The Ripple of a Stone

The Ripple of a Stone

To Catch a Scent

Authors Note: This story I have written may not be exact with the customs and culture founded by the Predator movies, comics or stories but I have tired to stay in the area of their beliefs and ways. I have brought in elements from each of the categories and have combined them into one. I do not own Predator. Updates will be regular and changes will be made if any suggestions are made for me. Pronunciations at bottom. Some of the mentioned items in the yautja world are made up by me. Good Reading.

E.M.

When all ten hunters were off the ramp, it began to rise and fall back into the haul of the clocked DropShip. The soft whirring echo penetrated the air, not enough to over shadow the sound of the local nature, but loud enough to catch attention. Lord Khupiee and the others turn to watch as the ship rises and moves to its resting position above the Ooman training area, just as lord Khupiee prearranged. Before the others were to disband, they waited for last instructions from Lord Khupiee. Because this was no normal hunt, silence was not necessary nor welcomed under these circumstances. While the others talked amongst themselves, Dhm¡¯Ni began to study some of the strange plants that called this planet home. One of the first things Dhm¡¯Ni even noticed was how similar this reign was to the Homeworld. The heat and humidity was almost exact, just a tad cooler. Even the plant life was similar, granted the ones of the homeworld were colored differently and there size was much greater, it was still enough to remind him of home. Sya walked to the side of Dhm¡¯Ni to see what he was looking at.

¡°This place is rather odd isn¡¯t it?¡± Dhm¡¯Ni chirps softly.

¡°Undeniably it is. It reminds me of the Homeworld. Ohhh¡­it was been many seasons sense I have seen her.¡± Sya adds with a hint of sorrow, he truly wishes to see home again. But his responsibilities as Lord Khupiee Second and an Arbitrator prevent him from going back as often as he wanted too. Lord Khupiee turns and is now standing in front of the large group, over hearing Sya.

¡°We will be home soon enough.¡± Lord Khupiee chirps reassuringly. Pakka just stood with his back to the group, staring into this despicable planet. He hated this world with the most passion he has even known. He only came here to hunt but never saw Oomans as truly worthy pray. Most other Yautja would come here to gain honor and trophies, as many Ooman skulls as possible, but Pakka only had one Ooman skull. It was on his second hunt that he gained such a prized trophy. The Ooman put up an honorable fight and Pakka gained a great amount of scars that he proudly displays. But he will never again take an Ooman as a trophy, they are animals to him. Nothing more, nothing less...well...definitely not more but perhaps something less. Pakka lets out a stained sigh.

¡°I truly loath this place¡­¡± Pakka whispers to the wind. But with their hearing, they all heard him.

¡°Then let¡¯s keep this journey short Pakka,¡± Lord Khupiee clicks. He loved how Pakka hated this planet, ever sense they were children he held nothing but hate and revulsion for anything Ooman. ¡°Now, M¡¯Ho, Miy¡¯Hota and Bakkub, go to the Queen. She still rests in the cavern. If you find her worthy, call for others to help bring her in. We could use her on a Chiva. But do not hesitate to kill her if you see fit.¡± Lord Khupiee intentionally requested M¡¯Ho and Miy¡¯Hota and gave them the task of capturing the Queen because of their trapping skills. A new Queen was needed every now and then for Kainde Amedha Chivas, so he did not want to pass up this opportunity. Bakkub was sent along because of his knowledge. He was some what of a know-it-all, but his genius was well documented. The three nod to Lord Khupiee and begin the short crossing to the Queen. ¡°Dh¡¯Kn, Inkle, and Rathe, you three are too trek along the out-skirts of the Ooman settlement and kill all you see. Soft or Hard meat.¡± Dh¡¯Kn and Inkle were both excited for the hunt, they were both itching to use their famous fighting skills. But Rathe, he was thrilled at the idea. It had been to many seasons sense he hunted hard meat and was happy that we would join in. Well¡­he seemed to always be happy, considering that C¡¯ntlip was his best friend. They too nod and go off to their task. Before Lord Khupiee and his group left, he contacts his servant, Ykas¡¯e, who was more of an aid than a servant to him. Ykas¡¯e was a runt and an ETA. Very short and very small for a yautja. He was however a good aid to Lord Khupiee, almost an assistant, always keeping him on time for summits or informing him of certain matters that related to his clan.

¡°Yes Lord Khupiee?¡± The same shrill voice that informed him earlier of the Ooman movement came through the com.

¡°Ykas¡¯e, have a grouping of young bloods ready for if and when they Queen is brought in.¡± He clicks nonchalantly.

¡°So we have decided to take the Queen?¡± Ykas¡¯e asks.

¡°It depends on her condition. Have to Ship and hunters ready.¡±

¡°Yes sir.¡± Ykas¡¯e ends. With the conversation ended, he motions to Pakka, Sya and Dhm¡¯Ni to the Ooman settlement. They will hunt the Kainde Amedha in there, while the others do their parts.

It was a short walk to get to the Ooman buildings, Lord Khupiee took lead while the others trailed shortly behind him. The brush was not hard to travel, sand and stones were scattered between the spread trees. It didn¡¯t obstruct their route to their destination, but it was still a long silence, long enough for Sya and Dhm¡¯Ni to strike up a small conversation.

¡°You have hunted Soft Meat before, right Dhm¡¯Ni?¡± Sya asks, and gets only a nod from Dhm¡¯Ni as a response. ¡°Shame that today is not a day for Ooman trophies. Today is a day to hunt Hard Meat.¡±

¡°I do not think I will be taking Hard Meat trophies either. I would not want to remember this incident every time I walk into my trophy room.¡± Dhm¡¯Ni responds. He knew that today was defiantly not day for trophies and that they just needed to rid this world of the hard meats before anything.

Lord Khupiee was the first to reach an Ooman building. The perimeter of the settlement was basically a wall of large structures surrounding the training area. The particular building they arrived at was short compared to the others, and beside lay another, an exact replica of the one in front. Lord Khupiee signals with a taloned hand for Sya and Dhm¡¯Ni to scale the other, while he and Pakka would topple the one in front.

Climbing the barrier was effortless for Sya and Dhm¡¯Ni. The walls seemed to be made of sand or a soft material that they could easily puncture with their talons. However, just beneath the seemingly fragile exterior was a hard metal that stung the ends of Dhm¡¯Nis¡¯ fingers as he dug them deep to hurl himself upwards over the wall. A quiet crunch came from each climber as they burrowed into the helpless wall, leaving a trail of holes from their hands and feet. Once close enough to the top of the building, they hoisted themselves up and over the edge, dropping their heavy bodies on to roof. Once on top they could see that the area that they were now, which was level and had a four foot high ledge that rose above the flat surface, was uniform among all the buildings in the area. Together they walked to the opposite edge to view the lanes below. They found that there were intricate alleyways and roads for the Oomans to travel on. Some are smaller and narrower than others and some were very large.

¡°This is strange¡­¡± Dhm¡¯Ni says, he had never seen something like this before. He had only hunted Oomans in jungle and tropical settings. Never in a heavily populated area.

¡°Not true.¡± Sya says politely. ¡°The Oomans use machines to travel, some large some small. Nothing like our bytte, but the basic principles are the same. These passageways are used by those machines. By the way, Khupiee tells be Iyan¡¯Tha¡¯Te gave you a bytte as gift not to long ago.¡± Dhm¡¯Ni only let a small guttural grunt come from that statement. It was true that Iyan¡¯Tha¡¯Te gave him that gift and it was a stunning bytte, but it came from Iyan¡¯Tha¡¯Te. She was Lord Khupiees dominant female in his harem. And he hated her. Aesthetically speaking she was beautiful, but inside, as a huntress and as¡­a¡­¡®mother¡¯, she was horrific. After the death of Dhm¡¯Nis¡¯ mother, it took many seasons for him to take another mate. Iyan¡¯Tha¡¯Te was his first and so became the dominant when the group became larger. She was always wicked towards Dhm¡¯Ni, but not his older brother. In the later years when Dhm¡¯Ni became older and was able to defend himself against her attacks, she switched and started to spoil him and try to gain his favor but it never worked. The last thing she gave him was a bytte. An extremely small one to three passenger ship that you would use to get around the homeworld. Each bytte was fashioned to the owners¡¯ specific style and clan, for some young bloods it was a staple when they went through their Chiva. ¡°But you do not like it.¡± Sya chirps. Dhm¡¯Ni only looks away, Sya knew of his feelings for Iyan¡¯Tha¡¯Te, he felt the same way. There was something off with her but Lord Khupiee was fond of her and they could say nothing.

¡°Do you see them?¡± Lord Khupiee yells from the other rooftop. A bit startled that they were not doing what they were sent to do, Sya and Dhm¡¯Ni go through their sights and see many hard meats around the area.

¡°That we do Khupiee, I think that¡± In mid sentence Sya gets interrupted by a large blast radiating from a building across the way. To Dhm¡¯Ni it almost sounded like a shoulder cannon going off. Fascinated by the sound Sya and Dhm¡¯Ni begin to look for what ever made the noise and find a large dust cloud forming in the middle of the street they were just looking upon. In normal vision you would not have been able to see, but because they are wearing their masks, they could see in infrared. ¡°The Oomans¡­¡± Sya growls lowly. It seemed that the sound was of a blast making a hole big enough for the Oomans to get through, to get out of the building and to the outside. They knew that because the dust and debris was still dancing in the air and that the Oomans could not see like them, that they could have to wait. They formed a defensive structure with their bodies until they could see. Sya found it odd that they would even come out from their relatively safe area to go into this hell. They couldn¡¯t possibly think that they are safe¡­could they? There are tens of Hard Meat around here, yet they come out here to their certain deaths? Brave but stupid.

¡°I think we should trail the Oomans,¡± Dhm¡¯Ni speaks out. He too thought it strange they would come out, but he also thought it would be a good thing. ¡°The hard meat will be attracted by them, they come to the Oomans, and we kill them.¡±

¡°And what of the Oomans Dhm¡¯Ni, we cannot just use them as bait. It is dishonorable to use them in such away. But perhaps we will follow them to see how they fair against the Kainde Amedha. Then if and when they become over run by them, then we will take them all out.¡± Sya knew that the Oomans could not match with the Kainde Amedha, and that sooner or later they will fall by there hands. Sya signals to Lord Khupiee and Pakka telling them of their plan.
~

¡°I think that he just wants to watch his precious Oomans Khupiee. He is not dedicated to this hunt.¡± Pakka thought Sya to be brainless when it came to hunts concerning Oomans. Ever sense that one incident he had a soft spot for them. ¡°He gives to much credit towards them¡­they are nothing and yet he chooses not to hunt them anymore. If anything that action makes them worthy to be hunted, that little honor they would gain would make their skulls highly respected. But NO! He decides to watch them, learn their cultures, their ways. It¡¯s disgusting to see him having such favor to them.¡±

¡°In all our years together I have never known why you hate Oomans so much. Truthfully I do not care, I find it amusing that you think so lowly of a pray species. And I agree with what Sya said before, his liking of the Ooman species is none of your concern and you best be careful of where you poke your mandibles. Sya is not one to take kindly to defamation for his studies.¡±

¡°C¡¯jit! Studies my green spotted ass.¡± They both let a small chuckle go before they leave to hunt.

~

As Sya made his way back to Dhm¡¯Nis¡¯ side, he saw that the once impenetrable cloud of dust and sand had begun to fall gracefully to the ground.

¡°Four males and a female.¡± Sya says bluntly.

¡°A female? How can you tell?¡± Dhm¡¯Ni had never seen an Ooman female before. There had always been only males on his hunts, and by the code he could not hunt females. He assumed that like in his world the females would be larger, but none of the five forms are noticeably larger than the others, so he presumed that they were all males. However, he did notice that one had smaller build than the others but thought noting of it.

¡°What you think of females, their size and dominance is the complete opposite for Oomans.¡± Sya states directly. At first when he began to go to Ooman worlds, he thought the females would also be the dominant but he was proved wrong. Ooman females were sometimes over shadowed by the males¡¯ size. He also found it utterly disturbing how the males treated some females. Abuse and rape were on every planet he had ever visited. While Syas¡¯ fellow hunters believed that he had discontinued hunting Oomans, that was false. When ever Sya could he would prevent a female from being taken, or killed by a male. He would not take their skulls as a trophy, it was enough to know that these males died because of their wretched actions towards females.

¡°H¡­how can that be?¡± Dhm¡¯Ni could barely form that question. He couldn¡¯t even process that idea that females would be inferior to males¡­it¡­it¡¯s impossible.

¡°Here the females are much smaller, and sometime cannot defend themselves. So males take the lead.¡± They both fall silent when the one of the males begins to talk but then is blatantly interrupted by the female. After a small argument, the female begins to do something peculiar. She began to inhale deep and long breaths, almost as if smelling the surrounding area. Turning her head this way and that to catch the wind. Suddenly, she twists her head in their direction, staring right to where they are standing. But as quick as she looked towards them, her eyes began to fallow the roof tops of all the buildings.

¡°Did she just look at us Sya?¡± Dhm¡¯Ni softly chirps.

¡°I think she did¡­¡±

~

The moment the wall as off, O¡¯Conner motioned to the men to move. Once out, they formed a defensive V so that all angles would be covered. The sand and dust made it hard for O¡¯Conner to see or hear or even smell so she would have to wait to find out just what was out there. The elements danced in the air as she waited for them to tire and fall to the ground.

Finally O¡¯Conner was able to see the side of the other buildings. Like the rest, it was covered in a sand toned plaster that was meant to make it ¡®look better¡¯ in this environment. But it was just hiding the rough and sturdy metal structure underneath. No building was labeled, you had to know them by heart to know where you were going or you would probably end up at the doctors when you wanted to go to bed.

At first everything seemed to be quiet, which was strange for many reasons. Right now the entire compound was being overhauled. Buildings being rebuilt, roads being repaved. There were building materials everywhere, cranes still holding chains and steal bars. But there was no one screaming¡­ no one yelling for help¡­no one crying in pain. Before they got to the armory building that was all they could hear, their friends being ripped apart by those things. Sovin and Michaels, who were on one side of the V began to scan the area for anything when Sovin notice something on O¡¯Conner that he never saw before.

¡°Holy shit¡­¡± He whispers. Only Michaels noticed and looked to Sovin. With his face he asked ¡®what?¡¯ but Sovin only pointed with head towards O¡¯Conner. What Michaels saw unbelievable¡­no¡­unimaginable. With the sun light they could see scars all over O¡¯Conners¡¯ arms. Like someone had whipped her. Her black t-shirt hid her back and her front from him but he guessed that they weren¡¯t local to only her arms. Sovin knew of her stint in Africa and can only imagine what she went through. But he couldn¡¯t understand why she didn¡¯t get all the scars removed¡­

¡°Quite¡­¡± O¡¯Conner softly orders. She needed to hear everything, once she could get the sounds of her surroundings, she could begin to hear if those things are anywhere near by. They are constantly climbing and scratching at things¡­or people¡­ she knew that sound very well. She closes her eyes and begins to listen to the sound track of the world around her. The beats of her friends¡¯ hearts are strong and fast, but the Generals. It sounded mushy and weak. O¡¯Conner knew that he wasn¡¯t up to standards in the heath department but he was still fit for a guy his age. Then a thought dawned on her. ¡®Shit! The jumper pad is north, next to the hospital and it¡¯s a 45 minute walk, but we are definitely not fucking walking. And shit happens that the road to get there rides next to the wide open training zone. FUCK! O¡¯Conner checks her watch¡­One hour and twenty three minutes¡­we¡¯re going to make it. At least Allan, Boris, Danielle and I will make it, the General I don¡¯t really care about and doubt that he¡¯ll make it to the main road. His heart is probably going to coop out sooner than that¡­ ¡®

¡°RIGHT!¡± The General yells out. ¡°This is what we are going to do, we¡± Before he can say anymore O¡¯Conner violently turns and strides to him so that they are face to face.

¡°Don¡¯t you fucking think that this is your mission anymore. Your name may be on the mission papers, but right now our asses are on the line and the only people here to help you are people that hate you. So don¡¯t go all ¡®listen to me because I have more fucken badges than you¡¯ on us because there are only four options for you right now. One, the black devils will get there hands on you. Two, WE are going to get our hands on you. Three, your heart is going to give out before we get there.¡± O¡¯Conner pauses for a moment and gives the General that ¡®I know¡¯ look. ¡°And four, you make it to the jumper with us. Now, don¡¯t start pulling rank to make us leave you behind so that the black devils get you. Or put too much strain on your hearth so that you fall behind when we run. We are going to try and get you out of here because of WHO you are General. But WHAT you are¡­ you are more of a monster to me that those black things¡­¡± O¡¯Conner then turns back around and begins to smell the wind to catch the scent of the things again. There was no word in the human language that describes the stench these things gave off¡­she could only image that it was the smell of hell during a heat wave. Slowly she shifts her head from side to side trying to catch the wind. Suddenly every muscle in her body tenses as her nose picks up unfamiliar scents.

¡°¡­shit¡­¡± she whispers.

¡°Oh god!¡± Becks says. ¡°You smell¡¯em don¡¯t yah?¡±

¡°No.¡± O¡¯Conner responds. ¡°It¡¯s something else.¡± She could smell two distinct scents, but¡­those things all smelt the same. At least all the ones she could smell. But why would they have separate scents now¡­The ones she had now didn¡¯t smell like hell¡­ one was of¡­of wild rice and burning wood and the other was¡­of fresh rain and¡­and vanilla. The wind shifted suddenly, bringing more of the aromas to her, now she knew where they were coming from. She jerks her head to the roof of an adjacent building, searching for someone or something. All she sees are distinct heat waves that cut up the air, most likely from an air condition vent or something. Quickly dismissing them, she scans the rest of the roofs with here sharp eye sight. But there was nothing.

¡°Nala¡­¡± Becks grabs O¡¯Conner shoulder, shaking her out of her daze. ¡°We gota get outa here babe.¡± She nods to him.

¡°Right, the main road, its four blocks down. I will take lead, if I smell them or hear them I will be the first to know, then Becks, the General, Michaels then Sovin.¡± They all give a nod to this. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

O¡¯Conner set the pace, a light jog. She knew that she could out run all of them men easily but she wouldn¡¯t. And she also knew that they could all out run the General and make it to the jumper in less then 20 minutes, but they couldn¡¯t leave him. Well, they could but O¡¯Conner wouldn¡¯t.

They make it to main road quickly and easily but before they turn onto the road they had to check if there was anything out there. O¡¯Conner slides to the corner of the sand building and takes out a pocket knife, intending to use a thick blade as a mirror. The sound of the blade flicking out makes the General flinch. Slowly she brings it out and looks at the reflection. At first glance there was nothing, but then she notices all the people on he ground.

¡°Oh no¡­ Maurine!¡± O¡¯Conner says. In the reflection she sees her best friends Maurine. They meet at the academy when they were thirteen and been best friends ever sense. Double checking that everything else was clear, she motions to the men that they could go around. ¡°Hang on guys, don¡¯t move¡­¡± She could barely get that out, tears had decided to gather in here eyes and her through had the familiar sting of when you weep. She bent down to her mangled friend. One of the things decided to sharpen its claws on her chest. O¡¯Conner takes a hand and closes her best friends brown eyes. ¡°¡¯I'd rather get my brains blown out in the wild than wait in terror at the slaughterhouse¡¯, right Maurine? Well, I think you died in the slaughterhouse¡­¡± A long time ago, when there was an accident at the academy and a kid got killed, Maurine had said that. It was a quote by Craig Volk, but either way it suited her. She would rather dye in battle, than in a place where her death was only a number.

Even thought O¡¯Conner told the men not to move, they went a little ahead anyways. If they had stayed with her and waited, she would have been able to tell them that there was something that smelt like hell coming around the corner.

~

¡°Dhm¡¯Ni.¡± Sya hasty says. Dhm¡¯Ni immediately looks to Sya to find him pointing with a taloned hand. Fallowing it, Dhm¡¯Ni sees that the Oomans are not only moving, but they are turning onto a road that would make them cross paths with a hard meat.

¡°Should we not go after it?¡± Dhm¡¯Ni asks.

¡°Mmmm¡­No.¡± Sya Chirps bluntly.

¡°Why?¡±

¡°I would like to see what the Oomans will do.¡± When he was younger, Dhm¡¯Ni had always wondered why Sya would go away from long periods of time and come back with no trophies. Then he learned that he would go to watch Oomans, he had forever wanted to know why sense then. Later, Pakka told him of how Sya was shown mercy by an Ooman and instead of activating his self-destruct device he saw the Ooman as an equal. ¡°I find them to be a strange species Dhm¡¯Ni. Like us in many ways but completely different in others. There sense of honor and respect vary in each person, as our skin varies in each yautja. To one Ooman, killing another is something they would never do, while to another they would take a life as if life was not a thing to be treasured. I tell you one thing Dhm¡¯Ni¡­sometimes I envy them¡­.¡±

¡°Why?¡±

¡°Because they have such diversity. On every Ooman planet I have been on their culture, their tongue is different. For example take this planet. On almost every single continent is a different culture with different beliefs and ways and speech. With us, our entire species has one tongue, one code, one belief system. Do not see me as one to hate your own culture Dhm¡¯Ni, I beg you not too. I just wish that someone else would understand that Oomans are more than pray to me.¡± Sya sounded almost hurt by the end. He finally told someone how he truly felt about Oomans, and why he did not hunt them further. He did trust Dhm¡¯Ni to keep this between themselves, but he was a little worried as to how he would take it.

¡°I do understand Sya.¡± Dhm¡¯Ni places his hand on Sya shoulder as a true testament that he did understand. Dhm¡¯Ni would never lie to Sya, he did understand. Sya had a great amount respect for Oomans and it was not his place to oppose him. Dhm¡¯Ni couldn¡¯t oppose him even if he wanted to. He also had a great amount respect for them, but as pray. Maybe as he aged he would see them in a different light but for right now, at this point and time in his life he would continue to hunt them.

¡°One thing I find most interesting, the one thing that spans all Ooman worlds is their view of their females. You would not believe the ways that they are defiled everyday, shown little or no respects as life givers. That is why I wish to see this one.¡± Sya points to the female Ooman. ¡°She seems to be in power. At the lead of the group of males.¡± They both turn their gaze back to the moving group as they continued to move closer to the waiting hard meat. For some bizarre reason, the female knelt next to a corpse and said something that neither of them could hear. Both Sya and Dhm¡¯Ni could understand Oomans, but Sya could actually speak it, Dhm¡¯Ni was not that far in his studies. The four males continue for a short distance with out the female, falling right into the path of the Hard Meat. Together they jump from the top of one building to another to get a better view of the impending battle.

~

Suddenly a horrific screech came from an alleyway. O¡¯Conner and the others knew what that sound was. O¡¯Conner looks up to see that the men had continued on when she told them to stay still.

¡°I TOLD YOU NOT TO MOVE!!!!¡± O¡¯Conner yells out. But it was too late. Jutting out from the shady alleyway was the all too familiar shiny black skull of a devil. Slowly and mercilessly it walks on all floors towards the shocked men. O¡¯Conner had already gone into fight mode, head down, shoulder back, knees bent and hands holding some powerful guns. ¡°MOVE!!!¡± She yells. The black devil first moved its¡¯ head to her direction, but before anyone could do a thing it pounces on an unprepared Michaels. In a fluid, almost graceful movement the devil was on top of Michaels and extended its inner mouth into his head, killing him instantly. O¡¯Conner knew that she couldn¡¯t just start shooting the thing because of her position. A bullet could easily go right through it and into one of her men¡­into Allen. She had to get to the other side of it, but the size of the devil made that impossible and its tail was something she did not want to go near, so the only other way was over. The other men had already moved back, giving her ample room for her to land. In a polished, well trained move, O¡¯Conner ran towards the closest wall, jumped up with both feet onto it and pushed herself off. Flying over the devil, she used this opportunity to begin her onslaught of fire. Almost in slow motion, she was right over the devil, shooting it with all she had. Hitting the ground, she rolled closer to the ready and waiting men. They would not being shooting until she was well over the devil and closer to them. ¡°NOW!¡±

All together they began to unload their weapons. O¡¯Conner knelt down to her knees, aiming for the beasts¡¯ legs. If this wasn¡¯t going to kill it at least it would disable it. The loud gunfire rang in their ears as bullets shoot out of there metal prisons. Little did they know that they would be going into that thing. The only thing that was more damaging than gun fire to their ears was the earsplitting, high-pitched cry that came from the devil. As the metal bullets entered it body, it punctured the hard black skin causing spurts of the green acidic blood.

¡°MOVE BACK! KEEP AWAY FROM THE BLOOD!¡± Back yells out. Not wanting to get hit with that shit all of them begin to back away. Taking this moment, O¡¯Conner switches one of the guns in her hands from a 13mm Laser Pistol to O¡¯Conner personal favorite. A .50 cal. M3M machine gun that shoots at the outstanding rate of 1,100rpm. Every time she held one of these she felt invincible. Still aiming for its legs she squeezes the trigger, letting out a ring of fire.

Somehow one of the legs of the thing began to fall from its body, giving out a piercing shrill along with it. Its elongated head began to wave in the air in pain. Little by little the pools of acid blood started to eat away at the ground, being so close to it was not a good thing for O¡¯Conner. The smell was horrid, but that wasn¡¯t what was bothering her. The acid was so strong that it began to eat at her nose, she could smell her own blood creating drops in her nose, ready at any moment to fall. The pain wasn¡¯t too bad, it wasn¡¯t anymore than it was before. It was only because she was so close and that there was a lot more blood that it started to devour her inner nose.

¡°EVERYONE! GET READY TO DUCK!!¡± O¡¯Conner looked to Becks as he told them to move, he had gotten out a grenade launcher, and aimed it at the devils head. This was a new model, it would puncture a surface and clamp itself onto it, then blow up. ¡°NOW!¡± He yells out. In unison, everyone but Becks dives underneath what ever they could. Because the compound was being re-built, material was everywhere, giving them a lot to choose from. Sovin and O¡¯Conner dive beside some crates and lift up a metal plate over their heads. That acid shit could come up and over the crate and it wouldn¡¯t be a good thing if it ended up on there heads. The General also dove behind a few crates and did the same with a wooded top. With a sound that reminded O¡¯Conner of one of those automatic tennis ball machines, the grenade was shoot at the devil. Before it even hit it, Becks dived into O¡¯Conners and Sovins makeshift bunker. As the grenade hit the devil, it screamed out in pain as it dug into its black skin. One thing worried O¡¯Conner though, if the grenade did not go off in time, the metal casing would melt and the bomb would fall off, not killing that thing and probably catch all of them.

As Becks dove in, he covered O¡¯Conner with his body. She wrapped her hands around him, pulling him in closer to her. The moment Becks shot, he had started to count. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4¡­ He inwardly thought. ¡°THREE¡­TWO¡­ONE!!!¡± The blast was so loud to O¡¯Conner that she dug one side of her head into the chest of Becks while covering her other ear with her shoulder. Sovin and Becks didn¡¯t budge when the explosion came to their ears. They weren¡¯t as sensitive to sound as O¡¯Conner was, it didn¡¯t hurt them as it hurt her. Along with the bang of the bomb, they could also hear one last desperate screech coming from the devil as its head was ripped apart.

After a moment, Becks loosened his tight hold onto his fianc¨¦. Rigid breaths came from them as they began to breathe again. O¡¯Conner however was thinking about her nose as blood began to pour. Becks was about to turn to look around the corner of the crates when O¡¯Conner pulled him back.

¡°Wait¡­¡± She said roughly. Becks looks back to her and sees her pointing above to the edge of the metal plate where his head was just a second ago. A single drop of the green acid liquid dripped gingerly down to the ground. ¡°We need to do this fast. Lift it straight up then throw it somewhere.¡± Both Sovin and Becks stand up with the plate in hand then throw it to the side of the wall. Now standing, O¡¯Conner brought her hand to her nose to try and stop the bleeding, even thought this wasn¡¯t a normal nose bleed, the skin was actually burnt so it would take a second for her nose to relatively heal and stop bleeding.

¡°YEAH! WE GOT THE SUCKER! TAKE THAT YOU §â§Ñ§ã§á§å§ä§ß§Ú§Ü!¡± Sovin yelled at the now blown to bits black devil. He would have danced around it if it wasn¡¯t for the acid.

¡°What?¡± Becks asks.

¡°Oh uhh¡­fucker.¡± Sovin answers. He never really liked English swears, he said he like the Russian way. The General made it through too. He too stood with Becks and Sovin to look at the defeated monster. O¡¯Conner just stood a little behind, tending to her nose, every now and then blowing it to get the blood out. The sound of her blowing her nose made Becks turn to her. Seeing her blood made him panic.

¡°NALA! Are you hurt? Are you ok?¡± Becks ran to O¡¯Conner and tilted her head so he could look at her nose. She just smiled and let him do as he wanted too. She could never tell him she was ok because he would still check to see if she was alright. ¡°Why are you bleeding? Did something hit you?¡±

¡°No,¡± O¡¯Conner says. She points to the carcass of the dead devil. ¡°The acid hurts my nose. It burnt the inside of it. But don¡¯t worry, it will adjust.¡±

~

¡°Well,¡± Sya began. ¡°Would you look at that¡­¡±

Authors Note: Thanks a bunch to swift hunter and VanillaLace.

Current Pronunciations: (Past names and words are on chapter 3)
Ykas¡¯e Yeah-Kah-See
Bytte Bye-Tee
Iyan¡¯Tha¡¯Te Eye-Yan-Tha-Tee