Ratchet reloaded the weapon while watching the predator, whose back was turned to him.

Then the lombax suddenly heard footsteps coming towards him, before his head was smacked from behind. "Are you out of your mind," Rivet almost shouted at him furiously. Eric finally appeared and the orange one held his skull painfully, "OUCH. Rivet, what are you doing?"

"What are YOU doing? You're helping that thing, even though it tried to kill you yesterday," the rebel didn't catch the answer of her beloved, who now held up his hands in defense, "I had to do something!" The white lombax slapped her hand against her forehead at the answer. Her Ratchet had just been too kind-hearted, "Oh, you and your heroism... Don't ever do that again without telling me!"

"Say... weren't there two of them," Only now did the group notice the predator again.

He was still standing in front of the remains of his fellow predator. The xenomorphs had torn him to pieces so that only his left arm was still attached to his body. The rest of his limbs had been torn off and his body was full of pierced holes from which the green blood flowed. The lombaxes finally noticed the fallen hunter before continuing to watch the younger Yautja's reaction. The predator went down on his knees, placed his left hand on his dead partner's face and bowed his head. A few light clicks sounded behind his mask, as if he was saying some kind of prayer or something.

The son had known this predator for a long time. They were in the same training back then, grew up there together and were very lucky to take the test together. Now his comrade was with their ancestors, after the honorable fight he had put up. Ratchet and Rivet watched the whole thing quietly, not daring to speak a word. They knew what it was like to lose someone close. But then the hunter stretched out his right hand and touched the bracer of his comrade's left arm, which was still attached. In just a few seconds, a beeping sound was heard, and your stalker stood up. He jumped away from the ruins and quickly made his way away from the area. The four heroes stared at it in confusion before the human next to them realized what was going on.

"THAT'S A BOMB!"

At the outcry, the pair took to their heels and ran in the direction where their hunter had disappeared. Without looking back, they approached a large rock where Eric thought they could climb. The lombaxes had no problem, and to their surprise, the human had no problem either. When they reached the top of the small hill, the bomb was detonated. A blue scarf appeared, which spread with a bang and destroyed everything in its vicinity. Where there used to be trees or grass, there was now only a scorched landscape where life was no longer possible. "Oh...holy...shit," the lombaxes were speechless. None of their weapons, not even an R.I.D.A, could do as much damage as this yautja bomb here. Clank and Kit also stared stunned at the destruction, as did Eric.

But then the five of them heard a growl.

"What was that," Rivet jerked the hammer out and ran after the source of the sound. On the other side of the large area, which was shaped like a cave, the predator sat alone. He was attending to his wounds, which he was treating with the medicines of his people. He also noticed the lombaxes now, but concentrated more on the wounds on his body. "Do you want to kill everything? What was the bomb just for," Rivet snapped angrily at the young hunter, who only threw an annoyed growl in reply.

"To prevent someone from hijacking their technology."

The heroes caught sight of the human, turning to the rebel, "He just said that."

"You understand his language," Kit jumped off her friend's back and walked towards Eric, who was making himself comfortable on a rock, "His people have been here so often that I've started to study their culture. That includes the language..." While Ratchet and Clank couldn't say much about it, Rivet was lost in thought again. What on earth IS this human here? Her uneasy feeling towards the dark-skinned man was growing, now that he could apparently translate the language of her stalker. Her friend, on the other hand, was more focused on the predator, who was still tending to his wounds, "Hey... are you alright?"

This was followed by a loud roar.

The yautja had just plunged the injection into his flesh to let the medicine flow in. The lombaxes were startled for a moment before they calmed down again. "You started helping me when I saved you. Why," the orange lombax tried to engage the hunter in conversation, unfortunately it was difficult to do so through the foreign language of the larger one, "I'm sorry about your partner..."

"Ratchet. The guy's probably just waiting to rip your head off," came from Rivet, who pulled her lover slightly towards her, only to receive an annoyed growl from the hunter in response. "Big talk for someone who doesn't dare to fight... his words, not mine," the human translated the yautja's language, which only made Rivet angrier, "I'll let my hammer do the talking then!"

The Predator also stood up roaring at the challenge.

"STOP IT NOW," Ratchet had had enough. With his loud shout, he made everyone involved stay calm, "It's no good killing each other now! We have to get to the meeting point by tomorrow or we'll miss our friends." The rebel shrugged the hammer back in, and the predator sat back down to the ground to continue the doctoring. "Are you...going to ally yourself with that monster there," the snow-white rebel stared questioningly at her boyfriend, who shrugged his shoulders, "The enemy of my enemy...is my friend. That's what they say."

"Having a strong ally like him would be an advantage, but will he go for it," Clank scratched his chin thoughtfully. The heroes looked back at the predator, who was staring into the distance. Ratchet finally decided to break the ice and approached the hunter, "How about...you tell me your name."

A growl followed, which Eric immediately translated, "His name is Vo'kah-Yap."

"Oh...how the heck am I supposed to remember that", the orange one and the white one both knew that they wouldn't remember that name. But then the predator started growling to itself. "Eric, what's he saying," the yellow robot girl looked intently at the human, who went over the predator's words again, "He's telling us why he's here. He and two others of his species have undergone this test to become true hunters. That must explain it. These are youngbloods, and if they were to take down the xenomorphs, then they would be considered true Yautja. It's all a test."

"Wa-wa-wait a minute," Rivet stared at the big alien with the dreadlocks again, "Are you saying this...colossus is...IS A TEENAGER?"

"I'd say he's a young adult now,' Eric added, "But despite the young age among his people, he's hundreds of years old compared to us."

But the orange hero had heard something interesting among the words, "Did he just say that there's another Predator here?"

"Yes, that must be his second companion," the rebel now understood, until Ratchet then approached the yautja: "We can help you find your friend, and in return you help us get to the base. Deal?" The predator offer the proposal carefully. His second companion is still out there, and is hard to find. The lombax here had saved his life, so he had to repay him somehow. The hunter twitched out a claw from a slain xenomorph and pointed at Ratchet's hand. "Ratchet, he wants you to take off your glove," Eric indicated after the confused lombax.

He hesitantly took off the glove on his right hand and then watched as the hunter dropped to his knees. He grabbed Ratchet's hand with his claws, pulled out the alien's claw and began to scratch the upper surface with its tip. The acid, which dripped slightly, helped and so it passed more easily and quickly. The lombax groaned a little painfully for a moment before it was finished. Rivet then saw a brand that the predator had carved into him, but neither of them knew what it meant.

"He marked you with a symbol of salvation. He's in your debt now," Ratchet looked into the visor eyes of the helmet, nodding in agreement. "But he says he won't mark your female until she's earned it," Eric translated the last sentence, to which Rivet merely narrowed his eyes again in annoyance, "I've got a symbol for him, here!" And she pointed her middle finger in the predator's face. The predator tilted his head in confusion before the heroes brought their robot friends back into position, "So, let's find your buddy and then our troop. Then we can finally get off this planet." The five of them went ahead first, but the predator followed a little behind before the rebel called out to him.

"Are you coming with us now, Sting?"

Her boyfriend and the others were confused by the last word, as was the hunter, "Sting?"

"I'm not going to memorize his real name. Besides, he likes to stab. Now, Sting, come on," Rivet walked on, gently swinging her tail back and forth. But Clank had to laugh. It reminded him of the nickname the rebel had given him. The predator finally understood, nodded in agreement and "Sting" followed the heroes. On the way, they went over the plan again to reach the base.

The other troop was still somewhere else, so they had to find them. "The aliens could take the opportunity to multiply with your friends if we're not fast enough," the human said. But this sentence made the lombaxes think of another question they wanted to ask Eric, "Eric... these things come from eggs, don't they?"

"That's right..." the companions stopped again as they could read the look of realization on the humans. Rivet then finally asked the question that Ratchet, Clank and Kit were also asking themselves.

"So... who lays all these eggs?"

Far away from the heroes stood the large base. The meeting point for the heroes, where they could pick up by Qwark and then finally put an end to it all. But something was hiding in the deep corridors of the station. A huge xenomorph nest had been built by them. It was their main nest, where they once emerged from the humans, and since then many new aliens have emerged from their hosts. There were also some eggs nearby, some of which were newly laid. New specimens were laid from a large egg sack. This was tied to her.

A huge specimen of the species had attached itself to a device. Its head was pulled back long and resembled a shield, its body was strongly built and powerful, plus the long tail at the back with the huge spike on it. The biggest feature, however, was that she carried another pair of small arms under her large arms. With a deep hiss, she called her brood to her. The normal drones crawled to their queen, who now let out another hiss. She needed hosts. Her children must finally be born. The xenomorphs also hissed in response before running through the air ducts and doors again to look for new victims for their mistress. The queen, on the other hand, concentrated fully on her task of bringing more offspring into the world while her brood searched for new hosts. This base, where the mother of all xenomorphs had taken up residence, had been the meeting point for the heroes. Only the future could tell whether they would be able to sneak past the great beast unnoticed.

The greatest danger of all awaited at the meeting point of Ratchet and Rivet.