Predator

**Author’s Note: Okay I said I was going to incorporate TCOR into the story and so I have. From here on you will find actual lines used in the movie along with my own dramatic flair for the scenes that they are in. I’ve made some changes to make Riddick more like the character he is playing in Predator. So here we go!**

Chapter 31

As soon as Riddick exited slipstream into the Helion system he engaged the cloaking device of his fighter and navigated towards Helion Prime. His thoughts were overrun with concern for his wife and unborn child. He knew he had a major battle coming and had to clear his mind of his worry to ensure his survival but it was proving to be a difficult task to accomplish.

‘Damnit Alex, why does our life have to be so fucking difficult? Is it too much to ask that after everything we’ve been through to be able to live a normal life for a change?’

‘Richard, if we were normal people we never would have met.’ He let out a small laugh when he heard her reply in his head. ‘I promise you this. Once we are done with this matter and our baby is born we won’t have any more battles to fight.’

‘I’ll hold you to that, darlin.’ He began to enter the atmosphere of his destination and for the first time in his life he felt dread fill him when he knew the time was finally here. ‘I don’t want to be here. I have so much to lose now.’

‘There are things in your past that you have to come to terms with and matters you have to resolve.’ He felt her love flow into him from several star systems away and his urge to settle this moved to the forefront of his mind with a reassuring push from Alex. ‘You won’t lose anything here but you have something to gain there. I love you.’

‘I love you, baby.’ He set his craft down on the outskirts of New Mecca and used the onboard computer to get a location on Imam. The readout came back with his address in the city and some information that Riddick found interesting. ‘He’s married and had a daughter.’ A file attached to Imam’s profile came up that changed his attitude to anger. ‘That son of a bitch.’

A topographical scan of the planet showed several large ships had touched down on the surface and fighting had broken out in every major city. It appeared the local military was trying to fend off the invaders and faring badly. He shut down the ship’s systems, turned on the beacon between them, and donned his weapons before he lowered the ramp. A look around the immediate area confirmed the ship’s check that the coast was clear so he sealed the hatch and melted into the shadows.

~*~

Alexandra was pacing on the bridge of her flagship while she awaited word from Tyr and Rhade on whether or not the Alphas would attend this peace conference on Achilles. She picked this uninhabited world for the meeting so all parties involved would be on equal footing. She turned when she heard them approach and stamped her foot impatiently. “Well?”

“I got the Volsung, Orca, and Jaguar-Sabra Prides to commit to the meeting.” Tyr read off of a flexi and ticked off the numbers on his fingers. “Charlemagne Bolivar sends his regards by the way. I will be representing the Kodiak. I also have the Prija, Bree, and Scorpion Prides willing to show up if you are fitted with a restraining collar.”

“Not likely but I will make sure those particular pricks are present whether they agree or not and that is just for their insolence in demanding I wear a collar that would put them in greater danger than they already are when my power isn’t pissed.” She turned to Rhade and raised her eyebrow expectantly. “Who did you get?”

“Everyone else except for the smaller Prides that have gone into hiding. The Drago-Katsov, Arkon, Falcon, Rhion, and Triton Prides. I will represent the Majoram Pride of course.” He smiled proudly at the list he compiled and glared at Tyr. “I can guarantee that none off the Prides I contacted would even dream of demanding you wear a restraining collar especially after I showed them the scan of the debris that use to be the Magog Worldship.”

“Excellent. We should be setting down on Achilles within two hours. I have located a building in the ruins for our little gathering so forward the coordinates to the Alphas and make sure they are on time. Okay?”

“All of mine will be on time.” Rhade smiled at Alex and smirked at Tyr when she had turned her back on him. “I am not the former Alpha of the Nietzchean Empire but no restraining collar will be necessary and I hardly had to convince them to show up. I don’t think they will give you any resistance.”

Tyr’s growl in response to Rhade’s dig died in his throat when he saw his mate’s arched eyebrow and bemused grin. “What are you getting all growlly for? He’s right. You should have some leverage with those fuckers that want me to wear the damn collar. I could go with my original plan of me making them commit but I think you should do it instead.”

“They will be at the table at the appointed time with no conditions on their acceptance.”

“Good.” She smiled at her mate’s competitive nature to outdo Rhade and knew she would face to the ramifications of getting caught between two Alpha Nietzcheans. “You two play nice for a little while. I am going to attend to our son’s needs in my quarters.”

The 2 males watched her stride from the bridge before they turned to regard each other. “You have some explaining to do, Rhade.”

“What would you have me explain, Anasazi?”

“How about your connection to my mate?” Tyr crossed his large arms over his chest and glared at Rhade with deadly calm eyes. “No one has ever heard of you. You are not mentioned in her archives and yet you stroll into her palace like you belong there. You hold her and treat her like a wife but that can’t be, can it?”

“I don’t know, Tyr, can it?” He smirked at his obvious tension and shook his head. “I am wearing a helix but you don’t know anything about me or my wife. She could be my mate but if she is she decided to keep that information from all of you by leaving our history together out of the Phoenix archives. So I guess that means one thing.”

“What would that be?”

“It’s none of your damn business.” He headed up the ramp to leave the bridge and Tyr heard him clearly say. “I’m going to check on my…Alex.” He was laughing as he left command.

~*~

Imam quickly moved through the streets packed with panicked civilians towards his home. The situation on the planet was swiftly getting out of control and he had to get his family somewhere safe. He hoped it wouldn’t come to this. Aereon told him that one man could be their only salvation and hesitantly gave up his location but there had been no sign of him yet.

He entered his darkened home with the hopeless words of his fellow people ringing in his ears. ‘There is no hope.’ That was the last thing he heard one of them say before he shut the door behind him. He went to climb the stairs when the sound of scraping metal stopped him in his tracks.

“Did you know all your doors were locked?” Came a familiar deep bass voice that he knew so well. “Five years ago I took two people off that planet. A kid, Jack, who everyone else thought was a boy and a holy man searching for New Mecca.” Imam glanced to the upper level of his house for a second. “Your wife…she’s in the shower.”

Riddick turned his cold silver eyes to the leery Imam and fixed him with his glare. “I told one man where I might go. I showed trust to one man.” He slowly closed the distance between them. “Did I make a mistake, Imam?”

“There is no simple answer…” He found a blade at his throat before he could finish the hurried sentence. “Whatever was said was meant to give us a chance. A fighting chance. Were it not for the threat of invasion I never would have betrayed you.”

Riddick sensed a presence watching him and turned to glance up at the loft. A young girl with eyes like Alex’s was staring at him in curiosity as he held a knife at her father’s throat. “You have my word, Riddick.”

“Riddick?” The young girl rose from her hiding place while her mother came up behind her.

She was wearing a robe and had her hair wrapped up fresh from the shower. She stared at the large man with a fear in her eyes. “Riddick.”

Riddick removed the knife and moved to the end of the stairs staring at the child. “Your daughter…whose name would be…”

“If you have issues with me than let it be with me.” Riddick glanced back at Imam as he took a defensive tone to protect his family. “You need not know their names.”

“Ziza.” The child said to her father’s ultimate frustration. “My name is Ziza.”

Riddick placed his hands on both of the stair banisters and grinned at the girl. “Ziza.” He looked at her father. “Cute kid.”

“Did you really kill monsters? The ones that were going to hurt my father?”

Imam met Riddick’s glance and shook his head. “Such are our bedtime stories.”

His wife ushered the Ziza towards the hall by her shoulders. “Go Ziza.” Her daughter hesitated to stay and her mother urged her on her way. “Go on.” She glanced back at her husband and the man she had heard stories about and hurried down the hall to follow her daughter.

“Now who do I have to kill to get this payday off my head?”

A short time later a group of hooded men ushered in to Imam’s house along with the Elemental, Aereon. He faced a barrage of questions about his past, his people, and his abilities. The Elemental spoke of balance in the universe and asked if there were any more like him.

“Sister, they don’t know what to do with one of me.”

A banging on the door signaled the local military’s arrival and interrupted their conversation. Imam’s wife came rushing in. “They are searching houses for a man that came here today. They are thinking he might be a spy.”

“A spy?” Imam whispered.

“Did someone see him come here today?” She glared at Riddick. “Did they?”

“Stop.” Imam told his wife and turned to Riddick. “I will send them away but wait one minute please. Will you wait one minute to save worlds?”

“Not my fight.”

“So you will leave us to our fate.” Imam spoke as Riddick turned to climb out the window. “Just like you did her.” The holy man had a lot to lose and put all his cards on the table. It appeared he succeeded because Riddick paused in the window. The troops broke in the front door at that moment. Imam turned to the other men and ushered them out of the room. “Come let us try to send them away.”

Riddick watched from the window as the guards drug Imam’s wife and child out of their home and into the street. He heard his wife tell them there is no one here and one of the men say that they didn’t understand that this man could help them. The troops still in the house came into the room. He had his back to them with his hands poised over 2 candles that provided the only illumination for the room.

“You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?” He extinguished the flames with his palms and in the accompanying darkness took out all the opposition in the room. He walked out into the hall and found a petrified guard holding Imam at knifepoint against the wall. As he slowly approached the scared soldier dropped his blade on the floor and scampered off leaving the 2 men alone. “You mentioned her.”

“She went looking for you. People died and she went to prison. I don’t remember where but it was a world so hot you could not survive on the surface.”

“Crematoria.” Riddick descended the stairs in quiet inner fury.

“Young Jack thought of you as her older brother. She worshipped you.”

“You were supposed to watch her.” Riddick passed Imam on the stairs and continued down.

“She never forgave you for leaving just when she needed you most.”

He halted in his stride and was astonished at how badly those words hurt him. “She needed to stay away from me. You all do.” He walked out the door into the street to see Ziza’s big eyes staring up at him while her mother held her in her arms. He slowly passed them with every intention of leaving them behind.

“Riddick.” The girl pulled away from her parents and stopped the big man with a mere mention of his name. He looked back at the child’s face that was so full of hope that he prayed his own child would have the same faith in people as she did. “Are you going to stop the new monsters now?”

He looked at the people gathered on the street that were begging him with their eyes and glanced up at Aereon who has perched on Imam’s balcony before he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and disappeared down on alley. The air raid sirens were sounding in the distance heralding the Necromongers arrival in New Mecca.

~*~

Alex was lying in bed nursing Tamerlane when she felt her mate’s feelings assault her from two galaxies away. He was emotionally distraught and angry that he could not keep his feelings in control. ‘He learned of Jack’s fate after he left and he doesn’t know how to cope with that.’

She delved further into his thoughts and came to realize that Riddick wasn’t use to people relying on him. It was something that he was just learning to come to terms with amongst her family but this was an entire universe that needed him and it was too much.

“Furyans. Defiant to the end.” Aereon said as she watched him walk away.

Alex heard the Elemental’s words as she looked in on her mate and answered the woman. ‘You have no idea.’ She startled her when she spoke in her mind.

‘Who are you?’

‘Who do you think I am?’ She heard Aereon gasp in her mind and giggled softly. ‘That’s right, Aereon, and I sent him to you.’

‘Will he help us, Protector?’

‘I guarantee it.’ She closed her mind to Helion Prime when Tyr walked in to her quarters.

“We’ve landed.”

“Excellent.” She handed Tamerlane to Athena and pulled on her top. “What about the Nietzcheans?”

“They are waiting for you.” Rhade answered as he walked in. “I thought you would like to be fashionably late so I told them to arrive a half an hour early.”

“Perfect.” She smiled as she took both of their offered arms. “Let’s get this over with.”

~*~

Imam and his family were trying to make their way to a shelter when the aerial battle between the Helion military and Necromongers began. Debris and mass destruction were all that remained of several structures on the ground that stray blasts had struck. His family had been cut off from the shelter that they were headed to by the wreckage of a fallen Necro ship.

“The next shelter!” He veered them down an alley. “Quick!” They ran through the ruins of a building and Imam stopped before they left the cover it provided. “I’m going to see if it’s safe.” He cautiously slipped out on the street to look around. “Stay back.”

“Come, Ziza.” Lajjun pulled her daughter back behind a crumbled wall.

Imam glanced around at the deserted street and beckoned his wife. “Come.” Ground forces began to materialize on the street. The Necromongers were meeting the Helion military on the surface with pulse rifles and staff weapons. The crossfire separated Imam from his family. He moved to run to his wife and child when a pair of strong arms pulled him back into the rubble of a building behind him.

“Are you following me?” Riddick went for levity in intense situations. They hid in the shadows and watched the firefight between the 2 armies in the street.

The Helion troops were faring better against the invaders cutting them down as they rushed onward. Some took to hand to hand combat when they were within distance. One Necromonger soldier carried a staff to the center of the battlefield and drove it into the ground. As Helion gunfire took him down, he twisted the arming mechanism, which brought the weapon online. A bright light erupted forth from the staff and a blue ball of energy shot up into the sky as the Helion troops surrounded the dead Necromongers.

“Lajjun and Ziza!”

Riddick held Imam back with a hand on his chest. “When it’s over.”

“Let me go! I must get to my family!”

“When it’s over!”

The troops stared at the energy ball floating overhead in wonder. While their attention was focused upwards they failed to notice the squads of Necromonger troops that stood on the 4 darkened roads that surrounded the intersection. The energy coalesced above and widened into a solid circle that descended on to the Helion guards. The impact was so tremendous that it flattened the men with its mass and blew parts of the street in all directions.

“I borrowed a ship. You can ride along if you don’t mind riding with a convict.” Riddick told Imam after the Necros moved past.

“I thank you but I must get my family across the river. God willing there is still a shelter that…”

“I’m sure God has his tricks but getting out of places no one else can…that’s one of mine. Let’s get your family.” Riddick and Imam moved across the street and collected his wife and child.

They followed closely behind him as he guided him through the ruined buildings. He came to a stop and held his hand out indicating them to stop. Imam moved his family back into an alcove and Riddick hid in one across from their location as a Necromonger scouting party moved into their area.

They moved through the ruins and shot various guards that were hiding that their Lensors detected. When they moved in on Imam’s hiding place, he pushed his family further back into the alcove and ran out into the open. He yelled to get their attention focused on him and rushed as fast as possible down the street.

His planned diversion worked to some degree. The leader of the squad, named Irgun the Strange for the blade protruding from his back that he picked up in another battle, led a majority of his troops after Imam leaving only a couple of men and one Lensor behind.

The remaining Lensor and his handler detected Lajjun and Ziza’s heat signature and moved towards them. The terrified woman held her child close to her body and began to cry when she sensed their fate. The next thing the Lensor saw was Riddick’s features when he snapped his head completely around and dropped his dead corpse on top of the other Necro men.

Imam ran through the street trying to find a way to escape his followers. He hid behind a column when Irgun approached but stepped out into the open when he knew there was nowhere for him to go. “There will be an afterlife for me. Will there be for you?” He said calmly as he approached the large man. He smiled at Irgun as he swung a metal pipe towards his head.

After ensuring the safety of the holy man’s family, Riddick ran down the street in search of his friend. He slid to a stop on a balcony when he spotted Irgun and his troops leaving the area down below. He looked down at his feet when he smelled the coppery scent of blood and saw Imam’s necklace lying in a pool of it. He followed the trail of red to the edge of the balcony and looked over to see the dead body of his friend lying below.

Pain tore at his heart when he thought about that child growing up without her father. He had a child of his own with another on the way and did not want them to ever feel the heartache he knew Ziza was going to feel. He was angry with himself that he failed his friend and in the back of his mind he felt as if he let down Alex as well. She sent him here to save these people and he couldn’t even save the one that mattered. He bent down to retrieve Imam’s necklace and pocketed it before he melted back into the shadows.

~*~

As Tyr and Rhade escorted Alex towards the conference room, she gasped and staggered clutching her chest as Riddick’s pain and anger filtered into her soul. She held onto Tyr’s arm while Rhade tried to steady her and shuddered from the onslaught.

“Alex, are you okay?” Rhade asked as he tried to help her stand up straight.

“Richard…” She gasped as she still gripped Tyr’s arm and held her hand over her heart.

“Is he alright, my love?” Tyr gripped her shoulders and held her swaying still. She was still out of sorts from whatever she was feeling from his friend and didn’t answer right away. “Alex!”

‘Richard.’ She tuned out Rhade and Tyr and directed her thoughts into her mate’s mind. ‘I know you can hear me so don’t pretend that you can’t.’

‘Yeah, baby?’ Came a weary reply.

‘You haven’t let me down. You can never let me down.’

‘But Imam…’

‘I learned the hard way that I can’t save everyone and neither can you. I’m sorry about your friend but there is the bigger picture to look at. He wouldn’t abandon his people when you offered him a way out. That is the bigger picture. The universe is in danger when these Necros are running loose. If you can save your friends while you’re saving the universe then that is an added bonus.’

‘I understand but you will forgive me if I get my revenge.’

‘By all means, my love. Revenge is a wonderful thing when done for a damn good reason and what better reason than to avenge a friend. I love you.’

‘I love you too.’

She came back to her senses when Tyr began to shake her shoulders. “Baby, is Riddick alright?”

She stood up straight and composed herself. “No but he will be.” She took their arms again and walked towards the chamber ahead. “We have some business to attend to and I need to get it done quickly. He is going to need me soon and I have to be free to go to his aid.”