Chapter 5: Shadows Of the Past
Location: Gunnison, Colorado
August 15, 2004
The night receded, making way for the dawn. Ever since the discovery of a man brutally mutilated beyond recognition just a mere day ago, the townspeople were in a state of unease.
"Sir, you're going to want to look at this. The bodies…they have holes in their chests as if something…someone tore them open." One of the deputies spoke with fear and disgust in this voice as he looked at the corpses of 2 men.
"Who the hell could do this?" The sheriff tried to hold back his disgust as looked at the bloody holes in the chest's of the corpses.
"Looks like the work of an animal, probably a bear they've been sometimes known to mutilate their victims." One of the other deputies spoke.
"Take the bodies back for autopsy, I want a full report once we know what hell we're dealing with." The sheriff spoke as the paramedics stuffed the bodies into body bags and hauled them off into ambulances.
Location: Coroner's office
"Sheriff, I've never seen anything like this in all my years. The bodies don't show any signs of an animal attack, so it's not a bear. It's almost as if something inside them caused the damage. Until we understand what's going on, I recommend we issue a curfew to keep people safe," the coroner said, his voice shaky with uncertainty as he spoke.
The sheriff nodded, his expression growing more serious. "Understood. Let me know if you find anything else when you can." He left the office, a look of confusion and unease settling on his face. Never had he expected to face something so strange and unsettling.
Location: Redacted
"Tell us everything from the beginning, Mrs. Woods," the soldier said gravely, his eyes fixed on her.
Lex took a steadying breath before speaking. "I was part of an expedition to the Arctic with my boss, Mr. Weyland, and his team. We were searching for something in the temple we found there. But when we arrived, we discovered we were being hunted… by these creatures—the hunters."
"The hunters came to the temple as part of a rite of passage," Lex continued, her voice steady despite the memory. "Their mission was to eliminate what they called... the serpents. Every hundred years, the hunters send their youngest members to kill the serpents as a way to gain rank within their clan. The serpents themselves are parasites from another world, brought here by the hunters."
The soldier raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "You're telling me you encountered extraterrestrial life?"
"Yes, sir," Lex answered, her voice tinged with disbelief as she absentmindedly touched the mark of the hunters on her forehead.
She paused, gathering her thoughts. "The serpents are like parasites here on Earth, but they're much more dangerous. They gestate inside a human host, then burst out through the chest. Within an hour, they mature into these... black creatures. The serpents are led by a queen, which lays eggs that create spider-like creatures that latch onto a host's face and implant the serpent embryo inside. A normal serpent is about the size of an average human, but the queen... she's three times that size and even stronger." Lex shivered, remembering the queen's terrifying form.
The soldier leaned forward. "How did you escape? What happened to your team and the creatures you mentioned?"
"The rest of my team... they were either killed by the serpents or the hunters. I only escaped because one of the hunters found me. He saved me. His name was Scar. He killed the queen serpent but died in the process."
"Is that the full story?" the soldier asked, his tone skeptical.
"Yes. That's everything I know about these creatures," Lex said, her voice unwavering, hoping they would believe her.
The soldier stood up, his expression hardening. "Mrs. Woods, you're free to go. But understand this: if you share this information with anyone else, there will be consequences."
Location: Bouvetøya Island, 2996 BC
The night sky over the vast plains of ancient Earth was clear, dotted with stars that seemed to shimmer just beyond reach. The air was still, filled only with the distant sounds of the wild—rustling leaves, the low calls of nocturnal creatures, and the crackling of a few scattered campfires. The Earth was raw, untamed, and unaware of the cosmic forces beginning to converge upon it.
Suddenly, the silence was broken by a low hum—a vibration in the air so subtle, it would have gone unnoticed by the primitive people below. But for those who were attuned to the subtle shift in the atmosphere, the disturbance was unmistakable.
Far above the planet, a massive shadow moved against the stars, descending at incredible speed. It was a ship—sleek, angular, and unlike anything humanity had ever dreamed. Its metallic surface gleamed under the moonlight, reflecting the stars in a cold, calculated shimmer. The ship was unlike anything that could possibly be made by human hands.
The ship cut through the atmosphere with surgical precision, trailing a fiery stream of ionized air behind it. The ground below trembled slightly as the craft neared, and the air grew heavy, charged with an unseen energy. The sky above began to warp and distort, as though the very fabric of reality was bending around the ship's descent.
It hovered silently just above the Earth's surface, a colossus in the night sky. The craft's engines thrummed, low and deep, causing the grasses beneath to sway violently, as though being swept by an invisible wind. It was a presence, a force beyond comprehension, casting an eerie, unnatural glow upon the earth.
From within the ship, there was a ripple of movement. A hatch opened along the side of the vessel with an audible hiss, revealing a darkened interior. Shadows moved, figures emerging from the ship—tall, imposing, their forms shrouded in armor that seemed to be one with their bodies. The Yautja.
Their eyes, gleaming with a predatory intelligence, scanned the primitive world below, taking in the vast, untouched landscape.
"These are the dominant life forms that inhabit this planet…they don't seem like much?" A yautja said as he surveyed the primitive humans as his fellow clan mates agreed with him.
"Al'kiek, they are a young and primitive species unlike ours who have had thousands of years to progress. Besides, we are here to establish their world as another reserve planet." A female Yautja named Ro'diat said as she reminded her fellow clan mate of their mission.
"Ro'diat, is right, Our mission is to claim This world as a reserve for our hunt on the serpents. We will teach them how to build and in return they will serve us." Kita'jal said to the other 14 members of his group.
Over time the yautja would help humanity build great civilizations and bring new technological advances to them. The humans, all but unaware of their true nature, would worship them as gods.
The yautja would use humanity to breed serpents for their rite of passage every hundred years. When the yautja won against the serpents they would return back to their home world to become high ranking members of their clan. When they lost they would destroy everything..entire civilizations wiped out within a span of a day just to stop the spread of the serpents.