Ratchet and Rivet stared at the victorious hunter.

The predator tossed the queen's head in front of the heroes before he slowly walked away from the decapitated body, but fell to his knees halfway to them. Breathing heavily and bleeding, Sting gasped to himself. This fight had taken all his strength, as a young blood he had never fought a full-grown queen before, but he also had a great amount of pride brewing within him. The lombaxes, leaving Clank down and Kit still at Rivet's back, walked up to the victorious yautja, who lay their weapons on the ground. "That...was badass," the rebel then admitted, taking a closer look at her comrade's wounds. Everything was quiet for a moment, only Sting's heavy breathing could be heard and no one made the first move to say anything.

Until a new figure emerged in front of them.

Startled, the lombaxes looked at the figure emerging from stealth mode. Another predator was standing in front of them, but this one looked older and stronger. He also had a red robe and gray dreadlocks on his spiky head. He carried a spear in one hand and a helmet that looked like a skull in the other.

He was not the only one. Now several of the hunters emerged from behind or on top of the trees, carrying a variety of helmets and weapons, plus a ship that showed itself. The eldest looked at his exhausted son before catching sight of the two hairy aliens. He immediately noticed that his boy had a new arm and was ready to make them pay, but then he recognized the mark on the female's iron shoulder. Sting himself stood up again and looked into the dark yellow eyes of his father, who didn't have his helmet with him. Even at that look, his son made it clear that the two of them had saved his life.

"Okay," puffed Ratchet annoyed and exhaused, before he raised the omniwrench, "Who's next?" The lombaxes briefly thought that Sting's kind would attack, but it didn't happen. The sign on his hand and Rivet's shoulder made it clear that they were not to be attacked. The elder ordered his son to his knees again, and he followed the order. Now his father placed the new helmet in his child's hands before drawing a dagger with his free hand. With quick strokes, he carved another symbol into his forehead, which was the highest honor. His son had slain a broodmother. With a final cut, he raised his fist high and roared up loudly, followed by his comrades.

Sting had now become a true hunter.

Understandably, he pulled on his new helmet and stood back on his feet. A last look with the lombaxes followed before he returned to the ship at his father's behest, but was briefly grabbed by the elder's iron shoulder. The elder's look showed pride, for his son had managed to pass the test and slay the great mother. With that, Sting said goodbye to Ratchet and Rivet, who were still standing in front of the predator king. He rummaged through the inside of his cape and pulled something out. It was a trophy that he always carried with him and now he would pass it on. He tossed it to the orange lombax, and his girlfriend immediately had her eye on it. A medieval sword with the year 1430 carved into it, which would now serve as a trophy for the two of them.

"Take...it...go!"

Said the elder gruffly, before returning to his ship. The engines were immediately restarted and the space hunters disappeared through the planet's atmosphere. Their hunt was over. The heroes were still speechless from the sword the eldest had given them. "Okay... we're now officially friends with them," before anyone could say anything else, another ship sounded. The hatch was open and a familiar voice called out to the lombaxes.

"RATCHET! YOU'RE FINE," Qwark stood there and already had Kenny, who was awake again, waving to his comrades. Ropes were dropped straight away, whereupon the heroes immediately climbed and were pulled in by the protection troops. "Kit needs repairs now, quick," came from Rivet, handing over her best friend. Without hesitation, the yellow robot girl was taken and the work began immediately. The lombaxes themselves took some nano-tech before being questioned by the green-clad superhero, "Have you...defeated them all?"

"None of those things are alive," Ratchet replied, stretching his arms, "We can go home."

Qwark nodded in agreement before noticing the sword, "What's that?"

The flight back took just as long as the journey there. The heroes had again exchanged words with Skidd and co. before joining Kenny in paying their last respects to his troop. Kit was also repaired and the little robot girl was feeling better again. Now the day of the landing on megalopolis had arrived. The civilians waited anxiously for the big ship to land and the soldiers to disembark victoriously. The hatch finally opened and only twelve of the original fifty fighters were left. The cameramen stared in shock at the small unit before they approached the heroes. Rescue workers also approached Brax, half of whose body was still sore from the acid, before the questions began.

"Is the threat defeated," a fongoid wanted to know, to which Ratchet made the answer short and sweet: "We won..."

That was enough for the townspeople to shout out in joy and celebrate. The lombaxes had to grin slightly in victory before Qwark took the word again, "And of course we won because of my leadersh..." Before he could praise himself again, he felt the hard blow of Rivet's iron fist and her dangerous gaze on the great hero. The captain swallowed briefly and corrected himself, "...Uh, I meant thanks to the efforts of our fluffy friends, and the mysterious aliens who helped us, but no comment on that." Then the unit slowly began to retreat back to their quarters, where the first few were already planning a big party. Kenny, however, declined, as did the four heroes, who walked outside with the birdman.

"What are you going to do now, Kenny," Ratchet asked the last member of the Special Force, who crossed his arms behind his head: "I'm retiring from the service, buying a house in the mountains or something. It's been an honor serving under you...both of you!" The birdman saluted the lombaxes one last time, who returned the gesture with a smile and let the soldier go. Now the four of them were alone again. "Let's go home," Ratchet gently took the hand of his love, who smiled and then moved closer to her partner. With that, the lombaxes walked back home to get on with their lives.

The aliens were defeated, the mission was over.

...two days later...

"Hm, I have to say that's really good, Clank!"

On a small table, in the middle of the living room, Clank and Kit sat opposite each other. A candlelight somewhat illuminated the room, where only small lights were turned on as the two spent an evening together. "I think so too. We'd have to give the chef credit for that," the silver bot admitted with a smile, wearing his suit and the yellow one a bow on her head again, "But Clank...I wouldn't mind another glass of the good oil, hihi."

"Just a moment, my dear," Clank raised a small bell, "Waiter!"

The waiter in question strode over, annoyed. Ratchet had kept his promise, even if the lombax regretted it in the end. He was dressed like Secret Agent Clank's chauffeur and had a tray in his hand, "What?"

"More of the good oil, my friend," both robots had to completely control themselves not to laugh out loud as the orange hero picked up the two glasses, "Coming right up..."

"But quickly," Kit added before raising the blue optics, "Oops, was that too much?"

"Don't worry, Ratchet doesn't take it as an insult," the lombax himself hadn't given the little one an annoyed look either, "It's okay, Kit. I know you were only joking." Smiling again, she looked after the lombax, who disappeared into the kitchen. Rivet was also standing there, also wearing a shirt and looking like a waitress. While the little bots continued to chat, the rebel had put on an annoyed face as she stared at her friend, "Why did I say I'd help you?"

"I promised them both," Ratchet laughed, and Rivet was also caught up in it. The rebel quickly poured new oil into the glasses before staring at the wall opposite.

Where the sword was hanging.

They had hung it there to remind themselves of it. It had also been a great trophy when the leader of these hunters presented it to them. "Ratchet," Rivet said as she caught sight of his hand. He had taken off his gloves, and the mark that Sting had carved was still visible, "Do you think we'll ever see Sting... or any of these predators again?" Ratchet also had to think, "I don't know, but I can tell you one thing." The rebel stared at him expectantly before he also saw the meal on her prosthesis, "We won't be their game when they see the mark. We've earned their respect, Rivet...but yes, I'll miss him somehow." The white Lombax lady raised her eyebrow questioningly before breathing a sigh of relief: "Yeah, me too...okay, but he was still an asshole." Both lombaxes laughed at this comment before the orange hero took his girlfriend closer, "I love you." Only when he said those three words, Rivet melted away and returned the hugging gesture, "I love you, Ratchet." And then they both leaned in to finish it off with a kiss...

"WAITER," Kit rang the bell this time, laughing wildly.

"But if you promise Bolts anything again, I'll smack you," the rebel joked, lightly punching Ratchet's shoulder. Both heroes approached the bots and spent the rest of the evening together, talking about the adventure and the ones to come. They wouldn't forget Sting either, and in the end they all walked out onto the balcony to look up at the stars. They knew the predator was out there somewhere, continuing on his way. The heroes were sure that the yautja would not forget his comrades from Megalopolis either.

In the end, the lombaxe and the predator won against the xenomorphs.

EPILOGUE

The planet where the battle took place still lingered alone through space. The galactic council decided to declare it uninhabitable and any attempt to fly there would be considered a criminal offense. The base there was still in ruins and no inhabitant of the galaxy dared to go there. The yautja themselves had not been seen here when the hunt ended. All that remained of them were the ruins and pyramids they had once built. And the two dead young hunters. The first fallen had already been turned to ash by Sting so that no one could replicate his technology, but the hunter's second comrade fell into a deep pit when he died. Androids had pierced him and on impact he died for good. The young hunter's body now lay there, alone and cold. Soon his body would become one with nature and his flesh would also decay, so that the only evidence of his existence was the skeleton he left behind.

However, the corpse of this Predator then began to twitch wildly. Something stirred in the lifeless body of the beast that made it seem as if its end had not come. The Yautja did not get up, however, but something pierced his chest and his green blood spread across the stony ground. Then, in the end, a hole was opened, revealing only more entrails and a new creature emerged from the corpse's body. The embryo of the facehugger had made it inside after all.

And now a newborn xenomorph-yautja hybrid infant hissed loudly up into the sky.

THE END