"Nikkie, this is Dunn. What is your position? Over."

Nikkie, this is Dunn. Respond! Over.

Nikkie this is Dunn. Nothing heard, Dunn out." Well, she wasn't responding over the comm. He sighed and removed his finger from the smartgunner's headset, which included comms, and replaced it on the rear handgrip of his Smartgun, the gloved palm resting on the grip as fingers closing around the warm metal. He pivoted the smartgun to his left as he turned to look at the soldiers behind him. Gene and Mark were perfectly at home, rugged up against the desert and looking for all the worlds like they were just walking to the mailbox to check the mail. He caught Gene's gaze, and inclined his head in both respect and friendly acknowledgement. He was surprised the two weren't drunk by now, but then again they were too smart to have too much. "Good work, Gene, Mark. Keep it up. I get the feeling we're making good progress."

Jean was coping well, most likely thanks to her mechanical nature and lack of need for water. He'd also replaced the muscles and hydraulic fluid during the repair job he'd done earlier that day, so he wasn't too worried about her breaking down. She was carrying one side of the stretcher, her porcelain skin unnaffected by the blistering sun. On the other end of the stretcher was Yue. She didn't have a hat or any anti-sun gear on, still garbed in the slightly-too-tight USCM uniform. He'd stuffed up there, but ah well. He walked over to her, Smartgun now pointing directly upwards so that it wasnt aimed at any friendlies, and he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold up there. You're going to get burnt like a bug in Dar's way if ya wear that out here." He said, signalling for the group to stop. He then reached into his combat webbing and drew a bucket hat in Outback colours and a matching shemagh. That'd keep the sun and sand off of her for now. With his right hand, he held the two items out to her.
"Wrap the cloth around yer face to keep the sun off, if ya start to blister you won't like it." He said, before realizing she was busy with the stretcher and placed it on her himself.

"I really should go into fashion design." He commented wryly to himself. Everyone had heard about Nikkie, and he knew he'd need to sort that out quickly. He reached into his combat webbing and drew out a small circular cylinder, the marine IFF tracker. He keyed in Nikkie's ID code, linking it to her implanted subdermal tracker, and the three digits on the small screen of the tracker all read '999'. Fuck, she was kilometers away.
"No way we can get to Nikkie in time. Dammit! Why the hell didn't she just follow us?" He growled, throwing the tracker in a burst of anger. The small black object sailed through the air, then landed with a thump in the sand. He realized that he needed the damn thing, and walked over to grab it, muttering every step of the way.

By the time he got back, a fist slammed into his jaw and he staggered back, then landed arse first on the ground. Crikey, that was a damn solid punch. He rubbed his chin, and tried to get back up to his feet. With two packs and a smartgun, he found he just damn well couldn't. He glared up at Xavier, before a slender hand reached down and hauled upwards. Using the extra leverage, he was able to get back up onto his feet, with a little difficulty. He looked over at Jean and nodded in thanks, his smile and wink invisible behind his dustmask and goggles.
"Oi! What was that for?" He demanded, glaring at the marine who glared right back at him. Xavier didn't throw punches lightly, so Sam decided to see what the reason was before throwing one back.
"Knocking me out with a rifle, you drongo." Was the reply.

Oh. Fuck. He remembered tossing the rifle over his shoulder back to Xavier. Oops.
"Oh...that's alright then." He said, doing his best to hold back the laughter that was welling up in his lungs and throat. Oops indeed. He clapped Xavier on the back, and handed the man his pack, glad to lose the weight.
"Take this back and we'll call it even." He said, letting the marine take the bag before looking over at Cooper. The woman was practically dead on her feet. Blistered by the sun, and obviously tired as all fuck, she looked like hell.

He turned back to Xavier as the man put on his desert gear, and inquired about the Ute.
"We werent able to get it fixed in time. Preds showed up so we bugged out. They've got Nikkie, Shadow and Snake. I've got a Queen burster in me so the bugs that were in the ship let us go, but they'll be back soon enough. We gotta keep moving, get some distance between us and them." He informed his oldest friend tersely. He took the losses seriously.

"I think we can all calm down," Jean said, interrupting the silence. "After-all, we're so far from the crash site already, we can continue to make good time if we don't fight each other."

Apparently, she hadn't realized that the problem had already been solved. He placed a hand on her shoulder and took a deep drag of the cigarette that poked through his improvised dustmask.
"Darlin." He said, his voice slightly muffled through the mask but still perfectly understandable. "It's already sorted. I knocked him out, so he hit me. Fair go." He said, explaining to her that there had been no real malice in the hole situation, just evening things out. Outback had different views on discipline, but in the long run it all worked out fine. They were all good mates.

He then heard a thump from behind him as Jean packed awway the stretcher, and saw Cooper flat on her face in the sand.
"Bloody hell. Gensey told her to watch her water intake." He muttered, and yep, the water canteen at Cooper's belt was empty. He knew they couldn't stop for her, so he let his Smartgun hang from its harness as he picked the KO'd officer up, and slung her over his shoulder -pack and all- before grabbing his smartgun once he was sure she wasn't going to fall off immediately.

"We can't stop. We gotta keep heading south." He said as Jean and Xavier started walking. Immediately, he fell into step with them, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Shit, the muscular officer was heavy. It took him a minute to get used to the extra weight, but the man had endurance like an ox, and it wasn't long before he was plodding on like the rest of the troops.

"Genesey, watch our six, tracker out. Mark, Make sure nothing happens to Gensey. Xavier, keep an eye on the horizon. I want to know the moment something interesting appears. Yue, keep an eye on Xavier just in case his helmet falls off. Jean, keep an eye on those camera moniters you set up and let me know if anything imteresting happens. We do not have the luxury of time, so let's go." He said, and they started walking.

It felt like they'd be walking forever, but Sam's gut told him they'd reach something soon.

Yue sighed as they marched from the ship. It was hot, and the brightness reflecting off the desert was making her irritable. It hurt her eyes and the dead weight she was carrying didnt help her aching arms either. Panting lightly, Yue ran a dry tongue over her cracked lips. The air was just too thin here and her mouth felt like it had never seen a cool drink in ages. Yue was barely aware of Sam throwing a fit as he tried to contact Nikkie. Yue's brows knitted together in a small "V" shape. Kilometers away. That wasnt good. Especially if she wasn't answering her com. Something was wrong.

Yue was distracted from that line of thinking as she heard a voice say "Hold up there. You're going to get burnt like a bug in Dar's way if ya wear that out here."

Yue looked up, her eyes as wide as a doe's as he took a bucket hat and a shemagh and placed them on her saying "Wrap the cloth around yer face to keep the sun off, if ya start to blister you won't like it." Yue would have blushed if her cheeks had been visible to the rest of the group. "Thank you Sam" She said softly, her voice seeming to show that her thoughts were somewhere else entirely.

It was then that her mind seemed to register that the stretcher was so much lighter. Yue looked down to see Xavier missing. She looked up in time to see Xavier throwing a hard punch, and it landing right on Sam's jaw. Yue watched the exchange with a clinical eye. Neither one of them was truly in any shape to be throwing punches of any kind. They needed to be resting, conserving what strength they had for later.

"Xavier" Yue said as her vioce cracked softly "You and Sam should not be throwing punches. You got a nasty hit on the head that knocked you out. There is still a slight possibility that You may have a concussion and Sam was hugged. There is a Xeno embryo in his chest. Again." Yue sighed exasperatedly, her eyes scanning the horizon. Her attention was brought back to him as he mentioned killing someone if the Ute was dead, that person being one of HER squad.

"Xavier. Before you start threatening people, I think you might want to re-evaluate the meaning behind threatening a W-Y member. He is not yours to threaten, kill or maim." Yue said all this in a matter of fact tone simply reminding him that he couldnt do what he was threatning to Delta.

Yue smiled behind the cloth that surrounded her face. "Delta" She said where he could hear her. "Glad to see you alive!" Yue dropped the stretcher and walked over to him giving him a hug. She let him go and said "We are traveling with AD. I havent seen anyone else from Weyland-Yutani, and I thought it better to stay with AD and work with them to get off the planet."

Turning Yue followed Sam as they continued off on their journey across the desert to god knows where. They walked for a little while. After about half an hour, Yue carefully peeled back the cloth over her lips and took a small sip of water. Sighing in relief, Yue put the cap back on and started to walk again only to see Cooper collapse.

Yue sighed as Sam picked her up and adjusted her weight over his shoulders. After walking a few miles in silence Yue cleared her throat meaningfully.

"Sam" She said softly knowing full well in the silence that all could probably hear her. Slowly she fell in next to him with her hands clasped behind her back. "I- I dont know how to say this, so I just will. I don't know if you will make it back-" Yue looked at his chest as if it explained everything "-and i really want you to know."

Yue looked down at her feet as if she were counting the feet she was taking as she took them and said "Before I left Lv-474 there was a shift in power at Weyland-Yutani. It was determined that the old leaders were going to move on, and retire. So, before I left they chose a successor."

Yue stopped speaking momentarily taking a deep breath to steady herself. It had all seemed so unreal it was as if saying it aloud finally made it a reality. "I will start when I get back as the official CEO of Weyland Yutani. I have been given the deed to the company, the title, and everything. I am Weyland-Yutani's CEO Yue Hatsuno." Yue whispered her name and title still amazed that she had been given the company. She looked up at Sam wishing she could see his reaction to the news.

PREDATOR eyes opened wearily behind his ancient mask, the optical sensors were on an ultra low settling, peering through his mask the landscape hadn’t change and it was still very dark. “I must of dosed off†he though to himself still perched on the roof. “Damn!†the pain from his cramped legs decided to make its gruesome appearance, causing him to loose his balance and fall on his ass. PREDATOR’s legs now hung over the edge of the large building, he couldn’t of been out for very long.

The ultra low optical settings in his mask, was causing his eyes to hurt, reaching over activating his wrist computer, using his large clawed fingers, PREDATOR punched a few random keys to adjust the filter settings. The extremely bright light of the desert filled the inside of his mask without mercy, “Argh!†he clinched his eyes shut, PREDATOR had slept all night in the same position! To compensate for the changing in brightness his mask had auto adjusted its light intake down, an irritating upgrade. Allowing his eyes to adjust, he watched a few of the more trusted miners scrambled around the facility, moving different tools and devises from different buildings around the entire compound, the atmosphere at the main facility had changed from a nonchalant awareness to a frantic rush.

PREDATOR turned his head towards the open desert, he increased magnification, and cycled through a few different vision modes, nothing. He had a feeling something was out there, but no evidence to prove it. He continued scanning the desert, straining his eyes for any glimpse of activity, still nothing. Growling PREDATOR powered his muscular arms and jumped off the building’s roof, slamming into the dirt with a deep sounding thud. He figured a quick patrol around the entire complex wouldn’t hurt, maybe he’d be able to shake off the tingling sensation that was left after the pain in his legs.

Meanwhile, in a completely different location, a Chinese philosopher of the 18th century with a captive bear was doing something completely unrelated to the previous events.

In this strange setting, flying bulls had left a strange sphere of energy to collapse upon him, and the fluffy thought had turned to unbearable nightmare. But then the nightmare became fun again.

The Chinese philosopher then proceeded to stab deep hole in the fabric of space-time and erased himself from the current string of reality, thus preventing himself from doing anything stupid and ruining an otherwise enjoyable fairy tale dream... and an enjoyable nap.

However, it was too late, and the nap had been disturbed.

Wake up!

Who was that? I don't know, I don't have eyes. But you heard him, right? Stop and just wake up. Ah, so it was you! Quiet, you imbecile!

A bulk of slick muscle and tissue tightened, forcing the soar limb to rise and scout its current location, every movement made with paranoid hesitation.

It was dark. Not that the owner of these thoughts could tell. And not that it was actually thinking at all. It could just be its mother thinking for it. It's mother...

It had... a mother? It had a mother. But where? Where do you think?

Another limb, still for as long as it can remember, was forced into early work as well. Its joints stretched in order to comfort itself and the figure attempted to rise. A wall? Try again.

No, what is this? I'll be trapped forever! Stop your whining. You're annoying me.

Oh, right.

With an effortless shove, whatever was holding the alien child to the foreign floor was moved away. Liquid dripped from its jaws, the palm of its right hand laying against the artificial ground, and it curled into a ball.

Are you... frightened? Of what, might I ask?

I don't know. Stop it!

Get up. Something's close. It's coming for us.

The beast slithered from one end of the room to the other in a matter of seconds without making the slightest sound, and it took its post amongst the shadows in the corner... waiting.

Blood is good right? But why is it green? The muscles in her brow twitched as the two questions crossed from one side to the other. Tucking her legs in as close as she can, as the blood splattered from the beasts waist; Nikkie sent them out connecting to the metal shield that covered his chest. As the Black warrior staggered back, her brother sprang in to action. Snakes hands closed together, trying to double up the single fist. Hitting just the right spot right where the neck and the shoulder’s connected, the predator lurched forward, as two bullies working together would, send the weaker child back and forth, between the two. The warrior looked as if, he was winded but instead of waiting for the weird looking reptilian creature to stand up. Nikkie lifted one foot, to kick the predator in the face, only for the hand to curl around the ankle making her trip after a few hops. On the way to the ground; the free foot rose from the ground and kicked the warrior just under the helmet it wore sending the face back.

Gasping from the knock down, a groan crossed the lips; her head rolled from side to side trying to unclog her foggy mind. Nikkie swore she saw stars, dancing in her vision. A hand went up as the brother went sailing back in to the tree knocked down for the moment.

The darkness meant it was harder to see, without the help of light. But, she had some training, her fingers dancing over the ground for the gun that slipped out when she was knocked on the ground. Sending the bullets out in an arch and within that split second; she wanted and granted her the wish of hitting him once again in the arm. The free hand helped her along the lines of getting back to her knees. While standing on shaking legs, the second of command used the free hand grabbing her K-bar on her hip, the very weapon that is always there on every marine, Only to use it on this predator.

Black’s fist is faster than her mind would process that fact. But, he took his time in to releasing and letting her fall. In that amount of time, one thing happened; her dagger dug in to his side, as the blood seeped from her lips, slowly trickling onto the ground below them.

Eyes, woke up slowly his head shook as he wanted to call out his lips parted, but no words uttered through the already torn up throat. He rose his smart gun up from his side, where it hung and let loose from the tip of the barrel to the soft flesh of the predator’s back, where the flesh was revealed. Not only wanting the creature to fall, but in hopes that it would let his sister go. Not only did he do that, but after the split second, he jumped on top of the creature, his finger’s digging in the black ring around the throat, wanting to rip off the weird cloth thing.

The K-bar hung, slowly slipping, its sharpened metal dividing the skin in the right hip of the warrior. Fresh blood spurted from the wound, his torso was coming to its threshold of pain. Blood poured down his stomach, setting the forest floor alight with a firey green pool at the hunter's feet.

Cold metal touched the rough flesh of Bw's back. His eyes widened behind his mask as he realized that the mute had his smartgun at the ready. All went silent as Black Warrior awaited the flesh to tear, and feel the warm gush of blood rain down his back. The mute, with a sadistic smile on his face, pulled the trigger. A click echoed from the hollow barrel, the ammo counter still reading that there were bullets in the clip.

The smartgun...was jammed...

A howl erupted from the throat of the monster, his mandibles peeled back behind his mask in a twisted grin. Nikkie cringed, the roar sending her back a few steps. Black Warrior threw his right arm down, and the deadly armblade tore forth from its gauntlet. The metal sound sliced into the eardrums of the prey, the two marine's fear, and drive rising as they realized the instrument of death that would soon be unleashed.

In a panic, 'Snake' pounced on Black Warrior. His nails were furiously clawing at the black bands around the hunters neck. These were of no ordinary material, they stretched, they felt of rubber, but would not snap. Snake, as a last resort, unsheathed his K-Bar. Black Warrior felt the arm of the marine rise, attempting to enter the blade into the area above his neck. Black Warrior raised both hands over his head, grasping the bladed hand of the marine, and his left shoulder. Rocking forward, the marines full weight was shifted, and the human was thrown from the shoulders of the seasoned warrior.

The god of death, with a furious drive, swung the armblade in a wide arc. The armor and cloth covering the chest of Nikkie was sliced open. Blood seeped from the large gash in her chest. The crimson liquid soaked into the front of her uniform, staining it a very dark red. Nikkie fell to her knees, cupping her hands to catch the flow of blood as it oozed onto the forest floor.

Snake leaped forward, arm cocked back in a twisted rage. His fist connected with Black Warrior's mask, knocking the tempered metal from his face. The vision of Black Warrior's mask left his eyes, and the forest was a new shade. Red masked the background, the blackened trees showing the only difference in the scene. His blood was a bright orange in his own eyes, a fire erupting from his own waist, to match the pain. Nikkie's blood turned a yellow color. Black Warrior's dreads whipped back at him as his head recoiled back, temporarily losing balance. A mandible dislocated itself....needed to be popped back later...

The next thing he saw was Snake's head. Snake produced a face of rage behind the souless steel faceplate. The black metal mask obscuring his face was a darkened blue in the vision of the hunter. His uniform was torn, flashes of green showing through a pure blue figure.

Snake tried to pounce oncemore, but Black Warrior brought his armblade up, piercing Snake's right shoulder. The armblade sunk in deep, its smoothed blue(vision) blade sliding into the meat and bone of the marine. Snake's weight was too much for an unbalaced hunter on one arm, and he fell. Snake hit the floor, dazed...evidence of blood left a bright yellow coating on the armblade. The pains and blood pouring from his waist had grown worse. The blood was attempting to clot, but the pains made every abdominal muscle spark to life with a searing pain.

Both marines and yautja were trying to recover, but could not stop fighting, for fear of death. Death however, was not feared by Black Warrior, he'd seen the edge of its black abyss.....and now....he would bring it upon his prey.



D- (2/4)
N- (3/4)

The sun was indeed beginning to beat down on the party, and to look out towards the horizon would cause the eyes to almost see the waves of heat as they radiated from the grains of sand. Gene had long since held her tongue when it came to adding to the conversations. If anything, she hadn't said a word since joking earlier.

"One enemy will come by day, another by night."

She remembered her fathers words, when they had gone into the deserts of Australia. And in the back of her mind she knew that soon enough, they would be fighting to survive another harsh condition of the desert. The cold.

But for now, the thought of some cold was heavenly, but it was still a worrying thought. Walking up ahead, Gene was using her compass and then the sun as a bearing. She had led them on, out over the small rolling dunes that were almost untraceable and that would not even have raised two foot at their peaks. However, hour after hour had made her concentrate on these small observations, because she didn't want to fall into a timeless walk that would lead her to death. Every kilometer or so she would stop and turn around, making sure their footprints had not curved around drastically behind them.

Her lips were dry, her tongue the same but she knew that as long as there was water within her blood, to keep her body going that she would not drink from her canteen. Not to wet her lips at least.

Xavier had woken, and Gene had sighed in relief, mainly because now they would have an extra set of eyes, an extra set of hands to hold a weapon and two more feet so they could hurry along.

Then someone had fallen, unconscious it seemed into the sands. That was a bad sign, and would mean they were back to the same old problem of carrying dead weight. She wanted in some way to leave them behind, to just make sure to take enough to clone them if they survived. But instead the human side that wasn't changed forever by the thought of immortality knew she had to wait. Sam was a good leader, and it showed in his devotion to the team. A good trait in a man...but he seemed to have enough fans among the woman, Gene wouldn't want to add to that.

Turning back around they continued walking for a few minutes, slower now to help Sam keep up, and eventually he called their new orders out.

"Righto boss," Gene said as she turned on the spot and walked back down past him. Pausing she noticed the sweat on his brow from the exertion and reached up to peel one of the packs he had to carry off and slung it over her own shoulder.

"My load is uneven, I need this pack to balance me out. Sorry boss."

It was a lame excuse, but with a grim smile she headed off down the line of people to cover their six. Holding up her tracker and scanning as she walked backwards. Keeping an eye on her path as to not fall backwards into the sand.

"If only the sun and the moon were our only enemy out here."

Her words were whispers, but she breathed in to calm her nerves.

Predators...
Xenomorphs...

Heat...
Cold...

Dehydration...
Madness...

There was also something else, the hunter in her could sense a much larger existence out in the desert. A presence, whether good or bad. Her gut was not often wrong, and her eyes became more sharper when she thought of Nikkie, and Shadow and the poor souls out there, without backup.

The humans continued to go about their pointless meanderings as Predator428 watched through his visor, their playful actions sickening to the eye. Stranded on an unknown planet with the threat as his fellow hunters secretly closing in on them, and they continued to act like fools as they played around. Predator428's disgust of these vermin always found a new source. His own kind would have never dropped their guard in a situation such as this. They would have stayed determined and watchful until a solution was found. But no, the apes continued to wander aimlessly through the wastes without a hint of professionalism.

It was almost cause for Predator428 to activate his weapons, to literal wipe the smiles off their faces with fist and blade. But no. All he could do was watch and wait. It was the predator's own fault for allowing them to move to the open ground of the desert, far away from the perfect stalking ground that was the wrecked ship. He supposed that he couldn't have helped the fact that most of the vermin had never left their groups, but it did not help to alleviate Predator428's anger at allowing them to venture this far.

He was currently in a sitting position a good distance from the apes. They had taken a short stop to remove one of their injured from the stretcher carrying it. It wasn't long before they were back on their way, forcing him to keep up his slow crawl as to prevent losing site of them. Predator428 took the time to scan the horizon ahead of them, looking for any sort of indication of what they could be headed for.

The hunter's positioning system showed them to be walking in the general direction of the mining camp, strangely enough. Directly in between them was a form of grave yard. It was the same collection of dried up bones and carcasses that Black Warrior had been meditating in earlier in the day. If the apes continued in the direction of the camp, they would have to walk straight through the graveyard.

Predator428 sincerely hoped that they were headed for the mine.

i cloaked walked to the neerest screen. i ran my finger along the red stip of my wrist computer opening it. i activated radiation vision seeing strait to the core. i colected the bearing and changed to infared. i saw heat signatures sneaking around. Xenomorphs, Yautja and humans

it came to mind that xenomorphs are out of their climate relating in that they would be more imobilised, and if their anything like the xenomorphs we have enginieered to hunt. they will adapt and take over the land, i need to get to the power core. i headed of into a hallway. their was a large shaft headining down around 10 floors. i pulled out my mauls and lept digging them into the walls slowing my decent.

The Hive was coming along nicely. Gaunt had led the construction well, all that was needed was a Queen, and more hosts. They had a few, but not nearly enough to start their eventual conquering of their new home. They needed to get take the next step, someone needed to molt. Avier had not brought it up. He hadn’t wanted there to be anymore infighting. For the time being finding more hosts would do.

Avier led the small gathering back into the ship. With luck, more hosts could be found. As he entered it seemed to be empty, or at least devoid of life. Perhaps there were fewer survivors then he thought. His first instinct was to check the sleeping chambers. The darkness enveloped the room, Avier signaled to the others to search the room, to capture any living hosts, and then return to the ship.

They had poor luck. There had been two living hosts, but they did not seem likely to survive. If a Queen did not emerge soon they certainly would not be viable hosts. Avier motioned them back to the Hive, some stayed with him, continuing to comb the ship for valuable hosts. They long narrow hallways gave them a quick estimate to any living hosts in the area.
A loud thunder put Avier on edge. He checked to see who was still with him, Gaunt stood directly behind him, a comfort. The others were not worthy of note, and as a group they proceeded, Avier leading them with Gaunt in the rear. They crept cautiously through the ship; it seemed there was still something stirring.

Down a few more corridors and the sounds of humming became stronger. Avier looked back at Gaunt, he too noticed the sound. The ship was still powered. The crash had brought down most of the ship, but not all. Avier told the others to stay alert, if the ship was powered perhaps some humans had stayed, leaving them some valuable hosts. He continued on toward the growing hum.

The occasional socket shorted out as they traversed the halls. If there were humans they would be hard to surprise, the long hallways gave no cover as the pack moved. Then he spotted it, a ventilation shaft. He left the pack to Gaunt, who took the lead, and then followed them from the shaft travelling with the main hallway.

A few moments later the hallway turned, and with it the vents Avier had been crawling through. At the end of the next long hallway sat a Predator, slumped over, but alive. Avier wanted the new host. With a screech the aliens below him leapt into action.

Avire7777 had crawled into the ventallation shalft leaving Gaunt in command of the drones, They all looked at him waiting for orders.

A sudden screech came echoing out of the shalft that Avire had entered, Gaunt let out a quick and loud hiss ordering all the other drones to follow him, He jumped into the vent and started to run, homing onto Avires possition, A group of drones behind him ready to back him up.

Gaunt took a sudden turn and found Avire, As he stopped all the drones pilled up behind him in the vent, Gaunt looked past Avire, A Pred...perfect.
Avire hissed to him, It seemed he wanted to take the Pred.

Avire pounced on the Pred, It put up little stuggle against Avire and quickly ended up in his iron grasp, Avire hissed at Gaunt he wanted to pass now, Probably so he could take the Pred back to the Hive.

Gaunt turned to the drones behind him and hissed 'Spread out and search for any suitable hosts, Once you find one bring It back to the Hive'.
The drones scattered imediatly, Heading of in any direction they could, Some even ripped through the thin metal of the vent.

Gaunt let Avire pass, He sat there for a moment, He heard some thing thump underneath his possition, He ripped through the metal under him and started to desend, The sound got louder, It was time for them to havest the ones they had left behind.

I pulled up my wrist com and ran my finger along the red bar opening it. i had a mesage from central. just as i got to the bottom i have to head back. it say'd i canot destroy the core as the blast radius would hit all of the mining outposts, i had to head back to central.

i turned back to climb back up. i hate when i wasted time. i climbed as fast as i could to get back. i put my arm on the bar 10ft from the ground. i jumped to latch onto the next bar befor pulling myself up. i walked through the hallway back inside the loading dock. i open my wrist com and called my ship. i ran as fast as i could to the open wall to the air. i lept only to see the ship glide towars me.

i landed on the hull. i would have to sit their while i wait to get back to the central base. i looked down to see the dust covering the landscape.

That man sat in the corner of an undesirable level of light, that level being none. The loner raised a fist in the animal's general direction, but he wasn't aware of its presence. His hand hadn't shown emotion, his fingers only curled to help endure whatever pain was felt. His hand had risen only to allow droplets of green gush onto the floor. And it uttered a familiar noise. It clicked.

The animal, or a bug if you would, sat in a very idle manner and blended in with that level of none almost perfectly. And it still waited. It would make only the slightest movements with its body while forcing its lower jaw to stay wide open and still. This, in turn, created a path for the endless of amount of saliva to ooze out of the spaces in between the bug's teeth.

Sitting in the corner was, as the answer had been a moment before, the man glowing green. Don't be frightened of a human adult, child. Yet sitting there was something else. An Other. Whatever was sitting in that corner, it was no man.

A longer and unrecorded amount of time passed and still there was no movement from either of the figures in the dark, both sitting, yet for completely different reasons.

Breathing becoming harder, the wounded loner gave one try to stand and leave that forsaken place in the shadows. It limped with far too much struggle. In for the kill without any reason in its mind, the bug stood up, though it had attracted the attention of the Other.

And without warning, a faint light flickered on and off. Its presence was known, but it hadn't known that for sure. It sees you! No it doesn't. No it doesn't...

The beast roared to deal with its confusion. Another second and it found itself rolling out of the way of an incoming projectile. The Other was weak but it wouldn't go down without some sort of last stand. The projectile raced back to its owner in a matter of seconds and it was thrown once more.

I'm tired of being right. Actually, I'm tired of you being wrong.

The bug aimed and forced its head crest into the hunter's body, pushing him into the wall. Before it could escape, another bug rushed onto the hunter. And then another... and another.

The pack, after disabling the hunter with ease, looked to the other presence in the area. Its initial response was hostility, but then its apparent leader noticed the bug was one of them.

It wasn't just one of them. The bug stood up and displayed its superior size, its beautiful crest sitting atop its head. It was no Queen, but it was one of her guardians.

They would lead their superior to their home, and it would once again find itself in a never-ending story...

FireHunter chased his prey for a while, but the predator soon out maneuvered him and FireHunter howled in fury. He gave up on the chase for now and instead turned in the direction of the Hive and climbed back out of the ship, growling in pain at his wounds, and he started running to where he sensed the Hive was stationed, the Hive was more important than prey, unfortunately.

Sand flicked up in a cloud of sorts as he tore through the desert towards the Hive where he would cocoon himself and become a Queen. FireHunter sensed his Hive up ahead, his running never slowed, he felt his power already beginning to pulse. He stopped abruptly and a shower of sand flew up into the air, he crawled into the Hive and cocooned his monstrous form.
His thirst for power and blood would be quenched.
He would capture the human holding the other queen.
He would be the savior of the Hive on this barren rock.
None would survive.

Clasping her hands over the ears in hopes to muffle the sound of the Predator's roar, almost folding her body in half, as she tried not to run off in to the woods and leave Snake-eyes there.

But when her brother got thrown from the beast’s shoulder as he tried to remove its neck guard and stab its throat, Nikkie jumped forward, her arms outstretched as she tried to gather Eyes in her small embrace, but what made her gasp out and scream in bloody murder, was the blood dripping down from her chest, soaking her pants. Her fingers trying to grasp the wound and shut it, she felt her life dancing before her. Her free hand picked up a fallen blade, either the Predator's or not, she didn’t care. It felt sharp in her hand, roaring the best as she could with her throat... One would admire how much passion she held in that roar.

Snake, gasping for air and shook his cobwebbed brain, scattering the small threads in the wind. He would groan if he had a voice box, but his own breath held that raspy groan, sounding like a dead man.

Nikkie brought the weapon up in attempt to stab the blackish creature as the night blanketed them. The blade flashed in the night sky, because the stars can be bright enough at some places. Dancing over the blade, the stars reflected off the black fake sheen. Running towards the black warrior, the girl growled as she attempted to twist the blade inside of the creature’s guts, bringing some out when she pulled the blade from the soft stomach.


The man tried once again to get a good hold on the creature in order to beat its lights out. The fingers curled back as the body flung itself in the air, landing on his chest, the feet planted in hopes to block his sister’s attack, to let the blade sink in the soft stomach. His hand reached back and as he started to go down and hit the black creature in the face, doing anything to harm it. The creature's arm blade bit into his shoulder and proceeded to fling him off to the side like a rag doll.

A predator miner rushed nimbly towards a small out door storage container located a few meters from the main facility entrance, he’d been working feverously for hours along with his clansmen to secure every bit of predator technology sprawled across the main facility’s grounds. Most of the technology was used for mining the precious mineral, placing this bundle of tools he carried in his arms would finish his work for now, leaving the very tired and sore miner some relief in his chambers. He toss the tools into the box, slamming the lid, activating the electronic locking system, “Beep!†the system was armed.

The weary miner turned to approach the main facility entrance, when he caught sight of a large blurred object screaming towards his position, before he was able to react, this unknown creature had already blown past him, jumping an astounding 20 feet above his head clearing him completely. It was only then that the miner was able to discover the unknown creature was the elder PREDATOR. PREDATOR smiled beneath his mask, he turned his head peering at the miner’s reaction as he easily jumped over the stunned fool‘s head. PREDATOR felt the need to run, he had already searched most of the main facility’s outer grounds for any signs of humans or xenomorph activity, his search kept coming up empty, he’d decided to bother one of the frantic miners.

Most of the miners now resided inside the main facility, some resting some preparing. The one PREDATOR had stunned now rushed towards the mine facility’s entrance after paying his respects to PREDATOR, to avoid being punished. PREDATOR scanned the sleepy courtyard, only a few of the once busy miners remained about, most of whom had finished their tasks and seemed to drift back to their respective posts. However, one miner seem to be approaching PREDATOR, the slender figure and height of this miner was indicative of that of being a female.

Not many were seen outside of the predator home world and surrounding colonies, although it was not strange to see females in places like this or even at hunts and ritual gatherings. Most females were smaller than their male counterparts, it was uncommon to see females larger than males, however their size did not limit their abilities or strengths, it only increased them. This female now stood before PREDATOR he stared at her face, her eyes told him much more than she would have wanted to give away. She quietly spoke, “My sister, she was killed by the humans, their…when their ship crashed…†PREDATOR now gave her, his full attention “She cared for the elder DeathDrop…†Ha, PREDATOR thought to himself, who would be foolish enough to show an interest in DeathDrop? He wasn’t exactly able to perform certain ‘tasks’ involving females, at least that was one of the rumors PREDATOR had heard.

PREDATOR knotted his head in understanding, the female let her head drop. Through of the thousands of years of conflict PREDATOR had become numb to many emotions, this left him annoyed about his current predicament. The only thing he could think of doing was to….. walk away, he started off back on his previous patrol route. He peered over his shoulder, there was the female following him. “Eh†PREDATOR left out a little growl, she now walked along side him, PREDATOR tried to shrug off the wave of irritation that washed over him, “Could use the company†he thought. They walked together around the facility silently patrolling, PREDATOR would stop from time to time staring off into the distance searching for his prey.

Her world swirled and twisted until finally, darkness. Unconsciousness was always a terrible state for the Lieutenant, especially in these kinds of conditions. Stress, self doubt, even dehydration was never good for anybody, especially someone with a split personality. Even now Ellesa could feel this other presence within her mind, haunting her as it lingered. The woman sat within the dark void alone, her own breath sounded as if it resounded through unseen walls. What kind of horrible dream was this? Her gut wrenched and churned, something wasn’t right here. Suddenly, blinding, white lights flashed on and flooded the small room. Quickly the woman threw her hands over her face to shield her eyes from the harsh change.

Ellesa squinted as her dilated pupils slowly adjusted. However, what she saw before her caused her to wish she had never opened her eyes in the first place. There, standing over Kidd’s cyrotube, stood a looming figure clad in a bullet proof vest that engulfed his entire chest. Not an inch of his skin was shown as it was covered in a matte black body suit topped with a chilling gasmask upon his face. For a moment, one could have mistaken this man to be Snake, in some way. But he was far from. Glass covered eyes slowly turned to look up at her and sent a chill trickling down her spine. Slowly he tilted his head to the side as he looked at her curiously. Without a word the mysterious man known as “Winter Ghost†turned back towards the sleeping figure of Junior below. As if to taunt the woman, he slowly raised his gloved hands and placed them upon the frosted glass.

“You’re going to let me kill him, you know.†his dark, menacing voice echoed around the white room. Ellesa gritted her teeth tightly and attempted to lung at the man. However, something unseen was holding her back, invisible shackles? Damn this vision! Cooper struggled and writhed helplessly against her restraints then made a feeble attempt to close her eyes. But a vile force willed her to open her eyes as this horrible personality lifted his baton sword above Kidd’s cell. “I’m going to kill them all, Ellesa. All of them. I’ll start with your entire team…they will not leave this planet in one piece. But instead…many.†his words were as cold and flat as slate. Not a single drop of emotion lingered within them. Just emptiness. “And then, I’ll finish with him.†with those last words he rammed his sword down into the tube like a knife through butter.

The inside of the once transparent hatch was now covered in fresh blood, in this horrendous dream, Junior was dead. The sheer concept of his words and this heartbreaking image startled her awake. Cooper’s own curdled, scream still echoed through her ears. Naturally Ellesa struggled weakly against Sam’s strong grip but quickly stopped when she recognized exactly where she was. Right back in that damned desert. The woman allowed a soft sigh to escape her lips as she seemed to fall limp against his shoulder. Her head still spun and her light headedness continued to linger. Obviously her dream had disturbed her some, she knew she would never allow herself to do such things.

Though that didn’t stop her from becoming troubled about it. Perhaps it was a warning of some sort? Softly the woman shook her head and allowed her senses to returned fully. Her lips were chap, her mouth incredibly dry. “I need some water.†she croaked. Cooper placed her hands upon Sam’s shoulders and lifted herself up, “You can let me down now. Thank you...Dunn.†she waited for him to give her leeway before she slid off of him and placed her boots firmly on the hot sand below her. Without a word the woman dusted off the remaining sand from her person, all the while keeping her head down. A light flush had graced her cheeks, a small sign of her embarrassment.

Cooper had succumbed to, not only a mental black out, but to heat exhaustion. So much for being useful. This, she swore, would quickly change. The woman took the rifle that had been slung around her shoulder and placed it firmly within her trigger-happy hands. Even in this barren, Ellesa would not allow her guard to drop. Not after passing out anyway. Quietly she turned her gaze to the south, large bones struck out against the horizon. An eerie sight indeed. “Something isn’t right.†she muttered to herself. Call it instincts or simple paranoia. Whatever it was, it bothered her to a point of uneasiness. Ellesa’s eyes then fell upon the other woman. Her features were tight with distraught as well. “Hmm.†she hummed to herself before returning her attention back to the group as a whole.

“I take it we’ve made no further contact with Nikkie and her team?†she didn’t wait for an answer for it was plainly written on everyone’s faces. “Fuck…†she cursed under her breath and sighed heavily, “I should have kept a better eye on her.†she muttered, beating herself up over the situation. With an even quieter whisper she spoke, “They‘ll die because of my carelessness." But before she would allow herself to show any more signs of weakness, Cooper straightened up and grabbed the canteen at her side. She unscrewed the cap and leaned her head back as she pressed the opening to her lips. Half a sip left. But it was better than nothing, at least her mouth was moist once more. Ellesa screwed the cap back into place and hooked the canteen back to her belt. “Any idea where we’re headed exactly?†she looked up at Sam as she asked this. Her leadership meant nothing here, not now anyway. Ellesa would treat him as an equal, if not more. Dunn had done far too much for this platoon to deserve anything less from her. She had no reason not to trust him. If he had wanted her dead, he would have left her behind.

Gaunt had got there in the end.
The Human didnt put up much of a fight but that combat knife was bloody anoying.

As Gaunt picked up the Human he started to scream for help, Gaunt looked up, Well there was the way he came in he may as well go back the same way.

He stopped for a moment to see what the others were doing, Only two of the five drones were left now looked like their hunt for hosts had been successful, Gaunt sensed anouthe leaving the ship, Firehunter.

Well at least he was alive, With the host in his strong grip Gaunt leapt upwards to the ripped airvent and went back through, After getting out of the ship he started to head back to the Hive.

As Gaunt got closer he could sense something stange, Almost like It was a pychic ... WHAT?!.
Gaunt started to run at full pelt towards the Hive, He had excitement going through his mind now, Were they finally getting a Queen?

As he entered the Hive he found Avire7777 in one of the egg chambers, Gaunt looked to see that same Pred that they had found in the ship earlyier, Slimed against the wall along with several other Humans, Gaunt quickly slimed his host to the wall and went into the Queens chamber.

There he saw a cacoon, Inside he could sense Firehunter, The pychic conection was getting stronger more drones were crowding around the chamber enterance now, Gaunt backed away to the enterance and into the crowd of drones.

All they could do now was wait.

Sand, rocks, blistering heat. I've seen it all before. The air's so dry that it the wind literally scrapes against your skin and it hurts to even breathe, but that's nothing new. My boots and the lower parts of my trousers are covered in fine, red sand, and the areas where Jean's hydraulic fluid hit me are also covered in sand. My hands, legs and feet feel like someone's replaced the bones with lead, and it's a struggle to keep walking. I know better to stop. If you stop going, it'll become that much harder to start again. Long-distance walking through the desert isn't new to me, I used to do it all the time back home. That's why I'm still making good time, even with the pain and Cooper slung over my shoulder. It's also why I'm still making sure to keep my situational awareness. Damned if I am going to slip up and get everyone killed. I promised myself a long time ago that I would never die sober, and I haven't had a beer all day. I need to conserve body fluids, and alcohol won't help me with that. Gene's had a few, I think, but she can hold her liquor better than I can and she's tough as an ox; she'll be fine.

Every three steps, I pivot my Smartgun and look over my left shoulder to check that Jean's still there, and that there are no hostiles in that sector. If there were, my Smartgun would pick 'em up, but that doesn't stop me from using my eyes to check for enemies anyway. Machines can fail, eyes don't. The fact my eyes themselves are machines doesn't stop me from using the old phrase. I may have lost the originals, but these are just as good. If not better. I raise an arm and wipe the dust from my goggles with a gloved hand, trying to see if there is anything to my left. Nothing, just sand and dust and rocks, for kilometers on end. Back'O'Burke indeed. The desolation sparks a twinge deep inside me, a feeling of familiarity and comradeship. The spirit of the land survives, and so will I. Turning a little further, I look at Jean, still wearing that flight suit and soldiering on like a true Outbacker. I can't help but smile, though through the improvised dustmask she'll never see it. I don't know why I smile, I just do.

There's something there. Some kind of connection, some understanding. I can't really explain it. I know I'll have to talk to her when all this is over. Especially since I managed to get the contract for her before I started the repair job. It's a weird feeling, owning another person. She aint some robot to me, not anymore. She's a person, she's proven her humanity to me. First thing I am going to do is give her that contract so she's free. But not till we're out of here. Not till it's safe. Turning back to face my front, I see Xavier and Yue. Those pants are a bit tight, and the view is pretty good. She knows it. Oh, she knows it alright. From her walk, she isn't hiding it either. Nothing I ain't seen before. Like everyone else she's lugging a survival pack. With the hat, goggles and scarf she's faring a lot better, too. People adapt or they fall behind. Yue adapted, as always. I wonder if she knows I know about her recent promotion. Probably not.

Next to her is Xavier, making sure to check the horizon with his binoculars. From his lithe, predatory walk and the way he's holding his Pulse Rifle, I know he's on high alert. And at home. All of Outback Squad is, this place is so much like the Outback that I know I'm starting to get homesick. He glances over his shoulder back at me, and I incline my head in respect. He returns the gesture, then faces the front and continues doing his job. We don't need words, we've known each other too long for that. Same with Yue, but me and Xavier have been through the worst shit imaginable together. We're brothers now, brothers in arms. I look back over my shoulder towards Gene and Mark, and my faint grin remains on my face. We're all family. Gene, Mark, Xavier and me. Gene catches my eye and speeds up, quickly catching up with me. She tells me something about uneven weight, then takes Cooper's pack.

Uneven weight my tattooed arse. She's just making an excuse to help me out. I can manage, but still. It's a really sweet gesture. I help her get it slung over her other shoulder and smile.
“Thanks darlin. When ya don't want it anymore, Mark can have it.â€Â
I reply softly, taking a deep drag from my cigarette and letting the nicotine rush cool my nerves. Gene's a real beauty, and she's tough, too. I won't deny I've always liked her. I place a hand on her shoulder for a moment in thanks, before letting her drop back to her position in the formation. It isn't long before Yue drops back to talk to me as well. It's to be expected. I'm the commander, it's my job to help out, answer questions and talk in order to keep everyone informed, and in good spirits. She looks at me through those dust goggles and nods her head to me, murmuring that there's something I need to know. Apparently, she doesn't, as she informs me of her promotion.

I chuckle to myself, the sound harsher than it should be thanks to my parched throat. I'm keeping hydrated, but just. I want to conserve water, cuz we have no idea how long we'll be walking before we find some shelter. I continue chuckling, before shaking my head.
“Yeah, I heard that. I was there when they voted you in.â€Â
I don't feel any particular need to tell her that I actually was on the board that voted, and had voted for Edward Fletcher instead of her. She doesn't need to know that. It is still my belief that Corporate Security should take charge in these troubled times...but my contacts tell me she is doing an admirable job. It's nice to be wrong for a change. Especially since Fletcher has been MIA since I voted for him.

I wave her back up towards the front with Xavier, and check my angles again. No change to the left or right, but as I look behind me, my arms twitch, moving my weapon slightly. I look, but there's nothing there, so I check the bandage on my arm. It's leaking. The screwdriver went in pretty deep, and the bandage is leaking slightly. I make a hand signal for Gene to get over here. She's the squad medic, but that isn't the only reason I am calling her over. I can't shake the feeling we're being watched, and I am damn sure it was the smartgun that moved, not me. Still, if we're being observed I don't want to let the bastard know that I know. Hence, calling the medic.
“I'm getting the flickers. Are you?â€Â
I say it casually, keeping my smartgun facing towards the rear, clandestinely seeking a target lock. She looks me dead in the eye and nods. That's the other reason I called Gene over. She's carrying the motion tracker. If shes getting ghost readings too, that means only one thing. A pred's following us.

I signal for the group to halt, then 'harbor up'. It is a standard RACM procedure when a section is halting, to take up defensive positions. Since we have an increased squad, it is far more effective than a squad formation. Everyone ditches their bags and hunkers down behind them, forming a defensive circle. No-one's looking too wary about it, though. It's just standard procedure. I turn and look behind the squad, and see a man jogging towards us. He's wearing a dark W-Y security uniform. Must be Delta, then. I watch as he arrives, and nod in greeting.

Not a pred then, just a Corporate trying to catch up to us. Damn, now that's a bloody relief.
“Glad you were able to find us, soldier. Take a minute to catch your breath and report to Yue.â€Â
I don't have any real authority over him, so the words are just a suggestion and not an order, and the tone in my voice conveys that. I place a hand on his shoulder and nod. It's good to have him back. Even if he is a traitor.

I sit down in the center of the formation and watch the south. Wordlessly, Xavier hands me the binoculars and points to the south-east of our position. I can barely make out some kind of formation in the distance...looks like bones. But massive, gigantic bones. Some kind of elephant graveyard? It would make excellent shelter...but it would also make a perfect position for an enemy to ambush from.
“Alright team, listen up.â€Â
I declare, making sure I have everyone's attention...though they still are watching their angles like good, professional soldiers...which most of them are. Those who aren't are doing a damn good impression of it, though.

I am about to continue, but Cooper wakes up.

“Good to have you back, ma'am.†I say as she takes her pack from Gene, and grabs a water bottle from it.

“Okay everyone – here's the deal. Xavier's spotted some kind of elephant graveyard on the horizon, so we're going to make for that. It'll be good shelter from this bloody heat. We're a good distance from the ship and the bugs now, so I think we can assume we're somewhat safe. No word from Alpha Squad yet, so either their transmissions are jammed or they are all KIA. We can't get to them, so we are going to have to assume the worst. At least they bought us time. So, we'll rest here for 15, then make for the graveyard. Once there, we will set up a perimeter, clear away a 50m area for a camp, and use the graveyard as a temporary encampment. Looks like the desert ends just before we get there, so with luck we'll find water, too.â€Â



"Take 15, everyone. We're as safe here as we'll ever be."

Snake had come back, his left arm falling limp from the deep wound carved into his chest and shoulder. Crimson blood sparked into a luminous yellow as Bw's vision distorted reality. Black Warrior detached his smartdisk, this, would NOT jam. The disk flew through the air as the muscular arm of BW launched it. The smartdisk flew upward, slicing through a large treebranch, and then on a course returning to its owner. The branch fell, and Snake attempted to avoid it, taking struggled movements. The limb came crashing to the forest floor, a marine figure trapped beneath its thick and grasping limbs.
Before the disk landed in the hand of BW, it fell to the floor....Adrenaline had taken hold of the female as her brother was being crushed. Nikkie furiously rushed, overpowering the gash in her chest, hands held low to stop the spreading of the skin. A black metallic blade shined in the light as she lunged forward.

She missed her intended mark, Black Warrior's reflexes were far too fast. The soft meat of Black Warrior's stomach was avoided, the hunter's muscular build contorting and twisting to redirect the blade.
A sharp pain, the cold metal bit into his flesh, a searing burn escaping into the hardened muscle in the bicep of the hunters left arm. Black Warrior growled into the darkened sky of the forest, few rays of white light shining down into the blackened trees in a backdrop of red. Orange liquid oozed from the hunters shoulder, the many shades of color overlapping the twisted face of Nikkie. Power coursed through the hunter's veins, his muscles contracting, pulsing...

In a swift turn, Black Warrior shifted right. The blade tore through more flesh, the serrated edges digging into the muscle, stretching and tearing the fibers. Despite his left bicep being shredded, he brought his right arm up. The scaled reptilian knuckle burst forth into the humans face. A sickening crack echoed, Nikkie spit blood onto the hunter's armor, the warm liquid sending a course of life on the forest floor. She twisted, tried with all her might to push the blade deeper, but the arm of the hunter would not allow her, and her feet slid against the foliage of the forest floor.

Black Warrior brought his fist back again. Meanwhile, Snake forcefully freed himself from the grip of the heavy tree limb. His energy was drained, and Snake watched on, unable to launch an assault on the god of death. The blood brought him to his knees, and the life seeping from his wound slowed the events in his mind. He watched in horror, eyes widening as the final blows were dealt. His voicebox, locked in perpetual silence, where the screams of agony would never escape.

Black Warrior turned his arm, his fist now verticle, and the armblade glaring into the face of Nikkie...
With a loud howl, Black Warrior rose from his knees, his clawed boots scraping away the dirt as his form rose to full height amongst the forest. Nikkie held onto the blade, not wanting to release the instrument of pain locking into the bicep of the hunter. Black Warrior began to step forward, Nikkie taking one back in compensation. Soon the two would move no further, Nikkie's back was pushed against the uneven and splintered bark of a tree. Black Warrior finally pushed his arm forward and alittle lower than its original position at her head. The armblade slid into Nikkie's chest, the sharpened metal cutting through flesh like a hot knife through butter. The god of death pushed on, allowing the full length of the blade to be coated in the seemingly yellowish blood that once had a crimson color. Nikkie let out shallow breaths, tears falling as in a river as she hung for dear life on a thread being shaved ever so thin. Finally, the warm insides of the human pushed against the knuckles of the hunter, and with a twisted grin on his face, he chuckled.

Nikkie coughed up blood, showering the neck of the hunter as she was lifted from the ground. Tension in the god of death's arm released, his massive fist dividing the ribcage and collarbone of the human. The armblade began to slice into the tree behind the human, as his fist moved. In a final act, Nikkie let out a sorrowful wail, like that of a banshee, as her lungs and organs were crushed under the force of the hunter. The blood gushed from the now crushed and split chest of the human, skin hanging loosely around the arm invading her chest cavity. Black Warrior's fingers wrapped around the spine of the human, slippery with the blood still warm with life. With a tug, Nikkie's spine gave, and her head, dislodging from its perch on her shoulders, followed.

The trophy could not be relished yet...for the mute was still a threat....and as the god of death turned, his dreads whipping to the side, he saw Snake....

D(3/4)
N(Dead)