Far off in the distance, across plains of jagged stone, just beneath the scorched and barren terrain, something stirred in the waning twilight hour.
Its ebony flesh, complimented by the cold shadows around it, slowly came to life as the searing star above made its parting journey with the horizon.
The very ground had trembled this day, unbeknownst to the horrors which were about to seep forth from the cool depths below.
As the last shreds of the star's punishing light slipped beneath the sky, an elegant creature, it's sleek body betraying the terrifying ferocity within, emerged from one of the many dark tunnels which dotted the wasteland.
This creature of beauty, of elegance, of death, was to be known simply as Crow.
Crow's dexterous hands and clawed feet easily found ample footing on the jagged rocks which made his brood's harsh home. The heat from the stones beneath his feet, while extremely hot to the touch, were cooling fast as the boiling star drifted farther from the horizon.
Under normal circumstances Crow would have waited until the earth had cooled, but this was no normal day. Something had made the ground quake with fear, and Crow planned to find whatever it was. For the queen. For the hive.
Scrambling to the jagged end of a small ledge, Crow's senses sparked to life as something caught his attention. In the distance, something was moving...making sound...living. He could sense, even feel, the heat from the blazing wreckage around it, a feeling so alien to the xenomorph that it made his own flesh crawl.
Then, much fainter than before, Crow felt another presence. Sound waves had broken the otherwise still air, and while almost impossibly faint, they were still enough to catch his attention. Another intruder.
Swiveling his smooth head back around, Crow could feel the gentle padding of xenomorph feet. Two xenomorphs, whom were to be known as Donut and Drenton, had silently crept up behind him in his preoccupied state. Glancing from one to the other, he could tell that they had sensed it too. A hiss from Donut confirmed his suspicions. It was time to rouse the brood.
Nimbly hopping to the highest point of the small ledge, Crow entered a crouching position. His slender arms carefully perched upon two separate stones, the xenomorph raised his spiked sternum as he prepared to serve his brethren.
Fast-cooling air rushed deep into Crow's chest cavity through the four slits on his collar, where it built up inside him. Muscles expanded and hormones sparked, though the xenomorph's mind continued to remain sharp and unclouded.
Opening his fanged maw, Crow felt the air burst forth from the depths of his body. Crow's avian heritage made him suitable as one thing and one thing alone. A harbinger. It would be his call that would wake the hive. It would be his call that would be heard above all others.
Air burst forth from the depths of Crow's body, and his screech swept across the barren wasteland. The once-still air was now flooded by the sound of his call, as the terrain would soon be flooded by the graceful bodies of his kin.
The hunt was on. For the queen. For the hive.