A different type of warrior

Six: Prey



She felt the sun, high in it's apex baking her back while she pressed into the rock face. The pulse rifle rested in a small niche giving her just enough view to spy on the human military patrol as it entered the compound.



Ka'ja'rand had played her his recordings. While she had administered the bullet wound in his back. She'd listened intently while prodding with the odd tools. Till she hit the solid shell. The thing he'd given her to use didn't extract the slug, it dissolved it in his flesh leaving a brownish ooze to leak out of the hole which healed on its own throughout the course of the day. He seemed rather indestructible.



The marines brought their APCs the men she had once known seemed so distant. She saw them moving, they were slow and dumb. Not able to maneuver, it would be easy to track them and kill them one at a time. She wasn't worried, they would collide with the bugs soon enough, either that or the pirates. One group would kill the other, weakening the human element on the planet and strengthening the bugs.



Weeks had changed her. She'd graduated from venison, she'd eaten part of her own kill, her own kind. No longer. They'd arrived shortly after she and her big friend had returned to their camp. They took the same entry the other marines had exited from. Yet Kara did not see Sargent Mallan, or Dutch in the foot column that accompanied the vehicles.



“I see fallen angels, already dead.” She said in a hushed voice. “meat; nothing more.”



She backed down from the rock, and continued her search. She was doing something today which her mate would understand even if he didn't like the fact she was acting without his guidance. His stalking of the deer and his apparent desire to include her in his hunt had affected her. She was now trying to prove she was worthy to join him in his expeditions. For that she required a sapling. Finding a tree of suitable girth and straightness was proving difficult. The few specimens she had encountered were thus far inadequate.



She ran, her light form gliding over the broken earth her boots cutting into the grit and finding purchase to propel her as fast as she was able to run. Then she saw it. The tree was maple, it's trunk just over two fingers in width straight as an arrow and nearly as tall as she was before it branched, it would do. She cleaned it's branches. The knife slid through the soft wood quickly and without much effort. When she had it cleaned she adjusted the length slightly giving it a rounded bottom and then proceeded to plane the shaft with the knife blade removing bark and excess weight. The result was a top heavy simple spear minus the head. Now all she had to do was acquire a small amount of some type of cord to wrap the knife blade in place.



He came to their lair expecting to find her working on something. He hadn't expected to find her busy cleaning a kill. The scent of the dead animal awoke his hunger and he stole over to her. He placed his hand gently in the small of her back in greeting as she was busy with her task. She turned toward him, he could smell her ease, she was pleased with his presence. She dropped the knife to the table next to the carcass and pressed back against him. Her softness warm against his bare skin. She let go of him, pushing the deer and her tool out of the way and bending over the table she used as a work station. She lifted her ass as high in the air as she could and reached back to spread herself wide. He could smell her arousal. He felt himself going ridged nearly instantly at the thought of her tightness once more encompassing him.



His hands felt huge as they gripped her ribcage. She could feel the tip of it so hard yet soft at the same time as it entered her gaping hole. She'd been thinking of this ever since she'd arrived with her kill. It was slow this time, he penetrated her in one sliding motion, she could feel her walls stretching to accommodate him, yet they didn't quite rip this time. There was pain, yet she doubted she'd ever have sex with her warrior without it. She felt alive when he was inside her, sliding in and out with a vigorous yet slow pace. Her heavy breasts undulating in a semi circle before bouncing off one another and repeating the process as he rocked her against the table. He was having to crouch very low to compromise with her height yet he didn't seem to mind. He seemed ever ready for her, she liked that idea.



She was so slick around him, it felt amazing. He paced himself slow so he could luxuriate in the way she felt. The smell of blood and viscera was thick in the air. It fueled him further. He slid out till just the tip of him was inside her. Then with sudden violence forced himself inside as far as she could take him, punishing her with his ferocity. She let out little noises now, bordering on pain, but mostly pleasure. The slickness increased yet she grew tighter around him. She was nearly ready to accept his fertile seed.



She felt the orgasm building deep in her, her muscles winding into a tight coil. When it came her legs lost the ability to support her weight and they shuddered as the only thing keeping her from the ground was him. His pace quickened noticeably as she clung to him, her P.C. muscles messaging the massive prick in her as her cervix dipped down attempting to milk him for every last drop. It came as she was nearly finished, his roar echoing across the room while he dumped his load inside her with crushing force his hands bruising her chest as her tits slammed backward to the rhythm of his final thrusts. She felt flooded, if she could hold any more... it would be entirely improbable. Yet more continued to pump out of him, just the sensation of his tool spilling itself in her set her over the edge again, her hips bucking back into him attempting to bring him further in, though that in itself was impossible. Her body had as much as it could take and she groaned at the feeling of his hard cock grinding against her cervix. A low rumbling purr built up in his throat as she ground down on him.

Dutch looked down at the bodies of the marines he and Sargent Mallan had just fragged. Poor bastards were bent on going back to the company. Well that was on hold now. Indefinitely. Sarah still didn't know quite how to take it, but she would understand and follow him anywhere, he knew that.



It had begun when they heard gunfire in the distance. The two survivors not from Mallan's frigate had suggested they head toward the gunfire as it sounded closer than the landing zone. Mallan and he had exchanged a look, the older man had hefted his rifle just so. Their bursts had been nearly simultaneous.



As he looked down at them now, he realized that their timing on killing their fellow marines was rather fortuitous. He didn't know where the pirates came from. However the gunfire had brought them running. The cuffs felt a bit rough on his wrists, however complaining about that at this point seemed rather moot. He was more worried about what they were going to do to Sarah.



“Seems like we picked a good time to defect.” Said Mallan to the nearest pirate.



He received the stock of his own rifle in his gut in reply.



“We decide what you're doing now scum.” Said one of the others.



“Ya mebbe we kill you here, now, and take the girl back for some fun?” Said another.



“We'll let Cappie decide when we get to camp, that one is a master Sarge, could know something useful, like when that damn blockade will be moving out.”



Mallan's gut hurt, one of his cracked ribs got re-injured when they'd hit him with the rifle. He didn't care. These boys weren't rocket scientists, they would take them to their leader and he would negotiate. Mallan's main worry was the girl, Sarah was pretty, and not past the age of attraction. The men in the camp would see an easy victim for their personal gratification. He knew both she and Dutch were thinking the same thing. He had to make them all seem valuable and quickly, otherwise Dutch and he were dead, and she... Well he didn't want to think about it.



They'd been walking for a few hours then suddenly the ground dropped down several meters entering a valley like complex of rocky crags almost like a crater impact. They took a few turns amongst the high rock walls and he found himself staring at an oasis in this dry world. The edges of the lake were lined with green grass. A few trees more impressive than the wispy ones he had seen out in the rolling rock hills dotted this side. On the other side of the lake he saw a salvage camp. He gauged the population at somewhere around a hundred and fifty. They'd taken the time to setup deployable base structures, he could see a few sentries patrolling the area. He also made out three ships, a pleasure yacht, a frigate, and a bulbous light attack cruiser. Pretty heavy armament for a pirate gang. All these thoughts ended quickly enough when they cloistered Dutch and himself in a structure and he heard Sarah's first scream.



His mate's pride in her first solo kill filled him with pleasure. He handled her spear, it was clumsy, slightly unbalanced. However she had brought in a kill with it. She was trained, a warrior in her own right. He knew then what he must do. He resolved to train her, in the arts he had learned over the last forty cycles. To impart on her the knowledge of his culture and it's customs. To make her full Yautja and when she was ready, to blood her in the hunt. He would instruct her in honor, and the glory of the hunt. He would give her the hard meat trial. If she survived he would pair bond with her until her fragile Ooman life ended and their sucklings spread over the galaxy spreading the honor of her line.



In the far reaches of the compound The human marines were being whittled down. Their gunfire spraying in all directions against their implacable foe who came at them from all angles. Smartguns not withstanding the drones maneuvered well enough to dodge much of the fire in the small hallways. Their flamers were nearly out of fuel and their casualties were high. Men and women that weren't killed outright were taken. Vander held his position with his crack troops killing many yet they weren't ready for the dog aliens. The human/drone population was at it's peak before their assault, however the hive needed hosts and meat, the only thing the drones were fast enough to catch in the wilderness were the coyotes. Which once the embryos burst forth produced a much different variety of xenomorph than the marines had ever dealt with. It was unbelievably fast. It's tail longer than the rest of it's body, it ran on four legs and ripped into the men leaving gouts of blood before retreating. They had seen five, and killed two. The ammunition was getting low. When the retreat came it was a complete route, the hive had won, out of the eighty eight soldiers that went in, only thirty returned.

The APC's weren't at the evac point. They hoofed it while the sun remained, the three kilometers seeming like an endless march as they outdistanced the xenos only due to the sun. The whole company was silent. More than one look was shot Vander's way, he knew his failure however, and didn't blame them. He would accept his court martial and be done with it, unless they fragged him there in the field.



They returned to their base to find it in ruins, only one of the APC's remained, untouched, or so it seemed. Small fires guttering in the wind as they approached. His orders were sharp, they spread out and advanced on the bounce by the numbers keeping low. They walked right into an ambush. The turret on the APC opened up scoring a few kills before his men made it to cover behind the rocks, those high velocity metal spikes it fired from it's gauss auto cannon tearing his soldiers in half. There was no time to think, he found himself yelling over the comm uplink for retrieval yet there was no response save static, either the ships in orbit had been obliterated or the uplink had been jammed or destroyed. Either way it meant one thing. They were cut off, no chance of escape, between human pirates and xenomorphs they would die here without resupply.



“Full retreat, fall back!” He said



A Private first class who's name he wasn't familiar with said something to the order of. “We were bloody retreating already jackass!”



Vander couldn't help but agree. Unfortunately the pirate force had already closed in on their flank and the retreat simply played into the maneuver they were killed to a man. The ships in orbit wouldn't know for another twelve hours what had transpired. As Vander lay there in a pool of his own viscera he wondered what the pirates hoped to gain from this coup. It mattered little in the end, they could not leave this place with his ships in orbit, they would die soon enough. With that the light faded from his eyes and his life bled out to feed the dry soil contributing to the process of terraforming in his own little way.



Ka'ja'rand surveyed the place where Vander's marines had run into the Kainde Amedha. The acid had eaten into the superstructure of the complex biting deep holes before it depleted itself far below. He grunted at this, the Oomans had been over matched, fighting the hard meat in the open was not too difficult even hand to hand. However in these tight quarters, an engagement meant certain doom for all but best trained warriors and hunters. He estimated twenty three dead hard meat, the Ooman casualties mattered little, they would not be back. He flexed his back where the Ooman's burner had hit him, the wound was nearly completely knitted. He could smell the fear still lingering, oily and bitter. He shook his head and turned to his female. She was crouched over yet another Ooman burner, her kill bag was full of fires for her weapon, and replacement parts. It was good that she had such an ample supply of weaponry, clearing the hive would require all of it. Perhaps even the Sun Bomb from his wrist computer would be necessary, but not until he cleaved the head of the queen from her body to present it to his mate.



The battle had raged here, she knew the score, humans had lost several men based on the amount of blood and the few severed limbs she'd seen. The spray on the wall said the bugs had gotten in the formation and some Murphy had happened. Poor bastards. She did a rough estimate based on the magazines she'd acquired and figured she had somewhere over six hundred rounds and two replacement barrels for the pulse rifle. Her heavy male friend crouched at the corner surveying the area, keeping her safe no doubt. She couldn't help but feel like a kitten clutched to his breast while he held the world at bay. She knew just by the way he crooned to her in his low purr that he would die for her in an instant. She appreciated his devotion. He grunted something her way, then made the advance gesture.



The two of them moved in relative silence, he out of long practice, her because of the soft soles of her boots and her light weight. Someone had once commented about engineers wearing pink acid boots. She'd purposely made that man take a close up look at just how black hers were. His nose would never be the same.

The tunnel narrowed, the wreckage from the blast littering it and constraining their movements. She understood that the entire point of this was to get a look at what had happened. They'd heard it in their sanctuary, the rifles firing in an endless cacophony of discharges ripping their generally peaceful day a new ear hole.



He followed the retreating Oomans, he was curious to see if they could catch them and kill a few in the open. Pyode Jehdin kept close to him and quiet as well. He had no time to train her in the hunt, she would have to rely on her own skills if she were to survive what was coming. Honor said he must cleanse the nest, practicality said he must escape this world as it was becoming a war zone. His warrior spirit called for challenging all comers and leaving Paya to decide the outcome. He particularly liked that idea.

They moved out of the complex and onto the open ground, she followed him as he increased his pace to a trot. They covered the earth quickly. From this distance they heard the engagement. The pirates were assaulting the retreating marine force which already tired, out flanked, and ambushed was falling very quickly to the surprisingly sophisticated attack. Ka'ja'rand kept out of view and counted their number, there were close to sixty of the pirates, they were hitting the marines from the front and one side pushing them against a steep incline. There would be no survivors.



“These men will be worthy prey.” He said.



Sarah's shoulder was on fire, partially from where the pirate had extinguished his cigar, more so from dislocating it in her thrashing while she suffered this pathetic man's seed. She could feel it, leaking out of her. He hadn't the equipment to make it hurt much, so he found inventive ways to inflict pain while he raped her. She hadn't had regulation food in over a week. It was a distinct possibility she would get with child from this. He was the eighth in a chain of men who had beaten her, and taken her from behind as her wrists bit into the chains. In different circumstances she would have enjoyed the attention. However she wasn't playing one of her games with these men, this was real. Her mind revolted and tried to hide but it couldn't. She realized that rape fantasy and the reality were far from similar things. The worst thing about the whole situation though was not knowing what was happening to Dutch. The big guy had rescued her, then they'd made up for lost time very quickly indeed. He was probably tearing himself apart at not being able to help her. That is if he was still alive.



A new voice chimed behind her. That would make nine. “Looks like you've had about as much as that hole can take for awhile bitch.”



So that was what it was to be then? Her thoughts were interrupted by the necessary pain of his entry. Her ass expanding only because he forced himself in. The pain was intense, she hoped he at least came out of it coated in something foul. He took her hard, his thrusts making the cuffs cut into her wrists, she wondered if the tendons would be damaged. Not that she was yet considering surviving. It was over just as quickly as it started, a warm feeling spreading into her. Her head hung down toward the floor as she could feel him slide out of her and leave the room for the next man in line. Someone would bleed for this.



The hours wore on, Dutch and Mallan had learned that the pirates intended to sell them as slave labor at a nearby smuggler's den. What was to become of Sarah was simple enough, they had heard her scream more than once since they had been captured. Dutch was military however. He knew to bide his time, to wait for the opportune moment. Not to let his emotional response which was crying for the blood of every one of these sons of bitches take control. He needed to be calm, cool, calculating, ruthlessly efficient when the time came.

Mallan tensed his wrists again, the muscles going taunt against the cords binding him to the support post. His exterior was calm and complacent, underneath he was taunt like a tuned guitar string ready to snap. He didn't know how Dutch managed to keep his calm. Mallan had worse than normal hearing and he heard clearly enough what those bastard pirates were doing to the man's woman.



Kara kept in tight to the rock. Ka'ja'rand had led her across the blasted land and into the craggy area near the crater lake where the pirates were camped. The pulse rifle pressed into the small of her back, it was hot from the sun of the day. Her breasts rose and fell with her even breath. She'd grown accustomed to the higher weight of her new kit already and could keep pace with her hunter unless he broke into a full run. She could hear him breathing behind her. Her hand to his chest keeping him against the wall while she waited. Then it happened again. A piercing wailing scream echoed through the path. Kara didn't take kindly to the thought of one of her fellow marines being used that way.



“Well, it isn't like we don't need the ship anyway.” She said to her mate.



He trilled at her, not understanding her words, however he guessed her intention, these soft meat were a threat to their hunt, and would create more hosts for the Kainde Amedha, worthy trophies in themselves, she wanted to test her mettle. He dialed his shift suit on his wristband and moved from her grasp, quickly he ascended the rock face opposite her and moved toward the outskirts of the pirate camp. He scouted their sentries quickly, finding three positioned just outside the encampment. Then the gunfire broke out, not toward him, one of the sentries had spotted Pyode Jehdin. He raise his arm the fire warming in the plasma caster without a second thought his mandible clicking it's mechanism and discharging the weapon from a range. The intense heat of the round scorched the back of his hand as it flew past. The sentry tried to dive away from it only to have half his chest gutted and charred in an instant the sound of his boiling flesh audible in a low gurgle even from here. Ka'ja'rand did not pause his feet striking the rough rock as he closed with a second sentry which was crouching trying to see where his friend's death came from.



The sound of gunfire was welcome, Dutch hoped the marines killed them all, Mallan and he could just say they were taken prisoner after the first raid on the nest. Mallan had similar thoughts.



Kara shouldered her pulse rifle and launched her first grenade into the encampment after the sentry pinning her had fallen, the dull thwomp as it impacted the side of a structure erupting in a gout of roaring flame and projectile debris. The camp came alive like a hive of bees once a stick has been thrust in it. She slung the rifle and charged in to what looked like a barracks with her spear cradled in her arm. She never saw the sentry behind her, however even as he trained her in his sights her hunter's ka'cti-pa ripped through his throat severing his head in a clean motion. Men were stumbling out of the mess hall, half dressed, most unarmed, she didn't care, the closest one turned toward her with some variety of pistol the spear was in the air and she was already shouldering the rifle by the time he hit the ground his friends had turned toward her. She caught one with a burst from the rifle and sprayed the rest before retreating a few steps. To crouch behind a building and chuck the spent mag away and slam home a fresh one. The counter read ninety nine on the side of the rifle, good.



Ka'ja'rand from his position on the high ground saw the men in clear detail, a few of them fell simply from his female's assault. She was tenacious, he was pleased with her ferocity. A group of three men we crouching by the building she'd taken cover behind. Again he fired his father's weapon with devastating effect, the round tore through two of the men spraying the third with boiling gore, he fell to the ground screaming and firing his weapon randomly. His friends had to cover themselves to avoid his fire. Ka'ja'rand leapt down into the encampment catching a man as he was running toward Pyode Jehdin's flank. He planted his feet swinging his hand low his palm impacting the man in the ribs with a twist of his hips. The movement looked unnaturally fast to the human eye, and the splintering noise as the man's ribcage was evidence of the massive power behind the attack. The warrior left him there to die.



She saw the man fall in mid stride falling backward as if he'd been hit by a areo car, the wavering air showing where the hunter continued into the camp. He was free to move while she had to maneuver around the buildings, stupid cloaking device.



“He better cover me...” She said.



She moved to the back end of the building and found a door and when inside, she was not ready for what she saw. Sarah Kerrigan, a lance corporal from the platoon she'd come in with was chained to a post, her wrists a bloody mess, her arms and legs had bruises all over them. She lay there propped over a small table her ass obscene in the air, the reek violent sex in the air.



“Fucking shit!” Said Kara “You alive kiddo?”



All she got was a mumble somewhere between a sigh and a moan. Girl had it rough, though if she was still breathing, she'd get her out of there. She took a step into the room and saw him. A man half again her weight, covered in sweat, his half erect prick still throbbing with blood from his excitement at taking this poor woman against her wishes. His eyes were clear and bright, he knew exactly what was about to happen. She brought the sights to her eye and blew the man's left knee off. She wondered how many people heard the scream.

Dutch and Mallan were wondering what the hell was happening. Men were yelling and dieing outside that was evident enough. They'd heard the characteristic sound of pulse rifle fire, and several other types of fire arm. Yet sometimes they heard screams but couldn't understand why. Those weren't the moans of the wounded, those were death cries.



The door slammed open and one of the pirates came in backward towards them he was looking franticly toward the door, he squeezed off a few shots from his pistol and backed up near them. He was obviously in a bad way about something. Dutch came to life like a vicious dog rousing from sleep to an intruder, he lifted himself up by his chains and landed a solid kick to the side of the man's head with both feet. The pistol flew from the pirate's hand and skittered to the ground and thunked into the bulkhead of the building with a dull thud. Mallan was close enough so he stomped on the man's throat crushing it and finishing the job if he was still breathing. He looked at his friend there was an obvious and primal rage in his gaze.



“We'll kill anything they leave alive.” Said Mallan, Dutch remained mute, but his eyes spoke obvious agreement.



Ka'ja'rand heard the gunfire from inside the building, and the screams. Eight times the Ooman burner barked. He had no idea what was happening, he hefted his mate's spear from the last man he had killed with it. The weapon was useful if unbalanced. A man from a distance saw him, with a lashing motion the spear left his hand and he dived out of the gunfire which found the place he'd occupied a moment before. The blade struck the man in the temple and he spun to the ground. Effective enough indeed he thought and grunted his pleasure. These were worthy prey. He'd been hit twice by their burners, and the wounds bit deep, nothing to worry about however. A new group crossed the gap heading for him, crouching low to open fire. He was just about to close the distance when a burst of gunfire from his right splintered the Oomans and left their broken bodies on the ground, their blood gushing out to the thirsty land.



Sarah could barely walk, her weight was pulling Kara's shoulder down and throwing her aim off, she'd used quite a bit of ammunition to kill those last few men. The warrior stood still and watched her approach appraising her baggage. His chest was covered in commingled blood red and green. He'd been hit in the shoulder and in the abdomen. She'd have to help him operate to get the bullet's later. Oddly she wasn't even worried, he didn't look any worse for wear for the injuries. Sarah came out of her fog just enough to notice the giant in the midst of the pirate corpses blood dripping from his claws and fainted. Kara looked around, there were three ships here when they attacked, only one remained. One of the others was smoldering from one of Ka'ja'rand's plasma rounds, it's wreck had thrown debris across the camp for many meters in all directions. The other was a medium range frigate armed with tri-barrel forty millimeter rail guns on swivel mounts. She smiled, a Comet class Valerian frigate, it's bulbous cockpit and living quarters dipping down to the ground like the head of a strange bird, it's back becoming slender to a pair of Vx light jet thrusters and then the wings with their gun pods angled to allow for 360 degree engagement area. It was an ugly ship, but she'd heard nothing but good things. She was cut short by having to drop Sarah's unconscious form to stop Ka'ja'rand from killing the two men who rounded the corner.



It was a strange meeting for Mallan if he'd ever made one. They'd rounded the corner in time to lift their weapons only to drop them stunned as a nearly completely naked Kara jumped between them and the alien she'd run off with during the earlier attack. The thing was covered in blood and gore and taller than he'd remembered it.



“What the hell!” He said, it was all he could manage.



Dutch on the other hand was already kneeling over Sarah and shaking sobs were wracking his body.



“She's alive Dutch, you're lucky I heard her scream or we wouldn't have attacked.” She Said



Ka'ja'rand recognized the Ooman female on the ground as the mate of the big bull who bent to her. He realized that these must be pack mates of his female, he calmed down and surveyed the area for enemies.



“Mallan, we're taking that Comet over there, we plan on getting off this rock and soon.” She said



“Well, if he doesn't care, we'll probably hitch a ride, we're done with the Core, and the bloody company.” Said Mallan



Ka'ja'rand left them to their conversation still not grasping the Ooman language well despite what he had learned from his female. He retrieved the spear from the last man he'd killed. Quickly he shouldered the body and carried it to a nearby packing crate and draped it over the box. Meanwhile Kara busied herself with Mallan collecting weapons and ammunition, they piled them at the base of the craft. Mallan and Dutch carried Sarah into the ship and strapped her into one of the seats and started the warm up process. Mallan noticed fresh gore out of the corner of his eye and turned to see the predator cleaning the skull of the man he'd killed last with his spear.



“What the hell is he doing?” He asked no one in particularly



“Trophy hunters Mallan,” Said Dutch



“What?” Said Mallan



“Think intergalactic super outdoorsman,” Said Kara who had come up from behind.



“Does he eat what he kills?” Asked Mallan



Kara simply shook her head slowly.



Kara policed the weapons into one of the cargo containers in the ship and started looking over the warrior's injuries. One of the bullets was a pulse rifle round, irradiated and should have torn a hole the size of a grapefruit in him, it had hit the wire mesh he wore over his body and split in half, she marveled that the mesh wasn't even damaged, the round burrowed under his skin only slightly. She dissolved it and then cauterized the wound the way he had shown her, his grumbling clicks significantly quieter than the last time she had operated. The wound in his abdomen was worse, a pistol round had slipped between the mesh and penetrated mushrooming in the muscle before stopping, the big guy could take a hell of a beating. He saw to this himself, prying out the slug with his claws. After they were finished. They went to Sarah and started going over her wounds, most were superficial and they merely smeared some salve, however she was very dehydrated and the mental effects... would be lasting.



Kara related to Mallan and Dutch how she'd been cut off from the rest of the marines and with the pirates advancing had taken her only option and freed the warrior. She told them how he had healed her and nursed her back to health, how he was a better man than most that she had met in her life. They guessed much more than she told them. None of them were rated to fly the ship, so Kara took the controls having the most technical knowledge. She banked it low over the terraforming project before landing in an out of the way corner.



“Why are we stopping?” Asked Dutch



“Ka'ja'rand wants to kill the nest before we leave...” She Said



The Oomans argued for a moment, he was worried that the bull male would challenge the female to ritual combat. However the two males both backed down, there was still an acrid scent of tension in the air however. She came to him and rested her hand on his chest, he didn't understand the gesture, but it seemed to calm her so he let her do it. He spoke to her knowing she would only understand part of it. Neither of them had managed to crack the language barrier yet.



“I will go now, and I will hunt the queen when I have her skull I will return to you worthy to be your mate.” He said



With that she keyed the release and the loading ramp descended allowing him access to the outside. He walked down the ramp without a backward glance. Honor held him to his task. Paya the great warrior would be with him. He made it to the nest unmolested. The drones asleep with the early morning sun. His appreciation for the Ooman structure grew the deeper in it he went. There was a vast accumulation of humidity on this level, combined with the heat from their machinery made for a very pleasant environment for him.



He was gone nearly an hour before he found the nesting chamber. There deep in the installation lay a vast expanse yet to be filled with eggs. There was moisture everywhere, the constant dripping of it in the background giving him directional reference to his exit.



He could hear it breathing, could see it's outline black against the red background of his normal vision. He stayed low keeping his plasma caster primed. It's huge egg layer moved, undulating in a grotesque caricature of a tongue leaving deposits of thick goo and it's characteristic egg behind it, before extending to do so in another location. He could see several drones collecting the eggs from one side and moving them out and down a tunnel. They were harvesting them to breed more hard meat from their latest catch of Oomans no doubt.

If they noticed him, their attack was delayed by their instinct to do as the queen commanded. So he moved closer, his feet disturbing the damp, the metal of his sandals scraping against the grating and metal panels of the floor. He was within a hundred meters when the female finally seemed to notice him. Her breath coming in a rough approximation to that of an internal combustion engine with a distribution problem, struggling to access the air which didn't quite supply it's monstrous form with enough nitrogen. Ka'ja'rand could relate. He hadn't removed his mask since he'd landed on the planet. It hissed at him, drones came in from the side passages, their black carapace chitinous and ribbed. They waited holding back for the queen's command.



He didn't give them time for what they intended, whatever it had been. There were a few clustered toward the opening he had seen the others take the eggs down. The cannon on his wrist came to life and the discharge raged toward it's target. Several eggs on the way burst into flame from the mere heat of it's passage. One of the drones dodged the bolt but two others fell to it's destructive energy, the crisping noise as they were immolated rising in competition with the queen's hiss. He loaded another round in the caster as they came. He extended his ca'cti-pa and drew his ceremonial dagger with his free hand, flipping it around to better be able to stab them. He roared his challenge and fired again at some who were advancing over the ceiling, their charred shrieking bodies fell to the floor eating away at the eggs below.



He had no more time to think, his mandible clicking the recharge button for his weapon as the drones engaged, there were many of them. He fought with his back toward the wall. At first they had little advantage, where they were fast, he was faster, but soon their numbers pressed him back toward the wall and he was fighting for room to maneuver.



He caught one by the tail as it tried to skewer him and brought it's entire body around with one arm like a whip slamming it into a cluster of its brethren and fired his caster at the downed foes while engaging another two in hand to hand combat. It was quick, they lunged at him and he used the heavy sandals on his feet to sweep them aside the snap of their arms audible over the din. His blood ran hot, this combat was fiercer than he'd experienced with a spear, his foes implacable in their advance, crawling over the bodies of their dead nestmates to get at him.



He lost track of how long he fought, their bodies littered the ground around him, he had a few small gashes from their claws yet it was a minor thing, their attacks though ferocious were weaker than before soon he would face off against the queen alone.



After three hours Kara had grown impatient. She'd gone over the ship head to toe, examined the controls even consulted the computer for a basic user manual and briefed both Dutch and Mallan on how to work the gunnery station, they'd even test fired it at a nearby storage shed. Well needless to say the shed no longer existed. This thing was a attack frigate if she'd seen one, the rail guns projected their small payload so quickly that it ripped through anything it touched and then some. The single blast directed at the shed had sundered it like an aluminum can being hewn by a chainsaw at high velocity.. She'd kept the ship warm, as she had no idea when Ka'ja'rand would return, however she was starting to think about shutting it down and getting some rest when she noticed something blinking on one of her screens.



“Hey Sarge, what does that look like to you?” She Asked



“Call me Mallan Kara, no rank anymore remember?” He said



“Right, sorry.” She said



“Looks like our ladar is picking something up, closing quick too.” He said



“Pirates?” Dutch asked from the back where he was making sure yet again that Sarah was comfortable.



“Pirates.” Said both Mallan and Kara from the front.



The screech as the Queen detached herself from her egg sack was guttural almost more of a throaty roaring exhalation. It towered over him as it came completely ignoring the safety of it's eggs and trampling them beneath it's stride. Tail outstretched twice again as long as he was tall. He took a deep breath relaxing himself and roared crouching low to make himself a smaller target. The tail deadliest asset of her considerable arsenal came first flashing at him glinting off the dull light in the chamber it's razor edge just missing him and it's segments knocking him sideways as it sped past.



He took the change as it hit him with its two ton weight. The queen's great fanned head slamming into him and flipping him up into the air. Bringing it's tail around to spear him when he hit the ground only to penetrate the metal there and get stuck for an instant. Ka'ja'rand again closed in this time on the flank that was held taunt by the outstretched tail which he promptly jammed his dagger into wrenching it sideways with all of his considerable strength. The blade snapped yet the tail was rent and in a gout of acid blood the queen hissed turning in an instant and backhanding him in the side sending him flying into the eggs.



“Strap into something!” She said, sending the Comet into yet another dive, the starship twisting and turning at high speed in the atmosphere. She could hear the rhythmic rumble as the capacitor units charged and expelled their energy hurling their payload against the pursuing pirate ship.



Mallan worked overtime trying to score a hit on something vital. Pity was the ship behind them was designed for frontal assaults and it's roughly conical head was heavily armored and absorbing the railgun blasts casually as an adult takes the swing from a toddler in a tantrum. It's heavy autocannons however even manually targeted could not rotate quickly enough to fire on the Comet so as long as Kara out flew the bigger ship they would come out of this alive. The thing was, alive wasn't good enough, she had to kill them in order to land, to pick up her mate. It matched her turn for turn its gunfire spraying in wide arcs missing, but narrowly.

“Mallan, I'm going to do something stupid, I want you to fire on the lower engine cluster continually while I do this ok?” She asked



“Sure, what are..?” He said, before he was cut off by the half corkscrew and sudden dive as she took the fighter into a half loop. The ship responded wonderfully under her ministrations. Better however was the fact the big ship followed, but not quite at her angle of orbit. It was right in Mallan's guns. He ripped into the engine compartment scoring the heat vent in a brilliant flare it blew outward and the ship went crashing into the complex below. She completed half of her loop and cruised once over the wreckage before returning to where she had left Ka'ja'rand. Dutch stumbled into the cockpit looking sick.



“Next time I fly.” he said.



There was a sudden roar of metal on metal and the roof came smashing down in a fiery rush. Which was all the same to him. Ka'ja'rand was staring up in to the gaping jaws of the queen from where she'd managed to pin him and was trying to rip his arms from their sockets. The ship caved in a large portion of the nest when it collided with the terraforming plant and sent wreckage tumbling down to the egg chamber, a large section of I-beam slammed into the queen's back and smashed her head into the ground next to him. Momentarily stunned and pinned the queen lost it's grip on him and he wasted no time. He brought his blades down into her neck as he leapt clear of her rending talons and landed on her far side. He'd severed the spinal column and the queen lay there shattered and broken. He was lucky to be alive, He left the dying beast where it lay, it's head would do him no honor, he had escaped certain death only narrowly. However he went and claimed it's tail spike, it would make a spear worthy to hunt the hard meat, and it would have a place of honor in his collection. He had fought a queen and survived, few warriors could claim so much, much less to have done so without the aid of a burner.



Taking his trophy he went to the tunnel he had entered from and before exiting he took the Sun Bomb from his wrist computer and set its timer. He set it down gently in an out of the way corner. It would engulf the nest. They were designed to destroy a radius greater than two average Kainde Amedha lairs. This one was small, this queen may have been out of drones after that last battle, or they could be out gathering food and hosts, regardless they would die in the blast or not, he had killed the queen as was his duty, the nest would spread no further at this time. With that thought he ran for the ship where his female was waiting with her pack. They would leave this place and seek new hunting grounds. Preferably some place tropical. That was a pleasant thought.



Thanks for reading this far. Seventh chapter coming soon!