Malus listened to Xeuss's words, noting that the man had withdrawn his pistol with a slight incline of his head, and stepped past him down the corridor after the bugs had retreated. It was as he had thought. Preds use bugs for hunt, bugs get too powerful, wipe out preds. Then, the Marines see an advantage and try to seize it. It was the typical Snatch-&-Grab mission, one that Malus had gone on multiple times before. Still, this was different. He'd never, ever been on a Yautja Clanship before. Not once.
It was an experience, the combat veteran had to admit that. Still, he could not afford to become lax because of it. If he spent too much time admiring the scenery, he might not spot the bug that is sneaking along the ceiling. After a quick check, he confirmed that there were, as a matter of fact, no bugs on the ceiling at the moment. Still. Looking over at Xeuss, he couldn't help but wonder what the hell he was. He knew the bugs here too well, he seemed to move differently from other humans, and was that an acid stain on his uniform, right where that gash on his arm was?
Malus shrugged his armoured shoulders and decided to worry about it later. It was choices that made the man, not blood. Of course bugs didn't get to make such choices, so he conceded that blood did matter for something. Still, Xeuss had chosen his side. That was good enough for Malus. As he stepped past the soldier and into the hallway beyond, motioning for Fletcher to cover thier six, he realized that he had no idea where the rest of the soldiers were.
"All human soldiers. This is Malus Jay Darkblade. I am sending you my current location, form up on my position immediatly. I am taking charge of this mission, effective immediatly. Delta, Vevlaa, get your tails over here now. Respond immediatly. Over."
It was a radical step, but with Nikkie seriously MIA, Kidd also MIA, and the marines scattered, someone had to unite them and take command. It had taken Malus a second of thought to realize this was his chance. After all, the others were good, but not ready for command of an entire mission quite yet. Malus knew he was ready. He knew in his bones that this was his first and only chance at command. Heh. First and Only. He had to use that sometime. Moving his Smartgun to cover the entire hallway, he switched his radio onto recieve again, and nodded to Fletcher, looking over his shoulder.
"Its time we did this like real men." He said, as he awaited acknowledgements from the others.
It was at that point where he heard more Xeno screeches, followed by gunfire and the roar of a Yautja. Nikkie! What the shit have you gotten yourself into? He thought with a shake of his head. He heard it a second before the sound reached the other's ears. He racked the bolt-action on his smartgun and inclined his head. "All Human Forces. I am going hot. Form up and engage whatever I do." He commanded, before looking back at Fletcher and Xeuss.
"If we're gunna get to the queen, we need to take out her minions. Let's go." He said, before setting off at a jog down the corridor.