Chapter 40

Killed In Action

Adrien pushed the truck as fast as he dared go on the icy, unplowed path. The ride was bumpy, out of control, and painful on his back. Still, it no doubt paled in comparison to whatever Katja was experiencing.

He risked a look over at her, taking his eyes briefly from the snowdrifts. She was sitting still, very stiffly, not blinking, hands in her lap. Her upper body was red with blood.

"Katja," he began, "are you–"

"Pull over, Adrien," she requested haltingly.

He didn't question her; he just applied the brakes. The truck bucked, and ground to a halt in the thick snow.

Throwing open the door, Katja stumbled from the cab, and a second or two later, he could hear her vomiting.

They did not have time for this. Weyland could easily follow their vehicle tracks. But he also didn't have the heart to tell her that.

Blue turned his mask in Adrien's direction, and Adrien could hear his mandibles clacking underneath it. He was making to go to her.

"No offense, but let me handle this one," Adrien said, giving the hunter a slight nod. "I'll be right back."

Hopping out of the vehicle, Adrien circled it until he found Katja, hunched over and shaking.

"Katja."

She didn't respond.

"Katja." Coming to her side, he crouched beside her and turned her head towards him. Not only was her face streaked with Petrov's blood, but he could also see a few flecks of pale tannish-pink matter that he identified as bits of brain.

"Good god," he muttered, digging in his vest until he found a scope-cleaning cloth. It was unused and folded neatly. Wasn't a towel, but it didn't have any liquids on it, and would work in a pinch.

She barely seemed to register what was happening as he began to wipe at her face, though she wasn't crying. He was unsure whether that was a good sign, or a terrible one. She barely seemed to be breathing. Shock, maybe.

Adrien wasn't sure what to do for a soldier who had just lost the last man in her unit and her lover in such a brutal, up-close fashion. Hell, he didn't know what to do for anyone in those circumstances. All he could do was just keep cleaning her face.

"Katja, talk to me."

Finally, she focused on him. Her eyes were unnaturally bright, glittering, to the point he was slightly unnerved by them. "I'm going to kill them, Adrien. I don't care how many months it takes. I'm gonna bury every last one of those bastards so deep, they'll have to climb their way up into hell."

He noticed her hand was in a fist, and had been since they'd gotten in the truck. Carefully, he uncurled her fingers to find a dogtag. Its name was now indented in her skin.

Her brother's? Adrien didn't think so. He hadn't gotten a good look at it back on the train, but even so, the Cyrillic looked different.

"Happy, Adrien?" she whispered. "You get to be right. You warned me not to get personally involved, and now I…"

"No, I'm not happy. I'm just sorry, kiddo. I'm so sorry," Adrien rambled, drawing her into a tight hug, for lack of any other option. "I'm sorry."

And he was. Sorry for Katja, who had now lost multiple people she cared deeply for to Weyland. Sorry for Petrov, who probably would be happily preparing fields for spring planting right now if life had been better to him. Sorry for himself and Blue and Alexei, unable to do anything about any of it.

"I know we gotta move… just… just give me a minute." Katja said, her face pressed into his chest.

"Sure," Adrien agreed.

"Alone," Katja continued, gently pushing him away.

Not ideal, but Adrien walked back to the truck and sat down regardless. "She said she needs a minute," he reported to everyone.

Alexei began to whine, but Blue gave a snarl, cutting him off. Big guy must've decided he needed a stretch, or wanted to be away from Alexei, because a second later he got out of the truck.

If their team dynamic was in trouble before, now it was on critical life support.

Vai'dqouulth wasn't concerned about Weyland finding them. He was confident this bad blood 'Slater' and his party could easily be dealt with if they did meet again; but he also suspected they didn't currently have the courage to try.

What was making him pace furiously was Katja's state of being. He had extended his audio to pick up the conversation and was immediately thankful that Adrien had taken the lead. Vai'dqouulth didn't really know what to do when she cried.

It did not seem like his hunt brother knew what to do, either.

When she had expelled her stomach, Vai'dqouulth had first thought that it had been some sort of disease she had contracted, or a remnant of the sepsis. Not the case, though he wasn't sure what the condition was called, either. It seemed almost… emotionally driven?

Leaning on the front of the vehicle, he glanced inside to see Adrien pinching his forehead, eyes closed and resting far back into the seat. Universal language – frustration.

The runt kept glancing around, fidgeting nervously. Vai'dqouulth gave a chuff of disgust. Like he had anything to worry about. The warriors would preserve him in the event of an attack, as they always had.

His gaze shifted to Katja.

They had become something of their own clan out here. Her inspiring speech before the battle said as much. And while he never cared for Petrov, his life was not clan Weyland's to take. Especially in such a dishonorable manner. Execution – no equal ground battle, no weapons allotted him. Yes, pure dishonor.

Still, he'd be lying if he said the loss brought him great sorrow, either. His feelings landed somewhere in the middle on the matter. Certainly, it was a blow to their abilities and capabilities. Assaulting the actual nest might now prove to be a death trap. Their clan was reduced by a quarter. Or twenty percent, if the runt counted (Vai'dqouulth didn't believe he did).

If Katja were to be remanded to his care at the end of their journey, it would perhaps be best to start learning how to handle situations like this. They had arisen more than once already. Even if he failed, perhaps he could at least learn from it. Humans' strong emotions still eluded him.

Approaching carefully, he purposefully made his footsteps audible to her.

"Adrien, I just need a minute," she said with clear strain.

"He died an honorable warrior," Vai'dqouulth replied, hoping it was something worthy or comforting to say. He truly meant that, too. The weak warrior had kept his integrity at the end and never begged.

"Oh Blue, I'm… sorry. I thought you were–" Katja turned and swiped at her eyes, trying to regain composure.

"He died an honorable warrior," Vai'dqouulth repeated. He wasn't entirely certain this would be received as an accolade in the same way it would for a Yautja, but Katja was a warrior herself. Surely, she'd realize it was complimentary.

"That means a lot. Really," Katja acknowledged this time, hugging her arms around herself.

They stood there for a while, but he didn't feel it was uncomfortable. More like processing silence.

"You know, Adrien wanted to kill or avoid you altogether when he told us you were out here. Petrov just wanted to ask you to go home. He didn't want to risk your technology falling into the wrong hands and shifting the global power. He said humanity wasn't ready for that," Katja finally said.

Vai'dqouulth gave a grunt in agreement. Perhaps he hadn't given Petrov enough credit. The human male seemed prudent in place of his combat weaknesses.

"He didn't deserve it, Blue," Katja whispered. "He was the most compassionate person I knew. It should have been me."

Vai'dqouulth puzzled over the meaning of the word. 'Compassionate'. It was not a term in Yautja society. Either one was hunted, or did the hunting. Altruism, or… pity? – if he was translating correctly – had nothing to do with his civilization.

He did not understand why a warrior like Katja would value such traits. It would only weaken those under her command, interfere with their duties and hunts.

Yet, he couldn't help remembering the concern and fear she and the other humans had shown after his near-fatal encounter with the impregnator. Perhaps it was 'compassion' that had emboldened Petrov to not betray the rest of their clan, and go to his death, defying his killer.

And just possibly, that meant compassion could be a form of strength, too; though he was sure his kind wouldn't see it that way. He wasn't even sure he could see it that way.

More plausible it was a survival technique. By having this 'compassion', one could lure in both the weak and the strong into a clan or pack. A form of loyalty. The weak would be a self-correcting problem.

It was too confusing, so Vai'dqouulth placed his arms around her, the way he knew humans liked. "Petrov wanted to preserve you," he replied. "His last action, successful. Can take solace in that."

Katja tensed, and wiggled away from him. She then placed a 'dogtag' she'd been holding into one of her pockets. "We should go now," she mumbled, yanking open the truck door and climbing inside.

Vai'dqouulth followed, knowing enough of Katja by now to realize he hadn't been able to bring her relief.

Adrien could see the smoke long before the resort was visible. He grimaced but pressed onward. If a trap lay ahead, he wanted to spring it on his own terms.

"Why are you going back to the hotel?" Katja suddenly asked, and her voice sounded perfectly modulated. Perfectly stable. Too normal. She was working hard on it. "Don't you see the smoke? They torched it. And there's only one person who could've told them where it was."

"Yeah, I know," Adrien said, though he didn't believe Jade was behind the ambush at the FOB. He wasn't going to argue with Katja on it right now, though.

"You're still not turning around," Katja pointed out. "They could be waiting for us there."

"I know, but I want to scout it out. They may have left something behind, or missed something important."

"We're not ready for another fight," she said, some brittleness creeping into her tone.

"I know, which is why we aren't going to get close," he told her patiently.

Sighing under her breath, Katja leaned back into her seat. He could see a single tear running silently down her face.

As much as he'd like to, Adrien couldn't spend any more time trying to comfort her. The Queen was God-only-knew-where, and they were probably surrounded by serpents and Weyland.

Alexei warbled something, but it must not have been worth translating, because neither Katja nor Blue spoke for him.

After following their own tire tracks back for several more miles, Adrien braked behind a tree line and rolled down the window, then lifted his binoculars.

Sure enough, the resort was ablaze. It had partially collapsed, but the fire looked to be winding down rather than getting worse. The building was compromised, unsalvageable, though. They'd lost their accommodations.

Upside was, Alexander's resort burned down. Maybe he didn't even have it insured. Oh, and they didn't need to do the dishes now. A very small win.

"There goes our base," Adrien muttered.

"We can live out of the truck," Katja said, monotone. "We left the tent and sleeping bags in here in case we had to make a quick exit. Remember?"

Alexei began to complain, and Katja whipped around in her seat to glare at him. "Well, I know you don't want to camp outside, Alexei; but unless you have a construction crew on hand, there isn't much that can be done, is there? You're still alive, aren't you? Can't you be grateful for that?"

Adrien found himself oddly relieved by her anger. It meant she hadn't totally checked out, given up. Not yet. "Katja, what do you want to do from here?" he prompted. For a rare moment, he hadn't a clue what the next move was.

Holding the end of her braid in one hand, Katja closed her eyes for about ten seconds. When she opened them, Adrien could see hard resolve. "Priority is still the Queen. She can't have too many troops left. We find her and kill her. Weyland is… second priority. We cross them again, then we take out as many as we can; but if the Queen is gone, their mission is failed and they leave, too. But unnecessarily engaging them is pointless." She didn't add "For now," but Adrien could hear it, unspoken.

"…I think we need to go to the camp," Adrien said.

"The Weyland camp? Why?" Katja immediately demanded.

"Because… because Petrov was right. Getting help from Blue's people is more important," Adrien hesitantly answered. This was gonna start a fight, he could feel it.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, Katja waited for him to continue. Or invoking the lieutenant's name so early shocked her.

"I just think we need a safety net. Our own mortality has never been more obvious," Adrien stumbled about.

"That's the play?" she asked. Not argumentatively; more like she was confirming with him.

"It's the only option if you want life on the planet to continue," Adrien said.

"Then that's that," Katja said with finality. "Raid Weyland first. Now, Jade may have ratted us out, but if we find her in the camp, maybe she could be a resource–"

"Hold on, hold on," Adrien said carefully, rolling up the window. The truck cab was getting cold. "We don't know that Jade told anyone anything."

Katja stared at him, looking incredulous. "How can she not have? Slater told M… Maksim that he knew he didn't take his deal. The only person who offered him that deal was Jade. Obviously, she told Slater where we were and what we were doing. Don't be stupid."

Suppressing a sharp retort, Adrien said, "I'm not trying to be. But something isn't adding up. She had plenty of chances to give us up already. Especially times when we were much more vulnerable. Why now?"

Shaking her head, Katja looked away, out of her own window. "Fine, Adrien. Trust her if you want. I don't care. But when we're at Weyland's camp? If we run into Slater? He's mine, and you don't get a say in his fate. Understand?"

Adrien grunted. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Jade said it was here, did she not?" Adrien asked as he came to a stop in the woods. They had been driving around for a while now, and had seen no sign of the camp.

"It's gotta be close. Maybe… maybe I can climb a tree and scan," Katja suggested.

"Yeah, alright. I could stand to stretch anyway," Adrien agreed. She could read the fatigue in his voice.

They all exited, except Alexei; probably because of the warm vehicle and the possibility of danger.

Katja began walking around, trying to decide which tree would be easiest to climb. None were great options, with branches being out of reach.

Suddenly, she was scooped up with a tiny yip, and ascending fairly quickly under something else's power.

Blue.

She now got to see exactly how this was his element. He only had one available arm, and still he was fantastic at climbing. Those extra claws around his arch now made even more sense to her.

When they reached a suitable height, he sat back against the trunk, straddling the thick branch, and put her in his lap. She'd protest; but really, there was nowhere else to sit, and he had gotten her to the goal much faster than she could've.

"Dammit, I forgot the binoculars," Katja muttered. "Thanks for the lift, big guy, but I might have to go b–"

Blue's mask was suddenly in front of her. Eyeing him, she looked into it and found the vision zoomed.

She knew he was only trying to be helpful; but she was feeling stupid, helpless, heartbroken, and agitated already. His behavior was exacerbating the feelings.

"Thank you," Katja stated cordially regardless. She knew she needed to move past this – at least for the time being – and more importantly, not take it out on the people around her who just wanted to do anything to help. She could mourn after they stopped the serpents.

Defeating them was Petrov's last wish; at least, the one she could actually accomplish.

Donning the mask and trying to ignore the odd… 'Blue' smell inside, she scanned around with it, looking for her objective. She eventually found it. The camp. Something… something was wrong with it, though. The early-afternoon sun was still strong enough to show her that.

"Can you zoom in any more than this?" Katja requested. She watched Blue take it back and tap inside a few times before handing it over once more.

Grabbing it, she looked again, now with enhanced zoom.

Just as she thought…

Her mouth twisted contemplatively. "Have a look," Katja said as she offered the mask back to her alien compatriot. He took it and affixed it to his face once more before looking at the camp.

"Tell others?" he asked after a moment.

"Yeah, better go tell them." Katja agreed as she began to descend the tree. Blue wasn't having any of that, though. He jumped and grabbed her as he passed.

Using the branches, he swung down in a sort of spiral way. It borderline made her sick, because it was so fast. But she refused to scream and give away their position.

Once on the ground, she steadied her dizziness, then went over to the truck where Adrien was sitting on the hood. "Well?" he prompted.

"It's northwest of here," Katja answered.

"How should we attack? I assume they gotta have plenty–" Adrien began.

"We don't need to attack," she answered slowly. She wasn't sure if she should feel disappointed or not. Someone – or something – had done her work for them.

For her.

Adrien blinked. " 'Course we need to attack. They aren't just gonna hand it over."

"They got hit," Katja stated.

"I know this is a difficult time, but please start making sense," Adrien begged, sliding off the truck hood to get closer to her.

"The camp is in shambles. The Queen, she must've been waiting for them when they got back after–" Katja choked up a little. "…after the FOB." She should feel vindication, but she really wasn't.

"Ok. So, what? We just drive up there?" Adrien asked, clearly ignoring her little 'hiccup'.

"No, I don't want to risk our transportation or the camping gear. We are hoofing it," Katja said.

"Lead the way…"

The small human team took cover behind a larger rock just outside the camp. Blue was going in first cloaked for recon, making sure the camp was actually clear. Then, as a triple precaution, he was going to check the outlying perimeter.

Adrien wanted to talk to Katja, but silence seemed wise at this time. Not to mention, she'd probably bite his head off for doing so. Not that he harbored any ill-will over it. Hell, he was impressed she was holding together as well as she was.

Instead, he kept his scope on the camp for any signs of threats while Katja watched the rear. And Alexei was, as always, being Alexei.

The little snot was going to tell them where that nest was next. It was definitely time to finish the conversation they'd started on the train and in the depths of the FOB. Then, they'd be going after it, without question – and maybe even without Blue.

The hunter would call his people, yes, and Adrien would give him the nest location to relay, yes. But this may be the end of their alliance and partnership. Back to business as usual – hunters and humans killing each other.

It never struck him as part of Blue's society or species to lie. Blue would actively try to save them from being killed by his people, Adrien believed that. But with them on the way, he may wait to assault the nest. He may let them go to the nest alone in hopes they died, and the mess cleaned itself up.

It's what he'd do in that position.

Would he want to keep Katja with him? It was hard to say now. After her sexcapade with Petrov, he felt Blue's 'affections' – for lack of a better term – had cooled significantly. Petrov now being gone didn't seem to change that, either. Maybe he finally remembered what exactly she was versus what he was. And he wasn't talking about the species barrier.

Still, he hoped maybe there just hadn't been opportunities, or maybe he hadn't been present for some of their interactions and Blue was still very much interested. It would certainly help keep them all alive if he was.

If that was the case and he insisted on taking Katja with him, Adrien wasn't going to stop him. In fact, he'd help any way he could, Katja willing. He believed that a fresh start, a universe away from all this, might be exactly what she needed.

Then again, if she did end up pregnant… well, in that case, leaving for an alien planet was a bad idea, and alternate options were necessary. Either way, he felt a strange sense of obligation to her. Or, maybe that wasn't the right word. Loyalty? Fealty?

He certainly would have been dead a long time ago without her.

"Grounds secure," a voice cut in, interrupting his thoughts. Speak of the scaled devil and he shall appear. Blue had returned, and now the camp was secure. Still, Adrien didn't want to be jumped again.

"Stay hidden. You're our ace in case this is somehow another elaborate ambush," Adrien patted his arm.

They approached, sweeping around in a defensive fashion, waiting for anything to indicate the camp was still very much alive.

There wasn't. Weyland PMCs were scattered all over, clearly dead in various gruesome fashions. Flaming barrels, likely where they were huddled around for warmth, was the only thing moving.

"I've got a live one!" Katja's voice suddenly cut the air. Hustling over to her, Adrien found a man, older than he was, laying on the ground. Judging by the spidery thing shriveled up next to him, this one didn't have long.

"What happened here?" Adrien asked without preamble. They didn't have long with this guy, might as well not waste it on piddly shit.

"They were waiting for us. Crawling out of the damn ground. Never stood a chance," the man rasped.

"Is this everyone?" Katja asked.

"The other half went up the mountains to get the big one. Cut off now," the man answered between coughing.

"Where's Slater? Is he dead too?" Katja demanded.

"My chest… feels like it's gonna–" The man grimaced.

"Is Slater here or dead?" Katja asked again. To Adrien's confusion, she reached out and took the man's hand, giving it a small, comforting squeeze. "Please," she cajoled. "We need your help. Your people on the mountain might be in trouble. The Queen needs to be stopped."

"I… can't…"

"Listen, it's all right. I'm going to be right here with you, okay? I know you're in pain. But I'm not leaving you. Okay?" she said soothingly. Her eyes darted to his chest, then back to his eyes. "Just take a breath with me."

Somehow, she got through to the mercenary, and their chests expanded and deflated at the same time. The man grimaced, but seemed to collect himself.

Clever Kat. As much as she probably wanted him dead, she had decided to take the much more difficult path – treating him as a human being rather than the enemy in his last moments.

And it worked. Even Adrien couldn't tell if it was her natural kindness, or manipulation.

"Slater…" the man mumbled, looking at Katja. "You wanted to know about Slater, right? He bugged out in one of the helicopters. Said he was getting reinforcements," the PMC answered.

The line of questions ended there when a distinct lump rose from his chest, and the man's next words were cut off by his pained scream. A second later, an alien staff stabbed into him, killing the other life form within him and putting him out of his misery.

Katja stared at the body, expression unreadable.

"So, Slater sends his people to get the queen and is immediately attacked. She was counting on us killing each other or weakening each other so much we would be incapable against her." Adrien deduced after a moment of silence.

"The mountains. She could be anywhere, then," Katja said with defeat.

"No, Alexei knows. I'm willing to bet he even has the coordinates," Adrien said as he rose and began stalking toward an ever-retreating Alexei.

"Where is she, Alexei? What do you know about this?" Katja demanded. Her lead on Slater and the mercenaries was dead, and now her patience was completely gone. No more coddling the boy.

"You can't seriously want to go there. What we've faced… it wouldn't even compare to what awaits us there," Alexei spoke, backing away from her before tripping and falling on his butt.

Distantly, she heard Blue translating for Adrien.

"You can tell me, or I can have Blue and Adrien peel answers from you. Blue maybe quite literally," Katja crossed her arms.

"It's called the Crypt. It's buried deep in the Ural Mountains," Alexei finally answered, getting to his feet.

"What is it? A military base? A lab?" Katja asked.

"I don't honestly know, not for certain. Nobody does. Yes to all of that, but I think it's true purpose was to house the serpents for weapons testing and holding," Alexei answered, pulling up his hood with a shiver.

"Explain," Katja followed up. She had no mercy left for Alexei, after using it on the Weyland man.

"It's more or less a prison for them. Maybe even for Blue's kind. An armory, but for living weapons," Alexei tried to clarify. He'd tugged his hood so tightly around his head, his glasses were beginning to fog.

"But you know where this place was. How long have you known?" Katja drilled.

"Since we got out–" he began, and her world spun into a blinding, painful blur before she drew back and hit him.

He knew. Knew all this time, and they still did the unnecessary attack on the FOB that cost her Petrov.

"You knew!" she accused as she jumped on top of him.

"Woah, woah!" Adrien rushed forward and grabbed her. Blue was with him a moment later, and they tore her off of him.

"I didn't! I swear! They told me the queen was long dead! It broke quarantine and attacked a town towards the end of the Cold War! Then they killed her!" Alexei protested, adjusting his glasses, which had gone askew during her attack. Some blood dribbled from his nose, but Katja just couldn't feel bad about it at that moment. "They said they killed her!"

Governments. Governments lying. It's all they knew how to do. "So, where is it, Alexei?" Adrien jumped in while Katja paced around.

"It was on my tablet, but lucky for you, I have a photographic memory," Alexei spoke, some of his arrogance returning.

"First things first, let's do a clean sweep for Blue's computer parts," Adrien said, after Blue had translated.

Not waiting for the group to break out, Katja ran off from the rest of them. She didn't feel like company, though she expected one of them to try. To her infinite relief, no one did.

Starting in the farthest corner, she began picking through the first tent. No electronics, at least ones they hadn't tried already.

Stepping out, she shuffled to the next one, her rage trapped with no outlet. Petrov's death had been completely preventable. The government could've at least informed them what they were up against. Alexei could've told them not to bother with the FOB.

Coming to the next tent, she stepped inside. It was much the same. These were mercenary personnel tents, not tech experts. But she still didn't want to be with the others.

Her resolve and fight weren't gone. She wanted to go marching up that mountain and drag the queen out by her ass.

Then, she wanted to go to Moscow and feed every single politician and bureaucrat involved in this to the Queen. Followed by her Royal Alien Majesty's death as well. For Maksim.

Sighing, Katja sat down for a moment, absently sticking a pack of granola bars she'd found into her pack. She had no appetite, but the others had to eat.

Her mind wandered further. Adrien had said Blue's kind had presided over Earth and humanity long ago. She wondered what that government had been like? Couldn't have been too fantastic, as humans were regularly sacrificed to breed more serpents.

But then again, in this modern era, they were regularly sacrificed every day by human governments for even dumber reasons than a 'manhood trial', or whatever.

Looking up from the ground, she suddenly noticed Blue was standing a short distance away. "Find something?" she asked, trying not to be short with him.

"Some time ago. Giving you… 'space', per Adrien," Blue answered.

Katja nearly rolled her eyes. That was irritating. They didn't have time to waste. If Adrien found something, he should've called her over straight away.

Blue began walking, and she knew he wanted her to follow. But at the moment, she really didn't feel like it. When he noticed he wasn't, he turned back to her.

"Hurt?" he asked, adding his own chirping to the computer tone. Yes, she was hurt. But he was asking if she was injured.

"No." Katja licked at her lips. Suddenly, she had to know. Had to know that Blue wasn't just a mindless tool of his government.

Like she used to be.

"Did you… do your blood ritual thing here? On Earth?" Katja asked.

"No. Desolate planet, only desert," Blue answered, not bothered by the question. Maybe even a little prideful at her interest.

"Did you use humans to create serpents?" She followed up.

That made him snap rigid. Defensive. He knew there would be no right answer to this question without lying. And Blue did not lie, ever.

She could hear his throat start to rattle. He was going to try and sedate her with that little vocal trick of his. "Stop. Please, stop. Just answer the question," Katja cut him off, and the sound idled a bit before dying entirely.

"Do you truly wish to fight?" Blue cocked his head.

The question was fair. He wasn't looking for confrontation and frankly, neither was she. For all she knew, the humans they used were complete scum of the Earth that could only improve society if removed from it. That wasn't the point of her question.

She needed to know if, when his people came, he would stand with protecting Earth, or just do whatever his leaders instructed him to do.

"Of course I don't want to fight. I just… Are you helping us destroy the serpents because humanity is worth it, or because you need us for your hunts? Are we… just commodities? Resources? For canned hunts? Entertainment? You can be honest. I just want to know."

Blue cocked his head, slowly digesting her questions. She could almost see him deciding his words carefully. "Humans… are to challenge us, keep us strong. Humans are cunning, clever and more dangerous than appearance. Not commodity."

Katja nodded. It wasn't the worst answer she could have gotten; even if he was leaning hard into the flattery (or his idea of it), he seemed sincere. But it didn't tell her what he felt about humans, or if he would resist his people's attempts to nuke the continent and kill them – and any possible remaining living humans in the area.

But Blue wasn't finished. "The blooding trial… is about more. The hard meats are a weapon foraged against us. It is our duty to eradicate them. Humanity… was a slave species used for nothing but the purpose of propagating these weapons. Yautja freed you. We raised and nurtured you to be more. Now a worthy species to be hunted on your own. Hunts also test you. Prepare you for much worse to come."

That… was a lot to digest. Adrien hadn't covered any of that. Probably didn't know himself. "Yautja?" Katja asked, testing the word. He had said it slowly in his own voice, not a recording.

"You, human. Me, Yautja," Blue clarified. So that's what the hunter species named themselves. Yautja.

"We cannot simulate hard meats. Not truly. Blooding is also training. Humans used to create. All species are. Not wasteful. Necessity. Universe always in danger. Nearly drove Yautja extinct. Why it is duty to breed and spread. More warriors needed," Blue explained.

Katja didn't want to believe what she was hearing. The problem was, the source was the horse's mouth, so clearly it wasn't a lie. It was also terrifying to think that a powerful species like the hunters – Yautja – were almost driven extinct by… what had he called them? Hard meats. The serpents.

Not only that, they were living weapons. And human governments and companies wanted them for that purpose.

"How do you know this? Were you there?" Katja asked.

Blue shook his head before replying. "No, ancient texts."

"Who made them? The hard meats, I mean," Katja followed up. She hadn't missed what Blue said earlier. That the serpents were a species 'forged' against his people. Their creators were undoubtedly a race which had progressed further than the Yautja, which was a terrifying thought in itself.

Blue confirmed her assumption seconds later. "Species older and more advanced than either of ours. Yautja pushed them to the edge of the universe. They hide. They will return. We will hunt them," Blue hissed at the end.

So, there was something out there that could give Blue's kind a run for their money. The older species had been fought, and they had lost the battle – but not the war. It sounded like they had simply performed a tactical retreat to regroup and rearm.

And if the hunters hadn't completely eradicated the serpents themselves, what chance did humanity have against the monster's designers, once they were back to their full strength?

"You are in Yautja controlled space. We are never far from Earth. Warship watches, protects. Many would like to exploit; we do not allow. Illegal to even take humans off planet, unless a Yautja, with expressed authority to do so," Blue explained.

Somehow, that made Katja feel better. Yeah, they hunted humans. Yes, they used humans for trials and training. But the fact that they felt the need to station a warship close to Earth to prevent exploitation, to prevent a revert back to a slave species or extermination, was a comfort.

It meant the Yautja did care what happened to them, even though humanity really had nothing to offer in return. Adrien was correct, too; humans were laughably outmatched by the Yautja, and they might not even be top of the food chain in the universe if what Blue said was true.

"Ok. That makes me feel good about calling your people. But what are they going to do when they arrive? Just bomb the area and be done with it? There may still be humans here. Kids, non-combatants," Katja pointed out.

"It will be taken into account. A cleansing bomb will not be used lightly. But, the planet cannot be sacrificed for a few hypothetical humans that are not warriors," Blue stated definitively.

Katja felt relief flood her, powerfully. To the point of some hysterical crying. But because what he'd said was exactly what she wanted to hear. And the universe hadn't been aligning for her lately. Blue began to approach, likely in concern, but she held her hand out to stop him.

"Blue, what is your real name?" Katja asked, trying to hold back the flood of feelings.

"Why?" Blue asked simply.

"Because… because I want to thank you, properly," Katja choked up a little.

He said it, very slowly, very deliberately. But she simply didn't have the throat muscles to say it right. It frustrated her to no end, until she thought of a solution.

"Vai," Katja began, testing the shortened name.

"Kkkkkaaaattttjjaa," Blue acknowledged, attempting to speak her name as well, with his own voice, no less. It seemed he had just as much trouble with hers as she did his.

"Thank you. Thank you for coming to help. Thank you for not killing us. Thank you for sticking around. And thank you for bringing us help. I only wish we had something to offer in return," Katja finally said as she gave him a hug.

"Your gratitude is acknowledged and appreciated, but not necessary. Any Yautja would come. It is why I am here. It is why others will come without stipulation," Blue told her, using the computer this time.

A little overwhelmed, Katja nodded. "Then we should find a way to call them. Come on, you have something to show me?"