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This was inspired by a scenario suggested to me by 
Predaking54 , although with quite a few liberties taken. Honestly this thing expanded so much during writing it that I'm gonna have to split it off into multiple parts!
You win bonus points* for spotting all the Predator/AvP video game related easter eggs in this btw
It'd been a few days since the bombs stopped dropping. He'd spent all that time and more cowering in the closet of a top floor room of an apartment building, watching the sky flash and trembling as the structure violently shook from the far-reaching tremors of distant explosions. It had been scary to ride out the vibrations, but he didn't want to go back downstairs. He was as far up and away from the ground floor as he could get without running back out into the open city in search of a taller building. As far away from the things that crept through the ruined streets and the underground tunnels, hunting for victims.
But everyone else was gone, now. The formerly bustling world of LV-536 was dead. Some of it's populace had managed to escape to space in massive shuttles before the Company and the USCM imposed a planet-wide quarantine. The rest were all gone, gradually taken by the shiny, black monsters, or atomized in nuclear bombardment as the USCM rapidly lost control of the situation.
Jace wondered why they'd stopped. Maybe they ran out of bombs? Maybe they realized it was pointless? Maybe the things had somehow gotten up into the ship and killed everyone up there, too? It wouldn't surprise him. He knew they were smart. He'd seen them figure out things an animal couldn't. How smart, he didn't know. Smart enough to take over the planet. Smart enough to outsmart his parents and take them away from him.
Thinking of them again brought tears to his eyes that he desperately tried to quell. Despite his efforts, a strangled sob wrenched itself from his throat. The way it echoed off the closet walls sounded thunderous to him, and the surge of paranoia that followed gave him the fortitude to shut off the waterworks completely. He couldn't afford to cry anymore. He was fourteen, a big kid now.
Steeling himself, he hesitantly pushed the ajar closet door just a bit more open and peaked through. Orange, dying light filtered in through a broken window, illuminated the desolate apartment. It was a small living space; an entryway, a stretch of kitchen adjacent to a tiny family room, and a hallway that connected to a bedroom and bathroom. Even in this cramped apartment, though, he felt vulnerable going out into the open. The monsters could be anywhere. Watching, waiti-
A low hiss came from the window. Any glass fragments that remained in the ruined frame tinkled to the floor as a long, vulgar shape poked through. Slowly, the monster pulled itself into the room with the grace of a dancer. Hand shaking, Jace reached for the door handle and pulled it close with a volatile mix of panicked speed and slow caution. His efforts were rewarded with a shrill creak that sent shivers down his spine and brought a cold sweat to his forehead. Just as soon as pushed himself as far back into the closest as he could and scooped up the only weapon he'd been able to scavenge -a bent aluminum chair leg- the door opened.
He hadn't even heard the monster step toward the closet, but there it was; it's shiny, black carapace outlined by the fiery red of the sunset, it's long, smooth head tilted down towards him. Slowly, it's thin black lips peeled back, curtains of drool spilling out in heraldry of sharp, stark-white teeth.
Jace raised the chair leg and screamed. The Alien fell upon him, saliva making it's teeth shine like stars in the darkness that consumed him.
Far above the ravaged surface of LV-536, a new arrival flashed into existence, filling the void left behind when the Conestoga-class USCM starship that abandoned the planet to it's fate. This new vessel was easily several times the size of the human warship, and cast in a sharp, menacing shell that made it eerily insect-like. Ominously, the vessel descended to just above the planet's atmosphere, casting it's shadow across smoldering, twisted cityscapes below. A hatch on the ship's underside slid open, ejecting two massive metal caskets, each a hundred meters tall. After these two missiles, several dozen, significantly smaller, pods were deployed.
The two largest UFO's impacted not far from the outskirts of a city, wreaking devastation almost on par with the nuclear strikes that had already toppled several of it's neighbors. The terrain warped, buildings shook to pieces, and countless more were swallowed in the storm of dust and ash that was kicked up. As the cataclysm settled, two metal coffins were left standing over the devastated land in their lonesome. With hisses of steam that bore more resemblance to the roar of a great waterfall, the front of the caskets spilled forward, and two titans, one male and one female, took their first steps onto the surface of a former human colony.
The two three-hundred-and-twenty foot-tall forms towered over their surroundings. In addition to their incredible size, their physiques and armaments made them appear even larger and more imposing. Both were clad in starship hull-thick partial armor that covered their shoulders, lower legs, forearms, and waist. An additional plate covered the left half of their chests, and both wore unique, well-worn marked with several alien symbols and nicks. Their belts were loaded down with weapons and grim trophies. They only wore thick leather waistwraps (and for the female, a chest wrap) to preserve their dignity. The rest of their bodies, rippling with powerful musculature, was on display for all the world to see.
Mayalli took a deep breath through her bio-mask as her feet settled atop the loose soil and debris, causing her mandibles to curl in disgust. Even filtered by her mask, the Yautja warrior caught the stink of alien civilization, mingled with smoke and fire. Beside her, her mate T'okar turned his head upwards to watch the descent of the regular-sized Yautja drop pods that followed them down. Many touched down far off in the horizon, upon other city centers, but a few landed in the same sector as the two giants, on the other side of the ruined city.
Even with foreknowledge of this, T'okar still grunted in agitation. It had been far too long since the Council of Ancients had last requested warriors from the Earthshaker Clan to assist in matters important to the Yautja race. He and Mayalli were both eager to prove the worth of their tribe to the rest of the Yautja race, to help wipe away the long history of shame that weighed upon their Clan. It would be tedious to do so without worrying about the babysitters assigned to make sure he and his mate stayed in line.
A communications alert buzzed from his wrist gauntlet. T'okar begrudgingly flipped it open and accepted the transmission as Mayalli came to his side. The small hologram another Yautja male shimmered up from the device, devoid of any color save for the typical red favored by Yautja technology, and the bright yellow eye-lights of this warrior's bio-mask. A signature mark of the prestigious Dark Blade Clan. "Earthshakers, report." The figure said with firm authority.
"We have landed, Bhakan..." T'okar rumbled, and cast a glance towards Mayalli. She was tapping commands into her own wrist gauntlet, bringing the warship cannon-sized plasmacaster mounted on her shoulder to life. She tested the weapon's aiming with swift turns of her head, and the muzzle reliably followed the targeting laser attached to her bio-mask, sweeping across multiple city blocks. She looked up and gave him a nod. "...and we are ready to begin." T'okar finished, looking back down at the image of Bhakan. He couldn't help but find it a little humorous that even this small hologram, roughly the size of his fist, was still far larger than the actual Bhakan was.
"Good." The smaller Yautja said curtly, tapping at his own wrist device. His hologram was soon replaced a 3D map of the surrounding environment, with two routes plotted through the desolation of the human colony. Where they intersected was a mass of sickly green, connected to a pattern of lines snaking in every direction, hiding beneath the surface at the center of the city. A massive Serpent hive. So vast that the large central hive itself possessed multiple neighboring mini-hives.
"My group and I will begin moving towards the central hive, clearing any opposition that comes our way and setting charges on the smaller Serpent hot spots that we pass enroute. You two do the same from your side. I would also tell you to make some noise and draw the Serpent's attention from us, but..." Bhakan looked back up at T'okar and the Earthshaker swore he heard the other male's mandibles click in amusement. "...I don't think that would be very hard for you."
T'okar struggled to formulate a civil response. Thankfully he didn't need to. Mayalla, reading her beloved's body language, leaned forward to speak in his stead. "It will be done. Good hunting, Dark Blade."
"Good hunting, Earthshakers." Bhakan said, unfolding a long, telescoping spear rifle from it's compact carrying form. The feed cut, and Bhakan's form mercifully fizzled out. T'okar grumbled and cast his gaze out across the horizon. It annoyed him that Bhakan and his lackeys could probably still see him and Mayalla from such a vast, obfuscated distance, but not the other way around.
Mayalla took his hand in hers and gave it a powerful, affectionate squeeze. "Come, my mate," she said. "Let us go make the noise Bhakan is too afraid to." She said, pretending to be ignorant of how loud her voice was and how far it could carry. He smiled at her behind his mask, knowing she could somehow detect it, and returned the squeeze. After a moment they broke the touch to arm themselves. For T'okar, a telescoping double-headed spear that at full-length was taller than nearly all of the human skyscrapers left standing, and a wicked machete as long as his forearm. For Mayalla, a thick, studded war club in her right hand and the massive plasmacaster on her left shoulder, the only energy weapon provided to them on this mission. In addition, they both had wrist blade gauntlets on their right arms, and a small stock of short, disposable telescoping spears tipped with powerful explosives. These however, were vital to the mission and not to be used on the Serpents at random.
And of course their feet, adorned in sandals more than thick enough to withstand the acid bite of the Serpent's blood, were also effective weapons. Stomping and crushing was practically a trademark combat tactic of the Earthshaker Clan.
They moved together in perfect unity, a two-pronged weapon excellently honed by many, many hunts together. They moved more swiftly and elegantly than anything their size should be able to. Even among this Clan of giants the arts of stealth were taught.
They still weighed several thousand tons, however, and the city shook and trembled beneath them. Their feet kicked up dust clouds, plowed through walls, knocked over traffic lights, flattened cars. Decrepit buildings shook to pieces as they passed. Glass panes that somehow managed to have survived the previous calamities shattered at even the vibrations of distant foot steps.
Reaching one of the areas designated as a minor hive. T'okar and Mayalla both cycled their bio-masks' vision modes to the specially tuned EM field detector, designed for picking out the Serpents from the environment. Hundreds of tiny green shapes filled their vision. High up in the buildings, down in the rubble, under the ground; the Serpents lay in wait everywhere, twitching and whipping their long tails in fury. Mayalla's plasmacaster whined as it powered up, and T'okar raised a leg to kick over a proverbial anthill in the form of a building.
It was time to get to work.
The violent tremors lapped at the edge of Jace's consciousness. The shrill, startled scream of the inhuman monster holding his legs in one hand brought him back in full as effectively as being dunked into a cold pool. He couldn't stop himself from screaming too, not that the nightmare given form seemed to notice or care. The Alien, barely lit in the darkness of...wherever they were, paid him no mind. It's eyeless head was tilted up towards the roof, teeth bared in a wet hiss. Only when Jace tried to shake himself from it's vice-like grip did it seem to remember him, and resumed dragging him through the dark as if nothing had happened. The earth shook again, more softly this time; Jace even saw dust and small rocks fall and bounce off the monster's curved head, but it ignored it all.
Jace strained his eyes for focus in the dark. As they slowly adapted, his senses picked out details from the environment that filled him with dread. He felt the overwhelmingly hot, moist air on his skin; the pressure in his ears told him he was underground; and his nose picked up the sickly-sweet rot of dead bodies. His hands scrabbled for purchase and he felt the hard, bumpy, and wet texture of the foreign substance that coated the floor and walls. Strands of something thick and sticky like mucus clung to his body. "Oh god, oh god," he moaned.
He was in the monster's home, where they laid their eggs. As his vision slowly got better, he saw no eggs yet; but plenty of people silhouettes, frozen in eternal expressions of pain and torment as new monsters were born inside them. When the Company and the USCM were still trying to contain the outbreak, the Alien creature's nightmarish life cycle was made public knowledge to the remaining populace of LV-536, in hopes of raising awareness and preventing further surges in the creature's population. It didn't.
Jace pressed his hands against his chest and groped for any sign of something foreign growing inside him. When the Alien dragged him over a ridge that painfully smacked against his head, he realized that if he did have one inside him, he'd already be cocooned on the walls like all these other poor people. It must still be taking him to the eggs.
He kicked at the thing's wrist, eliciting an angry hiss as it whirled to face him, bladed tail whipping through the air in front of his face. It tightened it's grip, digging sharp nails through his jeans and into his legs. He gasped in pain and shrunk back from the thing. The alien reached towards him, perhaps to knock him back to unconsciousness.
Just then the world shook again, more violently then ever before, and the alien screamed again. Were the bombs dropping again? Jace idly wondered, then twisted and fumbled for anything he could use to get free from the monster's grip. He froze when his hands passed over something that felt hard and boxy. Twisting to look at the object, he barely caught a dim red light trying to shine through a layer of slimy stuff at the base of a cocooned body. Clawing it away, Jace saw that the lights were a two-digit number digital display... the ammo counter of an M14A Pulse Rifle. 07 the display read. Looking up at the cocoon, Jace could barely make out a helmeted head casting a shadow over a face frozen in a death snarl of rage and defiance. A soldier who fought to the very end.
Jace gulped, and cast an anxious glance back up at the Alien. It's neck violently swiveled in the direction of the tremors coming from overhead, as if it could see whatever was causing them. Rocks and chunks of hive gunk snapped free in the vibrations and bounced off it's torso. The claws of it's free hand flexed in agitation. It was really mad about whatever was happening upstairs.
Jace took his chance. Grunting in exertion, he pried the heavy gun free of the floor gunk and lifted it up, pointing it at the Alien. He had never fired a gun before, but figured at this range he couldn't miss.
The Pulse Rifle screamed as it's payload ripped through the Alien's clavicle. The Alien screamed as it's left arm flew free of it's body and sizzling ichor spewed forth from the limb. Jace screamed as the powerful weapon recoiled painfully into his shoulder and shook him to his core. He had no chance of controlling the fire of the Pulse Rifle and after more than a second of holding the trigger, it jumped from his hands. By some miracle, it blocked a flying crescent of the Alien's acidic blood and landed in a rapidly melting pile of metal and plastic.
The alien jumped backwards in shock, it's rage at the earthquakes now murderously focused upon Jace. The boy wasted no time, kicking the severed paw from his legs and bursting into a sprint in the opposite direction. Behind him, the alien roared. This time he definitely heard it's clawed feet pounding in pursuit of him. He ran for all he was worth, adrenaline heightening his speed and senses. He barely made out the ridges and grooves of the hive gunk covering everything, and several times he only just barely managed to jump over a growth that would've tripped him.
The caverns shook again, and Jace crashed against the wall of a three-way intersection. Looking between the three pathways, he lost what little sense of direction he had and forgot which one he had come in through. Probably the one that held the sounds of an angry, screeching alien. He dashed off in the opposite direction- then executed a perfect 180 degree turn when he heard the sounds of pissed off snarling coming from that direction too. Breathing heavily, he took the third path- and soon stopped dead in his tracks when he saw light reflecting off of several round, tan fleshy pods.
There were hundreds of eggs, accompanied by several Alien nannies who twisted their heads at his intrusion and hissed menacingly. But at the center of the large, open room was an even worse nightmare that chilled the blood in his veins. It stood twice as tall and broad as the other aliens, with a thicker, sharper carapace and a large, intricate crest adorning it's head. The other aliens dipped their smooth heads and drew back as the big one stomped towards him. Paralyzed with fear, knowing that certain death waited just behind as well as before him, Jace could only stumble backwards onto the floor as the newest nightmare loomed over him. This is it. he thought bitterly, and shut his eyes tight. Sorry Mom, sorry Dad.
Suddenly the cavern shook, again and again, with a force that was worse than the aftershocks of the nuclear bombs. All the aliens screamed and toppled over, even the big one who collapsed atop Jace. Shimmering jaws that could crush his head like a ripe fruit snapped open and shut right next to his face in panic. So Jace, of course, screamed too.
The pounding grew steadily faster and more forceful, like the frantic tempo of a song hitting it's climax. It didn't sound or feel like bombs anymore; it reminded Jace of his dad pounding away at a fence post with a hammer. But what could do something like that?
Soon he found out. A section of ceiling collapsed, crushing aliens, eggs, and cocoons indiscriminately. Blinding light flooded the chamber, illuminating the gargantuan metal rod that had pierced through the roof and embedded itself into the center of the room, obliterating even more eggs. The big alien mercifully lifted itself off of Jace and attacked the rod in a frenzy of claw swipes and tail strikes. In the madness, the aliens completely forgot Jace. Some joined the big one in it's assault, climbing up the shaft to attack different areas. Some clutched undamaged eggs to their chest and fled for exits.
Clutching his chest and taking labored breaths that painfully informed him something was broken, Jace dragged himself against a wall and stared at the rod in dumbstruck wonder. Whatever it was, it didn't look like something built on LV-536, or any human world for that matter. It was made from some kind of strange, reddish-orange metal, and segmented like the limbs of an insect. Higher up there was some kind of big, dark grey mechanism with flashing red symbols unlike any he'd ever seen before. Suddenly a massive claw-tipped finger appeared and brushed against them.
Jace blinked. Craning his head back to look further up, out of the hole, he saw the face of God looking down at him.
Mayalli froze, right in the middle of priming a Blast Spear to detonate, as her bio-mask picked up movement from something that wasn't a Serpent.That was curious, because all of the native inhabitants were supposed to be long dead, used as food and reproduction for the Serpents. Had one of Bhakan's warriors been captured and cocooned? That was unlikely; the Dark Blade's squad were elite Military-Caste Hydras and Blazers. While she and T'okar were dressed and armed in the typical hunting manner, they had little choice; the Council of Elders limited what technology the Earthshaker Clan had access to. But these warriors were armored head to toe in the most durable hardskins available to Yautja kind and equipped with weapons that could single-handedly defeat armies of humans or Serpents. They were outfitted for war and would not be so easily captured.
She took her hands off the Blast Spear's detonator and cycled through her vision modes, trying to find one that could identify that small, blurry splotch hiding against a wall at the bottom of the hole she just made. Some Serpents chased after her hand, racing up the shaft of the spear. Nonchalantly she wrung her hand and slapped them back into the hole.
Ahh! There. Thermal Vision picked up out the shape just nicely, illuminating it in vibrant blues, greens, and reds. No, it was much too small to be a regular Yautja. It must be a Human! She had never seen one before - not in person, anyway. Humans had long been one of Yautja kind's favored prey. Even if the Earthshaker Clan had never been permitted hunting rights in Human territory by the Council, they still knew well of the clever, intuitive race. Though physically much weaker and less hardy than the average Yautja, Human still sometimes managed to claim victory against experienced Hunters.
She felt a pang pity for the small thing, and disappointment for herself. It must already be well on it's way to a violent death at the hands of the Serpent's life cycle. Such was often the way of Human worlds; many times they tried to master the Serpents, and every time it destroyed them. She wondered if she would ever get the chance to hunt a Human properly? At least she could share her mate. "T'okar, come! I have found something interesting." she called over her shoulder, and reached down into the hole, eliciting a symphony of snarls and hisses from the Serpents who shrank away from her hand.
Grabbing it was easy; paralyzed with fear at the sight of her as most small things were, it didn't even try to escape her as she pinched it between two fingers. She pulled it up and away from the hole, and deposited it into an open palm. As she poked and prodded it, getting a feel for it's dimensions, it struggled and mewled in the most adorable manner. By her Ancestors, it was so small! She'd held regular sized Yautja in her hand before, and in comparison, she couldn't imagine how such a tiny thing could ever win so much respect from the other clans. Why, next to regular Yautja, it would probably seem like a chil-
The thought froze Mayalli on the spot. She pulled her probing fingers away from the Human and gently lifted the upright palm to her face. She quickly cycled back to the default vision-mode of her bio-mask for more clarity. In her hand, the Human shrank back against the cage of her fingers, trying to get as far away from her looming mask as possible. Zooming her view in she studied it more closely; saw the dirt, hive excretions, and blood coating it's little limbs and ragged clothes. Saw tears dig furrows down the grime on it's face as they flowed freely.
Suddenly the Human clapped it's hands against it's head and collapsed into a pile on her hand, screwing it's eyes shut. Dimly, she registered the sound of an explosion followed by T'okar's heavy footsteps. He crouched beside her and set a hand on her shoulder. "What have you found?" He asked, angling for a better look at the thing in her hand. "It's a child." she breathed, when she found her voice again.
T'okar turned to stare at her. Even behind the mask, he could see the gears turning in her head. "Did the Serpents-?" he began, and her shoulder shook violently underneath his hand as that possibility reared it's ugly head. Her free hand flew to her wrist gauntlet as she cycled back to to the EM field detector vision mode. T'okar, and surely the human, heard the whirring of her mask's optics as they enhanced to maximum zoom. This apparently was enough for Mayalli's inspection, and she cupped the human's body against the eye socket of her mask. Finally she lowered the creature and shuddered with something that could've been both relief and excitement. "No!" she exclaimed. "It doesn't host a Serpent! It will live, T'okar!"
"Live, until the Serpents catch it again."
"T'okar!" she exclaimed incredulously. "We can't just leave leave it here!"
"And we can't take it with us!" he shot back, rising back to full height. "The Council of Ancients has forbidden our clan from interacting with these creatures, Mayalli. We wouldn't even be here if they didn't think all the Humans of this planet were already dead." He spread his arms to indicate the desolate, miniature world that surrounded them. "Either you shame our clan by defying the Ancients, or you let this creature have it's honorable death against the Serpents."
Mayalli recoiled as if he had struck her. She wrapped the human in a tight fist which she protectively held against her chest. In uncharacteristic silence, and with her body bristling with anger, she tilted her face towards him in a way that easily conveyed the furious glare he simply knew she was giving him.
With quick, purposeful movements she returned her attention to the Blast Spear impaled into the egg chamber she had uncovered. In quiet rage she swatted away the Serpents that had crawled up to it's control mechanism and quickly keyed it for timed detonation. Before she could pull her hand away, a Praetorian leapt from the mass of lesser Serpents and lunged for one of her fingers. Mayalli simply flicked it with enough force that it's body disintegrated into a mist of sizzling fog. Her work finished, she pushed herself up to her feet and stormed off past T'okar so fast that she was already gone before the first countdown beep chimed.
T'okar groaned and dragged a palm across his bio-mask. After ensuring the Blast Spear detonated and utterly destroyed the mini egg chamber, he followed the path of destruction Mayalli left in her haste.
Predaking54 , although with quite a few liberties taken. Honestly this thing expanded so much during writing it that I'm gonna have to split it off into multiple parts!You win bonus points* for spotting all the Predator/AvP video game related easter eggs in this btw
It'd been a few days since the bombs stopped dropping. He'd spent all that time and more cowering in the closet of a top floor room of an apartment building, watching the sky flash and trembling as the structure violently shook from the far-reaching tremors of distant explosions. It had been scary to ride out the vibrations, but he didn't want to go back downstairs. He was as far up and away from the ground floor as he could get without running back out into the open city in search of a taller building. As far away from the things that crept through the ruined streets and the underground tunnels, hunting for victims.
But everyone else was gone, now. The formerly bustling world of LV-536 was dead. Some of it's populace had managed to escape to space in massive shuttles before the Company and the USCM imposed a planet-wide quarantine. The rest were all gone, gradually taken by the shiny, black monsters, or atomized in nuclear bombardment as the USCM rapidly lost control of the situation.
Jace wondered why they'd stopped. Maybe they ran out of bombs? Maybe they realized it was pointless? Maybe the things had somehow gotten up into the ship and killed everyone up there, too? It wouldn't surprise him. He knew they were smart. He'd seen them figure out things an animal couldn't. How smart, he didn't know. Smart enough to take over the planet. Smart enough to outsmart his parents and take them away from him.
Thinking of them again brought tears to his eyes that he desperately tried to quell. Despite his efforts, a strangled sob wrenched itself from his throat. The way it echoed off the closet walls sounded thunderous to him, and the surge of paranoia that followed gave him the fortitude to shut off the waterworks completely. He couldn't afford to cry anymore. He was fourteen, a big kid now.
Steeling himself, he hesitantly pushed the ajar closet door just a bit more open and peaked through. Orange, dying light filtered in through a broken window, illuminated the desolate apartment. It was a small living space; an entryway, a stretch of kitchen adjacent to a tiny family room, and a hallway that connected to a bedroom and bathroom. Even in this cramped apartment, though, he felt vulnerable going out into the open. The monsters could be anywhere. Watching, waiti-
A low hiss came from the window. Any glass fragments that remained in the ruined frame tinkled to the floor as a long, vulgar shape poked through. Slowly, the monster pulled itself into the room with the grace of a dancer. Hand shaking, Jace reached for the door handle and pulled it close with a volatile mix of panicked speed and slow caution. His efforts were rewarded with a shrill creak that sent shivers down his spine and brought a cold sweat to his forehead. Just as soon as pushed himself as far back into the closest as he could and scooped up the only weapon he'd been able to scavenge -a bent aluminum chair leg- the door opened.
He hadn't even heard the monster step toward the closet, but there it was; it's shiny, black carapace outlined by the fiery red of the sunset, it's long, smooth head tilted down towards him. Slowly, it's thin black lips peeled back, curtains of drool spilling out in heraldry of sharp, stark-white teeth.
Jace raised the chair leg and screamed. The Alien fell upon him, saliva making it's teeth shine like stars in the darkness that consumed him.
Far above the ravaged surface of LV-536, a new arrival flashed into existence, filling the void left behind when the Conestoga-class USCM starship that abandoned the planet to it's fate. This new vessel was easily several times the size of the human warship, and cast in a sharp, menacing shell that made it eerily insect-like. Ominously, the vessel descended to just above the planet's atmosphere, casting it's shadow across smoldering, twisted cityscapes below. A hatch on the ship's underside slid open, ejecting two massive metal caskets, each a hundred meters tall. After these two missiles, several dozen, significantly smaller, pods were deployed.
The two largest UFO's impacted not far from the outskirts of a city, wreaking devastation almost on par with the nuclear strikes that had already toppled several of it's neighbors. The terrain warped, buildings shook to pieces, and countless more were swallowed in the storm of dust and ash that was kicked up. As the cataclysm settled, two metal coffins were left standing over the devastated land in their lonesome. With hisses of steam that bore more resemblance to the roar of a great waterfall, the front of the caskets spilled forward, and two titans, one male and one female, took their first steps onto the surface of a former human colony.
The two three-hundred-and-twenty foot-tall forms towered over their surroundings. In addition to their incredible size, their physiques and armaments made them appear even larger and more imposing. Both were clad in starship hull-thick partial armor that covered their shoulders, lower legs, forearms, and waist. An additional plate covered the left half of their chests, and both wore unique, well-worn marked with several alien symbols and nicks. Their belts were loaded down with weapons and grim trophies. They only wore thick leather waistwraps (and for the female, a chest wrap) to preserve their dignity. The rest of their bodies, rippling with powerful musculature, was on display for all the world to see.
Mayalli took a deep breath through her bio-mask as her feet settled atop the loose soil and debris, causing her mandibles to curl in disgust. Even filtered by her mask, the Yautja warrior caught the stink of alien civilization, mingled with smoke and fire. Beside her, her mate T'okar turned his head upwards to watch the descent of the regular-sized Yautja drop pods that followed them down. Many touched down far off in the horizon, upon other city centers, but a few landed in the same sector as the two giants, on the other side of the ruined city.
Even with foreknowledge of this, T'okar still grunted in agitation. It had been far too long since the Council of Ancients had last requested warriors from the Earthshaker Clan to assist in matters important to the Yautja race. He and Mayalli were both eager to prove the worth of their tribe to the rest of the Yautja race, to help wipe away the long history of shame that weighed upon their Clan. It would be tedious to do so without worrying about the babysitters assigned to make sure he and his mate stayed in line.
A communications alert buzzed from his wrist gauntlet. T'okar begrudgingly flipped it open and accepted the transmission as Mayalli came to his side. The small hologram another Yautja male shimmered up from the device, devoid of any color save for the typical red favored by Yautja technology, and the bright yellow eye-lights of this warrior's bio-mask. A signature mark of the prestigious Dark Blade Clan. "Earthshakers, report." The figure said with firm authority.
"We have landed, Bhakan..." T'okar rumbled, and cast a glance towards Mayalli. She was tapping commands into her own wrist gauntlet, bringing the warship cannon-sized plasmacaster mounted on her shoulder to life. She tested the weapon's aiming with swift turns of her head, and the muzzle reliably followed the targeting laser attached to her bio-mask, sweeping across multiple city blocks. She looked up and gave him a nod. "...and we are ready to begin." T'okar finished, looking back down at the image of Bhakan. He couldn't help but find it a little humorous that even this small hologram, roughly the size of his fist, was still far larger than the actual Bhakan was.
"Good." The smaller Yautja said curtly, tapping at his own wrist device. His hologram was soon replaced a 3D map of the surrounding environment, with two routes plotted through the desolation of the human colony. Where they intersected was a mass of sickly green, connected to a pattern of lines snaking in every direction, hiding beneath the surface at the center of the city. A massive Serpent hive. So vast that the large central hive itself possessed multiple neighboring mini-hives.
"My group and I will begin moving towards the central hive, clearing any opposition that comes our way and setting charges on the smaller Serpent hot spots that we pass enroute. You two do the same from your side. I would also tell you to make some noise and draw the Serpent's attention from us, but..." Bhakan looked back up at T'okar and the Earthshaker swore he heard the other male's mandibles click in amusement. "...I don't think that would be very hard for you."
T'okar struggled to formulate a civil response. Thankfully he didn't need to. Mayalla, reading her beloved's body language, leaned forward to speak in his stead. "It will be done. Good hunting, Dark Blade."
"Good hunting, Earthshakers." Bhakan said, unfolding a long, telescoping spear rifle from it's compact carrying form. The feed cut, and Bhakan's form mercifully fizzled out. T'okar grumbled and cast his gaze out across the horizon. It annoyed him that Bhakan and his lackeys could probably still see him and Mayalla from such a vast, obfuscated distance, but not the other way around.
Mayalla took his hand in hers and gave it a powerful, affectionate squeeze. "Come, my mate," she said. "Let us go make the noise Bhakan is too afraid to." She said, pretending to be ignorant of how loud her voice was and how far it could carry. He smiled at her behind his mask, knowing she could somehow detect it, and returned the squeeze. After a moment they broke the touch to arm themselves. For T'okar, a telescoping double-headed spear that at full-length was taller than nearly all of the human skyscrapers left standing, and a wicked machete as long as his forearm. For Mayalla, a thick, studded war club in her right hand and the massive plasmacaster on her left shoulder, the only energy weapon provided to them on this mission. In addition, they both had wrist blade gauntlets on their right arms, and a small stock of short, disposable telescoping spears tipped with powerful explosives. These however, were vital to the mission and not to be used on the Serpents at random.
And of course their feet, adorned in sandals more than thick enough to withstand the acid bite of the Serpent's blood, were also effective weapons. Stomping and crushing was practically a trademark combat tactic of the Earthshaker Clan.
They moved together in perfect unity, a two-pronged weapon excellently honed by many, many hunts together. They moved more swiftly and elegantly than anything their size should be able to. Even among this Clan of giants the arts of stealth were taught.
They still weighed several thousand tons, however, and the city shook and trembled beneath them. Their feet kicked up dust clouds, plowed through walls, knocked over traffic lights, flattened cars. Decrepit buildings shook to pieces as they passed. Glass panes that somehow managed to have survived the previous calamities shattered at even the vibrations of distant foot steps.
Reaching one of the areas designated as a minor hive. T'okar and Mayalla both cycled their bio-masks' vision modes to the specially tuned EM field detector, designed for picking out the Serpents from the environment. Hundreds of tiny green shapes filled their vision. High up in the buildings, down in the rubble, under the ground; the Serpents lay in wait everywhere, twitching and whipping their long tails in fury. Mayalla's plasmacaster whined as it powered up, and T'okar raised a leg to kick over a proverbial anthill in the form of a building.
It was time to get to work.
The violent tremors lapped at the edge of Jace's consciousness. The shrill, startled scream of the inhuman monster holding his legs in one hand brought him back in full as effectively as being dunked into a cold pool. He couldn't stop himself from screaming too, not that the nightmare given form seemed to notice or care. The Alien, barely lit in the darkness of...wherever they were, paid him no mind. It's eyeless head was tilted up towards the roof, teeth bared in a wet hiss. Only when Jace tried to shake himself from it's vice-like grip did it seem to remember him, and resumed dragging him through the dark as if nothing had happened. The earth shook again, more softly this time; Jace even saw dust and small rocks fall and bounce off the monster's curved head, but it ignored it all.
Jace strained his eyes for focus in the dark. As they slowly adapted, his senses picked out details from the environment that filled him with dread. He felt the overwhelmingly hot, moist air on his skin; the pressure in his ears told him he was underground; and his nose picked up the sickly-sweet rot of dead bodies. His hands scrabbled for purchase and he felt the hard, bumpy, and wet texture of the foreign substance that coated the floor and walls. Strands of something thick and sticky like mucus clung to his body. "Oh god, oh god," he moaned.
He was in the monster's home, where they laid their eggs. As his vision slowly got better, he saw no eggs yet; but plenty of people silhouettes, frozen in eternal expressions of pain and torment as new monsters were born inside them. When the Company and the USCM were still trying to contain the outbreak, the Alien creature's nightmarish life cycle was made public knowledge to the remaining populace of LV-536, in hopes of raising awareness and preventing further surges in the creature's population. It didn't.
Jace pressed his hands against his chest and groped for any sign of something foreign growing inside him. When the Alien dragged him over a ridge that painfully smacked against his head, he realized that if he did have one inside him, he'd already be cocooned on the walls like all these other poor people. It must still be taking him to the eggs.
He kicked at the thing's wrist, eliciting an angry hiss as it whirled to face him, bladed tail whipping through the air in front of his face. It tightened it's grip, digging sharp nails through his jeans and into his legs. He gasped in pain and shrunk back from the thing. The alien reached towards him, perhaps to knock him back to unconsciousness.
Just then the world shook again, more violently then ever before, and the alien screamed again. Were the bombs dropping again? Jace idly wondered, then twisted and fumbled for anything he could use to get free from the monster's grip. He froze when his hands passed over something that felt hard and boxy. Twisting to look at the object, he barely caught a dim red light trying to shine through a layer of slimy stuff at the base of a cocooned body. Clawing it away, Jace saw that the lights were a two-digit number digital display... the ammo counter of an M14A Pulse Rifle. 07 the display read. Looking up at the cocoon, Jace could barely make out a helmeted head casting a shadow over a face frozen in a death snarl of rage and defiance. A soldier who fought to the very end.
Jace gulped, and cast an anxious glance back up at the Alien. It's neck violently swiveled in the direction of the tremors coming from overhead, as if it could see whatever was causing them. Rocks and chunks of hive gunk snapped free in the vibrations and bounced off it's torso. The claws of it's free hand flexed in agitation. It was really mad about whatever was happening upstairs.
Jace took his chance. Grunting in exertion, he pried the heavy gun free of the floor gunk and lifted it up, pointing it at the Alien. He had never fired a gun before, but figured at this range he couldn't miss.
The Pulse Rifle screamed as it's payload ripped through the Alien's clavicle. The Alien screamed as it's left arm flew free of it's body and sizzling ichor spewed forth from the limb. Jace screamed as the powerful weapon recoiled painfully into his shoulder and shook him to his core. He had no chance of controlling the fire of the Pulse Rifle and after more than a second of holding the trigger, it jumped from his hands. By some miracle, it blocked a flying crescent of the Alien's acidic blood and landed in a rapidly melting pile of metal and plastic.
The alien jumped backwards in shock, it's rage at the earthquakes now murderously focused upon Jace. The boy wasted no time, kicking the severed paw from his legs and bursting into a sprint in the opposite direction. Behind him, the alien roared. This time he definitely heard it's clawed feet pounding in pursuit of him. He ran for all he was worth, adrenaline heightening his speed and senses. He barely made out the ridges and grooves of the hive gunk covering everything, and several times he only just barely managed to jump over a growth that would've tripped him.
The caverns shook again, and Jace crashed against the wall of a three-way intersection. Looking between the three pathways, he lost what little sense of direction he had and forgot which one he had come in through. Probably the one that held the sounds of an angry, screeching alien. He dashed off in the opposite direction- then executed a perfect 180 degree turn when he heard the sounds of pissed off snarling coming from that direction too. Breathing heavily, he took the third path- and soon stopped dead in his tracks when he saw light reflecting off of several round, tan fleshy pods.
There were hundreds of eggs, accompanied by several Alien nannies who twisted their heads at his intrusion and hissed menacingly. But at the center of the large, open room was an even worse nightmare that chilled the blood in his veins. It stood twice as tall and broad as the other aliens, with a thicker, sharper carapace and a large, intricate crest adorning it's head. The other aliens dipped their smooth heads and drew back as the big one stomped towards him. Paralyzed with fear, knowing that certain death waited just behind as well as before him, Jace could only stumble backwards onto the floor as the newest nightmare loomed over him. This is it. he thought bitterly, and shut his eyes tight. Sorry Mom, sorry Dad.
Suddenly the cavern shook, again and again, with a force that was worse than the aftershocks of the nuclear bombs. All the aliens screamed and toppled over, even the big one who collapsed atop Jace. Shimmering jaws that could crush his head like a ripe fruit snapped open and shut right next to his face in panic. So Jace, of course, screamed too.
The pounding grew steadily faster and more forceful, like the frantic tempo of a song hitting it's climax. It didn't sound or feel like bombs anymore; it reminded Jace of his dad pounding away at a fence post with a hammer. But what could do something like that?
Soon he found out. A section of ceiling collapsed, crushing aliens, eggs, and cocoons indiscriminately. Blinding light flooded the chamber, illuminating the gargantuan metal rod that had pierced through the roof and embedded itself into the center of the room, obliterating even more eggs. The big alien mercifully lifted itself off of Jace and attacked the rod in a frenzy of claw swipes and tail strikes. In the madness, the aliens completely forgot Jace. Some joined the big one in it's assault, climbing up the shaft to attack different areas. Some clutched undamaged eggs to their chest and fled for exits.
Clutching his chest and taking labored breaths that painfully informed him something was broken, Jace dragged himself against a wall and stared at the rod in dumbstruck wonder. Whatever it was, it didn't look like something built on LV-536, or any human world for that matter. It was made from some kind of strange, reddish-orange metal, and segmented like the limbs of an insect. Higher up there was some kind of big, dark grey mechanism with flashing red symbols unlike any he'd ever seen before. Suddenly a massive claw-tipped finger appeared and brushed against them.
Jace blinked. Craning his head back to look further up, out of the hole, he saw the face of God looking down at him.
Mayalli froze, right in the middle of priming a Blast Spear to detonate, as her bio-mask picked up movement from something that wasn't a Serpent.That was curious, because all of the native inhabitants were supposed to be long dead, used as food and reproduction for the Serpents. Had one of Bhakan's warriors been captured and cocooned? That was unlikely; the Dark Blade's squad were elite Military-Caste Hydras and Blazers. While she and T'okar were dressed and armed in the typical hunting manner, they had little choice; the Council of Elders limited what technology the Earthshaker Clan had access to. But these warriors were armored head to toe in the most durable hardskins available to Yautja kind and equipped with weapons that could single-handedly defeat armies of humans or Serpents. They were outfitted for war and would not be so easily captured.
She took her hands off the Blast Spear's detonator and cycled through her vision modes, trying to find one that could identify that small, blurry splotch hiding against a wall at the bottom of the hole she just made. Some Serpents chased after her hand, racing up the shaft of the spear. Nonchalantly she wrung her hand and slapped them back into the hole.
Ahh! There. Thermal Vision picked up out the shape just nicely, illuminating it in vibrant blues, greens, and reds. No, it was much too small to be a regular Yautja. It must be a Human! She had never seen one before - not in person, anyway. Humans had long been one of Yautja kind's favored prey. Even if the Earthshaker Clan had never been permitted hunting rights in Human territory by the Council, they still knew well of the clever, intuitive race. Though physically much weaker and less hardy than the average Yautja, Human still sometimes managed to claim victory against experienced Hunters.
She felt a pang pity for the small thing, and disappointment for herself. It must already be well on it's way to a violent death at the hands of the Serpent's life cycle. Such was often the way of Human worlds; many times they tried to master the Serpents, and every time it destroyed them. She wondered if she would ever get the chance to hunt a Human properly? At least she could share her mate. "T'okar, come! I have found something interesting." she called over her shoulder, and reached down into the hole, eliciting a symphony of snarls and hisses from the Serpents who shrank away from her hand.
Grabbing it was easy; paralyzed with fear at the sight of her as most small things were, it didn't even try to escape her as she pinched it between two fingers. She pulled it up and away from the hole, and deposited it into an open palm. As she poked and prodded it, getting a feel for it's dimensions, it struggled and mewled in the most adorable manner. By her Ancestors, it was so small! She'd held regular sized Yautja in her hand before, and in comparison, she couldn't imagine how such a tiny thing could ever win so much respect from the other clans. Why, next to regular Yautja, it would probably seem like a chil-
The thought froze Mayalli on the spot. She pulled her probing fingers away from the Human and gently lifted the upright palm to her face. She quickly cycled back to the default vision-mode of her bio-mask for more clarity. In her hand, the Human shrank back against the cage of her fingers, trying to get as far away from her looming mask as possible. Zooming her view in she studied it more closely; saw the dirt, hive excretions, and blood coating it's little limbs and ragged clothes. Saw tears dig furrows down the grime on it's face as they flowed freely.
Suddenly the Human clapped it's hands against it's head and collapsed into a pile on her hand, screwing it's eyes shut. Dimly, she registered the sound of an explosion followed by T'okar's heavy footsteps. He crouched beside her and set a hand on her shoulder. "What have you found?" He asked, angling for a better look at the thing in her hand. "It's a child." she breathed, when she found her voice again.
T'okar turned to stare at her. Even behind the mask, he could see the gears turning in her head. "Did the Serpents-?" he began, and her shoulder shook violently underneath his hand as that possibility reared it's ugly head. Her free hand flew to her wrist gauntlet as she cycled back to to the EM field detector vision mode. T'okar, and surely the human, heard the whirring of her mask's optics as they enhanced to maximum zoom. This apparently was enough for Mayalli's inspection, and she cupped the human's body against the eye socket of her mask. Finally she lowered the creature and shuddered with something that could've been both relief and excitement. "No!" she exclaimed. "It doesn't host a Serpent! It will live, T'okar!"
"Live, until the Serpents catch it again."
"T'okar!" she exclaimed incredulously. "We can't just leave leave it here!"
"And we can't take it with us!" he shot back, rising back to full height. "The Council of Ancients has forbidden our clan from interacting with these creatures, Mayalli. We wouldn't even be here if they didn't think all the Humans of this planet were already dead." He spread his arms to indicate the desolate, miniature world that surrounded them. "Either you shame our clan by defying the Ancients, or you let this creature have it's honorable death against the Serpents."
Mayalli recoiled as if he had struck her. She wrapped the human in a tight fist which she protectively held against her chest. In uncharacteristic silence, and with her body bristling with anger, she tilted her face towards him in a way that easily conveyed the furious glare he simply knew she was giving him.
With quick, purposeful movements she returned her attention to the Blast Spear impaled into the egg chamber she had uncovered. In quiet rage she swatted away the Serpents that had crawled up to it's control mechanism and quickly keyed it for timed detonation. Before she could pull her hand away, a Praetorian leapt from the mass of lesser Serpents and lunged for one of her fingers. Mayalli simply flicked it with enough force that it's body disintegrated into a mist of sizzling fog. Her work finished, she pushed herself up to her feet and stormed off past T'okar so fast that she was already gone before the first countdown beep chimed.
T'okar groaned and dragged a palm across his bio-mask. After ensuring the Blast Spear detonated and utterly destroyed the mini egg chamber, he followed the path of destruction Mayalli left in her haste.
Category Artwork (Digital) / Macro / Micro
Species Alien (Other)
Size 1280 x 720px
File Size 1.07 MB
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