Arg, she sighed as the words of everyone around her flicked and twisted making her wonder who was doing waht. It seemed like a clusterfuck, to much going on at once, yet nothing at all. She sighed and shrugged, turning her attention back to the screen of the thick laptop, moving the screen back and forth, watching the small looking human, as the predator armor hugged her body finding the weak points of the armor and her weapons that hung on the females body. She tapped one slender finger against her plush lips. Then that call of "round up" she moved closed the lid and stored it in to one of the seats waiting for the drop and exit.

Just before she gotten in the ship, a pair of hands crossed and covered her eyes. A smile on her lips, "Ed" She said with a whisper and a breath in. His calogn told him apart from the others.

Malus, telling her to watch out for the Shadowatching, hmmmm" She thought as her eyes watched him helping ship the ship down to where, it needs to be. "If she is dangerous" She paused as her eyes moved in front of her, across from where she sat Kidd sat down. "Then why didn't you kill her?" Nikkie asked, so blunt and so straight to the point. SHe watched the men and a single woman around her enjoying the different ways, she saw them all relax. her head tilted as she closed her eyes wondering why they are so tense, yet so loose. "Kidd, Do you know this Shadowatching?" She asked, knowing from the base that Kidd is a respected person among them, even if he wasn't Alpha any more. The fingers rested on her lap, so gentle and so calm crossed her face. If she can break out of jail so many times, this would be a piece of cake right? Thats what she is hoping.

Once on the ground, she exited the ship, not without hearing one person cursing. She smiled and turned around and instead of, helping her with the clasp. She took out her K-bar and cut the straps. "Guess, they didn't oil it" Nikkie spoke with a light whisper, before she went in to action, bustling about the small area, her eyes roamed around, the head tilting as she shivered. " I do not like this one bit" Nikkie shivered once as the weapons strapped back on her body.

She grabbed a few items and set to work

As Waralien dashed down a corridor, he heard claw on metal sounds echoing behind him. He turned his head just enough to see Firehunter in all his might. The growth served him well.

Being as Firehunter was larger than he was now, FH had no trouble catching up to Waralien. As they ran side by side, War caught the smell from the ships environmental systems. Artifical plant life and atmostphere brought a dank smell throughout the corridors. Before the intial attack, the doors sealing the environment were closed shut in the event that an alien was still roaming the underbrush. Unfortunatly the hunters never suspected one to open up the facilities.

War and Firehunter ran past one of the doors that led out to the entire ship. It was prided loose. Apparently one of the creatures that the hunters used for sport was still roaming through the ship. Not for long War thought as the smell of the creature was picked up by Firehunter who picked up his pace even quicker.

FireHunter Charged towards the scent at a frightening pace and waralien struggled to catch up to him, FireHunter wasn't hindered by a dilapidated metal wall that stood between him and his new prey, the wall exploded outwards as FireHunter hit it. The beast was there, it had long, curved teeth that caused it's mouth to be constantly open, the inside of it's jaws shielded by the huge teeth that dripped with green blood, it's claws were a meter long each, and it's right hand held an impaled but barely alive predator, which was coughing up blood. The green scales of this creature covered it's entire body, but as it's small yellow eyes fell upon FireHunter, the scales around it's lips pulled back, revealing slimy purple flesh beneath, it had hooves supporting legs bulging with muscle, and a long, whip like tail lashed from side to side on it's rear end. It growled and opened it's mouth, it's lower jaw connecting to it's chest as it unleashed a scream that rang throughout the ship.
There was almost a connection between the beast and FireHunter, which was the cause of it only warning him, and not killing him outright, or hurting FireHunter.
FireHunter decided, not out of cowardice, but intelligence, that this creature would not be the best prey for him, so he warned waralien, though he probably didn't need to, and walked down the hall on all fours, like a gorilla.
The creature, however also decided that the strange beast it had just seen, was not an enemy, and was a friend instead of a threat, and followed out of sight, ready to help FireHunter and the hive at any cost.

Xeuss heard an explosion. He couldn't tell where it was coming from, as the silent halls, empty of Yautja walking, running and talking in different directions, were the perfect place to have a chat with your own echo. Different screeches and roars culd be heard at times, and every piece of equipment falling to the ground could be heard disturbingly loud. The explosion was not coming from the docking bay he had just left behind, but from somewhere further. He had been on one of these ships before, on a strange occasion, almost got himself killed because of his link with the queen, but in the end he proved to be honorable enaugh by killing her and was left to go in peace. This one was very simmilar to the one he had been on, so he figured the way to the queen was also probably the same. But why the explosion?

He had been watching the ship for a long without detecting any kind of explosion, it wasn't like the aliens would just start playing around with wires to accidentally blow the whole ship up. "Maybe the marines?" he thought. If it was them, then he had to hurry and take what he had come for. He needed the ship's power source, well not the whole reactor, just the small mechanism that made fuel unnecessary. The Melanie didn't have one of those and they couldn't get the materials to make one themselves, so the ship was in very bad shape. Recharging took a very long time and there were certain leaks of power which made repairs impossible. This thing would solve all those problems. That is, if his ship were still intact. But he din't want to think about that.

He rushed down lifeless hallways, trying to make his way to the center of the hive, from where he could get more easily to the control room. To get that device he first needed to shut it down. If anything, he hoped to meet with the aliens before the marines. As he turned to another corridor, trying to avoid one that was completely depressurized due to acid holes, he noticed the ceiling turning black. They were covered with that slimy substance that he knew very well. The hive was close.

Noticing that Peterson had not really done anything since the ship had landed, and that it seemed all of first squad except for Nikkie wasn't really doing anything, Sam decided to do the best he could with second squad. Delta had done an admirable job in setting up defenses. A smile came to the Australian's face when Delta then ordered his squad to weld up all air vents, the next order Sam had prepared.

Damn good work soldier, you're shaping up to the job nicely. Sam thought as he watched them get to work. Meanwhile, he was doing jobs of his own. After getting the tent for the Aid Station set up, he got to work on the Waffle itself, making sure the Minigun was aimed at the main door leading out of this hangar, and that the miniature command center (identical to the sort found in an APC) inside the cargo hold had everyone's lifesigns and camera feed coming up clear.

At that point, he noticed music playing over Alouran's feed. And that the recruit was still in the ship. Obviously, Delta had forgotten her. She was a new face and the rest of 2nd squad was doing fine anyway, so he didn't blame the new squad leader too much. Especially since Vevlaa and he had been taken FROM second squad into thier new roles.

After unbuckling the harness for the poor recruit, he ripped the MP3 player right out of her ears and pocketed it. He'd turned his music off the moment they had gotten near the objective, as per standing orders. Because of her complacency, Delta's squad was missing a member. They could have gotten killed for less.

"PRIVATE ALOURAN! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ON MY SHIP, LISTENING TO MUSIC?! THE REST OF YOUR SQUAD IS HARD AT WORK! ARE YOU TOO IMPORTANT TO HELP OUT!?" He shouted into her face, knowing that if this kid didn't get into gear, she'd get killed. Not on his watch, so he shouted to get the message across.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY DAMN SHIP, AND HELP DELTA OUT! NOW!" He added, and bodily lifted her off of her seat and pushed her towards the cargo ramp. Bloody pathetic, it was.

He looked over his shoulder to Vevlaa and shook his head. "Bloody ridiculous, if you ask me." He said before heading over to the control panel. He could see from Alouran's camera feed that she was heading towards Delta, whom had already set up spotlights. Sam took another moment to be impressed.

When everything was set, he looked around. 1st squad was milling around like lost sheep. Well, that left them on guard duty for the first watch then, while 2nd got to have fun.

He hopped out of the dropship and walked over to Delta, who'd finished helping Vevlaa with the aid station by then. He clapped the young Warrant Officer on an armoured shoulder and grinned. "If only we had more soldiers like you, son, this war would've been over long ago. And have no illusions, we'd have pasted the bugs." Sam said to the young soldier.

He'd stopped thinking of Delta as 'the Kid' after Operation Descending Fate. Delta had done a damned brave thing there, something Sam knew he would never have done. And Delta had matured even more since then. That made him one of Dunn's favorite marines. And better still, he'd stayed well clear of the political intrigue that was overtaking his beloved Corps.

"Okay Delta, great work. I wouldn't have even thought of the lights, but with bugs and preds some spotlights will do wonders here. It's about time we moved out, I think. NIKKIE!" He then shouted for the 2nd In Command of Alpha Draconis. He knew she outranked him, but he didn't think anyone had any illusions as to who was in charge here.

After all, this was her first combat mission. He had seniority. Over everyone but Kidd and Peterson, both of whom appeared to be having another argument.

"As for why I didn't kill Shadowatching, the fact that I had an injured Delta to look after -even though in the end he DID save my ass- and that I'd lost my visor -this was before I got some new eye implants, I used to have no eyes, y'see- I didn't feel like fighting blind. Now, me, Vev and 2nd Squad are going out on a clearing patrol. I need you in the Dropship's command center, co-ordinating us. You'll see what we see through the camrea feeds and the comms will let you relay info to us.

Oh, and please get Kidd, Peterson and Fletcher to stop arguing and get to work." Sam said, outlining what he intended to do. They needed to make sure the nearby area was clear of bugs. He intended to patrol the nearby corridors, place down Sentry Turrets to act as an early warning system, and then pull back for further orders.

Looking around the Hangar, he saw Alouran doing god-knew-what, and Vevlaa watching from the dropship. He motioned for Delta to gather his squad, and walked over to Vevlaa.

"Grab your gear marine, and a box of sentry guns. We're going on a patrol." He said to the pilot, and grabbed a backpack with two sentry gun cases, as well as his smartgun.

A minute later he emerged from the Dropship, ready to rock.

"Okay. Me and Vevlaa will place sentry guns in good spots. We've got four sentrys between us, should be enough to set up a warning system. Cover us while we get them down, eh? ALOURAN, OVER HERE! Okay, let's move out." He ordered, and opened the door that led further into the ship.

As smartgunner, he'd take point. Meaning that Delta would command the combined group on thier way to the first likely spot. Looking on the HUD of his smartgun, a good choke point was straight to thier left.

Firehunter and his befriended creature were trying to pry loose the doors that connected to the bridge. As strong as they were, both struggled to open the pressuerized door. Waralien began scanning the room. Suddenly something caught his attention. It was a small box just off the creature's right. Although predator technology surpassed humans by light years, they still clung to the control box for matience repairs.

War had already become familiar with opening doors and found this to be a small matter. He approached the door. The creature's head tracked Waralien as he neared. When War got close enough, the creature swiped at War using its tail. War, anticipating the move leaped back enough to avoid being hacked. He then let out a hiss of warning to the creature and tried again.

This time he had manage to get to the box and pry it open. War then went about ripping the neccessary wires to open the door. The doors parted open just as Waralien ripped the final wire. Then all three entered the bridge and began scoping out the place. War instructed the creature to stand guard next to the door while Firehunter and he searched the place for a possible ambush point.

Firehunter parted a piece of metal that had come loose during the ship's assult. Behind it was a room to fit roughly a dozen Xenos. War issued a low hiss to the runners shifting through the halls for report information.

One of the nearest runners reported several humans were in the port on the opposite side of the ship. It also told of a being lurking in one of the abandoned tunnels on the lower floors. Waralien issued a command for any nearby sentries to track the being. And he gave a strict order: Do not attack unless he posses a threat.

After the order was given War began to seat himself inside the hiding place. He offered the space to Firehunter and his ally but both found the lack of room too liable. Instead both went on a trip to locate some avalible warriors. Suddenly and explosion rang out in the ship. War pressed the information from the runners.

According to the runners, the humans had detonaded something. Although War didn't like the prospect of leaving a valuable area to enemies he had to find out what they did and where. He, Firehunter and the creature exited out of the ship to find out. War briefly paused at the circuit board he'd use earlier and spat out acid blood upon it. THe circuits went haywire and slamed the door shut. War heard several locks click into place. Good he thought, at least this crude trick will buy time.

Voltage sat bored wondering when they were going to move out, he look around and poke at his scars and then every now and then wonder what the hell was LH day dreaming about and try to throw his pickings of his food at him trying to see if he can get to hit him in the face. he didn't really know anyone else anymore all he knew was the new memebr LH and Scarred and a few otehrs but everyone else was new or dead and buried, sometimes he wonder how long he can go without dying, cheating death and all. Its hard living through it as you watch your friends get slaughtered and knowing you barely get by this way, not forgetting saving lives of other comrads. This is what the clan is all about. Living and Dying nothing else.

Voltage packed up his equipment and his war hammer that was made out of a random skull of man he killed way back he was starting out. It also had a spine wrapped on it to make it more rigid. now he waits to be sent into battle.

The marine woke up after feeling the feeling of nothing in motion. Automatically assuming that the ship has landed, and figuring out that he has fallen asleep due to the short trip to the seemingly abandoned ship, the marine simply undones the the harness which is holding him into his seat and gets up.

Not wanting to take his sweet time, but also not gonna go off and rush things, the veteran approaches the weapon rack and takes his own personal rifle from the charger only to arm it. Slinging the rifle over his shoulder and starting to head out the ship through the ramp, the soldier was stopped by a female marine who asked him a question about the creature in which they call Shadowatching...

After a moment of silence as the soldier was remembering the hybrid from his past encounters. With a small grin, the marine answers Nikkie's question,"She's a mindless monster who kills for nothing but pleasure. I suggest you keep your eyes open if you want to live another day after encountering her." What Kidd said to the marine was a lie about the hybrid, but he had to keep the marine prepared for combat, if she is wanting to live another day to serve in the Corps.

Exiting the ship and out into the ship's hangar, the old Devil-Dog looks up and around at all the marines who have already started setting up base camp within this mysterous ghost ship. Looking for his most valued comrade, Kidd didn't venture far from the safety of the turrents, as he was alone with no backup besides the marines of Alpha Draconis.

Without very much trouble, Kidd finds Sam doing what he does best, barking out orders in a marine fashion. Smiling and shaking his head in amusement, the veteran decides to calm his companion,"Sam, no need to be harsh on these maggots. Be a gentleman. Warn them first and if they don't listen, let them find out the hard way. They are bound to listen afterwards."

Standing a little taller than Sam, Kidd folds his arms over his chest and looks over at Delta who is performing his duties to the very letter. "I wish I wasn't here because of an order... Life was so much easier when you were fighting beside the ones you knew so very well..." said Kidd as he turns his gaze from Delta to Sam. Placing his hand on the jar-head's armored shoulder, Kidd looks into the marine's artificial eyes with is own real brown ones and simply spoke to him,"Malus... soon it would be your time to prove yourself as a true leader."

Removing his hand from the marine's shoulder and walking away from him, Kidd leaves Sam to think about what he just said. Meanwhile, Kidd has troubles following the orders that were given to him, but they were simple. Truely, any orders given by Weyland-Yutani, are orders easily achieved with great results. The Devil-Dog's mission here on this ghost ship, was something simple,"Tow the Ship back to earth, along with "Special Cargo."" Also, Weyland Yutani told him he should accomplish his mission by any means neccesary, even if it means sacrificing some of the finest soldiers of his old unit.
Reluctant to follow-through with the mission at first, the Corporation added a little dirt to convince him to accept. Failure to comply or failing the mission would resort of all of his license being revoked and the entire Alpha Draconis platoon being disbanded. Alpha Draconis' fate may be looking grim, due to the fact that it would be by the his own hands, the creatures, or the Corporation, but one way or another, it would find a way out. These are the orders and reasons why Kidd is here with his old comrades in arms, to help support them, by any means neccesary, even if it means sacrificing some of his friends in the process.

**OCC** Sorry bout not posting i have been really busy with ASB and ROTC latly!**



Peterson Stood watching his men run around following orders spitting on the deck Peterson walked around the ops center Peterson slung his pusle rifle over his back and called over a group of privates, "Get that door open!" Peterson ordered the group "YES SIR!" The Privates replyed as the four of them ran to try and open the door, "Fletcher go cover them." Peterson yelled out. "Sergeant i want Sentry turretts set up on the preimiter of the Ops Center!" Peterson told a nearby Supply Sergeant, "Yes Sir" the Sergeant said as he ran to one of the dropships to get the equipment to start setting up. "Sir?" looking over his shoulder Peterson noticed one of the Privates he had ordered to open the door standing there, "What is is private?" The Door wont budge sir i think we might need something a bit bigger." "Ok private go get some C-4 Charges and blow that door" Peterson ordered.

FireHunter caught the scent of something behind the door, something saying "Hey, what the fuck's wrong with this door! BLOW IT!" He hissed and both of his allies turned to look at him, the green-scaled beast pulled back it's lips again, and waralien hissed in anxiety as there was a faint clicking, and FireHunter, waralien and the beast leaped back, just as the door exploded, before the dust cleared, FireHunter picked up a chunk of the door and threw it through the dust, there was an exclamation and a splatter, FireHunter had hit something! voices drifted out of the dust, saying things like "what the FUCK was that!" and "I think we're not alone." FireHunter and waralien scaled the walls, attaching to the roof, their ally completely camouflaged with it's surroundings, as soon as the dust cleared, yells of horror reverberated through the corridor, "WHAT THE HELL COULD HAVE DONE THIS!" one of the soldiers exclaimed, whilst six others went through the door, the sergeant looked at the door, lodged in the wall with the soldier's legs on the floor and the upper half of his body resting on the top of the scorched door. One of the soldiers walked under FireHunter's position, FireHunter dropped down and landed on top of the poor soldier, who was crushed flat, the soldier beside him had no time to scream as his head was at the other end of the metallic hallway in three seconds flat, waralien dropped down in front of another soldier, and punctured his head with his inner mouth, their ally chose to expose itself at that time, eviscerating another soldier who was unfortunate enough to be the closest to the beast's hiding spot, the beast howled in triumph and came straight at the sergeant, who held his gun in between himself and the beast, it's slavering jaws gaped and he pushed it back.
That's when it screamed again.
The sergeant and the other living soldiers collapsed on the ground, screaming in pain as their eardrums nearly burst from the noise.
And it ran straight towards FireHunter and waralien, FireHunter told it to go and find other humans and bring them back to the hive, to a xenomorph, if it smelt like a xenomorph, it was one.
It set off to help it's friends, leaving them together, alone.
The sergeant looked up, and saw the beast that had screamed disappearing down a hallway, and the large predalien dragging the conscious and screaming body of one of his comrades into the darkness, it payed no attention to his screams of terror, and he would be lost forevermore.
Next he saw waralien, dragging one other body into the inky blackness.
He looked to his side, to find another soldier breathing heavily, a look of panic in his eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll contact HQ and tell 'em what we're up against.."
"what! they don't even know that we're HERE, we stole that dropship, remember?"
"who cares! it's that or die!"
the sergeant pointed his gun towards the soldier, but lowered it in horror as he saw a dark shape emerging from the darkness, two large alien claws were all that were visible clearly.
"Oh, so your NOT gonna kill-AHHHH!!"
the sergeant rapidly clicked his headset on and yelled into it:
"WE NEED ALL UNITS, I'M THE LAST SURVIVOR OF AN ATTACK BY A-AHHHHHHHHH!----"

Edward stayed near Nikkie and Kidd at all times. THis was simply another mission...with extras. That was all eh had to remind himself of. SIlently though he looked around. Swinging his Smartgun up he scowled and flipped it off safety. "I read no hostiles on scanner sir!" He called out to anyone listening. "But I am getting movement towards the west...distance...maybe two thousand yards!" Fletcher nodded to himself. THat was his best estimate.

Silently his eyes scanned the area though. Best not to ALWAYS rely on technology. Edward mearly nodded and walked over to Kidd tapping his shoulder. He saluted. "Sir, I would like to accompany you rather than follow my squad sir...they seem to be doing well..." Plus Fletcher's bitterness was apparent. He had been demoted simply for talking to his friend Nikkie.

As he waited for his answer he looked around again. He didn't like this place. It had an evil presence.... Shrugging a bit Fletcher went to Nikkie. He put his arm around her shoulder and smiled at her. "Stay safe or stick close to me.." He chuckled. "Either way you get to stay alive." He let go and once more faced Kidd.

It was times like this Edward yearned for the old days. He missed Kidd's leadership. He really did. He smiled at such antics they had done. Then Kidd had left and it all went to hell. He had heard that a division of AD in another sector had also gone much of the same way. Internal strife.

waking from his thoughts LH felt somthing hit him he looked down to see small scraps off food, then looked up to see voltage..He gave the warrior a polit nod as he laughed "shouldn’t have been daydreaming" he thought.

Lone Hunter left the hall and headed for the hangar where the smaller scoutships where...he would wait for the rest of the clan there so that they could board the ghost ship.

a few hours hd passed and still the clan had not gatherd Lone Hunter began to pace the width of the hall with a small amount of impaitince..."they better hurry up" he thought as time continued to go by he began going through various fighting stances rembering all he had learned....both from Yautja and human."soon" he thought..."soon".

Alouran's harness was cut by Nikkie and suddenly just moments later as she was worming out of it Sam got her. Headphones ripped off her neck and pocketed by the higher up she heard him shouting and winced despite her self slouching back into the chair unconsciously. "Sir no sir." she rambled out hastily. "The harness.." she began to say but was cut off as he started shouting again. Being lifted from her chair she stumbled when she was shoved. Face burning red with embarrassment she headed over to the squad she had been assigned to. Easily starting to help set up the lamps by holding lines of cord and unwinding it as it was needed before helping with other things. It wasn't long before she found herself wanting her music or something to listen other then the shouts of those around her and let out a heavy sigh knowing it was in Sam's pocket.
Hearing her name she let out a soft sigh thinking she had done something wrong again but she hadn't it was just orders to move out. Holding her M41A gun in the standard at ready position she tagged after the others keeping her head down but doing her duty to the standards of what everyone was expected to do. Making sure not to mutter into her com so as not to get yelled at for that either. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly she turned her attention to watching the shadows and what not around her.

Waralien continued to drag the hapless marine. As he and Firehunter neared an opening, they spotted a group of runners just pacing around trying to find something to do. War hissed for them and they followed. He and Firehunter both handed over their catches and allowed them to be on their way. Thats when Waralien turned to Firehunter and hissed an order.

After a few minutes of working, War had completed the trap for the humans. It wasn't in the nature of Xenos to lay traps but he wasn't any ordinary Xeno. And this wasn't any ordinary trap. Just below the carefully placed sheet of flooring that War instructed Firehuter to shear off, lay chamber with a fresh batch of huggers. One of many aboard the ship.

And knowing the marines would take this route, War was positive that the trap would work. Making sure that there was no evidence of anything wrong, War and Firehunter backed down an adjacent hall and went around finding other areas to keep the marines contained. War knew what equipment they had, all of it was leathal to his "brothers". He had to make sure that the marines took one route out of the port. That root was the environment chamber.

As second squad,Vevlaa,Sam and Kidd where clearing the perimeter and tight hallways and putting up the occasionel sentry.
Delta heard a bang in the distance,noticing it came from where there HQ was set up he,he opened a comms check to peterson and said "sir,ive heard alot of fireworks going on back their?,whats happening".
Turning to Kidd,Sam and saying "sirs,i request we head back way to the HQ,and skip the sweeping for the minute,well set up some sentrys on chokepoints we've came through so far and set FOF tags on them to distingish us from xenos/preds,whatever has happened back there i dont think its good".

alien-drone woke up in a daze after being called for by the queen.When he arrived at the royal birth camber she told him that she wanted a few predators for the hive so she could make some predaliens and increase the strength of the hive.After setting out on the mission an hour ago alien-drone stumbled across a predator drop ship.

He went inside to see if he could find any predators and by chance their was an injured one on a table.But his luck wasnt to last forever because to other predators walked through the door and spotted alien-drone by their injured brother.Their rage consumed them and decided to laucnh themselves at him, dodging their attacks alien-drone took his chances and fired himself at one,scrathcing at its face and body,nasty cuts appearing all vore his body just enough to kill it.

The floor was now slippy with green blood making it harder for the other predator to get him without damging the ship with his laser cannon realising that he could use his disk he threw it as hard as he could at alien-drone and missed him by inches,clattering off wallls as it flew back to its owner.Alien-drone dropped down from the ceiling on top of the predator which sent it into a frenzy.Sensing the time was right alien-drone spat out his inner jaw into the predator head which sent green blood spewing every where.Mission accomplished.

As Sergeant Vevlaa walked Malus, he said†Sir, How are we going to do this? We don’t even know the way to the bridge…†he stopped mid sentence. “STOP!†he yelled. Malus stopped immediately. “Look closely on the floor†he said and crouched down. There was something wrong with this floor. He crawled past Malus while feeling the floor with his hands. Suddenly the floor went soft. “What tha…?†he said.

“Malus give me your knife†A second later, he had the knife in his hand. He stabbed the knife into the soft part of the floor and penetrated it easily. “A trap!†he said. Le looked down he hole he had created. “HOLY CRAP!†he looked at Malus. “Its Xenomorph eggs, and a whole lot of them!â€Â

He looked around. “Anyone here have a couple of grenades they don’t want anymore?†he asked with a wide almost crazy smile. Seconds later he had two grenades in his hands. He pulled the pin on both grenades with his teeth, and tossed them into the hole. “FIRE IN THE HOLE!†He yelled at tossed himself backwards.

As the small group of Balatu hunters continued to talk of their approaching assigment, a new hunter came to join them. The God of Death, Black Warrior, took a vacant seat at the table and began to listen in to the conversation between Predator428 and PREDATORv2.

Predator428 was still thinking on what PREDATORv2 had just told him, that it might be neccessary to destroy the clanship if they did not succeed in their task. He wasn't sure what to make of that statement. A clanship was basicly a self governed city, holding hundreds of years worth of ancient relics and trophies. Hundreds of thousands of fellow yautja had made it their home, how could they bring themselves to destroy it? And then Predator428 realized the problem, no one but the yautja had the rights to this ship.

If the entity that had attacked it or some other race took control of it, then all who had lived there would have no legacy. Every trace of their home and being would be lost to some barbaric creatures forever, stripped of all honor.

"I desperatly hope it is not neccessary" said Predator428 to the Elder, "But it needs to be done if all else fails."

The chatter of the Balatu warriors was cut short by a warning siren blaring to life over the ships comm unit. Their ship and the Hunter's Moon vessel were on final approach to the clanship, it would be mere minutes before they docked. The four hunters, Shadowatching, Black Warrior, PREDATORv2 and himself grabbed their gear and began their jog to the docking hatch.

As Predator428 made his way out of the small galley, he noticed many of the newer initiates fumbling with their weapons, hurrying to ready their equipment for travel. One imbecile had even managed to trip over his own feet on his way out of the room, scattering hi assortment of throwing knifes all over the deck. Predator428 silently prayed to Cetanu that these idiots would miraculously grow some sense in the next few moments. They were going to need it.

half way through his last pattern warining sirens blared to life all over the ship, LH stopped immeaditly and stood to oneside as he waited for the rest of the clan to arrive.

with in a few minutes SS and Voltage along with all the others behind walked through.lone hunter gave another polit bow to bothe his Elder Scarred Shadow and his supierior Voltage "I like to be early" LH said in explationation for him already being in the docking room.

(a little short but it'll have to do for now, I'm off to bed.)

Sam Jack Dunn, still thinking about Kidd's words and having one of his famous 'bad feelings' about them, missed the trap that Vevlaa had so skillfully spotted. Like everyone else, he took cover when the medic / pilot dropped a grenade in the midst of the eggs and covered his ears as the grenade blew, blasting a hole all the way to the lower deck.

On the other side of the hole to his fellow marines, Sam leaped over to clap Vevlaa on the back. "Good save." He said simply, his voice more subdued than normal. It appeared like his hunch had been right, after all. They had not gotten to the objective first, despite the fact he'd prepped everything a day early.

Fuck.

fuck, Fuck, FUCK.

He looked over to Delta. If this place was already infested, then it gave Delta's inability to contact HQ a terrifying new meaning. If they had set traps this far, they probably had the whole ship locked down tighter than a greenie's ass. The whole ship was probably some big, floating hive by now.

Fuck. Well, that put a damper on the mission. There was no way in hell they were going to last long enough to get the ship moving, let alone see it safely to Earth. Not as they were. Could the entire mission be another W-Y set-up?

He'd heard of them before. Marines sent into areas seeded with bugs to act as hosts for a new hive. Sent to thier deaths. It was not the kinda thing he would put past the Company. After all, his own folks had died tha-

The hell? Where had THAT memory come from, his folks were fine back on earth. He decided that after this was over, he was gonna see a shrink. Too many memories that shouldn't be there. And why was everyone calling him Malus?

Still, he knew he had to concentrate on the now. "If they are not responding, son, then they are probably dead. NIKKIE! I need a status update, what is going on over there?" He asked over his headset, after making his remark to Delta. He knew how the bugs operated. First came the ambushes. Divide the prey.

Then, the rush.

And he didn't want to be out HERE for the rush. He wanted to be in the hangar. Actually, he wanted to be miles away on Earth. The thoughts ran through his head as he set up the first Sentry Turret. As far as he knew, all the marines had IFF tags. Even Kidd. So, he activated it, knowing that they were safe from it's wrath.

Then, facing the other way, he set up another one.

He wanted this done quick, so he jumped back over the nade-made chasm, and set up the other two he'd borrowed from Vevlaa before heading back. "It looks like the bugs got here first. We all know what that means. It means the Company either lied to us, or we suddenly know WHY the ship has no preds.

Either way, we need to pull back. Find out what happened to HQ. Plan our next move. If we have an infestation, our priority has switched. We need to wipe them out before THINKING of taking the bridge or flying this crate anywhere. I don't want any bugs ANYWHERE near earth. Imagine if just one got to the homeworld..."

He didn't need to finish the sentence. They all knew it would mean the beginning of the end for Humanity. By thier suddenly grim expressions, they realized how important it was that they exterminated every single bug on the ship.

If it was up to him, he'd blow up the ship. But the technology it contained was vital, if humanity stood a chance. It could be what saved them from extinction.

"Allright marines. Back to the Hangar, Vevlaa, get that tracker out, I wanna know the moment you get anything Even ghost readings. Delta, cover our asses. Watch the vents and ramp up those shoulder lamps to full power. Let's stay frosty and alert. We cannot afford to be caught napping. I want people calling in over the comm every 10 seconds. We know what these things can do, let's not underestimate them. Now, let's move." He intoned quietly, not needing to shout or raise his voice to be heard.

Since he had a smartgun, he took point. He hoped they'd obey his orders. Any single mistake could get them killed. They were within enemy territory.

As he advanced slowly, his smartgun sweeping from side to side, checking every shadow, every vent enterance, every likely ambush point, he switched his comm on with a verbal command.

"Peterson, this is Dunn. I have 2nd Squad with me. We just encountered a Xenomorph Egg pit. Looked like a deliberate trap. We've set up the early warning sentries and are returning to HQ. We heard gunfire, what happened?"

If Peterson didn't answer, Dunn knew he was dead. OR captured, which with bugs meant dead anyway. If that happened, he was going to rip the ship apart if nessecary to exterminate this infestation. No fucking bug would survive his wrath.