluting whatever it was.
A snarl caught his attention and he looked up to see the Predalien had reappeared, a power train on bipedal legs as she sprinted towards him, hooked hands out.
"Oh f-"
His swear never made it completely out of his mouth as the ground beneath them exploded, throwing half breed alien and human in opposite directions. Dallas hit his back hard, the bullet proof vest he received from Morales barely holding up against the impact.
He rose to his hands and knees painfully as a steady clicking played in the air.
Clicking?
Close to him, an agile figure was emerging from the blown hole in the roof.
P'sy.
He did make it like A'luet said he would.
The elite predator's attention was on him only for a minute, the biomask hiding any emotion that may have been projected. He had been given a chance, he'd be stupid not to use it. He stumbled to his feet and froze upon seeing A'luet.
The young predator's mask tilted towards him slightly. "You should be running."
He didn't wait to be told twice, sprinting towards the helicopter as it hummed to life.
….
P'sy watched the ooman go and then his attention was on his student for a mere moment. "Ready?"
A'luet re-extended his spear. "Always." He glanced back at the helicopter when he heard shots fired but it was only Ricky aiming at two stray xenomorphs.
P'sy pulled his whip loose and flicked it around one last kainde amedha, the razor sharpness cutting through the body with ease. As if to finish up with a point, he crushed the head. "Think we've got the bitch's attention finally?"
The Predalien had returned, fury rolling off her in waves.
"You pissed?" P'sy paced. "I know the fucking feeling."
The whip unfurled, cracking as her tail lashed out. He dodged it with ease, his age no impediment, the whip wrapping around her tail. With a frustrated growl she ripped it away but P'sy didn't let that stop him as he extended his own combi-stick. A'luet waited only for a moment before he attacked as one with his mentor, the two of them taking a side of the Predalien, P'sy's spear the first to find its mark in the alien's rock solid exoskeleton chest.
Behind them the chopper's propellers spun quicker, the flying machine beginning to lift off the roof.
Her cunningness appeared more ruthless than previously thought as she kicked out at P'sy, he retaliated with another jab but she snapped the spear in two.
"Fuck!"
His fury didn't last long as she sent him disappearing over roof equipment and landed a spinning smack with the metallic tail into A'luet's mask.
He flung back as if like a ragdoll.
P'sy stood, his gauntlet smoking as her well placed kick hit it before sending him sailing through the air.
The two sized each other up, knowing they were too good a match; either someone was going to make a fatal mistake or they'd kill each other. P'sy dropped his equipment down before removing his mask. The cooling air from the thunderstorm felt good after wearing the biomask for so long.
The Predalien charged, and he was happy to meet her, if only biology wasn't on the bitch's side. The two species, kainde amedha and Yautja, perfectly blended into a towering, hulking creature, bigger than him.
He slid back until he was thrown into metal piping; ignoring the pain in his head he rolled away from her to get some distance between them but she was quick to follow.
A white burst of plasma blasted the abomination, A'luet back on his feet was firing his caster. The help was enough to give P'sy the distraction he needed. He ducked under the pipes but dead weight suddenly trapped him, shoving all the air out of his lungs.
He spun, elbowing the Predalien in the jaw.
She hissed and grabbed him by the throat before a sharp sting erupted in his back and blossomed into a mind blowing agony out his chest. It had been a while since he felt the sting of any kainde amedha tail but the U'darahje ranked the worst.
In fury he activated his wrist blade into the bitch's head, his retaliation sending the Predalien into stiff shock, her tail still impaling him jerked painfully in his skin.
Three familiar red dots played across the side of her head and a deep satisfaction resonated within him.
He didn't care what repercussions he may or may not receive once they returned home due to the messy cleanup efforts, he didn't regret his student's presence.
As the killing shot was fired he saw A'luet pause, and look off to the left in confusion. There was a blinding flash, a deafening wwhumpf and then nothing.
….
Minutes previously
"We have to go back!"
"We're not going back!" Kelly yelled, her attention on the controls. "We can't, the whole town is going to be incinerated."
There was a roar as they passed something invisible, something big.
"They saved us, Dallas, please."
He was lost on what to say. Even with Kelly saying otherwise he could tell she was just as perturbed as the rest of them to leave their allies behind on the roof with certain death coming at them in the form of a military aircraft.
He hated his answer. "We can't Jessie."
She had been about to continue her argument but a bright flash lit up the trees below them. Ricky turned around to look back at the town he had called home, a domed light extending over Gunnison.
"Oh shit."
There was no disappointment when the percussions caught up to them, spinning the helicopter around. Propellers snapped, no longer able to keep the aircraft up in the air. Tilting dangerously it went into a nosedive into the ground, smashing hard into the rocky landscape.
…
The present
"Kel, hey."
She came to slowly, a pounding headache. She was alive?
"Molly?"
"She's fine. We all are." Dallas reached down to help her to her feet. All around the sky was a reddish hue, radiated.
Nearby, Jessie stood with Ricky, the two of them facing back the way towards town.
Her eyes travelled up to the hazy red, there was no way P'sy and Aluet survived that.
A sense of loss hit her, similar to how she had felt when she and others watched one of their unit buddies die from a well-placed head shot while on tour.
She felt like she failed the two, leaving them doomed even though from the beginning the two aliens knew that would be the end result.
Crunching gravel creaked to a stop. Looking up, a black SUV pulled up, two men getting out; one confronted them while the other disappeared around the side of the destroyed aircraft.
"Who are you people?" Ricky asked.
"You don't need names." The leader said. "You from Gunnison?"
They didn't answer, their gazes flickering to the helicopter with Gunnison Memorial, the Hospital part charred beyond recognition.
"None of your business," Kelly snapped, rapidly regaining her focus and not caring if her refusal to admit her origin was an insult of the man's intelligence.
…no government is ever 100% loyal to its sycophants. If they can avoid the general public finding out about Gunnison, Colorado, being a hotbed for those Kainde Amedha, they will…. P'sy's words came back to her.
He was right… oh my god, he was right.
"Are you the ones who nuked the town?" Dallas demanded. "You bastards killed the entire town."
"We just followed orders," The commander growled.
"Sir!" The man's associate reappeared, the caster in hand.
"Where did you get this!" The commander snarled.
"We found it." Dallas answered shortly.
"Found it?"
"It's what I just said isn't it?"
The commander stepped toward them, nose to nose, Dallas staring back defiantly.
"What are you suggesting?" Jessie piped up. "We teamed up with one of those things running around town?"
The man snorted. "No, not those things…. Thing.. we have intelligence suggesting there was another freak running around."
"Well," Kelly pulled her daughter in closer to her. "We can't help you. Like he said, we found it."
A metal briefcase appeared, the clicks to open it sharp, the caster disappeared inside it. "
A heavy engine sounded behind the SUV, an enormous semi-truck passing by a smaller one, a hulking shape on the flatbed, black and metallic in color. It didn't take wild imagination to know what it was.
"A spaceship?" Jessie asked.
"What the hell was that?" Dallas asked.
"Well, now it's my turn to tell you none of your business." The man spun on his heel to return to the SUV.
"They're just leaving us here?" Ricky asked, incredulously.
"That's fine with me." Dallas growled. "Let's go." He started for the woods, he'd think of something once they were away from the government men.
A shot rang out.
"I'm sorry, did you think you could leave?" The commander had a gun pointed at them. "You've seen too much and you're loose ends… don't think you're going anywhere."
"Run!" Dallas pushed Kelly ahead who picked Molly up, sprinting for the trees. "Go!"
He waited for his brother and Jessie to get ahead of him before he turned, trading shots with their last weapon, a hand held pistol. If only he had something better.
We're going to die.
The automatic rifle chewed the ground and tree trunks around him, narrowly missing several times. In his haste, Dallas simultaneously rolled his ankle and felt the stray bullet hit him in the thigh, he landed heavily amidst the boulders.
Kelly slid to a stop. "Dallas!"
"Go, don't-just go!"
She started to come back to him but froze when the commander caught up to him, the rifle pointed lazily in his face.
"Stupid and sloppy." The commander said. "At least there be one less of you sympathizers around."
"Sympathizers?"
"Yeah, weak minded idiots who think these invisible freaks running around are allies of theirs, like you are some elite group of humans with a kumbaya mentality regarding their so-called friends." The man leaned in. "They will be eradicated you know.
"They already were in the bomb you used to kill thousands of innocent people."
"Cry me a river." The rifle lightly touched his nose. "Good bye useless traitor."
A heavy thud hit the ground behind the man, he jerked around to see nothing.
"-the fuck was that?"
Static spit along the ground, rapidly flowing upwards as an invisible sheet fell away from an exotic creature.
A cracked mask stared coldly back at the government commander.
"Like you said, good bye."
The scene made more sense when the human noticed his comrade dead a few feet away, the metal suitcase supposedly indestructible laying open and the weapon, the caster, in his confronter's hand.
The alien's trigger finger squeezed and the killing shot melted through the man's chest, killing him as he was flung back from the power.
For a few moments no one could find anything to say, so Dallas asked the inevitably stupid question.
"You made it?" He asked stupidly.
P'sy stepped forward, a clawed hand out to pull him to his feet. "Takes more than that to kill us."
A twig snapped, A'luet appearing as well.
Something like relief fell over Kelly's face before pinching in worry. "You going to make it, you're hurt."
"I've had worse." P'sy wasn't quite able to hide the wince as he straightened.
She eyed the SUV, its driver no longer in need of its service. "I know a place nearby in the National forest. We can go there and get our heads straight and you can recuperate."
There was indecisiveness in P'sy body language. "You're planning on taking the government truck?"
Kelly shrugged. "I pay my taxes… its called borrowing."
A'luet purposely left his translator off. "Take her up on her offer P'sy or I will." P'sy's blank mask turned his way, silent. "You can't hide shit from me. You're still actively bleeding, internally too I suspect, so don't treat me like I'm an idiot and say I'm wrong."
In front of them Kelly's eyes ticked between them.
"I wouldn't insult your intelligence." P'sy finally murmured. "There's nothing they can do to help me period."
"No, but I can and they can assist me. She leaked venom into you, didn't she?"
The elder's silence was enough of an answer for him. There wasn't much time.
"We'll go." A'luet took charge when P'sy didn't act like he would give in. "He doesn't have much time."
"A'luet!" P'sy growled.
"The U'darahje leaked venom into that wound and he needs attention too." A'luet gestured to Dallas, having finally stood clumsily with the help of his kid brother.
"Okay." Kelly bent down to the cooling corpse, padding down pockets. She found what she was looking for. "Let's go then before things get worse for either of you."
She waited for them all to move in front of her, like a hen with her chicks. When the ooman female didn't appear like she would budge from her decision P'sy gave a soft growled sigh.
About the time they reached the SUV, the elder's strength left him, a painful numbing sensation creeping down his legs and up his spine. He collapsed against the vehicle, claws scraping the paint as he desperately tried to remain upright.
He fucking failed.
A'luet pulled him to his feet, Kelly quickly opening the hatchback and systematically throwing cases and other equipment by the wayside before pausing.
"Will there be enough room?"
"How far is the location?"
"Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes the most… why?"
"Then it'll be fine." A'luet sat P'sy on the bumper. "We don't weigh as much as we look."
"Well, I didn't mean it like that…"
"We're on the shorter side, him and I, we'll be fine."
Kelly watched the young predator situate his mentor before climbing into the cargo area. "Shorter side? There's people taller than you?"
A'luet paused, a strange emotion wafting off him. "Yeah."
She snapped out of it. "Right, sorry." She shut the hatch and made for the driver seat. "Everyone good?"
There was a smattering of 'yes.'
She put the truck in drive and pointed the vehicle north east.