Play Testers Wanted Pt. 13

My stomach rumbling ended the question portion of the morning. The others left and I took a quick shower, dressed, and joined them in the cafeteria. I made a note to do more listening than sharing. I was happy to hear there would be more crossovers. I wanted a chance at spending quality time with characters like the Witchblade and other independent creations.

"One last question," Aoki pleaded, and I acquiesced. "Did you really pickpocket the Batman?"

"Sort of," I replied. "I got a batarang off him, but it had a tracker in it. He showed up later not amused to say the least. He removed the tracker and let me keep my trophy." Their looks were that of awe but now that I had food in my stomach there were questions from Kat that needed answering in private. Why had Surfer broken off contact? Did she know about the Order? Were a good beginning. Once the meal was over, I asked Kat for some quiet time. She followed me outside to the garden.

"What is bothering you? Anyone can see something else is going on." Kat went right to the point.

"I can't contact Surfer." I stated watching her reaction closely.

"I know." She said. "I made an executive decision and severed your connection. There are so many of Numenor secrets in her head. I hope you understand."

"Why did you let her and the others bond with me?" I snapped angry that she would not trust me.

"Others! What others?" She asked clearly upset.

"Wraith for one." I informed her and she looked genuinely concerned. "I guess my other question should remain unasked."

"Ask!" Kat shouted her patience at an end.

"Fine, the three guys said they were from..." I began when the blinding pain robbed me of consciousness.

I woke in game. I was in my bed inside the tower. My HUD informed me where I was and how much time had passed. Two hours since my talk with Kat.

"Wonderful, just fucking wonderful." I snapped. I got out of bed, dressed in only a simple loincloth, and walked around the tower. I visited my private smithy and next to it one of the tower's armories. I looked at the weapons and armors available and those I had not unlocked yet. There were dressing dummies wearing each of my various armor combinations and armed with random weapons. The silver needler caught my eye. I bet I could improve on that. I spent the coin and bought the blueprints for it. Traci displayed it and since I had been wearing a variation of Yautja armor for a while now I thought I would adapt it to that. "Open up a new file for me."

"Yes boss," Traci cheerfully replied. "What's the plan?"

"I am thinking a forearm version of the needler to fit with the predator theme." I said as I yanked the holographic parts of the weapon across my virtual workbench. "Hmm, let's see, pull up the schematics for the forearm blades." I directed and spent more coin to access that. The basic blades were simple razor-sharp implements to slice and dice foes. I kept the main housing, slimmed it down for a smaller profile and began seeing what would and would not fit initially. My anger faded as I focused on the task at hand. Soon I had a test model to run through its virtual gauntlet. When it failed, I tweaked until it worked and then looked for any area, I could improve upon it. Damn it, I wanted this fucker to punch a hole in anything I ran up against.

"Suggestions for ammunition," I asked, and Traci listed several options of alloys for various situations. While the prototype needler was being built we tested out her proposals. Along with the crystal and silver ammunition, we produced armor piercing, flechette, and incendiary for a start. All of them possessed the homing technology. Just squeeze off a shot and move along. The projectile is self-guiding and will most likely hit its target and can fire up to 500 rounds per minute. Two hours later I was on the shooting range and practicing. I tied the weapon to my mask and its targeting system. One last tweak and weapon, ammunition, and mask were in perfect symmetry. I set it for single fire and fired off a few rounds. I adjusted the targeting system and repeated the process until I was happy.

"How many blooded Yautja are in the tower?" I asked Traci.

"Twenty blooded and twenty young bloods," she stated. "I even have a side quest if you want to advance some of those young bloods to blooded status."

"Perfect! I really need to fuck some shit up." I snapped. "What is traditional?"

"Three. Though rarely does a clan chief stoop to such duties." Traci informed me.

"Clan chief... me?"

"The Shadow Fang Clan," Traci stated. "You are in possession of the..." the last few syllables were unintelligible and unpronounceable by human vocal cords. "Otherwise known as the staff of god by the Yautja. You brought it back from the Negative Zone."

"Blastaar's Boom Stick," I stated. "It would be fun giving it another run. Pick the best three to come with me. We go a hunting." I finished fabricating ammunition, loaded the flechette rounds, and put on the rest of my armor. I felt the rush to purge the anger and fear coursing through my veins. I followed Traci to one of the larger chambers where the off duty Yautja were gathered. At the center of the room stood the three choices for those to join me and be blooded if they survived. The sense of tension was intense, and it was directed at me. The Yautja I had resurrected stood by my side and explained the situation.

"Clan leader, your troops stand before you." He paused and I nodded for him to continue. "One of your young blood is... displeased with you being in charge. He has issued a challenge."

"I see. I have given him the opportunity to join me for the chance at honor and glory and this is how he repays me." I said letting my mask translate for me. The verbal barb struck deep and the blooded among the predators agreed with me.

"You aren't even one of us," the youth stood forth and growled.

"Motherfucker, I will wreck your shit without the use of weapons." I issued the challenge and he flinched. He got what he wanted and had to accept or be cast out by law, Yautja law. He accepted. "Give us some fucking room!" I yelled and the others moved to the walls of chamber. I deactivated my weapons but to tip things in my favor I kept on my Asgardian gloves and tripled my dexterity score. I knew that I was already stronger than him. As I formed my strategy three Yautja drones hovered in and took up positions to observe the challenge.

"The other Clans are watching." My second in command declared.

"I love an audience." I replied. So, if this youth managed to beat me, I would lose my title of clan leader, my tower, and likely my life. Shit just got as real as it got. "Sorry kid, your life just became forfeit. No banishment for you."

Stealth was discouraged in this sort of challenge but not forbidden. I chose to stand my ground, he did not. He was not stupid. The moment the signal was given he vanished from sight. I closed my eyes and reached out with my other senses. My strategy was simple, work the youth into a fit and he would reveal himself. If I were him, I would go for head or back attacks. He went for the head. The punch made me see stars but nothing serious so far. I still stood and I am sure that pissed him off. The next was a lower back shot that spun me around.

"Come on kid my little sister hits harder than that." I said and laughed. Laughter was a clear sign of disdain and he redoubled his efforts. I watched my stamina bar carefully. I did not want to get staggered or stunned. He struck repeatedly and with each one his scent grew stronger and easier to track. I had what I needed and waited. I dropped into a deeper crouch, wiggled my fingers, and sniffed the air. Here he comes. I felt my body tense in anticipation. He was going for my back this time. I timed my leap perfectly. My wall crawler training made this situation easier. I could have easily reached the ceiling but that would not help me. I hopped over him and as he passed beneath me, I grappled with him. I snagged him by his shoulders, latched on, and body slammed him.

The floor cracked when he impacted it. I kept a grip on him until I was able to disable his stealth field. His outline flickered but he remained invisible. Fine by me motherfucker, hold onto your lunch I thought as I drove my knee into his lower back with bone breaking force. Everyone heard his cry of pain as his stealth field fluttered and collapsed.

"Got you!" I snarled. I tossed him into the air, clasped both hands together, and as he fell to the floor, I slammed them against his upper back. I halted and stepped back as I triggered my own stealth field. It was his turn to worry. He slowly got to his feet. His head swung around as he tried and failed to stand upright completely. He swung his arms blindly around trying to make contact with me and grapple. I used my shapeshifting skill, not listed as forbidden tactics in the Yautja code, and healed most of the bruise damage. My stamina bar went from yellow to green. "I won't make you suffer." I whispered using Kaia-Jutsu to send my voice in all directions. The young blood drew his dagger and a collective growl came from the assembled predators. "No more fucking around."

I tripled my strength using the Asgardian gloves, took careful aim, and slammed my fist into his head. The youth flew back as his body was suddenly imparted with multiple tons of force into maybe four to six square inches of space. He was dead before he hit the ground. The audience gasped and then roared as I dropped my invisibility and thrust my bloody fist skyward. As badly as I wanted to utter some smart ass comment I remained silent. The drones departed as the corpse was removed from the chamber.

"Well?" I asked my second in command.

"They will follow you to hell and back after that display." He paused and then added. "How did you track him while he was cloaked?"

"I just followed my nose," I replied and told him to have a recruit to fill out the three-man team. "I need to look over mission parameters and make sure my load out fits the criteria."

Jerull was a small earth type world orbiting a gas giant. Records show that Jerull was a rogue planet that was captured by its much larger planet millions of years ago. Once it warmed up its ecological cycle began all over again. Jerull acts as a waystation for ships of many different worlds and served them as a neutral party even though it narrowly falls into the border of the Skrull Empire. Jerull has some mineral wealth but nothing unique and the flora and fauna have been carefully maintained by the planet's caretakers. The file hints at the ruins of a previous sentient race but none of those have been confirmed.

"Your ship and crew are ready Clan Leader." One of the other predators informed me. "The four-man drop pod has been loaded aboard and checks out across the board." He stated and I noticed he was young blood.

"Next time you will accompany me into battle," I promised. "I can see you have a stout heart and a cunning mind."

"I will not dishonor the clan." He promised.

I went to the girls before I left and promised them a huge celebration when I returned. They asked what they could do for me until then. I asked them to keep an eye out on the place. It was their home as well after all. I teleported up to my ship and its interior was identical save the sentient tree that was unique to the Star Wars universe. I altered the environment to match the comfort level for the Yautja. My three young bloods arrived and took up their positions. We set coarse for Jerull and activated the Bifrost drive. We would reach our destination after a short jaunt in that space between spaces. We exited and cloaked immediately and set out for Jerull. We were three hours via sublight speed. I did not want to come out too close and give our position away.

"I am picking up some strange energy readings." Traci informed us and displayed the fading power signature. "It's gone. There are no ships in orbit currently as well as a lack of any artificial satellites. That's odd."

"Inform me when reach orbit, I want to meditate." I informed the crew.

I went to the ship's dojo and retrieved the god's staff from my inventory. It seemed only fitting that I utilize it during the hunt. I wanted to get a feel for it and its balance now instead of in the middle of conflict with one or more Xenomorphs. I had never fought one before, this was going to be epic! I spun the staff in my left hand and found the sweet spot. I launched into the eighth style and slipped into a moving meditation. I finished and found all three young bloods watching me.

"That alone shows your dedication and mastery," Kyrense stated his awe clear in his voice.

"I concur," Therente agreed. "I hope we survive to be further trained by you Clan Leader."

"I will survive if only for that honor." Nekende stated quite confidently. "First blood will be mine."

"Let me see what you can do," I said and one by one tapped them for a quick training to pick out anything I could address in one session.

"We are in orbit." Traci announced and like that the training ended. "No sign of that strange energy signature but uh you'd better come up here."

The four of us rushed to the command deck. Traci pointed and displayed a hologram of the planet beneath us. She displayed a second hologram and held up a hand until her scan of Jerull was complete. Once it was done, she compiled it and showed us the before and after images.

"Jerull has been subjected to orbital bombardment. There are no surviving cities, towns, or processing plants. The devastation is complete. I get no power readings from the surface but residual radiation from the attack. I can't be positive of course, there is heavy ionization in the upper atmosphere making scans hit or miss."

"Was there a Xeno nest detected before the bombardment?" I asked.

"Marking potential drop site," Traci said as a green X showed up on both maps.

"Prep the drop pod, alright heroes it is time to fuck some shit up." I stated. "Let's go."

"Activating sword class drop pod," Traci said as she went down the check list. "I am activating the pod's active armor to keep it from acting up when it passes through that ionized layer. Otherwise you should be good to go. I will not be able to guarantee constant communications. The pod is fitted with a shielded teleport transponder. When you are done activate it and I'll pull the survivors back."

"Don't risk the ship. Stay the fuck in orbit in case whatever did this comes back." I ordered her.

"Order received and acknowledged." She stated reluctantly.

The drop pod was eighteen feet in length and in shape a blend of weapon and flower. The folded petals opened midflight to fire repulsor engines to slow the pod to give us a smooth insertion. The interior of the pod was snug with an advanced deceleration couch to keep us intact when the pod contacted the ground. The four of us entered and the hatches dropped down and sealed. I selected my combat music on the way down. I barely felt anything until the pod struck the ground. There was a slight jarring sensation and the hatch lifted. Outside was the remnants of a one-sided battle. The cratered landscape looked more like the surface of Earth's moon than a waystation. No building or structure survived the bombardment. This was a systematic elimination of all sentient life on this world.

"Clan chief," Therente called out. "Boot prints."

I joined the others by the tracks and examined them. "Deep. Heavy. Five-man team, see?" I said pointing out the V-shaped formation. "These guys are huge! What do think?"

"Nine to ten feet tall," Therente guesstimated.

"Is this their ammunition?" Nekende asked holding up a large caliber casing. "Jet propelled?"

"Who are these guys?" I asked seeing dozens of casings all over the area.

We continued as the drop pod closed and camouflaged itself. I set my vision to thermal to see if anyone survived this massacre. So far nothing. Signs of heavy weapons fire were everywhere along with remnants of grenade explosions. Civilian casualties were piled up and burned. Kyrense dashed off and the keen-sighted youth spotted splashes of stonework burned by acid. The soldiers had run into at least one Xenomorph. No sign of the corpse though, had they taken it with them to examine? I would have if I were them. We activated our camouflage and continued. Twenty minutes later we reached the center of town. I spotted a faint blue blip in my vision. Was it a Xenomorph? I pointed and we spread out and approached from different directions. This setting allowed me to see the cloaked youths so that we did not unleash a deadly friendly fire situation. We entered what was left of the building. The figure was trapped beneath a mix of fallen masonry and alloy supports. It was a miracle they had not been crushed under the tons of material. While the crisscrossing beams and portions of walls had not completely collapsed yet, it appeared it was just a matter of time. The question was who or what was trapped.

"There is a Yautja energy signature. It is one of us, from another tribe no doubt." Kyrense suggested.

"Stand behind me," I ordered as I took out the god staff. "Don't move." I called out to the trapped predator. I pumped energy into the staff, and it multiplied it. I focused the area of effect around the trapped figure but directed the shockwave upwards and outwards. If it worked, it would launch the debris away from him in a rather energetic fashion. I put up a force wall in front of me to protect us from the explosion and potential shrapnel. "In three, two, one..."

Boom!

The pressure wave pulverized stone, shredded metal, and if not for the shield we would have been killed outright. A cloud of dust filled the area and out if walked a tall thin figure. I was eager to speak to the lone survivor of the previous Yautja hunting party. The dust settled and there stood an impressively fit, heavily armored female predator. This was no Vanir wearing Yautja equipment, no this was a proper female of the species. She was over six feet in height and yet moved with surprising grace.

"You are the one they call Ghost Fire," she said in greeting. "I owe you my life."

"Witch!" Therente hissed but did not attack.

"Ha, your young blood fears my clan and well he should," she laughed. I was in over my head. While my tower was protected by males of the species, I knew nothing about the other side of the coin. Why was he reacting like this? I was afraid to bring it up and reduce my standing with my own clan. "My name is Isolenti, and I belong to the Astral Hand clan. That fine weapon you used to free me was designed, crafted, and enchanted by our sisters the Moon Blades. Females of our species can use magic and we long ago mastered the blending of technology and magic."

"Oh. Interesting." I exclaimed in shock.

"The fact that you can use that artifact makes you a mage of some caliber, my lord." She said the last two words by bowing her head.

"Well, what happened here? Who bombed this place to rubble?" I asked ignoring her potential oath of fealty.

"My team and I were underground when the ground shook, that was two days ago. It took nearly a day to find a way back to the surface after several structural collapses. We had already wiped out the hive here." She emphasized that by pointing to runic mark on her mask. "When we reached the surface, the orbital bombardment had stopped and the aliens that lived here were being hunted and cut down by bipeds in heavy armor."

"Any idea as to their species?" I asked and she shook her head. "That strange energy signature must have been them leaving the system."

"Their tech was extremely impressive." She said and that struck a chord in me. If a Yautja thought their equipment was noteworthy, then we needed to take heed. "Grab your stuff, we need to make sure you wiped out that nest. Someone is going to come and find out why this world went dark. We need to make sure no one encountered the Xenomorph prematurely." I stated and I was genuinely surprised when she did not take offense. "Lead the way."